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Background and Objective. Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is a progressive and irreversible disorder of collagen metabolism, resulting in mucosal fibrosis, oral functional changes, and even malignant transformation. This study investigated the relationship between human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DQB1 alleles and the susceptibility to OSF in a Hunan Han population, providing a new basis for clinical prevention and treatment of OSF. Methods. 44 OSF patients and 44 healthy volunteers were included in this study. To detect the expression frequency of HLA-DQB1 alleles in the two groups and analyze significant allelic subtypes and their relative risk, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) sequence-specific primers were used. Subsequently, based on the identification of differential genes, we compare the gene expression levels of OSF patients and healthy volunteers expressing differential genes by real-time quantitative PCR. Results. The expression frequency of the HLA-DQB1 ∗ 05 : 02 allele in the OSF group (36.4%) was significantly higher than in the controls (13.6%), and exposure to the HLA-DQB1 ∗ 05 : 02 allele was strongly related to OSF (OR (95% CI) = 3.619 (1.257,10.421), Wald χ2 = 5.681, P = 0.017). However, there were no significant differences in the allele expression frequencies of DQB1 ∗ 02 : 01, DQB1 ∗ 03 : 03, DQB1 ∗ 05 : 01, DQB1 ∗ 05 : 03, DQB1 ∗ 06 : 02, DQB1 ∗ 06 : 03, and DQB1 ∗ 06 : 04 in the OSF group compared with the controls (all P > 0.05). Furthermore, the relative expression level of the HLA-DQB1 ∗ 05 : 02 allele in the OSF group (3.98 ± 3.50) was significantly higher than in controls (0.70 ± 0.41). Conclusions. There are differences in the HLA-DQB1 allele polymorphisms between the healthy population and patients with oral submucosal fibrosis. Preliminarily, it is suggested that the HLA-DQB1 ∗ 05 : 02 allele, which has a strong correlation with OSF and great differential expression between patients with OSF and controls, might be a susceptibility gene for OSF in Hunan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sensitive and selective method of ultra‐fast GC electronic nose (E‐nose) coupled with chemical methodology was developed for both identifying the chemical constituents of essential oil from star anise (EOSA) and the screening of the radical scavenging activity of each compound in EOSA quickly without the isolation of monomers by comparing the change of the chromatographic peak area of every component in EOSA before and after the reaction with the free radicals. The results showed the main components of EOSA were anethole (36.42%), limonene (20.77%), α‐terpinene (6.51%), and α‐phellandrene(5.61%). Among all chemical components, p‐menthatriene showed the strongest scavenging ability both in 1,1'‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazine (DPPH) and hydroxyl (OH) radicals, and p‐cymenene showed the strongest scavenging ability in 2,2'‐azino‐bis(3‐ethyl‐benzothiazoline‐6‐sulphonate) (ABTS) radical, with scavenging rates of 93.00 ± 0.56%, 79.50 ± 0.78%, and 70.80 ± 0.32%, respectively. The reliability and feasibility of using E‐nose to identify chemical constituents of EOSA were verified by gas chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry(GC‐MS/MS). Practical applications: The essential oils are the complex mixtures and important constituents in natural edible spices. How to evaluate and screen the radical scavenging activity of each component in the mixtures is a very challenging project. The traditional chemical methods are mainly used to evaluate total radical scavenging activity and antioxidant activity of essential oils. The compounds in the mixture need to be separated into individuals in advance if we want to know the bioactivity of each component and their radical scavenging activity in the past. The paper has developed a simple and convenient ultra‐fast GC E‐nose method. This method can not only quickly identify the chemical components of essential oil from star anise, but also quickly evaluate the radical scavenging activity of each compound in the essential oil from star anise. The proposed method can be applied to almost any other essential oils and volatile mixtures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aeromonads are ubiquitous in aquatic environments and have been implicated in fish and human infections. In this study, we isolated, studied antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and screened the existence of 15 virulence genes in aeromonads from two famously consumed fish species—seven marine Tiger Grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) and eight freshwater Marble Goby (Oxyeleotris marmoratus) from the aquaculture hatchery in Sabah, Malaysia. A total of 30 aeromonads (17 A. caviae, 9 A. rivuli, 4 A. dhakensis) were identified using PCR targeting GCAT gene, rpoD‐restriction fragment length polymorphism and multi‐locus phylogenetic analysis. All 30 strains were resistant to amoxicillin and cephalothin and five strains were multidrug‐resistant. Nine virulence genes (lip, ela, eno, fla, aerA, hylA, dam, alt and ser) present in A. dhakensis, suggesting the virulence potential of this species as a fish pathogen. This study offers as a baseline for future studies in monitoring and managing these two fish in aquaculture industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the primary causes of premature death and disability worldwide. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the published literature regarding the trends in prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of diabetes mellitus in mainland China. PUBMED, EMBASE, Chinese Biomedical Database, China National Infrastructure database, Chinese Wan Fang database, and Chongqing VIP database were searched. Fifty-six eligible studies were included. Increasing trends in the prevalence, treatment, and control of diabetes in mainland China from 1979 to 2012 were observed. The pooled prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of diabetes mellitus were 6.41%, 45.81%, 42.54%, and 20.87%, respectively. A higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus was found in urban (7.48%, 95%CI = 5.45~9.50) than rural (6.53%, 95%CI = 4.30~8.76) areas. Furthermore, an increasing chronological tendency was shown in different subgroups of age with regard to the prevalence of diabetes. A higher awareness of DM was found in urban (44.25%, 95%CI = 32.60~55.90) than rural (34.27%, 95%CI = 21.00~47.54) populations, and no significant differences were found in the treatment, and control of diabetes among the subgroups stratified by gender and location. From 1979 to 2012, the prevalence, treatment, and control of diabetes mellitus increased; nevertheless, there was no obvious improvement in the awareness of diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]