Complementary and alternative medicine is of great interest to patients with gastrointestinal disorders and some will choose to ask their health care providers about those therapies for which some ...scientific evidence exists. This review focuses on those therapies most commonly used by patients, namely acupuncture/electroacupuncture and various herbal formulations that have been the focus of clinical and laboratory investigation. A discussion of their possible mechanisms of action and the results of clinical studies are summarized.
•Visit-to-visit blood pressure variability in the second/third trimester or during the whole pregnancy were independently associated with gestational hypertension (GH) and pre-eclampsia ...(PE).•Visit-to-visit blood pressure variability increased from the second to the third trimester, and the increasement in hypertensive participants was enlarged.•Adding coefficient variance of systolic blood pressure to conventional risk model could facilitate identification for pregnant woman at high risk of GH or PE.
Visit-to-visit blood pressure variability (VVV) was an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events. In pregnant women whose hemodynamic changes are unique, the role of VVV in hypertensive disorders is still obscure. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the association of VVV with gestational hypertension (GH) and pre-eclampsia (PE).
14,702 pregnant women were recruited at around 13 weeks of their gestation. VVV during the second, third trimester and the whole pregnancy, were estimated as standard deviation (SD) or coefficient of variation (CV) of systolic blood pressure (SBP) or diastolic blood pressure (DBP). The associations between VVV, GH and PE were assessed by multivariate logistic regression models.
878 and 131 women developed GH and PE, respectively. VVV was significantly higher in GH and PE subjects than normotensive controls, regardless of whichever metric was calculated. In maximally adjusted models, odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of SBP-CV during the whole pregnancy was 1.62 (1.56–1.68) for GH, 1.14 (1.06–1.21) for PE, and 1.51 (1.47–1.56) for either GH or PE. The cooperation of SBP-CV to other risk factors could help in discriminating pregnant women at high risk of GH and PE.
VVV during pregnancy, especially SBP-CV, was independently associated with GH and PE. These results suggested that VVV could provide additional information to identify pregnant women at high risk of GH or PE. Further studies exploring prospective association between VVV, GH and PE are warranted.
Objective
To estimate whether the new obesity indicator tri-ponderal mass index (TMI) has a better capacity to predict adolescent hypertension (HTN) and HTN subtypes at three separate blood pressure ...(BP) visits than the conventionally used body mass index (BMI).
Methods
A total of 36,950 adolescents who had initial normal BP from 2012 to 2019 were included in Suzhou, China. HTN was defined as having three separate visits of elevated BP in 2020. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC), false-positive rate, false-negative rate, total misclassification rates, net reclassification improvement (NRI), and integrated discrimination improvement were calculated to compare the discriminative ability of HTN between BMI and TMI.
Results
TMI had better predictive abilities than BMI among all of the participants when predicting HTN (difference in AUC = 0.019, 95% CI = 0.007–0.031; NRI = 0.067, 95% CI = 0.008–0.127) and isolated systolic hypertension (difference in AUC = 0.021, 95% CI = 0.005–0.036; NRI = 0.106, 95% CI = 0.029–0.183). The difference in prediction abilities between BMI and TMI was more obvious in the subgroup of age ≥16. Also, TMI outperformed BMI in predicting adolescent HTN in girls but not in boys.
Conclusion
Compared with BMI, TMI may have a better predictive capacity for HTN, particularly in girls and older adolescents. TMI has the potential to be used as an effective predictor for HTN in clinic practice. Further studies are needed to verify the utility of TMI.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to identify trajectories of body mass index (BMI) in toddlers from birth to 2 years old and examine their association with infantile overweight/obesity.
...Methods:
Data were collected from 19,054 children born in any hospital or community healthcare center in Taizhou, China from 2018 to 2019 with at least three BMI measurements after birth. The Latent Class Growth Mixture Model was used to identify distinct BMI trajectories during the first 2 years of infants. Multiple logistic regression models were conducted to explore the associated factors of different BMI trajectories, and log-binomial regression was performed to assess the association between the trajectories and overweight/obesity.
Results:
Three heterogeneous BMI trajectories were identified and labeled as “lower” (36.21%,
n
= 6,899), “middle” (53.15%,
n
= 10,128) and “upper” (10.64%,
n
= 2,027), respectively. Several characteristics of infants and their corresponding mothers were found to be correlated with infant BMI trajectories, including infant sex, mode of delivery and weight at birth, as well as maternal parity, early pregnancy BMI and status of gestational diabetes mellitus. Furthermore, compared with those in the lower trajectory, infants in the middle prevalence ratio (PR) = 2.63, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 2.17–2.63 or upper (PR = 2.98, 95%CI = 1.51–2.98) trajectory groups were prone to be overweight/obesity at their final observation.
