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Summary: Background: The relationship between sugar‐free beverage (SFB) intake and childhood obesity among Chinese children is unknown. Objectives: To describe the status of SFB consumption among children and adolescents in China and assess the association between SFB intake and different types of obesity. Methods: The study was based on the baseline data of an ongoing cohort project named Evaluation and Monitoring on School‐based Nutrition and Growth in Shenzhen (EMSNGS). Food frequency questionnaires were used to collect information on SFB consumption in 3227 students aged 9–17. Physical and clinical examinations were conducted by trained investigators and clinicians. Multivariable binary logistic regression models were performed to assess the association between SFB intake and general obesity, overweight/obesity, abdominal obesity, metabolically unhealthy overweight (MUOW)/metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO). Results: The median age of the participants was 13.28 years. Among the participants, 55.2% were boys, and 66.1% were adolescents. The median SFB consumption was 16.67 mL/d. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, each 100 mL increase in daily SFB intake was associated with an increased risk of overweight/obesity (OR = 1.14; 95%CI: 1.06–1.23), abdominal obesity (OR = 1.12; 95%CI: 1.03–1.23), and MUOW/MUO (OR = 1.12; 95%CI: 1.02–1.21), respectively. Stratified analyses showed that family income may have an impact on the association between SFB intake and overweight/obesity (P for interaction = 0.021) and abdominal obesity (P for interaction = 0.031). Conclusion: SFB intake was positively associated with childhood obesity in Chinese children, particularly among individuals with high‐income families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The association between atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) and hyperuricemia remains indistinct. This study was aimed to examine the relationship between AIP and hyperuricemia among the middle-aged and the elderly Chinese population. Methods. Datasets were retrieved from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) survey conducted in 2011 and 2015. 13,021 participants in the CHARLS in 2011 and 7,017 participants involved both in 2011 and 2015 were included, respectively. The measurement of AIP and hyperuricemia was based on the test of fasting blood. Association between AIP and hyperuricemia was assessed by logistic regression, and the nonlinear association was examined by restricted cubic splines (RCS). The cutoff point of AIP was calculated using receiver operator curve (ROC). 1 : 1 propensity score matching (PSM) was adopted to further explore the relationship between AIP and hyperuricemia. Results. In the section of a cross-sectional study, a positive association between AIP and hyperuricemia was found. The odds ratios (ORs) of hyperuricemia were 1.00 (reference), 1.52 (1.10–2.10), 1.80 (1.31–2.47), and 3.81 (2.84–5.11). Nonlinear association was not detected using RCS analysis. There were 664 hyperuricemia cases during the four years follow-up. The hyperuricemia prevalence was 9.5%. In the fully adjusted longitudinal analysis, the ORs for hyperuricemia across the quartiles of AIP were 1.00 (reference), 1.00 (0.74–1.37), 1.59 (1.20–2.11), and 2.55 (1.94–3.35), respectively. In the longitudinal analysis after PSM, the OR of hyperuricemia were 1.91 (1.45, 2.51) and 1.92 (1.45, 2.54) in the univariate and multivariate model, respectively. Conclusion. AIP can predict the prevalence of hyperuricemia in the Chinese middle-aged and elderly population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has the highest incidence and mortality rate in the Asian population. However, it is unclear how ethnic genetic variability affects this. Our research shows that hsa-miR-100-5p, a miRNA associated with HCC prognosis, improves prognosis in Asians. In contrast, Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1), inhibited by hsa-miR-100-5p, worsens HCC prognosis in Asians. A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) named rs27770, located in the 3′UTR of PLK1, has a significantly higher frequency of the G allele in the East Asian population. The A>G change in rs27770 affects the PLK1 mRNA secondary structure and alters the hsa-miR-100-5p/PLK1 interaction by creating an additional seedless binding site. This could make hsa-miR-100-5p more favorable for HCC prognosis in the Asian population. Our findings could help explain why the Asian population is more susceptible to HCC. