Ginkgo biloba extract EGb761 is widely used to treat patients with learning and memory impairment in Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease in China. However, it is not yet clear whether the ...analog of EGb761 (EGb) has a protective effect on the learning and memory damage induced by chronic fluorosis. In this study, 30 Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups: a control group, a sodium fluoride (NaF) + EGb group, and a NaF group. The rats were administered 0.5 ml water containing NaF (100 mg/l) and EGb (120 mg/kg) per day via gavage. After 3 months, the rats’ capacity for learning and memory was tested using a Y-maze. Damage to hippocampal neurons was evaluated by histological examination of the CA3 area. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and the levels of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured. Furthermore, the expression levels of Bcl-2 and Bax and the levels of cleaved Caspase3 in the hippocampus were evaluated by RT-PCR and Western blotting. The results showed that EGb could improve learning and memory abilities, enhance the activities of SOD and GSH-Px, attenuate the level of MDA, upregulate the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax, and downregulate the level of cleaved Caspase3.
Coal gangue is a common solid waste in coal mining area, which causes great environmental pollution. Using coal gangue as filling material of highway subgrade can turn waste into treasure. In order ...to study the greening situation of the road section with coal gangue instead of soil as subgrade filling material, the pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were studied, The electrical conductivity (EC) and pH value of coal gangue used in a highway subgrade test section under different soaking time and initial pH solution were measured, and their change characteristics were analyzed. Both of them increased with the extension of time, and the change trend of EC was more severe. The results of correlation analysis showed that pH and EC were highly positively correlated, and the correlation coefficients were 0.7941, 0.8198 and 0.8639 at initial ph4.1, 5.2 and 6.5, respectively. On the whole, pH is proportional to EC. By mastering the change characteristics and correlation between pH and conductivity of coal gangue under different pH conditions, it can provide certain data and theoretical support for the greening research of coal gangue as subgrade filler.
Objectives: To explore the mediation effects of maternal serum interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) on the association between environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure during ...pregnancy and low birth weight (LBW) at term.
Methods: ETS exposure, birth weight, blood sample and covariates were collected from 195 pregnant women delivered term LBW infants and 195 controls delivered normal birth weight infants in two Maternity and Child Hospitals in Guangdong, China. Maternal serum IL-1β and TNF-α were measured by flow cytometry. Logistic regression models and path analyses explored the mediation effects of maternal IL-1β and TNF-α on the association between ETS exposure and LBW.
Results: LBW was significantly associated with maternal ETS exposure (OR = 2.14 (95% CI =1.06-4.32)). TNF-α and IL-1β were significantly associated with both LBW (OR = 1.87 (1.41-2.47) and OR = 1.53 (1.14-2.05)) and ETS (β = 0.32 (0.04-0.60) and β = 0.27 (0.05-0.49)). Traditional mediation analyses indicated the separate mediation effect of TNF-α and IL-1β was 32.2% and 24.6%, respectively. Path analysis revealed the combined mediation effects of TNF-α and IL-1β as 29.4% in the pathway from ETS exposure to LBW.
Conclusions: Maternal serum IL-1β and TNF-α may play a mediating role in the association between maternal ETS exposure during pregnancy and term LBW.
Objective: To explore the association of maternal exercise during pregnancy with full-term low birth weight (FT-LBW) and whether placenta mediates their association.
Study design: We investigated 326 ...pregnant women delivering FT-LBW weight newborns (cases) and 1644 delivering full-term normal birth weight newborns (controls) in this case-control study. Information concerning maternal exercise during pregnancy, socio-demographics and obstetric characteristics were collected at Women and Children's Hospitals of Shenzhen and Foshan in Guangdong, China.
Results: After adjusting for the potential confounders, maternal exercise frequency and duration during pregnancy were significantly negatively associated with FT-LBW, respectively. Moreover, compared with mothers taking no exercise during pregnancy, those taking exercises were significantly negatively associated with FT-LBW except those taking low/medium frequency and short duration exercise and high-frequency and long duration exercise, and their adjusted ORs ranged from 0.30 to 0.62. Furthermore, mediation analysis illustrated that placental weight partially mediated 27.20% of the association between maternal exercise frequency during pregnancy and FT-LBW, but not the association between maternal exercise duration during pregnancy and FT-LBW.
Conclusions: Maternal exercise during pregnancy is beneficial for lowering FT-LBW risk, especially when taking appropriate and enough exercise. Placenta weight partially mediates the association between maternal exercise frequency during pregnancy and FT-LBW.
Introduction
This aim of this study was to delineate current clinical scenarios of painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (PDN) and associated anxiety and depression among patients in Mainland China, ...and to report current therapy and clinical practices.
Methods
A total of 1547 participants were enrolled in the study between 14 June 2018 and 11 November 2019. Recruitment was conducted using a multilevel sampling method. Participants’ demographics, medical histories, glucose parameters, Douleur Neuropathique 4 Questionnaire (DN4) scores, visual analogue scale (VAS) pain scores, Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) scores, Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7) scores and therapies were recorded.
Results
The male-to-female ratio was 1.09:1 (807:740), and the mean age at onset was 61.28 ± 11.23 years. The mean DN4 score (± standard deviation) was 4.91 ± 1.88. The frequencies of DN4 sub-item phenotypes were: numbness, 81%; tingling, 68.71%; pins and needles, 62.90%; burning, 53.59%; hypoaesthesia to touch, 50.16%; electronic shocks, 43.31%; hypoaesthesia to pinprick, 37.94%; brushing, 37.82%; painful cold, 29.61%; and itching, 25.86%. Age, diabetic duration, depression history, PHQ-9 score and GAD-7 score were identified as risk factors for VAS pain score. Peripheral artery disease (PAD) was a protective factor for VAS pain score. For all participants currently diagnosed with PDN and for those previously diagnosed PDN, fasting blood glucose (FBG) was a risk factor for VAS; there was no association between FBG and VAS pain score for PDN diagnosed within 3 months prior to recruitment. Utilisation rate of opium therapies among enrolled participants was 0.71% , contradiction of first-line guideline recommendation for pain relief accounted for 9.43% (33/350) and contradiction of second-line guideline recommendation for opium dosage form was 0.57% (2/350).
Conclusion
Moderate to severe neuropathic pain in PDN was identified in 73.11% of participants. Age, diabetic duration, depression history, PHQ-9 score, GAD-7 score and FBG were risk factors for VAS pain scores. PAD was protective factor. The majority of pain relief therapies prescribed were in accordance with guidelines.
Trial registration
ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT03520608, retrospectively registered, 2018-05-11.
This study describes a case of a patient with OSMS who presented with somnolence, periodic fever, memory impairment, and amenorrhea. Serum prolactin levels were found to be higher than normal. MR ...imaging showed a bilateral involvement of the hypothalamus. The clinical presentation, laboratory examination, and MR imaging findings suggested a diagnosis of hypothalamus syndrome in this patient.
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