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Purpose: Potentially toxic element (PTE) concentrations in mine-degraded soil and their bioaccumulation in food crops is a public health concern worldwide. The current study investigates the influence of organic geo-sorbents including biochar (B), farmyard manure (FYM), and peat moss (PTM) on PTE in chromite mine-degraded soil and their subsequent effects on spinach biomass, PTE uptake, average dietary intake (ADI), and health risk (HRI) associated with PTE via spinach consumption. Materials and methods: Chromite mine-degraded soil samples were collected from different mining sites in Kohistan region. Pot experiments were carried out in the greenhouse environment. The selected geo-sorbents (B, FYM and PTM) were mixed at application rates of 1%, 2%, and 5%. Contaminated soil without geo-sorbents (control treatment) was also included in each batch of the experiments. Local FYM and PTM were used in this experiment, while B was provided by the Institute of Urban Environment (CAS) Xiamen, China. The total carbon (C), total nitrogen (N), and total sulfur (S) contents in mine-degraded soil and organic geo-sorbents were measured using a macro-elementor (VarioMax CNS, Germany). Total (acid digestion) and bioavailable PTE (As, Cd, Cr, Ni, Zn, and Pb) concentrations in mine-degraded soil and spinach were determined using inductive coupled plasma mass spectrophotometer (ICP-MS 7500 CX, Agilent Technologies, USA). Results and discussion: The addition of organic geo-sorbents effectively immobilized the PTE concentrations in mine-degraded soil, and increased the major nutrient contents and thereby reduced the bioaccumulation of PTE (Cr, As, Ni, Cd, Zn, and Pb) in spinach. Consequently, B2, B5, FYM2, FYM5, PTM2, and PTM5 amendments significantly (p < 0.001) increased the biomass, whereas the B1, FYM1, and PTM1 addition showed no significant increase in spinach biomass as compared to the control treatment. The results showed that all the organic geo-sorbents had significantly (p < 0.001) reduced the As uptake in spinach, while B2, B5, FYM2, FYM5, and PTM5 significantly (p < 0.001) decreased PTE bioaccumulation as compared to the control treatment. Conclusions: The highest application rate (5%) showed the best result in increasing the spinach growth and biomass as well as reducing the PTE mobility in soil, and their bioaccumulation in spinach, as compared to 1% and 2% application rates and also with the control treatment. Furthermore, the average dietary intake (ADI) of PTE and health risk indices (HRIs) reduced via spinach consumption for both the children and adults, due to the addition of selected organic geo-sorbents used for soil amendments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Conventional meta-analysis based on genetic markers may be less powerful for heterogeneous samples. In this study, we introduced a new meta-analysis for 4 genomewide association studies on alcohol dependence that integrated the information of putative causal variants. Methods A total of 12,481 subjects in 4 independent cohorts were analyzed, including 1 European American cohort (1,409 cases with alcohol dependence and 1,518 controls), 1 European Australian cohort (a total of 6,438 family subjects with 1,645 probands), 1 African American cohort from SAGE + COGA (681 cases and 508 controls), and 1 African American cohort from Yale (1,429 cases and 498 controls). The genomewide association analysis was conducted for each cohort, and then, a new meta-analysis was performed to derive the combined p-values. cis-Acting expression of quantitative locus ( cis-eQTL) analysis of each risk variant in human tissues and RNA expression analysis of each risk gene in rat brain served as functional validation. Results In meta-analysis of European American and European Australian cohorts, we found 10 top-ranked single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) ( p < 10−6) that were associated with alcohol dependence. They included 6 at SERINC2 (3.1 × 10−8 ≤ p ≤ 9.6 × 10−8), 1 at STK40 ( p = 1.3 × 10−7), 2 at KIAA0040 (3.3 × 10−7 ≤ p ≤ 5.2 × 10−7), and 1 at IPO11 ( p = 6.9 × 10−7). In meta-analysis of 2 African American cohorts, we found 2 top-ranked SNPs including 1 at SLC6A11 ( p = 2.7 × 10−7) and 1 at CBLN2 ( p = 7.4 × 10−7). In meta-analysis of all 4 cohorts, we found 2 top-ranked SNPs in PTP4A1- PHF3 locus (6.0 × 10−7 ≤ p ≤ 7.2 × 10−7). In an African American cohort only, we found 1 top-ranked SNP at PLD1 ( p = 8.3 × 10−7; OR = 1.56). Many risk SNPs had positive cis-eQTL signals, and all these risk genes except KIAA0040 were found to express in both rat and mouse brains. Conclusions We found multiple genes that were significantly or suggestively associated with alcohol dependence. They are among the most appropriate for follow-up as contributors to risk for alcohol dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies about the association between bilirubin and migraine were few. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the association between serum total bilirubin and the prevalence of severe headaches or migraine., Methods: A multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the association between serum total bilirubin concentration and severe headaches or migraine. We also performed stratified analyses, interaction analyses and multiple interpolations in the sensitivity analysis., Results: This cross-sectional study included 12,552 adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 to 2004. The overall incidence of migraine was 19.99% (2,509/12,552). With every 1 mg/dl increase in bilirubin, the prevalence of migraine decreased by 23% (95% CI: 0.64, 0.93) after adjustment of all related covariates. Similarly, the risk of migraine was reduced by 17% (95% CI: 0.72, 0.97) in the Q4 group (the fourth quartile, highest serum total bilirubin level) compared with the Q1 group (the lowest level). Furthermore, interaction effects by age groups were significant in this relationship (P for interaction = 0.0004). In the Q4 group compared with Q1, inverse associations were observed in those aged ≥40 years (OR: 0.71,95% CI: 0.59, 0.85) in the stratified analysis., Conclusion: These findings support an association between serum total bilirubin and severe headaches or migraine, revealing an inverse association between serum total bilirubin quartiles and severe headaches or migraine in American adults. Age could play an important role in this association., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Objective: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a relatively common extraarticular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that contributes significantly to disease burden and excess mortality. The purpose of this study was to identify peripheral blood markers of RA-associated ILD that can facilitate earlier diagnosis and provide insight regarding the pathogenesis of this potentially devastating disease complication., Methods: Patients with RA who were enrolled in a well-characterized Chinese identification cohort or a US replication cohort were subclassified as having RA-no ILD, RA-mild ILD, or RA-advanced ILD, based on high-resolution computed tomography scans of the chest. Multiplex enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) and Luminex xMAP technology were used to assess 36 cytokines/chemokines, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and acute-phase proteins in the identification cohort. Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression models were used to quantify the strength of association between RA-ILD and biomarkers of interest., Results: MMP-7 and interferon-γ-inducible protein 10 (IP-10)/CXCL10 were identified by multiplex ELISA as potential biomarkers for RA-ILD in 133 RA patients comprising the Chinese identification cohort (50 RA-no ILD, 41 RA-ILD, 42 RA-indeterminate ILD). The findings were confirmed by standard solid-phase sandwich ELISA in the Chinese identification cohort as well as an independent cohort of US patients with RA and different stages of ILD (22 RA-no ILD, 49 RA-ILD, 15 RA-indeterminate ILD), with statistically significant associations in both unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression analyses., Conclusion: Levels of MMP-7 and IP-10/CXCL10 are elevated in the serum of RA patients with ILD, whether mild or advanced, supporting their value as pathogenically relevant biomarkers that can contribute to noninvasive detection of this extraarticular disease complication., (Copyright © 2015 by the American College of Rheumatology.)