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has the highest incidence and mortality in the Asian population, and race is an independent risk factor affecting survival time in liver cancer. Micro RNAs (miRNAs) are remarkably dysregulated in HCC and closely associated with HCC prognosis. Recent studies show that genetic variability between ethnic groups may result in differences in the specificity of HCC miRNA biomarkers. Here, we reveal a high expression level of hsa-miR-100-5p, an HCC prognosis-related miRNA, which improves HCC prognosis in the Asian Population with Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) variant rs27770A>G. In this study, we discovered that hsa-miR-100-5p was downregulated in various HCC cell lines. While mimics transient transfection and mouse liver cancer model confirmed the interaction between hsa-miR-100-5p and PLK1, a stratified analysis based on the Cancer Genome Atlas Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma (TCGA-LIHC) data suggest both low hsa-miR-100-5p expression level and high PLK1 expression level associated with poor HCC prognosis, especially in the Asian population. According to the 1000 Genomes Project database, the SNP rs27770 located in 3′UTR of PLK1 had a significantly higher G allele frequency in the East Asian population. Bioinformatics analysis suggested that rs27770 A>G affects PLK1 mRNA secondary structure and alters the hsa-miR-100-5p/PLK1 interaction by forming an additional seedless binding site. This racial variation caused PLK1 to be more vulnerable to hsa-miR-100-5p inhibition, resulting in hsa-miR-100-5p being more favorable for HCC prognosis in the Asian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective This study aims to estimate the prevalence of anti-mitochondrial antibody subtype M2 (AMA-M2) and assess its consistency with AMA in a general population. Methods A total of 8954 volunteers were included to screen AMA-M2 using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Sera with AMA-M2 >50 RU/mL were further tested for AMA using an indirect immunofluorescence assay. Results The population frequency of AMA-M2 positivity was 9.67%, of which 48.04% were males and 51.96% were females. The AMA-M2 positivity in males had a peak and valley value of 7.81% and 16.88% in those aged 40 to 49 and ≥70 years, respectively, whereas it showed a balanced age distribution in females. Transferrin and immunoglobulin M were the risk factors for AMA-M2 positivity and exercise was the only protective factor. Of 155 cases with AMA-M2 >50 RU/mL, 25 cases were AMA-positive, with a female-to-male ratio of 5.25:1. Only 2 people, with very high AMA-M2 of 760 and >800 RU/mL, met the diagnostic criteria of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), making the prevalence of PBC 223.36 per million in southern China. Conclusion We found that AMA-M2 has a low coincidence rate with AMA in the general population. A new decision-making point for AMA-M2 is needed to improve consistency with AMA and diagnostic accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Persistent psychological distress associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been well documented. This study aimed to identify pre-COVID brain functional connectome that predicts pandemic-related distress symptoms among young adults. Methods: Baseline neuroimaging studies and assessment of general distress using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale were performed with 100 healthy individuals prior to wide recognition of the health risks associated with the emergence of COVID-19. They were recontacted for the Impact of Event Scale-Revised and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist in the period of community-level outbreaks, and for follow-up distress evaluation again 1 year later. We employed the network-based statistic approach to identify connectome that predicted the increase of distress based on 136-region-parcellation with assigned network membership. Predictive performance of connectome features and causal relations were examined by cross-validation and mediation analyses. Results: The connectome features that predicted emergence of distress after COVID contained 70 neural connections. Most within-network connections were located in the default mode network (DMN), and affective network-DMN and dorsal attention network-DMN links largely constituted between-network pairs. The hippocampus emerged as the most critical hub region. Predictive models of the connectome remained robust in cross-validation. Mediation analyses demonstrated that COVID-related posttraumatic stress partially explained the correlation of connectome to the development of general distress. Conclusions: Brain functional connectome may fingerprint individuals with vulnerability to psychological distress associated with the COVID pandemic. Individuals with brain neuromarkers may benefit from the corresponding interventions to reduce the risk or severity of distress related to fear of COVID-related challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. Few related factors of low bone mass in Cushing's disease (CD) have been identified so far, and relevant sufficient powered studies in CD patients are rare. On account of the scarcity of data, we performed a well-powered study to identify related factors associated with low