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The association between dietary fat intake during pregnancy and the risk of developing preeclampsia has been examined in many epidemiological studies, but the results remain inconsistent. The aim of this study was to clarify this association in pregnant Chinese women. After conducting 1:1 matching, 440 pairs consisting of pregnant women with preeclampsia and hospital-based, healthy pregnant women matched by gestational week (± 1 week) and age (± 3 years) were recruited. A 79-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire administered during face-to-face interviews was used to estimate the participants' dietary intake of fatty acids. We found that the intakes of arachidonic acid (AA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were inversely associated with the risk of developing preeclampsia. Compared with the lowest quartile intake, the multivariate-adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of the highest quartile intake were 0.42 (0.26–0.68, p-trend < 0.001) for EPA, 0.52 (0.3–0.83, p-trend = 0.005) for DHA, and 0.41 (0.19–0.88, p-trend = 0.007) for AA. However, we did not observe any significant associations between the intake of total fatty acids, saturated fatty acids, and mono-unsaturated fatty acids and the risk of developing preeclampsia. Our results showed that the dietary intake of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (i.e., EPA, DHA, and AA) may protect pregnant Chinese women against the development of preeclampsia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The association between specific fish intake and colorectal cancer risk remains controversial. This study aimed to examine the association between specific fish intake and colorectal cancer risk in Chinese population in a large case control study. During July 2010 to November 2014, 1189 eligible colorectal cancer cases and 1189 frequency-matched controls (age and sex) completed in-person interviews. A validated food frequency questionnaire was used to estimate dietary intake. Multivariate logistical regression models were used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) after adjusting for various confounders. A strong inverse association was found between freshwater fish intake and colorectal cancer risk. Compared with the lowest quartile, the highest quartile intake showed a risk reduction of 53% (OR 0.47, 95% CI = 0.36-0.60, Ptrend < 0.01) after adjustment for various confounders. The inverse association were also observed for sea fish (OR 0.79, 95%CI = 0.62-0.99, Ptrend < 0.01) and fresh fish (OR 0.49, 95%CI = 0.38-0.62, Ptrend < 0.01). No statistically significant association was found between dried/salted fish and shellfish intake and colorectal cancer risk. These results indicate that higher consumption of freshwater fish, sea fish and fresh fish is associated with a lower risk of colorectal caner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Body composition and bone strength are closely associated. How lean mass (LM) and fat mass (FM) contribute to bone strength remains ambiguous. We investigated the associations of total body LM and FM with changes in predicted hip bone strength over a period of 3 years in 1,743 postmenopausal Chinese women from the communities of Guangzhou, China. The body compositions of the women were obtained with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. We used the hip structure analysis program to obtain the bone parameters at the femoral neck region, including the bone mineral density (BMD), cross-sectional area (CSA), cortical thickness (CT), section modulus (SM) and buckling ratio (BR). We found the FM and LM were positive predictors for hip bone strength (β > 0, P < 0.05). The LM had a larger contribution to the BMD, CSA, CT, SM and/or their annual percent changes (βLM > βFM), while the contribution of FM to the BR and its annual percent change was higher than LM (|βFM| > |βLM|). Further analysis found that the associations of FM and LM with bone parameters were stronger in the underweight and normal weight participants (|βBMI1| > |βBMI2|). Overall, FM and LM had positive but differential effects on predicted hip bone strength, with a higher impact in the thinner participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous reports on the association between retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) were controversial. This study aimed to investigate the association between the serum RBP4 levels and occurrence of NAFLD in Chinese population. In total, 2938 participants aged 40-75 years were involved in this community-based cross-sectional study. General information, lifestyle factors, serum levels of RBP4 and the presence of NAFLD were determined. Patients with NAFLD had significantly higher concentrations of RBP4 (37.9 ± 6.8 μg/ml) than did non-NAFLD controls (35.0 ± 6.7 μg/ml) (P < 0.001). The odds ratios (ORs) of NAFLD for the highest (vs. lowest) quartile of RBP4 were 1.884 (95% CI: 1.391, 2.551) for females (P < 0.001), and 2.107 (95% CI: 1.357, 3.273) for male participants (P < 0.01) after adjusting for related factors. The serum RBP4 levels were positively associated with the prevalence of NAFLD in middle-aged and elderly Chinese people, and Homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), trunk fat, the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), fasting insulin, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglycerides (TG) might be implicated in the pathogenesis of RBP4 in NAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have suggested that serum carotenoids may be inversely associated with liver injury, but limited data are available from population-based studies. We examined the relationship between serum carotenoid levels and the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in Chinese adults. A total of 2935 participants aged 40-75 years were involved in this community-based cross-sectional study. General information, lifestyle factors, serum levels of carotenoid and the presence and degree of NAFLD were determined. After adjusting for potential covariates, we observed a dose-dependent inverse association between NAFLD risk and each individual serum carotenoid and total carotenoids (all p-values < 0.001). The ORs of NAFLD for the highest (vs. lowest) quartile were 0.44 (95% CI 0.35, 0.56) for α-carotene, 0.32 (95% CI 0.25, 0.41) for β-carotene, 0.62 (95% CI 0.49, 0.79) for β-cryptoxanthin, 0.54 (95% CI 0.42, 0.68) for lycopene, 0.56 (95% CI 0.44, 0.72) for lutein + zeaxanthin and 0.41 (95% CI 0.32, 0.53) for total carotenoids. Higher levels of α-carotene, β-carotene, lutein + zeaxanthin and total carotenoids were significantly associated with a decrease in the degree of NAFLD (p-trend: < 0.001 to 0.003). Serum carotenoids are inversely associated with prevalence of NAFLD in middle aged and elderly Chinese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]