Conclusion:
Heterogeneous BMI trajectories were observed in our study. Characteristics of both infants and their corresponding mothers could be potential determinants of infant growth. Moreover, infants in the middle and upper trajectory groups were more likely to suffer overweight/obesity.
Recently, intestinal electrical stimulation (IES) has been reported to result in weight loss; however, it is unclear whether it has a therapeutic potential for diabetes. The aim of the present study ...was to explore the potential hypoglycemic effects of IES and its possible mechanisms involving β cells in diabetic rats.
Diabetic Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats were chronically implanted with one pair of electrodes in the duodenum. The oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and insulin tolerance test (ITT) were performed with or without IES, and plasma glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and insulin level were measured. In the other two OGTT sessions, rats were treated with either Exendin (9-39) (GLP-1 antagonist) or Exendin (9-39) plus IES to investigate the underlying mechanism involving GLP-1. Gastric emptying and small intestinal transit were also measured with or without IES. In a chronic study, GK rats were treated with IES or Sham-IES for 8 weeks. Blood glucose, plasma GLP-1 and insulin level, body weight, and food intake were measured. Pancreas weight, islet β-cell apoptosis, and proliferation were also analyzed.
Acute IES reduced blood glucose level from 60 to 120 min during OGTT by 16-20% (all p < 0.05, vs. Sham-IES). GLP-1 antagonist significantly blocked the inhibitory effect of IES on hyperglycemia from 15 to 120 min (all p < 0.05). IES accelerated the small intestinal transit by 15% (p = 0.004). After 8 weeks of chronic stimulation, IES significantly reduced blood glucose (p < 0.05) and body weight (p = 0.02) and increased the plasma GLP-1 concentration (p < 0.05). Furthermore, we observed that chronic IES reduced pancreatic β-cell apoptosis (p = 0.045), but showed no effects on β-cell proliferation.
Our study firstly proved the hypoglycemic effect of IES in a rodent model of type 2 diabetes, possibly attributed to the increasing GLP-1 secretion and improvement in β-cell functions.
Pathologic condition associated with metabolic syndrome traits seems to increase the risk of colorectal cancer. One mechanism underlying this relationship may involve the growth-promoting effects of ...the circulation hormones associated with obesity and insulin resistance, such as leptin.
A two-stage case-control study was used to explore the role of polymorphisms of Leptin (LEP) and Leptin receptor (LEPR), either alone or in combination with environmental factors in colorectal carcinogenesis. In stage 1, 20 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that tag common SNPs in these two genes were genotyped among 470 cases and 458 controls. In stage 2, another population with 314 cases and 355 controls were genotyped for the two most promising SNPs from stage 1. LEPR rs12037879 only presented modestly increased colorectal cancer risk, with odds ratios of 1.41 (95% confidence interval CI 1.13-1.76) and 1.74 (95%CI 1.08-2.81) for GA and AA genotype when compared with GG genotype in combined population. Smokers carrying LEPR rs12037879 A allele presented 1.67-fold (95%CI 1.39-fold to 2.01-fold) increased colorectal cancer risk when compared with non-smokers carrying GG genotype in combined analysis. Individuals with family history of cancer harboring LEPR rs12037879 A allele showed 1.52-fold (95%CI: 1.24-fold to 1.86-fold) increased colorectal cancer risk, compared with individuals without family history of cancer harboring GG genotype. Multifactor gene-environment interaction analysis revealed significant interactions among LEPR rs12037879, LEPR rs6690625, smoking status and family history of cancer, exhibiting a gradient of increased colorectal cancer risk along with the increasing number of risk factors (P = 9.82 × 10(-10)).
Our research supports that polymorphisms in LEPR may be associated with marginal increase in the risk for colorectal cancer. Moreover, this association could be strengthened by cigarette smoking and family history of cancer.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Some common genetic variants of TERT-CLPTM1L gene, which encode key protein subunits of telomerase, have been suggested to play a crucial role in tumorigenesis. The TERT-CLPTM1L polymorphism rs401681 ...was of special interest for cancers risk but with inconclusive results.