bone mass in young CD patients. Methods. This retrospective study included 153 CD patients (33 males and 120 females, under the age of 50 for men and premenopausal women). Bone mineral density (BMD) of the left hip and lumbar spine was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). In this study, low bone mass was defined when the Z score was −2.0 or lower. Results. Among those CD patients, low bone mass occurred in 74 patients (48.37%). Compared to patients with normal BMD, those patients with low bone mass had a higher level of serum cortisol at midnight (22.31 (17.95-29.62) vs. 17.80 (13.75-22.77), p = 0.0006), testosterone in women (2.10 (1.33–2.89) vs. 1.54 (0.97–2.05), p = 0.0012), higher portion of male (32.43% vs. 11.54%, p = 0.0016) as well as hypertension (76.12% vs. 51.67%, p = 0.0075), and lower IGF-1 index (0.59 (0.43–0.76) vs. 0.79 (0.60–1.02), p = 0.0001). The Z score was positively associated with the IGF-1 index in both the lumbar spine (r = 0.35153, p < 0.0001) and the femoral neck (r = 0.24418, p = 0.0057). The Z score in the femoral neck was negatively associated with osteocalcin (r = −0.22744, p = 0.0229). Compared to the lowest tertile of the IGF-1 index (<0.5563), the patients with the highest tertile of the IGF-1 index (≥0.7993) had a lower prevalence of low bone mass (95% CI 0.02 (0.001–0.50), p = 0.0002), even after adjusting for confounders such as age, gender, duration, BMI, hypertension, serum cortisol at midnight, PTH, and osteocalcin. Conclusions. The higher IGF-1 index was independently associated with lower prevalence of low bone mass in young CD patients, and IGF-1 might play an important role in the pathogenesis of CD-caused low bone mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interleukin 21 (IL-21) is a receptor participating in innate immunity and correlates with the activation of innate immune cells. We sought to investigate the role of plasma IL-21 in patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN). This was a cross-sectional and case-control study. We analyzed plasma IL-21 in patients with IMN, with other kidney diseases as the diseased controls (DCs), and the healthy controls (HCs), regarding their associations with the risk of having IMN and IMN severity. We enrolled 132, 22, and 38 patients with IMN, DC, and HC, respectively. Plasma IL-21 was significantly higher in those with IMN [9.42 (6.93, 12.60)] and DC [7.84 (2.90, 7.95)] compared with HC [5.60 (2.90, 7.10)] (p<0.05). Plasma IL-21 was significantly higher in those with IMN stage III [10.36 (6.94, 20.88)] and II [9.75 (7.60, 14.27)] than those with IMN stage I [6.99 (3.91, 9.08)] (p<0.05). Plasma IL-21 was significantly higher in those with a positive anti-phospholipase A2 receptor antibody (PLA2R) [9.60 (8.27, 12.93)] than those with a negative anti-PLA2R antibody [4.84 (2.90, 11.28)] (p<0.05). Receiver operator characteristic curve analysis showed that a cutoff value of 7.665 pg/mL distinguished patients with IMN from HC and DC with a sensitivity and specificity of 68.94 and 89.47 %, respectively, and the area under the curve was 0.8184. A cutoff value of 7.830 pg/mL identified those with IMN stage II with a sensitivity and specificity of 74.03 and 89.47 %, respectively, with an area under the curve of 0.8718 (p<0.001). Multivariate regression showed that plasma IL-21 was positively correlated with anti-PLA2R and 24 h urine protein, and negatively correlated with total protein and serum albumin. Plasma IL-21 levels increased significantly in patients with IMN. IL-21 may therefore serve as a biomarker for IMN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cancer is a complex systemic disease. As a key component of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture is a clinically proven medical treatment for many diseases, and it also has preventative effects as it balances the body, allowing it to self-regulate. For cancer patients, acupuncture is widely used as complementary therapy to boost the immune system and reduce the side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. However, few studies have determined how acupuncture against cancer, especially in regulating the intestinal flora of the tumor-burdened mice. Methods: We treated osteosarcoma tumor-burdened mice by using needling on different acupoints and acupoints combination, thereafter determined the effects of acupuncture on tumor growth by using imaging technology in vitro. In addition, intestinal bacteria were analyzed for further understanding the holistic and systemic treatment effects of acupuncture in osteosarcoma tumor-burdened mice. Results: Acupuncture treatment can delay tumor growth and changes of intestinal bacteria in osteosarcoma tumor-burdened mice. In detail, the loss of body weight and the development of tumor volume of mice have been postposed by needling specific acupoints. In addition, acupuncture treatment has delayed the changes of the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Candidatus