A systematic review and meta-analysis of 90 cohort studies of social isolation, loneliness and mortality.

The associations between social isolation, loneliness and the risk of mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer are controversial. We systematically reviewed prospective studies on the association between social isolation, loneliness and mortality outcomes in adults aged 18 years or older, as well as studies on these relationships in individuals with CVD or cancer, and conducted a meta-analysis. The study protocol was registered with PROSPERO (reg. no. CRD42022299959). A total of 90 prospective cohort studies including 2,205,199 individuals were included. Here we show that, in the general population, both social isolation and loneliness were significantly associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (pooled effect size for social isolation, 1.32; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.26 to 1.39; P < 0.001; pooled effect size for loneliness, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.08 to 1.20; P < 0.001) and cancer mortality (pooled effect size for social isolation, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.19 to 1.28; P < 0.001; pooled effect size for loneliness, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.17; P = 0.030). Social isolation also increased the risk of CVD mortality (1.34; 95% CI, 1.25 to 1.44; P < 0.001). There was an increased risk of all-cause mortality in socially isolated individuals with CVD (1.28; 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.48; P = 0.001) or breast cancer (1.51; 95% CI, 1.34 to 1.70; P < 0.001), and individuals with breast cancer had a higher cancer-specific mortality owing to social isolation (1.33; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.75; P = 0.038). Greater focus on social isolation and loneliness may help improve people's well-being and mortality risk.

Branched Chain Amino Acids, New Target of Germinated Brown Rice against Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

SCOPE: Adequate intake of whole grain foods is beneficial to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Whether the preventive effects are related with metabolism of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) is unclear. The study aims to evaluate the effects of germinated brown rice (GBR) intervention on BCAAs metabolism in T2DM patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this randomized controlled trial, subjects with T2DM are instructed to consume 100 g day-1 GBR (GBR group, n=42) or equal staple food (Control group, n=25) for 3 months. Food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) and serum samples are collected before and after the intervention. In the GBR group, fasting blood glucose (FBG), fasting insulin (FINS), and serum BCAAs are decreased, and islet function is improved (p<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that FBG (odds ratios [OR]: 1.55, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-1.84) and energy (OR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.09-1.30) are positively associated with serum total BCAAs level, while FINS is negatively associated (OR: 0.20, 95% CI: 0.04-0.88). Simultaneously, the key enzymes of BCAAs decomposition, which promotes glycolysis by activating pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH), are significantly increased. CONCLUSION: GBR improves the indicators of T2DM patients, and the underlying mechanisms include improving insulin resistance and accelerating catabolism of BCAAs.

Gray and white matter alterations in different predominant side and type of motor symptom in Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is highly heterogeneous reflected by different affected side of body and type of motor symptom. We aim to explore clinical characteristics and underlying brain structure alterations in PD with different predominant sides and motor types. METHODS: We recruited 161 PD patients and 50 healthy controls (HC). Patients were classified into four subtypes according to their predominant side and motor type: left akinetic/rigid-dominant (LAR), left tremor-dominant (LTD), right akinetic/rigid-dominant (RAR), and right tremor-dominant (RTD). All participants assessed motor and cognitive performances, then underwent T1-weighted and diffusion tensor imaging scanning. A general linear model was used to compare neuroimaging parameters among five groups. RESULTS: Among four PD subtypes, patients of LAR subtype experienced the worst motor impairment, and only this subtype showed worse cognitive performance compared with HC. Compared with HC and other subtypes, LAR subtype showed a significant reduction in cortical thickness of the right caudal-anterior-cingulate gyrus and fractional anisotropy of the right cingulum bundle. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that LAR subtype had the worst clinical performance, which the severer damage in the right cingulate region might be the underlying mechanism. This study underscores the importance of classifying PD subtypes based on both the side and type of motor symptom for clinical intervention and research to optimize behavioral outcomes in the future.

Comparison of smoking status of middle school students during 2012 to 2017 in Quzhou / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To understand the change of smoking status among middle school students in Quzhou City from 2012 to 2017, and to provide a basis for school tobacco control.@*Methods@#Through stratified cluster sampling method, Zhejiang youth health-related behavior questionnaire survey was conducted among 1 454 students in May 2012 and among 1 655 students in May 2017.@*Results@#Among middle school students in Quzhou, attempting smoking rate, ever-smoking a whole cigarette reporting rate and current-smoking report rate decreased from 31.36%, 17.81% and 8.73% in 2012 to 21.70%,12.45% and 6.22% in 2018 respectively, with statistically significant differences(χ2=37.30,17.52,7.12,P<0.01). Among the current-smoking students, the rate of smoking frequency≥20 d/month and heavy-smoking rate decreased from 30.71% and 7.09% in 2012 to 15.53% and 0.97% respectively. It showed that attempting smoking rate, ever-smoking a whole cigarette reporting rate and current-smoking report rate of male students were higher than that of female students(χ2=117.50,63.99;47.14,51.26;110.18,22.50), and the non-ordinary high school students were higher than that of ordinary high school students and middle school students across two waves surveillance(χ2=47.14,51.26;70.34,43.77;62.67,22.50)(P<0.01).@*Conclusion@#School tobacco control have made a great progress，the tobacco use behavior of middle school students declines sharply in Quzhou.

Sphingomyelin synthase 2 (SMS2) deficiency attenuates LPS-induced lung injury.

Sphingomyelin synthase (SMS) catalyzes the synthesis of sphingomyelin (SM) and is required for maintenance of plasma membrane microdomain fluidity. Of the two isoforms of mammalian SMS, SMS1 is mostly present in the trans-Golgi apparatus, whereas SMS2 is predominantly found at the plasma membrane. SMS2 has a role in receptor mediated response to inflammation in macrophages, however, the role of SMS2 in vascular permeability, pulmonary edema, and lung injury have not been investigated. To define the role of SMS activation in lung injury, we utilized a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced lung edema model. SMS activity was measured and correlated with the severity of lung injury. Within 4 h of LPS treatment, SMS activity was increased significantly and remained upregulated up to 24 h. Comparison of LPS-induced lung injury in SMS2 knockout (SMS2(-/-)) and wild-type littermate control mice showed that inflammation, cytokine induction, and lung injury were significantly inhibited in SMS2(-/-) mice. Our results suggest that a deficiency of SMS2 can diminish the extent of pulmonary edema and lung injury. Furthermore, we show that depletion of SMS2 was sufficient to decrease MAP kinase-JNK activation, severity of LPS-induced pulmonary neutrophil influx, and inflammation, suggesting a novel role of SMS2 activation in lung injury.