Comparison of Ambulatory Blood Pressure Parameters of Hypertensive Patients With and Without Chronic Kidney Disease

There is strong association between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and increased prevalence of hypertension, risk of end-organ damage, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Non-dipping, as determined by ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring (ABPM), is frequent in CKD and has also been consistently associated with increased CVD risk. The reported prevalence of non-dipping in CKD is highly variable, probably due to relatively small sample sizes, reliance only on a single, low-reproducibility, 24-h ABPM evaluation per participant, and definition of daytime and nighttime periods by arbitrary fixed clock-hour spans. Accordingly, we assessed the circadian BP pattern of patients with and without CKD by 48-h ABPM to increase reproducibility of the results. This cross-sectional study involved 10 271 hypertensive patients (5506 men/4765 women), 58.0?±?14.2 (mean?±?SD) yrs of age, enrolled in the Hygia Project. Among the participants, 3227 (1925 men/1302 women) had CKD. At the time of recruitment, 568/2234 patients with/without CKD were untreated for hypertension. Patients with than without CKD were more likely to be men and of older age, have diagnoses of obstructive sleep apnea, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and/or obesity, plus have higher glucose, creatinine, uric acid, and triglyceride, but lower cholesterol, concentrations. In patients with CKD, ambulatory systolic BP (SBP) was significantly elevated (p?<?.001), mainly during the hours of nighttime sleep, independent of presence/absence of BP-lowering treatment. In patients without CKD, ambulatory diastolic BP (DBP), however, was significantly higher (p?<?.001), mainly during the daytime. Differing trends for SBP and DBP between groups resulted in large differences in ambulatory pulse pressure (PP), it being significantly greater (p?<?.001) for the entire 24?h in patients with CKD. Prevalence of non-dipping was significantly higher in patients with than without CKD (60.6% vs. 43.2%; p?<?.001). The largest difference between groups was in the prevalence of the riser BP pattern, i.e., asleep SBP mean?>?awake SBP mean (17.6% vs. 7.1% in patients with and without CKD, respectively; p?<?.001). The riser BP pattern significantly and progressively increased from 8.1% among those with stage 1 CKD to a very high 34.9% of those with stage 5 CKD. Elevated asleep SBP mean was the major basis for the diagnosis of hypertension and/or inadequate BP control among patients with CKD; thus, among the uncontrolled hypertensive patients with CKD, 90.7% had nocturnal hypertension. Our findings document significantly elevated prevalence of a blunted nocturnal BP decline in hypertensive patients with CKD. Most important, prevalence of the riser BP pattern, associated with highest CVD risk among all possible BP patterns, was 2.5-fold more prevalent in CKD, and up to 5-fold more prevalent in end-stage renal disease. Patients with CKD also presented significantly elevated ambulatory PP, reflecting increased arterial stiffness and enhanced CVD risk. Collectively, these findings indicate that CKD should be included among the clinical conditions for which ABPM is mandatory for proper diagnosis and CVD risk assessment, as well as a means to establish the best therapeutic scheme to increase CVD event-free survival. (Author correspondence: rhermida@uvigo.es)     

Chronotypes of Bipolar Patients in Remission: Validation of the French Version of the Circadian Type Inventory in the FACE-BD Sample

Circadian rhythm disturbances have been associated with bipolar disorder (BD) during both the mood episodes and the periods of remission. Circadian phase preferences for the evening have been reported for remitted patients, whereas the amplitude and stability of their rhythms have never been assessed using questionnaires. The primary aim of our study was the validation of a French version of the Circadian Type Inventory (CTI), whereas its secondary aim was the comparison between remitted patients with BD and healthy controls for rhythm stability and amplitude and for phase preference. For this purpose, we used the CTI and the Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM) that assesses phase preference (“morning” or “evening” type). First, we report here on the validation of the French version of the 11-item Circadian Type Inventory in a sample of 140 remitted patients with BD and 156 healthy controls. Principal components analysis revealed a two-factor structure (FR: flexibility/rigidity scale corresponding to rhythm stability; LV: languid/vigorous scale corresponding to rhythm amplitude) explaining 52% of the variance in the control group and 47% in the bipolar group. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.75 for FR and 0.73 for LV. The test-retest reliability was 0.74 for FR and 0.86 for LV (3 wks) and 0.62 for FR and 0.72 for LV (6 mos). LV and FR scores correlated with the Composite Scale of Morningness score (p?<?0.00001 and p?=?0.0002, respectively). Second, as compared with controls, patients with BD were more languid (p?<?0.00001) and showed an evening preference (p?=?0.0003), but they did not differ from the controls with regard to flexibility/rigidity. The French version of the CTI appeared to have satisfactory psychometrics characteristics. Bipolar patients exhibited not only abnormalities in phase preference but also in amplitude as measured by languidity. Since circadian rhythm dysfunction has been shown to predict poor functioning and mood relapses in interepisodic patients with BD, this tool would appear to be a promising, easy-to-use, measure of the amplitude and flexibility of circadian rhythms that could enrich the arsenal of assessments used in clinical settings.     