Saccharibacteria at the phylum level. Moreover, the relative abundance of many bacteria (e.g., Catabacter, Acetatifactor and Aestuariispira) has been regulated by using acupuncture treatment, and the trend of structural changes of these bacteria at the genus level has also been postposed compared to that of the tumor-burdened mice model group. Conclusion: Our results suggest that acupuncture may provide a systemic treatment for cancer. Our findings encourage new and extensive research into the effects of acupuncture on changes of the intestinal microbiome associated with the development of cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxymatrine (OMTR) is widely used for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in China. Several reports revealed that combination of OMTR and lamivudine reduced the incidence of tyrosine- (Y-) methionine- (M-) aspartic acid- (D-) aspartic acid (D) (YMDD) mutations in CHB patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical value of oxymatrine in preventing lamivudine induced YMDD mutation using meta-analysis of data from published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and to provide some useful information for clinical treatment and future research of YMDD mutation. The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Medline, Science Citation Index, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, and China Biomedical Database were searched to identify RCTs that evaluated the incidence of YMDD-motif mutation to lamivudine therapy and lamivudine plus OMTR therapies in CHB patients. Data analysis was carried out with the use of RevMan 5.3.2. The literature search yielded 324 studies, and 16 RCTs matched the selection criteria. Overall, the incidence of YMDD mutation was significantly lower in patients treated with lamivudine plus OMTR than in patients treated with lamivudine alone (11.14% versus 28.18%; RR: 0.41; 95% CI: 0.33–0.52; p<0.05). The exact outcome needs to perform rigorously designed, multicenter, and large randomized controlled trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, the leading known cause of mental retardation, is caused by alcohol exposure during pregnancy. One mechanism of ethanol (EtOH) teratogenicity is the disruption of the functions of L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1). These functions include enhancement of neurite outgrowth, trafficking through lipid rafts, and signal transduction. Recent data have shown that choline supplementation of rat pups reduces the effects of EtOH on neurobehavior. We sought to determine whether choline could prevent the effect of EtOH on L1 function using a simple experimental system. Methods Cerebellar granule neurons ( CGN) from postnatal day 6 rat pups were cultured with and without supplemental choline, and the effects on L1 signaling, lipid raft distribution, and neurite outgrowth were measured in the presence or absence of EtOH. Results Choline significantly reduced the effect of EtOH on L1 signaling, the distribution of L1 in lipid rafts and L1-mediated neurite outgrowth. However, choline supplemented EtOH-exposed cultures remained significantly different than controls. Conclusions Choline pretreatment of CGN significantly reduces the disruption of L1 function by EtOH, but does not completely return L1 function to baseline. This experimental system will enable discovery of the mechanism of the neuroprotective effect of choline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is an immense public health problem. In vitro studies support the hypothesis that L1 cell adhesion molecule ( L1) is a target for ethanol ( EtOH) developmental neurotoxicity. L1 is critical for the development of the central nervous system. It functions through signal transduction leading to phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of tyrosines on its cytoplasmic domain. The function of L1 is also dependent on trafficking through lipid rafts ( LRs). Our hypothesis is that L1 is a target for EtOH neurotoxicity in vivo. Our objective is to demonstrate changes in L1 phosphorylation/dephosphorylation and LR association in vivo. Methods Rat pups on postnatal day 6 are administered 4.5, 5.25, and 6 g/kg of EtOH divided into 2 doses 2 hours apart, then killed. Cerebella are rapidly frozen for assay. Blood is analyzed for blood EtOH concentration. L1 tyrosine phosphorylation is determined by immunoprecipitation and dephosphorylation of tyrosine 1176 determined by immunoblot. LRs are isolated by sucrose density gradient, and the distribution of L1 in LRs is determined. Results EtOH at all doses reduced the relative amount of Y1176 dephosphorylation as well as the relative amount of L1 phosphorylated on other tyrosines. The proportion of L1 present in LRs is significantly increased in pups who received 6 g/kg EtOH compared to intubated controls. Conclusions L1 is a target for EtOH developmental neurotoxicity in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]