Influence of life-style factors, including second-hand smoke, on dental caries among 3-year-old children in Wuxi, China.

AIM: To examine the association of life-style factors, including second-hand smoke, with dental caries among 3-year-old children in Wuxi, China. METHODS: A multi-stage stratified random cluster sampling method was used, and 283 children were recruited. The prevalence of dental caries was 29.3% (83/283). RESULTS: Univariate analysis indicated that the possible related factors of dental caries included sleep duration, interest in snacks, candy, exposure to second-hand smoke and weight of birth (all P < 0.05). Meanwhile, multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that children who had used fluoride were less susceptible to dental caries than those who had not used fluoride before (P < 0.05). Moreover, the risk of dental caries in children who were very interested in snacks was greater than those with little interest in snacks (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Life-style behaviours are crucial factors and should attract enough attention. There might be a potential negative effect of second-hand smoke on the deciduous caries, but it still requires further studies. A co-ordinated effort by health-care providers, policymakers and health institutions has successfully improved children's oral health and the awareness of hygiene knowledge among citizens in Wuxi city.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms of toll-like receptor 7 in hepatitis C virus infection patients from a high-risk chinese population.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection varies in the outcomes depending on both viral and host factors. This study aims to investigate the associations of three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7), rs179016, rs5743733, and rs1634323, with susceptibility to HCV infection and clearance. The three SNPs were genotyped in a high-risk Chinese population, including 444 HCV spontaneous clearance cases, 732 persistent infection cases, and 1107 healthy controls. The G allele of rs1634323 was related to the protection from persistent infection among females (dominant model: odds ratio (OR) = 0.558, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 0.348-0.894, P = 0.015). This protective effect was more evident in blood donation and HCV non-1 genotype-infected subgroups (all P < 0.05). The carriage of rs179016 C allele was more prone to develop persistent infection (OR = 1.444, 95 % CI = 1.096-1.903, P = 0.009) in males, and the risk effect remained significant among older (>50 years), hemodialysis (HD), and HCV-1 and HCV non-1 genotypes-infected subjects (all P < 0.05). Haplotype analyses showed that CCA haplotype among females was correlated with the elevated risk of HCV susceptibility while the carriage of GGA was more prone to be infected with HCV and CCA was more likely to develop persistent infection (all P < 0.05) among males. Our results first demonstrated that the carriage of rs179016 C allele had a negative effect on spontaneous clearance of HCV among males while rs1634323 G allele conferred a protective effect against persistent infection among female subjects.

Sex-specific association between X-linked Toll-like receptor 7 with the outcomes of hepatitis C virus infection.

Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) senses hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and drives the host specific innate and adaptive immune response. The aim of this study was to estimate the distributions of TLR7 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including rs179019 and rs3853839, as well as the effect of TLR7 gene variants on TLR7 mRNA expression and cytokine production in response to TLR7 agonist in vitro. TLR7 SNP genotyping was performed among a Chinese sample population of 418 patients with persistent HCV infection, 317 patients with HCV spontaneous clearance, and 989 healthy controls. TLR7 mRNA expression and TLR7-specific IFN-α and IL-6 secretion in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, derived from 60 healthy individuals in vitro, were then quantified. We identified the association of TLR7 rs3853839C allele, haplotype CC and haplotype AC (rs179019/rs3853839) with protection against HCV persistence in Chinese females (OR=0.49, 95% CI=0.29-0.81, P=0.01 for rs3853839 GC; OR=0.29, 95% CI=0.11-0.75, P=0.01 for rs3853839 CC; OR=0.51, 95% CI=0.38-0.77, P<0.01 for haplotype CC; OR=0.29, 95% CI=0.10-0.88, P=0.03 for haplotype AC). In addition, the rs3853839 CC genotype among female carriers had significantly low TLR7 mRNA expression (P=0.006 for GG vs. CC, P=0.021 for GC vs. CC), along with decreased IFN-α (P=0.002 for GG vs. CC, P=0.021 for GC vs. CC) and increased antiviral IL-6 production (P=0.002 for GG vs. CC, P=0.030 for GC vs. CC), after treatment with Imiquimod in vitro. The cytokine profile among rs3853839 CC genotype female carriers may indicate a pronounced protective effect against persistent HCV infection. The functional polymorphism of TLR7 rs3853839C allele was found to be sex-specific and associated with protection against HCV persistence among Chinese females, which may be due to specific IFN-α and IL-6 secretion profiles.

