Effect of changes in body mass index and waist-to-height ratio on blood pressure in 11- to 13-year-old children: a prospective population study.

BACKGROUND: Existing evidence about associations between change in body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) change and high blood pressure are relatively limited. AIMS: We aimed to investigate the associations of general overweight (based on BMI) and abdominal obesity (based on WHtR) change with high blood pressure in Chinese children. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A school-based cohort study in Ningbo region (China) was conducted among children with baseline evaluations in October 2016 with follow-up two years later. A total of 1432 children aged 11-13 years participated in this study. RESULTS: Our results showed that a change from normal BMI or WHtR to overweight or abdominal obesity in children was associated with high blood pressure (adjusted odds ratio (AOR), 2.62; p<0.05 or AOR, 2.79; p<0.05, respectively). In addition, an increased risk of high blood pressure was observed in children who maintained overweight or abdominal obesity (AOR, 1.67; p<0.05 or AOR, 1.69; p<0.05, respectively), but not in children who experienced remission to non-excess weight. Interestingly, children who increased BMI or WHtR had greater impact on SBP than on DBP. CONCLUSION: The 2-year longitudinal study indicated that general overweight or abdominal obesity can predict the risk factor of high blood pressure in children. However, children who remitted to non-excess weight did not exhibit an increased risk of high blood pressure.

The complete mitochondrial genome and phylogenetic analysis of Lepidozona coreanica (Reeve, 1847).

In the present study, the complete mitochondrial genome of Lepidozona coreanica was sequenced and described. The complete mitogenome sequence of L. coreanica is 16,572 bp long and contains 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and two ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. The base composition was AT biased (70.1%). The 13 PCGs of L. coreanica and the other 15 species of Polyplacophora were used for phylogenetic analysis using maximum-likelihood methods. The results showed that L. coreanica, Ischnochiton hakodadensis, and Chaetopleura apiculata are sister groups of the three lineages.