Adiponectin Provides Additional Information to Conventional Cardiovascular Risk Factors for Assessing the Risk of Atherosclerosis in Both Genders

Background

This study evaluated the relation between adiponectin and atherosclerosis in both genders, and investigated whether adiponectin provides useful additional information for assessing the risk of atherosclerosis.

Methods

We measured serum adiponectin levels and other cardiovascular risk factors in 1033 subjects (454 men, 579 women) from the Korean Genomic Rural Cohort study. Carotid intima–media-thickness (CIMT) was used as measure of atherosclerosis. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated using multiple logistic regression, and receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC), the category-free net reclassification improvement (NRI) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) were calculated.

Results

After adjustment for conventional cardiovascular risk factors, such as age, waist circumference, smoking history, low-density and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, systolic blood pressure and insulin resistance, the ORs (95%CI) of the third tertile adiponectin group were 0.42 (0.25–0.72) in men and 0.47 (0.29–0.75) in women. The area under the curve (AUC) on the ROC analysis increased significantly by 0.025 in men and 0.022 in women when adiponectin was added to the logistic model of conventional cardiovascular risk factors (AUC in men: 0.655 to 0.680, p = 0.038; AUC in women: 0.654 to 0.676, p = 0.041). The NRI was 0.32 (95%CI: 0.13–0.50, p<0.001), and the IDI was 0.03 (95%CI: 0.01–0.04, p<0.001) for men. For women, the category-free NRI was 0.18 (95%CI: 0.02–0.34, p = 0.031) and the IDI was 0.003 (95%CI: −0.002–0.008, p = 0.189).

Conclusion

Adiponectin and atherosclerosis were significantly related in both genders, and these relationships were independent of conventional cardiovascular risk factors. Furthermore, adiponectin provided additional information to conventional cardiovascular risk factors regarding the risk of atherosclerosis.     

Biological Evaluation of Hot-Melt Extruded Nano-selenium and the Role of Selenium on the Expression Profiles of Selenium-Dependent Antioxidant Enzymes in Chickens

Biological Trace Element Research - In this study, the pattern of metals concentration in water, sediment, plants, and three edible fish species (Channa striata, Labeo rohita, and Catla catla) of...     

高通量测序分析重庆地区茅苍术根际丛枝菌根真菌多样性

【背景】丛枝菌根真菌(arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi,AMF)是土壤微生物区系中分布最广泛的一类菌根真菌,能与地球上90%的维管植物形成共生体,可通过调节植物的生理代谢过程增强植物的抗逆性。【目的】揭示重庆地区中药材茅苍术根际土壤中AMF的结构与组成,解析土壤因子对AMF类群的影响。【方法】以重庆地区茅苍术主产地彭水县、秀山县、石柱县、南川区和酉阳县2-3年生茅苍术根际土壤为材料,利用Illumina MiSeq 2500测序平台进行真菌扩增子测序,分析不同地点土壤的茅苍术根际AMF类群组成和多样性的差异。【结果】茅苍术的菌根侵染率均在50%以上,每10g风干土壤中孢子含量在50个以上,最高达到144个。根际土壤共检测到球囊菌门Glomeromycota的3纲4目8科9属AMF,包括Glomus、Claroideoglomus、Gigaspora、Paraglomus、Archaeospora、Ambispora、Acaulospora、Diversispora和Scutellospora,其中前6属为5个区县土样共有。球囊霉属(Glomus)相对丰度最高,达67%,为所有地区茅苍术根际样本中的优势类群。冗余度分析(redundancy analysis,RDA)表明,土壤pH对AMF群落组成影响最大。pH、有机质、碱解氮、速效钾与Shannon指数呈正相关,有效磷与之呈负相关;各土壤因子与Simpson指数的相关性则相反。5个土壤因子均与丰度(Chao1)指数呈负相关。另外,pH、有机质与均匀度(ACE)指数呈正相关;碱解氮、速效钾、有效磷与之呈负相关。【结论】茅苍术根际土壤中AMF资源丰富,土壤因子对AMF群落组成和丰度影响显著,是导致AMF群落结构地理分布格局差异的重要原因之一。     

Effects of different 2A peptides on transgene expression mediated by tricistronic vectors in transfected CHO cells

Molecular Biology Reports - Multicistronic vectors can increase transgene expression and decrease the imbalance of gene expression in the Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell expression system. Small,...     