Interaction between Biological Activities on Rice Seedlings of Dehydroabietic Acid Derivatives and Gibberellin A3

Effects of hydrofluorene and hydrophenanthrene compounds derived from dehydroabietic acid on the second leaf sheath growth of rice seedlings were examined in the presence and absence of gibberellin A₃(GA₃). In the absence of GA₃, nineteen compounds at 100 ppm inhibited more than 20% the growth of normal rice seedlings. In the presence of GA₃ (1.5 ppm) with dwarf rice seedlings, nine compounds at 500 ppm suppressed the elongation caused by the hormone, and a compound was slightly promotive. Then, three compounds were selected and subjected to the bioassay under various conditions.     

全球树木保护在行动

我们人类和大约10万种树木共同享有地球家园。这10万种树木各有自己的故事;每种树木和其他植物、动物与真菌存在着独特的联系;人类为每一种树木赋予了各种各样的经济、文化和精神价值。虽然在壮硕粗大的猴面包树和浑身带刺的金合欢之间,以及在高矮参差的智利南洋杉和坚韧茁壮的桃花心木之间存在着显著的差异,但是人们却往往十分容易落人将所有树种看作是一片“森林”的窠臼,认为这是一个物以类聚的群体,各自在其繁殖地扮演着颇为类似的角色。     

防控狂犬病的“红项圈”

2012年11月29日,中国动物疫病预防控制中心（CADC）与世界动物保护协会（WSPA）在北京举行了“狂犬病综合防控技术集成与示范（红项圈）项目”合作协议签字仪式,项目为期4年,旨在借鉴WSPA在世界上的成功经验,结合我国的实际情况,加强犬只管理,推行大规模的免疫注射,从而避免大规模犬只扑杀,降低狂犬病的发病率。谈及自然保护．多数人第一想到的是保护野生动物,但与每个人联系更直接和密切的其实反而是家养的动物,如猫、狗、鸡、鸭、猪、牛、羊,这些自人类文明开始就陆续被人驯养的兽类和鸟类已成为人类社会的重要一员,或作为伴侣动物、生产工具．或提供了食物来源。它们的安全和人类社会的稳定紧密相连,许多自然保护组织很早就关注这些动物的福利和境遇,如WSPA、英国皇家防止虐待动物协会（RSPOA）、国际爱护动物基金会（IFAW）等。动物福利是所有文明社会或将步入文明的社会要面对的重要议题。     

Gene expression changes with age in skin,adipose tissue,blood and brain

Background

Previous studies have demonstrated that gene expression levels change with age. These changes are hypothesized to influence the aging rate of an individual. We analyzed gene expression changes with age in abdominal skin, subcutaneous adipose tissue and lymphoblastoid cell lines in 856 female twins in the age range of 39-85 years. Additionally, we investigated genotypic variants involved in genotype-by-age interactions to understand how the genomic regulation of gene expression alters with age.

Results

Using a linear mixed model, differential expression with age was identified in 1,672 genes in skin and 188 genes in adipose tissue. Only two genes expressed in lymphoblastoid cell lines showed significant changes with age. Genes significantly regulated by age were compared with expression profiles in 10 brain regions from 100 postmortem brains aged 16 to 83 years. We identified only one age-related gene common to the three tissues. There were 12 genes that showed differential expression with age in both skin and brain tissue and three common to adipose and brain tissues.

Conclusions

Skin showed the most age-related gene expression changes of all the tissues investigated, with many of the genes being previously implicated in fatty acid metabolism, mitochondrial activity, cancer and splicing. A significant proportion of age-related changes in gene expression appear to be tissue-specific with only a few genes sharing an age effect in expression across tissues. More research is needed to improve our understanding of the genetic influences on aging and the relationship with age-related diseases.     

‘陇东’紫花苜蓿原生质体最佳分离条件

以‘陇东’紫花苜蓿（Medicago sativa L.cv.‘Longdong’）下胚轴愈伤组织为材料,研究酶液组合、酶解时间、酶液渗透压、愈伤组织继代培养时间及预处理措施对原生质体分离效果的影响。结果表明：获得产量最高（8.8×105个·g-1）、活力最高（88.55%）的原生质体最佳酶液组合为2%纤维素酶＋0.5%果胶酶＋0.3%崩溃酶、酶解时间为10h、酶液渗透压即甘露醇浓度为0.55mol·L-1,愈伤继代培养天数为12d、预处理措施为4℃、黑暗条件下放置24h。     

美洲黑杨与大青杨杂种无性系耐寒性的初步研究

以美洲黑杨与大青杨杂种无性系1年生扦插苗为材料,测定其低温胁迫中多个生理指标的变化。结果表明,6个杂种无性系SOD、POD和APX活性在低温胁迫中均表现出先上升后下降的趋势,而电解质渗漏率、活性氧含量、CAT和GR活性保持逐渐升高的趋势。无性系间差异显著,其中DU146和DU147电解质渗漏率和活性氧含量最低,而5种抗氧化酶活性均最高,表明其具有较强的耐寒性;而DU135和DU150电解质渗漏率和活性氧含量最高,而5种抗氧化酶活性均最低,表明其耐寒性差。