Associations between sleep characteristics, chronotype and body mass index among Chinese college freshmen.

Research indicates that sleep problem is a behavioral risk factor of obesity. However, few research have applied a multi-dimensional approach to investigate the relationship between sleep health and adiposity. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine the associations of sleep characteristics (duration, quality) and chronotype with overweight/obesity as measured by body mass index. Data were obtained from 2014 college students from the Dali University in the Yunnan province of China in the year 2021. Sleep characteristics and chronotype were measured using self-reported questionnaires. The presence of overweight/obesity was assessed by anthropometric measurements. Multiple logistic regression models and restricted cubic spline hazard models were established to examine associations between sleep characteristics, chronotype and adiposity. After adjusting for demographic characteristics and other obesity-related behavioral risk factors, evening type was positively associated with overweight/obesity, and an L-shaped dose-effect relationship was observed between chronotype scores and the presence of overweight/obesity. However, sleep duration and quality were not associated with the presence of overweight/obesity in the logistic regression models and restrictive cubic splines models. This study indicated that Chinese college students who had the evening chronotype were more likely to be affected by overweight/obesity. Chronotype as an important dimension of sleep health should be incorporated in obesity intervention programs.

Mendelian randomization analysis identified causal Association of Childhood Obesity with adult major depressive disorder.

BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity is associated with adult major depressive disorder (MDD), but their causality is not clear. METHODS: We performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to explore the causality of childhood body mass index (BMI) and childhood obesity on MDD, followed by a multivariable MR (MVMR) analysis to investigate the potential role of adult BMI in mediating such effect. We accessed genome-wide association summary statistics of childhood BMI, childhood obesity, adult BMI and adult MDD from the Early Growth Genetics consortium (nBMI  = 47 541, nobesity  = 24 160), the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits consortium (nadult_BMI  = âˆ¼700 000) and the Psychiatric Genomics consortium (nMDD  = 500 199), respectively. The MR-PRESSO test was performed to remove SNPs with potential pleiotropic effect. The MR analysis was performed by inverse-variance weighted test. Further sensitivity analyses, including the MR-Egger intercept test and leave-one-out analysis, were performed to evaluate the reliability of the results. RESULTS: Our study found that childhood obesity might increase the odds of developing MDD in adults (OR = 1.03, 95% CI: 1.01-1.06, p = 2.6 × 10-3 ). Children with higher BMI were more likely to develop MDD in adulthood, with an OR of 1.12 per standard deviation score (SDS) increase in BMI (95% CI: 1.07-1.17, p = 4.4 × 10-7 ). Sensitivity analyses verified the reliability of the causality between childhood BMI/obesity and MDD. Further MVMR results revealed that the impact of childhood BMI on MDD risk was predominantly mediated by adult BMI. CONCLUSION: Our findings provided evidence of a causal relationship between childhood BMI/obesity and adult MDD, thus providing new insights into the prevention of MDD.

Associations between habitual tea consumption and 5-year longitudinal changes of systolic blood pressure in older Chinese.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Tea consumption may contribute to the management of blood pressure; however, evidence from longitudinal studies is lacking. This study aimed to examine the relationship between habitual tea consumption and trajectories of systolic blood pressure in a community-based sample of Chinese adults aged 60 years or older. METHODS: A prospective cohort of 3870 participants was investigated from 2014 to 2018. Trajectories of systolic blood pressure were identified using latent mixture modeling with the Proc Traj procedure. Multiple logistic regression models were fitted to explore associations between tea consumption habits and trajectories of systolic blood pressure. RESULTS: In the overall sample, participants were less likely to be habitual tea drinkers if they were in the "moderate-stable" (144.4-149.9 mm Hg), "moderate-increasing" (157.2-180.0 mm Hg), and "elevated-increasing" (184.7-209.8 mm Hg) groups as compared to those in the "low-stable" group (125.3-130.0 mm Hg). The "elevated-decreasing" group (170.7 - 167.2 mmHg) consistently showed no significant difference in the likelihood of habitual tea drinking as compared to the "low-stable" group. CONCLUSIONS: This community-based prospective study indicated that habitual tea consumption was associated with relatively favorable long-term systolic blood pressure statuses.

Elevated blood neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in older adults with cognitive impairment.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have assessed the association of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) with cognitive impairment (COI) in clinical settings. Whether NLR is associated with COI among free-living seniors at population level remains unknown. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess the relationship between NLR and COI among community-dwelling older adults and the predictive value of NLR for COI screening in the community. METHODS: Data of 4579 older adults aged 60 or older in Weitang Geriatric Diseases study, a community-based cross-sectional study conducted in Suzhou located in the east part of China, were analyzed. The NLR was calculated as the absolute neutrophil count divided by the absolute lymphocyte count. Cognitive function of the participants was assessed using the Abbreviated Mental Test. RESULTS: Compared to those in the first quartile of NLR, older adults in the 4th quartile of NLR had a greater risk of COI (odds ratio = 1.34, 95 % confidence interval = 1.06-1.69). Elevated NLR quartile was associated with increasing risk of COI (p value for trend = 0.02). Addition of NLR to the conventional risk factors model could improve the correct reclassification of COI about 9.0 % (p = 0.02) and integrated discrimination improvement value was 0.0012 (p = 0.09). CONCLUSIONS: We found that elevated NLR was associated with an increased risk of COI and whether NLR may act as a clinically relevant predictor for COI among community-dwelling older adults could not be determined.

Effectiveness of acupuncture for treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

BACKGROUND: This study will assess the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for the treatment of patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). METHODS: We will comprehensively search electronic databases of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure from their inception to July 1, 2019. We will also search grey literature to avoid missing any potential studies. Randomized controlled trials related to acupuncture for the treatment of DPN will be included. All record literatures are searched without language limitation. Two researchers will independently carry out research selection, data extraction, and research quality evaluation. We will perform RevMan 5.3 software for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Primary outcomes consist of severity of neuropathy and pain intensity. Secondary outcomes include diabetes mellitus duration, body mass index, HbA1c level, blood glucose levels, and adverse events. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study will summarize recent evidence for the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for the treatment of patients with DPN. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: We will not analyze individual data, thus no ethic approval is needed. The results of this study are expected to be published at a peer-reviewed journal. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO CRD42019139635.

Conformational Flexibility of Deoxyoligonucleotide d(GGTATACC)(2) in Water.

AT-rich deoxyoligonucleotide provides a binding site possibly at the minor groove for some anti-tumor drugs by hydrophobic or Van der Waals interactions. In this paper, it is demonstrated by study of d (GGTATACC)(2) that the DNA-drug interaction may be dependent on the structural flexibility at the minor groove. The solution structure of d (GGTATACC)(2) in water is described by distance-restrained molecular dynamics calculation and it is suggested that d (GGTATACC)(2) in solution maintains the double helix of B-type with trans conformations of base to sugar and C2'-endo conformation for the deoxyribose ring. It is found that the end moieties GGT and ACC are relatively rigid while T(5) residue is flexible, which may account for the activity of the minor groove.