Molecular and morphological discrimination of Chrysanthemum indicum using allele-specific PCR and T-shaped trichome

Molecular Biology Reports - Chrysanthemum indicum L. is a traditional oriental medicinal herb prepared as a tea from flowers that have been used in China and South Korea since ancient times. It has...     

Long Noncoding RNA SNHG5 Knockdown Alleviates Neuropathic Pain by Targeting the miR-154-5p/CXCL13 Axis

Neurochemical Research - Neuropathic pain is an unneglectable pain condition with limited treatment options owing to its enigmatic underlying mechanisms. Long noncoding RNA small nucleolar RNA host...     

SARNP,a participant in mRNA splicing and export,negatively regulates E-cadherin expression via interaction with pinin

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is associated with a high mortality rate, which is related to the insufficient number of appropriate biomarkers and targets. Therefore, there is an urgent need to discover appropriate biomarkers and targets for TNBC. SARNP (Hcc-1 and CIP29) is highly expressed in several cancers. It binds to UAP56, an RNA helicase component of the TREX complex in messenger RNA (mRNA) splicing and export. However, the role of SARNP in mRNA splicing and export and in the progression of breast cancer, especially of TNBC, remains unknown. Therefore, we examined the role of SARNP in mRNA splicing and export and progression of TNBC. We confirmed that SARNP binds to UAP56 and Aly and that SARNP overexpression enhances mRNA splicing, whereas its knockdown suppressed mRNA export. The SARNP overexpression induced the proliferation of MCF7 cells, whereas its knockdown induced E-cadherin expression and downregulated vimentin and N-cadherin expressions in SK-BR-3 and MDA-MB-231 cells. SARNP downregulates E-cadherin expression by interaction with pinin. Mice injected with MDA-MB-231_shSARNP cells exhibited a significant reduction in tumor growth and lung metastasis compared with those injected with MDA-MB-231_shCon cells in vivo. These findings suggested that SARNP is involved in mRNA splicing and export. SARNP maintains mesenchymal phenotype by escaping from inhibitory interaction with pinin leading to the downregulation of E-cadherin expression.     

Reprogramming of sugar transport pathways in Escherichia coli using a permeabilized SecY protein-translocation channel

In the initial step of sugar metabolism, sugar-specific transporters play a decisive role in the passage of sugars through plasma membranes into cytoplasm. The SecY complex (SecYEG) in bacteria forms a membrane channel responsible for protein translocation. The present work shows that permeabilized SecY channels can be used as nonspecific sugar transporters in Escherichia coli. SecY with the plug domain deleted allowed the passage of glucose, fructose, mannose, xylose, and arabinose, and, with additional pore-ring mutations, facilitated lactose transport, indicating that sugar passage via permeabilized SecY was independent of sugar stereospecificity. The engineered E. coli showed rapid growth on a wide spectrum of monosaccharides and benefited from the elimination of transport saturation, improvement in sugar tolerance, reduction in competitive inhibition, and prevention of carbon catabolite repression, which are usually encountered with native sugar uptake systems. The SecY channel is widespread in prokaryotes, so other bacteria may also be engineered to utilize this system for sugar uptake. The SecY channel thus provides a unique sugar passageway for future development of robust cell factories for biotechnological applications.     

Effects of Ethanol Exposure During Early Pregnancy in Hyperactive, Inattentive and Impulsive Behaviors and MeCP2 Expression in Rodent Offspring

Prenatal exposure to alcohol has consistently been associated with adverse effects on neurodevelopment, which is collectively called fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Increasing evidence suggest that prenatal exposure to alcohol increases the risk of developing attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder-like behavior in human. In this study, we investigated the behavioral effects of prenatal exposure to EtOH in offspring mice and rats focusing on hyperactivity and impulsivity. We also examined changes in dopamine transporter and MeCP2 expression, which may underlie as a key neurobiological and epigenetic determinant in FASD and hyperactive, inattentive and impulsive behaviors. Mouse or rat offspring born from dam exposed to alcohol during pregnancy (EtOH group) showed hyper locomotive activity, attention deficit and impulsivity. EtOH group also showed increased dopamine transporter and norepinephrine transporter level compared to control group in the prefrontal cortex and striatum. Prenatal exposure to EtOH also significantly decreased the expression of MeCP2 in both prefrontal cortex and striatum. These results suggest that prenatal exposure to EtOH induces hyperactive, inattentive and impulsive behaviors in rodent offspring that might be related to global epigenetic changes as well as aberration in catecholamine neurotransmitter transporter system.