Association of educational attainment with hypertension and type-2 diabetes: A Mendelian randomization study.

BACKGROUNDDue to the long time interval between exposure and outcome, it is difficult to infer the causal relationship between educational attainment (EA) and common chronic diseases. Therefore, we utilized Mendelian randomization (MR) to predict the causal relationships of EA with hypertension and type-2 diabetes (T2DM). METHODSA two-sample MR analysis was conducted using genome-wide association studies (GWASs) combined with inferential measurements. A GWAS meta-analysis including 1,131,881 European individuals was used to identify instruments for EA. Hypertension and T2DM data were obtained from a Finnish database. MR analyses were performed using inverse-variance weighted meta-analysis (IVW), weighted median regression, MR‒Egger regression, simple mode regression, weighted mode regression and the MR-Pleiotropy RESidual Sum and Outlier test. Sensitivity analyses were further performed using the leave-one-out method to test the robustness of our findings. RESULTSUsing the MR approach, our results showed that EA was significantly associated with a reduced risk of hypertension (OR = 0.63; P = 2.94 × 10-47; [95% CI: 0.59, 0.67]) and type-2 diabetes (OR = 0.59; P = 1.25 × 10-16; [95% CI: 0.52, 0.67]). CONCLUSIONSThis study showed that EA is causally linked to the risk of chronic diseases, including high blood pressure and T2DM.

Prevalence of hypertension among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of hypertension in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) using the results of a regional study. The studies were reviewed using PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Biology Medicine, Wan Fang Data and Chinese Science Citation Database. After screening articles and data extraction, Stata V.16 was used for statistical analysis. This study was registered in the Prospective Register Systematic Reviews (CRD42020170649). A total of 2126 articles were identified, and nine papers were finally included. Random-effects modelling showed that the pooled prevalence of hypertension among Chinese patients with T2DM was 54% (95% CI 47 to 61%). Subgroup analysis showed that the prevalence in men (59.8%; 95% CI 49.0 to 70.7%) was higher than that in women (40.2%; 95% CI 29.3 to 59.2%). The prevalence in North China was higher than that in East China. The prevalence in institution-based settings (56%; 95% CI 48 to 64%) was higher than that in community-based settings (51%; 95% CI 34 to 69%). Appropriate preventive measures should be undertaken, such as health education, to control and reduce the risk of hypertension in diabetic patients and reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease.

PRM-based quantitative proteomics analysis of altered HSP abundance in villi and decidua of patients with early missed abortion.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to identify differentially expressed heat shock protein (HSP) profiles in the villi and decidua from patients with early missed abortion (EMA). METHODS: By using high-throughput and high-precision parallel reaction monitoring (PRM)-based targeted proteomics techniques, this study examined the abundance of HSPs in the villi and decidua of 10 patients with EMA and 10 controls. Moreover, the abundance of 3 HSPs in the villi of another 22 patients with EMA and 22 controls was verified with Western blotting and immunohistochemistry (IHC). RESULTS: There were potential differences in the abundance of 16 HSPs and 42 polypeptides in human villi and decidua compared with those of the control group. Among them, HSP90AB1, HSPD1 and HSPA13 were downregulated in abundance in villi of patients with EMA, with a statistically significant difference, which was consistent with the verification results of Western blots and IHC. CONCLUSION: Using a PRM-based targeted proteomics technique, this study is the first to screen and quantitatively analyze the expression profile of HSPs in the villi and decidua of patients with EMA. The significant downregulation of HSP90AB1, HSPD1 and HSPA13 was found to have a potentially intimate association with the occurrence of EMA. The findings in our study may provide novel potential research targets related to HSPs for the pathogenesis, prevention and treatment of EMA.

[Expression of c-kit and Cx43 in neonates with spontaneous gastric perforation].

OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical significance of interstitial cell of Cajal (ICC) in spontaneous neonatal gastric perforation by examining the expression of c-kit and Cx43 in neonates with this disorder. METHODS: The gastric specimens of 19 cases of neonatal gastric perforation from 2001 to 2010 and 8 cases of accidental death without digestive tract malformations (control) were collected. Immunohistochemical staining was employed to examine the expression of c-kit and Cx43 (immunomarkers of ICCs) in gastric tissues. RESULTS: The muscular layer of the stomach wall became thinner or deficient in the gastric perforation group. C-kit and Cx43 positive cells in gastric tissues decreased significantly in the gastric perforation group compared with those in the control group (P＜0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The development of spontaneous neonatal gastric perforation is associated with the decreased quantity of ICCs and damaged gap junction structure of the stomach wall.