Prevalence of Obesity and Its Influence on Achievement of Cardiometabolic Therapeutic Goals in Chinese Type 2 Diabetes Patients: An Analysis of the Nationwide,Cross-Sectional 3B Study

Background

There are few data on the prevalence of obesity and its influence on achieving blood glucose, blood pressure, and blood lipid (3B) goals in Chinese type 2 diabetes outpatients.

Methods

Patient demographic data, anthropometric measurements, medications, and blood glucose and lipid profiles of 24,512 type 2 diabetes patients from a large, geographically diverse study (CCMR-3B) were analyzed. Using cut-points for body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) recommended by the Working Group on Obesity in China, overweight and obesity were defined as BMIs of 24–27.9kg/m² and ≥28.0kg/m². Central obesity was defined as a waist circumference ≥80cm in women and ≥85cm in men. The 3B therapeutic goals were HbA1c<7.0%, BP<140/90mmHg and LDL-C<2.6mmol/L.

Results

Overall, 43.0% of type 2 diabetes patients were overweight and 16.7% were obese; 13.3% of overweight and and10.1% of obese patients achieved all the 3B target goals. Overweight or obese patients were less likely to achieve 3B goals than those with normal BMIs. More than a half the overweight or obese patients (69.6%) were centrally obese. Patients with abdominal obesity were less likely to achieve cardiometabolic targets than those without abdominal obesity. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, female, higher BMI and waist circumference, smoking, drinking, sedentary lifestyle, and longer diabetes duration were significantly correlated with failure to achieve 3B control goals.

Conclusions

Obesity is highly prevalent and associated with poor 3B control in Chinese type 2 diabetes patients. In clinical practice, more attention and resources should focus on weight loss for such patients.     

Synthesis and evaluation of naphthalene-based thiosemicarbazone derivatives as new anticancer agents against LNCaP prostate cancer cells

Fourteen new naphthalene-based thiosemicarbazone derivatives were designed as anticancer agents against LNCaP human prostate cancer cells and synthesized. MTT assay indicated that compounds 6, 8 and 11 exhibited inhibitory effect on LNCaP cells. Among these compounds, 4-(naphthalen-1-yl)-1-[1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethylidene)thiosemicarbazide (6), which caused more than 50% death on LNCaP cells, was chosen for flow cytometric analysis of apoptosis. Flow cytometric analysis pointed out that compound 6 also showed apoptotic effect on LNCaP cells. Compound 6 can be considered as a promising anticancer agent against LNCaP cells owing to its potent cytotoxic activity and apoptotic effect.     

Antisense RNA-mediated suppression of Bmi-1 gene expression inhibits the proliferation of lung cancer cell line A549

The oncogene Bmi-1 regulates cell proliferation and senescence. It is reported that it controlled the self-renewal of leukemic and breast cancer stem cell and was overexpressed in some solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. In this study, the effects of inactivation of Bmi-1 mediated by a plasmid-expressing antisense Bmi-1 RNA on the proliferation of lung cancer cell line A549 were investigated. As a result, when the plasmid was stably introduced into the cell line, the Bmi-1 protein level was specifically downregulated, and the cell proliferation was significantly inhibited as shown by the cell growth curve and colony forming assay. The cells were found mostly in the phase of G(0)/G(1) and cells in S phase were significantly decreased. Our results suggest that targeting Bmi-1 might be a therapeutic potential for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer.     

Synthesis and analgesic activity of some acetamide derivatives

In the present study, some acetamide derivatives were synthesized and their potential analgesic activities were investigated. N-(benzothiazol-2-yl)-2-[(1-substituted-1H-tetrazol-5-yl)thio]acetamide derivatives were obtained by the nucleophilic substitution reaction of 2-chloro-N-(benzothiazole-2-yl)acetamides with appropriate tetrazol-5-thioles. The chemical structures of the compounds were elucidated by IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and FAB?-MS spectral data and elemental analyses. The prepared compounds were investigated for their potential analgesic properties against thermal, mechanical and chemical nociceptive stimuli using hot-plate, tail-clip and acetic acid-induced writhing tests, respectively. The assessment of motor coordination was carried out using Rota-Rod test. Tested compounds applied at 100 mg/kg doses caused significant decrease in acetic acid-induced writhing responses and increase in hot-plate and tail-clip latencies. None of the compounds exhibited destructive effect on motor coordination of the mice in Rota-Rod performance.     

Evaluation of bone plate with low-stiffness material in terms of stress distribution

The aim of this study is to evaluate a newly developed bone plate with low-stiffness material in terms of stress distribution. In this numerical study, 3D finite element models of the bone plate with low-stiffness material and traditional bone plates made of stainless steel and Ti alloy have been developed by using the ANSYS software. Stress analyses have been carried out for all three models under the same loading and boundary conditions. Compressive stresses occurring in the intact portion of the bone (tibia) and at the fractured interface at different stages of bone healing have been investigated for all three types of bone-plate systems. The results obtained have been compared and presented in graphs. It has been seen that the bone plate with low-stiffness material offers less stress-shielding to the bone, providing a higher compressive stress at the fractured interface to induce accelerated healing in comparison with Ti alloy and stainless-steel bone plate. In addition, the effects of low-stiffness materials with different Young's modulus on stress distribution at the fractured interface have been investigated in the newly developed bone-plate system. The results showed that when a certain value of Young's modulus of low-stiffness material is exceeded, increase in stiffness of the bone plate does not occur to a large extent and stress distributions and micro-motions at the fractured interface do not change considerably.     

