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Trace elements may play an important role in obesity. This study aimed to assess the plasma and dietary intake levels of four trace elements, Mn, Cu, Zn and Se in a rural Chinese population, and analyse the relationship between trace elements and obesity. A cross-sectional study involving 2587 participants was conducted. Logistic regression models were used to analyse the association between trace elements and obesity; restricted cubic spline (RCS) models were used to assess the dose–response relationship between trace elements and obesity; the weighted quantile sum (WQS) model was used to examine the potential interaction of four plasma trace elements on obesity. Logistic regression analysis showed that plasma Se concentrations in the fourth quartile (Q4) exhibited a lower risk of developing obesity than the first quartile (Q1) (central obesity: OR = 0·634, P = 0·002; general obesity: OR = 0·525, P = 0·005). Plasma Zn concentration in the third quartile (Q3) showed a lower risk of developing obesity in general obesity compared with the first quartile (Q1) (OR = 0·625, P = 0·036). In general obesity, the risk of morbidity was 1·727 and 1·923 times higher for the second and third (Q2, Q3) quartiles of dietary Mn intake than for Q1, respectively. RCS indicated an inverse U-shaped correlation between plasma Se and obesity. WQS revealed the combined effects of four trace elements were negatively associated with central obesity. Plasma Zn and Se were negatively associated with obesity, and dietary Mn was positively associated with obesity. The combined action of the four plasma trace elements had a negative effect on obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Yupingfeng is a Chinese herbal compound used efficaciously to treat respiratory tract diseases. Total glucosides of Yupingfeng have been proven effective in anti-inflammation and immunoregulation. Nevertheless, the role of [...]

A study on the genetic polymorphisms of 29 Y-STR loci in 1 532 unrelated males of Han population in Southern Jiangxi province and its genetic relationship with other ethnic groups in China was conducted. The Y-STR loci were amplified by DNATyper™ Y29 kit, and capillary electrophoresis was carried out by 3730 genetic analyzer. Y-STR typing was carried out by GeneMapper IDX 1.4 software, and genetic data such as allele frequency and haplotype frequency of 29 Y-STR loci were calculated. Mega-X was used to construct the phylogenetic trees for the selected populations. The molecular variance analysis (AMO- VA) of YHRD online tool software was used to calculate the genetic distance between Southern Jiangxi Han population and other populations, and at the same time to construct multi-dimensional scale map (MDS). After analysis, the gene diversity (GD) values of 29 Y-STR loci ranged from 0.381 5 to 0.876 6. In addition to DYS508, DYS437, DYS391 and DYS438 loci, the GD values of the other 25 gene loci were higher than 0.5. The haplotype diversity (HD) was 0.999 924, indicating that 29 Y-STR loci had high genetic polymorphism in Southern Jiangxi Han population. Compared with the Han population in other areas, the genetic distance between the Han population in Southern Jiangxi and Fujian was the closest (genetic distance Rst is 0.000 2), and that between the Han populations in Southern Jiangxi and Heilongjiang was the furthest (Rst is 0.024 9). Compared with other ethnic groups, the Han nationality in Southern Jiangxi had the closest genetic distance to the Bai nationality in Yunnan (Rst is 0.005 9), and the furthest genetic distance to the Tibetan nationality in Ganzi (Rst is 0.468 9). The results showed that the 29 Y-STR loci in this study have high genetic polymorphism in Southern Jiangxi Han population, which can meet the requirements of family investigation and forensic examination. The data obtained can provide data support for research and application of population of genetics and forensic science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, kinship testing is very common in forensic caseworks, but the power of autosomal short tandem repeats (A-STRs) may be limited in complex cases. X-Chromosome short tandem repeats (X-STRs), having a unique heritage mode, should be of special use in some deficient cases. To evaluate and compare the potential of A-STR and X-STR as supplement genetic markers in deficient kinship testing, we simulated 10,000 duos for each of 18 kinds of relationships involving full sibling, half-sibling, grandparent-grandchild, and uncle/aunt-nephew/niece. Loci from STRTyper10, PowerPlex 16, and Investigator Argus X-12 were studied in Southern Han Chinese and the distribution of likelihood ratio (LR) values was analysed. With the addition of the X-12 system, the distribution of LR values for the full sisters, paternal half-sisters, paternal grandmother-granddaughters, maternal aunt-nieces, and maternal aunt-nephews separated much more obviously from those of unrelated duos, and the effectiveness was 1.0000, 0.99865, 0.9991, 0.8996 and 0.9634, respectively, which was more efficient than A-STRs. For the individual duos with other relationships, the effects of adding X-STRs and A-STRs were similar. Therefore, for the Southern Han Chinese, X-STRs can be very useful in kinship testing involving full sisters, paternal half-sisters, paternal grandmother-granddaughters, and maternal aunt-nieces/nephews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]