Trends in general and abdominal obesity in US adults: Evidence from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2001-2018).

Aim: This study investigates the trend in general obesity and abdominal obesity in US adults from 2001 to 2018. Methods: We included 44,184 adults from the nine cycles of the continuous NHANES (2001-2002, 2003-2004, 2005-2006, 2007-2008, 2009-2010, 2011-2012, 2013-2014, 2015-2016, and 2017-2018). The age-adjusted mean body mass index and waist circumference were calculated, and the sex-specific annual change was estimated by the survey cycle. We used the weighted sex-specific logistic regression models to analyze the prevalence of general obesity and abdominal obesity from 2001 to 2018. The weighted adjusted odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated. Results: Our study showed that general obesity and abdominal obesity account for about 35.48 and 53.13% of the US population. From 2001-2002 to 2017-2018, the age-adjusted prevalence of general obesity increased from 33.09 to 41.36% in females and from 26.88 to 42.43% in males. During 2001-2018, the age-adjusted prevalence of abdominal obesity increased from 57.58 to 67.33% in females and from 39.07 to 49.73% in males. A significant time-dependent increase was observed in the prevalence of general obesity (adjusted OR, 1.007; 95% CI 1.005-1.009, P < 0.001) and abdominal obesity (adjusted OR, 1.006; 95% CI, 1.004-1.008; P < 0.001). Conclusion: General obesity and abdominal obesity are a heavy health burden among US adults, and the increasing trend remains in both males and females from 2001 to 2018.

Lentivirus-mediated short hairpin RNA interference of CENPK inhibits growth of colorectal cancer cells with overexpression of Cullin 4A.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide. The identification of novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for CRC is a key research imperative. Immunohistochemical analysis has revealed high expression of centromere protein K (CENPK) in CRC. However, the role of CENPK in the progression of CRC is not well characterized. AIM: To evaluate the effects of knockdown of CENPK and overexpression of Cullin 4A (CUL4A) in RKO and HCT116 cells. METHODS: Human colon cancer samples were collected and tested using a human gene expression chip. We identified CENPK as a potential oncogene for CRC based on bioinformatics analysis. In vitro experiments verified the function of this gene. We investigated the expression of CENPK in RKO and HCT116 cells using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), western blot, and flow cytometry. The effect of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) virus-infected RKO cells on tumor growth was evaluated in vivo using quantitative analysis of fluorescence imaging. To evaluate the effects of knockdown of CENPK and overexpression of CUL4A in RKO and HCT116 cells, we performed a series of in vitro experiments, using qPCR, western blot, MTT assay, and flow cytometry. RESULTS: We demonstrated overexpression of CENPK in human colon cancer samples. CENPK was an independent risk factor in patients with CRC. The downstream genes FBX32, CUL4A, and Yes-associated protein isoform 1 were examined to evaluate the regulatory action of CENPK in RKO cells. Significantly delayed xenograft tumor emergence, slower growth rate, and lower final tumor weight and volume were observed in the CENPK short hairpin RNA virus infected group compared with the CENPK negative control group. The CENPK gene interference inhibited the proliferation of RKO cells in vitro and in vivo. The lentivirus-mediated shRNA interference of CENPK inhibited the proliferation of RKO and HCT116 colon cancer cells, with overexpression of the CUL4A. CONCLUSION: We indicated a potential role of CENPK in promoting tumor proliferation, and it may be a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for CRC.

High waist circumference is a risk factor of new-onset hypertension: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study.

This study aims to investigate the association between waist circumference and the development of hypertension based on a nationwide cohort Chinese population. A total of 5330 individuals free of hypertension at baseline were collected from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. The association between waist circumference and the development of hypertension was analyzed by an adjusted cox regression model and visualized by restricted cubic splines. Further, we applied the supervised machine learning methods to evaluate the importance of multiple variates for new-onset hypertension. Additionally, the robustness of the association was assessed by a subgroup analysis. A total of 1490 individuals (28.0%) developed hypertension during a mean follow-up of 3.32 years. The new-onset hypertension was more observed in those with increased waist circumference (P for trend < .001). In the fully adjusted Cox regression, each 10 cm increase of waist circumference would result in an 18% elevated risk of hypertension. The random forest method and the Extreme Gradient Boosting method revealed waist circumference as an important feature to predict the development of hypertension. The sensitivity analysis indicated a consistent trend between waist circumference and new-onset hypertension in all BMI categories. This study suggested high waist circumference as an independent risk factor for new-onset hypertension based on a nationwide cohort of Chinese adults aged ≥45 years old. Our results supported that waist circumference should be routinely measured.

Expression of apolipoprotein C1 in clear cell renal cell carcinoma: An oncogenic gene and a prognostic marker.

This study aimed to explore whether APOC1 expression has a function in the biological behavior of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) cells and its possible mechanism. Bioinformatics analysis of data TCGA and OnComine was conducted to explore the expression pattern and prognostic value of APOC1, as well as the relationship between APOC1 expression and clinical indicators. Loss- and gain- of APOC1 function assays were carried out to assess the biological functions of APOC1. Western blotting was applied to detect protein expression. We revealed that APOC1 was upregulated in ccRCC tissues. APOC1 expression was related to gender, grade, pathologic-T, pathologic-stage, and pathologic-M in patients with ccRCC. Meanwhile, Kaplan-Meier analysis evidenced that the high APOC1 expression indicated unfavorable outcomes of ccRCC. Functional experiments in vitro revealed that upregulation of APOC1 in UT33A cells promoted cell proliferation, invasion, and migration, while downregulation of APOC1 in 786-O cells had the opposite effect. Furthermore, epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) was activated in cells with upregulated APOC1 but inhibited in cells with down-regulated APOC1. Collectively, our data suggested that APOC1 was overexpressed in ccRCC cells and promoted the malignant biological behaviors and EMT of ccRCC cells.

Pd-catalyzed carbonyl insertion coupling reactions of a hypervalent iodoheterocycle with alcohols and amines.

The palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling carbonyl insertion reaction between 3,7-bis(N,N-dimethylamino)-10H-dibenz[b,e]iodinium iodide (1) and alcohols or amines 2 is described. Some new amides and esters 3 containing an active iodo functional group have been prepared in 65-91% yields.