HIV,Syphilis, and Behavioral Risk Factors among Female Sex Workers before and after Implementation of Harm Reduction Programs in a High Drug-Using Area of China

Objective

To evaluate the impact of harm reduction programs on HIV and syphilis infection and related risk behaviors among female sex workers (FSWs) in a drug trafficking city in Southwest China.

Design

Before and after harm reduction program study.

Methods

Two cross-sectional surveys were conducted among FSWs before and after harm reduction programs were launched in Xichang city, Sichuan province. The first and second cross-sectional surveys were conducted in 2004 and 2010, respectively. Temporal changes in odds of HIV, syphilis, and behavioral risk factors were assessed by multivariable logistic regression while controlling for socio-demographics.

Results

The 2004 and 2010 cross-sectional surveys recruited 343 and 404 FSWs, respectively. From 2004 to 2010, the odds of syphilis infection decreased by 35% and was of borderline statistical significance (AOR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.41–1.03), while odds of HIV infection rose, but not significantly (AOR: 4.12, 95% CI: 0.76–22.45). Although odds of unprotected sex with primary sex partners did not significantly change over time (AOR: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.61–1.50), odds of unprotected sex with clients declined significantly and remarkably (AOR: 0.14, 95% CI: 0.09–0.21). Notably, the odds of reporting ≥10 new sex partners in the previous month increased by 37% (AOR: 1.37; 95% CI: 0.98–1.90).

Conclusions

Harm reduction strategies may be an effective means of reducing unprotected sex with clients among FSWs. Future research is needed to better target both FSWs and IDUs and interrupt bridging networks for HIV transmission in high drug-using areas of China.     

Efficient Generation of Myostatin (MSTN) Biallelic Mutations in Cattle Using Zinc Finger Nucleases

Genetically engineered zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) are useful for marker-free gene targeting using a one-step approach. We used ZFNs to efficiently disrupt bovine myostatin (MSTN), which was identified previously as the gene responsible for double muscling in cattle. The mutation efficiency of bovine somatic cells was approximately 20%, and the biallelic mutation efficiency was 8.3%. To evaluate the function of the mutated MSTN locus before somatic cell nuclear transfer, MSTN mRNA and protein expression was examined in four mutant cell colonies. We generated marker-gene-free cloned cattle, in which the MSTN biallelic mutations consisted of a 6-bp deletion in one of the alleles and a 117-bp deletion and 9-bp insertion in the other allele, resulting in at least four distinct mRNA splice variants. In the MSTN mutant cattle, the total amount of MSTN protein with the C-terminal domain was reduced by approximately 50%, and hypertrophied muscle fibers of the quadriceps and the double-muscled phenotype appeared at one month of age. Our proof-of-concept study is the first to produce MSTN mutations in cattle, and may allow the development of genetically modified strains of double-muscled cattle.     

青海祁连棱果沙棘自然杂交带三种沙棘 光合特性日变化分析

杂交带是研究物种形成及进化的天然实验室。为探究棱果沙棘自然杂交带三种沙棘的生理生态适应性,该研究在光照充足的7月中旬分别测定了该区域三种沙棘雌、雄株的光合特性及相关环境因子的日变化。结果表明:(1)同种沙棘雌、雄株间光合日变化规律基本一致,不同沙棘光合特性的日变化规律存在较大差异。中国沙棘(Hippophae rhamnoides ssp. sinensis)净光合速率(Pn)日变化呈明显的双峰曲线,峰值出现在光合有效辐射(PAR)和空气温度(Ta)相对较高的10:00和14:00,最高达到(19.53±5.35)μmol·m~(-2)·s~(-1);棱果沙棘(Hippophae goniocarpa)和肋果沙棘(H. neurocarpa ssp. neurocarpa) Pn日变化均呈近双峰曲线,在PAR和Ta相对较低的8:00和16:00有较高的值,最高值分别为(13.43±3.43)和(15.27±2.43)μmol·m~(-2)·s~(-1)。(2)三种沙棘水分利用效率(WUE)与Pn的日变化规律一致,但中国沙棘具有最高的WUE,达到(6.72±0.95)μmol·mmol~(-1),棱果沙棘和肋果沙棘的WUE日变化最高分别为(4.03±1.08)和(4.93±0.86)μmol·mmol~(-1)。(3)三种沙棘蒸腾速率(Tr)、气孔导度(Gs)、胞间二氧化碳浓度(Ci)和气孔限制值(Ls)的日变化规律相似,其中Gs均在10:00后一致下降,在12:00左右均出现不同程度的气孔关闭现象,这是其发生光合午休的主要原因之一。杂交带三种沙棘光合特性日变化差异主要表现在中国沙棘和其他两种沙棘之间,而杂交种棱果沙棘与亲本种肋果沙棘的变化规律基本一致,其Pn与WUE可能受到了Ta、PAR和空气相对湿度(RH)等环境因子的影响。