Effect of air pollution on respiratory health in school-aged children in the main urban area of Chongqing, China / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of air pollution on respiratory health in school-aged children in the main urban area of Chongqing, China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The main urban area of Chongqing was divided into polluted area and clean area according to the air pollution data shown on the Environmental Protection Agency Website of Chongqing between 2010 and 2015. A cluster sampling method was used to select 695 third- or fourth-grade children from 2 primary schools in the clean or polluted area as study subjects, with 313 children from the clean area and 382 children from the polluted area. Pulmonary function was examined for all children and a standard American epidemiological questionnaire (ATS-DLD-78-C) was used to investigate the prevalence of respiratory diseases and symptoms.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the clean area, the polluted area had significantly higher concentrations of inhalable particles (PM), fine particulate matter (PM), and nitric oxide (NO) (P<0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed after adjustment for confounding factors, and the results showed that compared with those in the clean area, the children in the polluted area had significantly higher risks of cough (OR=1.644), cough during cold (OR=1.596), expectoration during cold (OR=2.196), persistent expectoration (OR=1.802), and wheezing (OR=2.415). The boys and girls in the clean area had significantly higher forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in one second than those in the polluted area (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Air pollution in the main urban area of Chongqing is associated with the increased prevalence of respiratory symptoms in school-aged children and has certain effect on children's pulmonary function.</p>

Effects of maternal exposure to vehicle exhaust on the reproductive system and DNA methylation in male offspring mice / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the effect of exposure to vehicle exhaust in pregnant mice on the reproductive function and DNA methylation in male offspring mice.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty pregnant mice were randomized into control group and vehicle exhaust exposure group (n=10) and exposed to routine laboratory condition and to vehicle exhaust for 10 consecutive days (8 h per day) in a tunnel with a heavy traffic, where the concentrations of TSP, PM10, PM2.5, SO2 and NOX and the decibel of noise were measured. The offspring mice were raised till reaching maturity, and the epididymides of the male mice were collected to test the weight coefficients, DNA methylation level, and mRNA levels of Aldh7a1 and Rpe.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The body weight and the weight coefficients of the epididymides and testes differed significantly between the exposure group and the control group (P>0.05). The concentrations of TSP, PM2.5, PM10 and NOx and the decibel of noise were significantly higher in the traffic environment and the control environment (P<0.05). Reduced representation bisulphite sequencing (RRBS) and Gene ontology (GO) showed that 58 genes had significantly different methylation levels between the two groups, mostly relating to the process of spermatogenesis (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, Aldh7a1 and Rpe mRNA expressions in the testes were down-regulated significantly in the exposure group (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Exposure of pregnant mice to vehicle exhaust causes damages of the reproductive function in the male offspring mice.</p>

Effect of chronic arsenic exposure on mouse brain tissue and serum metabolomics / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effect of chronic arsenic exposure on cerebral cortex and serum metabolics of mice and explore the mechanism of arsenic neurotoxicity.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twelve 3-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were randomly assigned into exposure group and control group and exposed to sodium arsenite (50 mg/L) via drinking water and deionized water for 12 weeks, respectively. After the exposure, arsenic level in the cerebrum was determined by hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry. The metabolites in the cerebral cortex and serum were determined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to analyze the difference of the metabolites between the exposure and the control groups. Online tools for analyzing metabolic pathways were used to identify the related metabolites pathways.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Arsenic content in the brain of exposure group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). The mice exposed to arsenic had a higher level of citric acid, phenylalanine, tyrosine, histidine and lysine in the cerebral cortex (P<0.05). Serum levels of serine, glycine, proline, aspartate and glutamate were significantly higher while α-ketoglutaric acid level was significantly lower in the exposure group than in the control group (P<0.05). PCA analysis showed a significant difference in cerebral cortex and serum metabolites between the two groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Chronic arsenic exposure may affect the function of the central nervous system by interfering with amino acid metabolism and tricarboxylic acid cycle, which may be one of the mechanisms of arsenic neurotoxicity.</p>

Hepatocellular carcinoma with tumor thrombi in the portal vein. A comparison of therapeutic effects by different treatments / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects of different treatments for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with tumor thrombus in the portal vein (PVTT).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From Jan. 2000 to Jan. 2003, a total of 84 HCC patients with PVTT were divided into five groups based on methed of treatment: Group A (n = 9), HCC resection + PVTT removal + postoperative TACE + thymosin alpha(1); Group B (n = 20), HCC resection + PVTT removal + postoperative TACE; Group C (n = 7), HCC resection + PVTT removal; Group D (n = 38), TACE only; Group E (n = 10), conservative treatment only.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The rate of PVTT shrinkage or disappearance of groups A, B, C, D and E was 66.7%, 70.0%, 57.1%, 7.9% and 0, respectively with respective median survival time of 10.0, 7.0, 8.0, 5.0 and 2.0 months. The one year survival rate was 44.4%, 15.0%, 14.3%, 10.5% and 0.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Resection of HCC and removal of tumor thrombus in the portal vein may have the tumor thrombus cleared in most of the patients and postoperative TACE and thymisin alpha(1) treatment may improve their survival.</p>

Anti-viral therapy using lamivudine and thymosin is helpful to prevent recurrence in hepatocellular carcinoma with coexisting active hepatitis B / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effect of postoperative anti-viral therapy using lamivudine and thymosin alpha1 on recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) coexisting with active hepatitis B.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From Jan. 2000 to Dec. 2002, 33 HCC patients with coexisting with active hepatitis B were randomized into two groups: Group I (n = 17) received hepatectomy only, and Group II (n = 16) received hepatectomy and postoperative therapy using lamivudine plus thymosin alpha1. The suppression of HBV-DNA, HBeAg seroconversion rate, tumor recurrence rate and median survival in the two groups were observed and compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In Group II and Group I, the 1-year HBV-DNA suppression rate was 100.0% vs 6.0% (P < 0.01), HBeAg seroconversion rate was 62.5% vs 5.9% (P < 0.05), tumor recurrence rate was 81.3% vs 95.5% (P > 0.05), the recurrence time was 7.0 vs 5.0 months (P < 0.01) and median survival 10.0 vs 7.0 months (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Anti-viral therapy using lamivudine and thymosin alpha1 postoperatively may suppress the HBV reaction, delay the recurrence and prolong the survival for patients with HCC with coexisting active hepatitis B.</p>

Transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization and thymosin alpha1 in postoperative treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effect of postoperative transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and thymosin alpha(1) (T(alpha1)) treatment on recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From Jan 2000 to Dec 2002, 57 patients with HCC were randomly divided into three groups: group A (n = 18) received hepatectomy plus postoperative TACE and T(alpha1), group B (n = 23) received hepatectomy plus postoperative TACE and group C (n = 16) received hepatectomy only. The recurrence rate, the time to tumor recurrence and the median survival for the three groups were investigated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>For group A, B and C, the 1 year recurrence rate was 83.3%, 87.0% and 87.5% (P = 0.926), respectively. The time to tumor recurrence was 7.0, 5.0 and 4.0 months (P = 0.039), respectively. The median survival was 10.0, 7.0 and 8.0 months (P = 0.002), respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Postoperative TACE plus Talpha(1) treatment for HCC patients does not decrease the recurrence rate but may delay its occurrence and prolong surviving time.</p>