Meta-analysis of associations of IL1 receptor antagonist and estrogen receptor gene polymorphisms with systemic lupus erythematosus susceptibility.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that affects a number of different organs and tissues. Interleukin-1 (IL1) and estrogen are considered potential elements in the pathology of SLE. Recently, the variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) polymorphism in the IL1 receptor antagonist gene (IL1-RN) and PvuII (rs2234693) and XbaI (rs9340799) polymorphisms in the estrogen receptor 1 gene (ESR1) have been associated with a predisposition to SLE. However, the evidence for these associations is inconclusive. We therefore conducted a meta-analysis to validate the roles of these polymorphisms in SLE susceptibility. We searched four databases and identified a total of 17 eligible articles comprising 24 studies. The Newcastle-Ottawa quality assessment scale was used to assess the qualities of the selected studies. We assessed the strengths of the associations using odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Regarding the IL-1RN VNTR, the 2 allele significantly increased SLE susceptibility (2 vs. L: OR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.03-1.73, P = 0.03). The ESR1 PvuII CC/CT genotype was also associated with SLE susceptibility (CC/CT vs. TT: OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.06-1.47, P = 0.01), and the difference was especially pronounced among Asians (CC/CT vs. TT: OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.04-1.69, P = 0.02). No significant association between the ESR1 XbaI polymorphism and SLE susceptibility was observed in the overall analysis. However, a marginally significant association between the GG/GA genotype was found in individuals of Asian descent (GG/GA vs. AA: OR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.01-1.67, P = 0.04). These results indicate that the IL1-RN VNTR 2 allele, ESR1 PvuII CC/CT genotype and ESR1 XbaI GG/GA genotype may increase SLE susceptibility, especially in Asian individuals.

Association of interleukin-18 gene polymorphisms with the outcomes of hepatitis C virus infection in high-risk Chinese Han population.

Interleukin 18 (IL-18) gene polymorphisms have been reported to be associated with the outcomes of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Americans, Indians and Europeans. We aimed to investigate whether the association can be replicated in Chinese Han population. Three IL-18 variants, -656G>T, -137G>C and +105A>C, were genotyped in three independent Han cohorts consisting of 552 cases and 784 controls. By using logistic regression analysis and multiple testing, haplotype GCC were associated with a protection from susceptibility to HCV. After stratified analysis, both the carriage of -137C allele in the older or hemodialysis subgroup and the carriage of +105C allele in the younger subgroup were found to be significantly associated with a decreased risk of HCV susceptibility. By using logistic regression analysis and multiple testing for the resolution of HCV infection, our study showed that +105C allele and haplotype GGC displayed a negative effect on HCV persistence. After stratified analysis, a significantly decreased risk for HCV persistence was found in +105C allele in the subgroups of young, male or female, drug user or hemodialysis and HCV-1 or HCV mixed genotype. No significant association was observed between -656G>T and the outcomes of HCV infection. Our results demonstrated that the carriage of -137C allele, +105C allele, haplotype -656G/-137C/+105C and haplotype -656G/-137G/+105C of IL-18 gene may contribute to better outcomes of HCV infection in high-risk Chinese Han population.

Meta-analysis on the associations of TLR2 gene polymorphisms with pulmonary tuberculosis susceptibility among Asian populations.

BACKGROUND: Publications regarding the associations of toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) G2258A and T597C polymorphisms with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) susceptibility are inconsistent. A meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between TLR2 G2258A and T597C polymorphisms with PTB susceptibility. METHODS: A systematic search was performed for published studies on the relationship between TLR2 polymorphisms and PTB susceptibility. Information was gathered from each eligible study, and statistically analyzed. RESULTS: 6 eligible studies, totaling 1301 cases and 1217 controls on G2258A genotypes, and 8 studies, totaling 2175 cases and 2069 controls on T597C genotypes, were included in the analysis. TLR2 2258G allele and 2258GG genotype were found to be associated with decreased PTB susceptibility (A vs. G: OR  = 3.02, 95% CI: 2.22-4.12, P<0.001, GA+AA vs. GG: OR  = 2.69, 95% CI = 1.49-4.87, P = 0.001). In the subgroup analyses, the 2258G allele and 2258GG genotype also exhibited a protective effect of PTB risk in Asians (A vs. G: OR  = 2.95, 95% CI: 1.91-4.55, P<0.001; GA+AA vs. GG: OR  = 3.59, 95% CI: 2.23-5.78, P<0.001), while no associations were observed in Caucasians. No significant associations between T597C polymorphism and PTB were found in the allele model (C vs. T: OR  = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.86-1.04, P = 0.28), co-dominant model (CC vs. TT: OR  = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.92-1.40, P = 0.25; CT vs. TT: OR  = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.80-1.06, P = 0.28), recessive model (CC vs. TT+TC: OR  = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.80-1.16, P = 0.69), or dominant model (TC+CC vs. TT: OR  = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.76-1.15, P = 0.51). The associations of T597C polymorphism with PTB susceptibility, in the ethnic-specific analyses, were still not significant. CONCLUSION: TLR2 2258G allele may provide protective effects against PTB susceptibility, particularly among Asians, whereas TLR2 T597C polymorphism might not be associated with PTB susceptibility.