We performed a comprehensive meta-analysis of 29 publications with a total of 91263 cases and 735952 controls. We assessed the strength of the association between rs401681 and overall cancers risk and performed subgroup analyses by cancer type, ethnicity, source of control, sample size and expected power. Rs401681 C allele was found to be associated with marginally increased cancers risk, with per allele OR of 1.04 (95%CI = 1.00-1.08, P(heterogeneity)<0.001) and an expected power of 1.000. Following further stratified analyses, the increased cancers risk were discovered in subgroups of lung, bladder, prostate, basal cell carcinomas and Asians, while a declined risk of pancreatic cancer and melanoma were detected.
These findings suggested that rs401681 C allele was a low-penetrance risk allele for the development of cancers of lung, bladder, prostate and basal cell carcinoma, but a potential protective allele for melanoma and pancreatic cancer.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background & Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effects of 3 different methods of electrical stimulation in the prevention of vasopressin-induced emetic response and gastric ...dysrhythmias.
Methods: Seven female hound dogs chronically implanted with 4 pairs of electrodes on gastric serosa were used in a 5-session study. Saline and vasopressin were infused in sessions 1 and 2, respectively. In the other 3 sessions with vasopressin infusion, 3 different methods of electrical stimulation (short-pulse stimulation, long-pulse stimulation, and electroacupuncture) were applied. Gastric slow waves and vomiting and behaviors suggestive of nausea were recorded in each session. In a separate study, additional experiments were performed in 5 vagotomized dogs to investigate vagally mediated mechanisms.
Results: Vasopressin induced gastric dysrhythmias, uncoupling of slow waves, and vomiting and behaviors suggestive of nausea (
P < 0.02, analysis of variance). Long-pulse stimulation, but not short-pulse stimulation or electroacupuncture, was capable of preventing vasopressin-induced gastric dysrhythmias and gastric slow wave uncoupling. Short-pulse stimulation and electroacupuncture, but not long-pulse stimulation, prevented vomiting and significantly reduced the symptom scores, which was not noted in the dogs with truncal vagotomy.
Conclusions: Long-pulse stimulation normalizes vasopressin-induced slow wave abnormalities with no improvement in vomiting and behaviors suggestive of nausea. Short-pulse stimulation and electroacupuncture prevent vomiting and behaviors suggestive of nausea induced by vasopressin but have no effects on slow waves, and their effects are vagally mediated.
Purpose Electrical stimulation of the gut has recently been under intensive investigation and various studies have revealed therapeutic potentials of gastrointestinal electrical stimulation for ...gastrointestinal motility disorders and obesity. While there have been a number of reviews on gastric electrical stimulation, there is a lack of systematic reviews on intestinal electrical stimulation. The aim of this review is to provide an overview on the effects, mechanisms, and applications of intestinal electrical stimulation. Results We evaluated published data on intestinal electrophysiology, pathophysiology, and different methodologies on intestinal electrical stimulation and its possible mechanisms in both research and clinical settings using the MEDLINE database for English articles from 1963 to 2008. Based on this systematic review, intestinal electrical stimulation has been reported to alter intestinal slow waves, contractions and transit; the effects were mediated via both vagal and adrenergic pathways. Intestinal electrical stimulation has been reported to have potentials for treating various intestinal motility disorders and obesity. Conclusions It is concluded that intestinal electrical stimulation may have promising applications for treating motility disorders associated with altered intestinal contractile activity. The most recent studies have revealed possible applications of intestinal electrical stimulation for the treatment of obesity. Basic research results are promising; however, further clinical studies are needed to bring IES from bench to bedside.
Using condoms consistently could prevent unintended pregnancy among young people. This study highlights multiple domains of influence on condom use among male college students in China, including ...knowledge, attitudes, health services utility on condom use and reproductive health information sources.
To identify factors associated with condom use in Chinese male college students, we examined a sample of 870 sexually experienced male students in seven colleges in Wuhan, China, 2009. 535 (61.5%) of 870 male students reported condom use during their most recent sexual encounter. Male students with steady partners were more likely to use condoms than students with casual partners (adjusted OR = 3.11, 95%CI 2.30-4.20). And positive attitudes toward contraceptive responsibility were associated with greater odds of condom use (adjusted OR = 1.40, 95%CI 1.02-1.92). Only 54(6.2%) and 83(9.5%) of respondents reported that free condoms and reproductive health counseling were available at the student health center. Providing free condoms and reproductive health counseling at the student health central were associated with increased condom use among college students (both P<0.05). In addition, students who gained reproductive health information mainly through websites, television and radio programs were more likely to use condoms than through school education (all P<0.05).
Improving attitudes of male students toward contraceptive responsibility, providing proper reproductive health information through mass media and making free condoms and reproductive health counseling available in school may help increase condom use among college students in China.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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