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The prevalence of metabolic syndrome increases rapidly worldwide, and its association with physical activity (PA) varies with race and lifestyles. Little is known about the association in rural China. The Nantong Metabolic Syndrome Study recruited 13,505 female and 6997 male participants in 2007 and 2008. Socio-demographic characteristics, and physiological and behavioural data were collected. Logistic regression model was applied to estimate associations of metabolic syndrome and its components with different PAs. The overall metabolic syndrome prevalence was 21.6% in current study. Increasing total PA or moderate-to-vigorous-intensity occupational PA was associated with decreasing 5%–60% risk of having metabolic syndrome and abnormal metabolic syndrome components in both genders. An association between leisure-time PA and blood pressure was found in men, but no associations between leisure-time PA and metabolic syndrome components were found in women. Commuting PA, such as walking and taking bus, by bicycle and walking only, was associated with decrease of 20%–45% risk of several abnormal metabolic syndrome components in women. This study provides information for future investigation into the nature of these associations so that recommendations can be developed to reduce the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its components among rural population in China. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Essential hypertension (EH) is a complex multifactorial condition influenced by both genetic and environmental factors; aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) is a key enzyme which involves in the terminal steps of aldosterone synthesis. The result of relationship between C-344T of CYP11B2 polymorphism and EH was controversial. This study was undertaken to investigate the association of C-344T polymorphism with EH in the populations of Tibetan, Dongxiang and Han from northwest of China. A total of 2115 participants aged 18–70 years were enrolled in this study. In total, 1776 blood samples, including 545 Tibetan (305 hypertensive and 240 normotensive), 530 Dongxiang (254 hypertensive and 276 normotensive) and 701 Han (338 hypertensive and 363 normotensive), were analyzed successfully by using Snapshot minisequencing method, 30 samples were also performed by direct sequencing (5 hypertensive and 5 normotensive in each population, respectively). The frequencies of genotype and allele of CYP11B2 (C-344T) were not significantly different between EH group and control group in every ethnic population (p > 0.05). However, in female population of Tibetan, the frequencies of CC and CT genotype and C allele in EH group were higher than in control (p< 0.05) group. The frequencies of CC genotype and C allele in both the normotensive controls and EH patients in Tibetan population were higher than in Dongxiang and Han populations. Our study suggests that there is lack of association between C-344T polymorphism of CYP11B2 gene and EH in Dongxiang and Han populations, whereas the polymorphism was correlated with EH in female population of Tibetan. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Most epidemiological studies evaluating the association of fruit and vegetable intakes on lung cancer risk were conducted in North American and European countries. We investigated the association of intakes of fruits, vegetables, dietary vitamins A and C, and folate with lung cancer risk among 61,491 adult Chinese men who were recruited into the Shanghai Men's Health Study, a population-based, prospective cohort study. Baseline dietary intake was assessed through a validated food frequency questionnaire during in-home visits. Multivariate Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of lung cancer risk associated with dietary intakes. During a median follow-up of 5.5 yr, 359 incident lung cancer cases accrued after the first year of follow-up and 68.8% of them were current smokers. Intakes of green leafy vegetables, β-carotene-rich vegetables, watermelon, vitamin A, and carotenoids were inversely associated with lung cancer risk; the corresponding HR (95% CI) comparing the highest with the lowest quartiles were 0.72 (0.53–0.98), 0.69 (0.51–0.94), 0.65 (0.47–0.90), 0.63 (0.44–0.88), and 0.64 (0.46–0.88). Intake of all fruits and vegetables combined was marginally associated with lower risk. Our study suggests that the consumption of carotenoid-rich vegetables is inversely associated with lung cancer risk. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The effects of diet on breast cancer are controversial and whether the effects vary with hormone receptor status has not been well investigated. This study evaluated the associations of dietary factors with risk for breast cancer overall and by the hormone receptor status of tumors among Chinese women. The Shanghai Breast Cancer Study, a large, population-based, case-control study, enrolled 3,443 cases and 3,474 controls in 1996–1998 (phase I) and 2002–2005 (phase II); 2676 cases had estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) data. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated, quantitative, food frequency questionnaire. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were derived from multivariate, polychotomous, unconditional logistic regression models. Total vegetable intake was inversely related to breast cancer risk, with an adjusted OR for the highest quintile of 0.80 (95% CI = 0.67–0.95; P trend = 0.02). Reduced risk was also related to high intake of allium vegetables (P trend = 0.01) and fresh legumes (P trend = 0.0008). High intake of citrus fruits and rosaceae fruits were inversely associated with breast cancer risk (P trend = 0.003 and 0.004, respectively), although no consistent association was seen for total fruit intake. Elevated risk was observed for all types of meat and fish intake (all P trend < 0.05), whereas intakes of eggs and milk were associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer (both P trend <0.05). There was little evidence that associations with dietary intakes varied across the 4 tumor subtypes or between ER+/PR+ and ER-/PR- tumors (P for heterogeneity >0.05). Our results suggest that high intake of total vegetables, certain fruits, milk, and eggs may reduce the risk of breast cancer, whereas high consumption of animal-source foods may increase risk. The dietary associations did not appear to vary by ER/PR status. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]