Epidemiological evidence suggests that smoking has been associated with emergence of metabolic syndrome. However, data on this issue are inconsistent and controversial. We therefore conducted a ...meta-analysis to examine the association between smoking and metabolic syndrome.
We searched the Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Library database up to March 2012 to identify prospective cohort studies related to smoking and metabolic syndrome. Reference lists of retrieved articles were also reviewed. Summary effect estimates were derived using a random-effects model and stratified by gender, smoking dose, follow-up duration and geographical area. Primary analysis of 13 studies involving 56,691 participants and 8,688 cases detected a significant positive association between active smoking and risk of metabolic syndrome (pooled relative risk RR 1.26, 95% CI: 1.10-1.44). Estimates of effects were substantially consistent in the stratified analyses. In the dose-response analysis, risk of metabolic syndrome was stronger for active male smokers (pooled RR 1.34, 95% CI: 1.20-1.50) than it was for former male smokers (pooled RR 1.19, 95% CI: 1.00-1.42), and greater for heavy smokers (pooled RR 1.42, 95% CI: 1.27-1.59) compared with light smokers (pooled RR 1.10, 95% CI: 0.90-1.35). No evidence of statistical publication bias was found (Egger' s test P=0.227, Begg' s test P=0.113).
Active smoking is associated with development of metabolic syndrome. Smoking cessation appears to reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome.
Photocatalytic CO2 reduction is one of the best solutions to solve the global energy crisis and to realize carbon neutralization. The tetradentate phosphine‐bipyridine (bpy)‐phosphine (PNNP)‐type ...Ir(III) photocatalyst, Mes‐IrPCY2, was reported with a high HCOOH selectivity but the photocatalytic mechanism remains elusive. Herein, we employ electronic structure methods in combination with radiative, nonradiative, and electron transfer rate calculations, to explore the entire photocatalytic cycle to either HCOOH or CO, based on which a new mechanistic scenario is proposed. The catalytic reduction reaction starts from the generation of the precursor metal‐to‐ligand charge transfer (3MLCT) state. Subsequently, the divergence happens from the 3MLCT state, the single electron transfer (SET) and deprotonation process lead to the formation of one‐electron‐reduced species and Ir(I) species, which initiate the reduction reaction to HCOOH and CO, respectively. Interestingly, the efficient occurrence of proton or electron transfer reduces barriers of critical steps. In addition, nonadiabatic transitions play a nonnegligible role in the cycle. We suggest a lower free‐energy barrier in the reaction‐limiting step and the very efficient SET in 3MLCT are cooperatively responsible for a high HCOOH selectivity. The gained mechanistic insights could help chemists to understand, regulate, and design photocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction of similar function‐integrated molecular photocatalyst.
Highly accurate multi‐reference calculations reveal the photophysical processes of a PNNP‐type iridium catalyst, namely Ir(III)H+, and its subsequent reduction reactions to either HCOOH or CO. The present results depict the efficient reaction scenario, explain the origin of the HCOOH selectivity, and contribute to design new photocatalytic CO2 reduction reactions.
Highlights • Advances in elucidating regulatory mechanisms underlying OSC activity are reviewed. • Roles of markers, pathways, epigenetic factors and the niche in OSCs are summarized. • Novel ...therapeutic approaches to target OSCs and improve prognoses are proposed.
China has a large burden of diabetes: in 2013, one in four people with diabetes worldwide were in China, where 11·6% of adults had diabetes and 50·1% had prediabetes. Many were undiagnosed, ...untreated, or uncontrolled. This epidemic is the result of rapid societal transition that has led to an obesogenic environment against a backdrop of traditional lifestyle and periods of famine, which together puts Chinese people at high risk of diabetes and multiple morbidities. Societal determinants including social disparity and psychosocial stress interact with factors such as low-grade infection, environmental pollution, care fragmentation, health illiteracy, suboptimal self-care, and insufficient community support to give rise to diverse subphenotypes and consequences, notably renal dysfunction and cancer. In the China National Plan for Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Treatment (2012-15), the Chinese Government proposed use of public measures, multisectoral collaborations, and social mobilisation to create a health-enabling environment and to reform the health-care system. While awaiting results from these long-term strategies, we advocate the use of a targeted and proactive approach to identify people at high risk of diabetes for prevention, and of private-public-community partnerships that make integrated care more accessible and sustainable, focusing on registry, empowerment, and community support. The multifaceted nature of the societal and personal challenge of diabetes requires a multidimensional solution for prevention in order to reduce the growing disease burden.
Males are generally more susceptible to impaired glucose metabolism and type 2 diabetes (T2D) than females. However, the underlying mechanisms remain to be determined. Here, we revealed that gut ...microbiome depletion abolished sexual dimorphism in glucose metabolism. The transfer of male donor microbiota into antibiotics-treated female mice led the recipients to be more insulin resistant. Depleting androgen via castration changed the gut microbiome of male mice to be more similar to that of females and improved glucose metabolism, while reintroducing dihydrotestosterone (DHT) reversed these alterations. More importantly, the effects of androgen on glucose metabolism were largely abolished when the gut microbiome was depleted. Next, we demonstrated that androgen modulated circulating glutamine and glutamine/glutamate (Gln/Glu) ratio partially depending on the gut microbiome, and glutamine supplementation increases insulin sensitivity in vitro. Our study identifies the effects of androgen in deteriorating glucose homeostasis partially by modulating the gut microbiome and circulating glutamine and Gln/Glu ratio, thereby contributing to the difference in glucose metabolism between the two sexes.
With the decreasing cost and availability of many newly developed bioinformatics pipelines, next‐generation sequencing (NGS) has revolutionized plant systematics in recent years. Genome skimming has ...been widely used to obtain high‐copy fractions of the genomes, including plastomes, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA). In this study, through simulations, we evaluated the optimal (minimum) sequencing depth and performance for recovering single‐copy nuclear genes (SCNs) from genome skimming data, by subsampling genome resequencing data and generating 10 data sets with different sequencing coverage in silico. We tested the performance of four data sets (plastome, nrDNA, mtDNA, and SCNs) obtained from genome skimming based on phylogenetic analyses of the Vitis clade at the genus level and Vitaceae at the family level, respectively. Our results showed that optimal minimum sequencing depth for high‐quality SCNs assembly via genome skimming was about 10× coverage. Without the steps of synthesizing baits and enrichment experiments, coupled with incredibly low sequencing costs, we showcase that deep genome skimming (DGS) is as effective for capturing large data sets of SCNs as the widely used Hyb‐Seq approach, in addition to capturing plastomes, mtDNA, and entire nrDNA repeats. DGS may serve as an efficient and economical alternative and may be superior to the popular target enrichment/Hyb‐Seq approach.
We proposed a new method, deep genome skimming (DGS), for recovering single‐copy nuclear genes (SCNs), in addition to plastomes, mitochondrial DNA, and entire nuclear ribosomal DNA repeats, and this method may serve as an efficient and economical alternative and may be superior to the popular target enrichment/Hyb‐Seq approach.
Attempts to create metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with zeolitic topologies, metal (zinc(II) and cobalt(II)) imidazolates have repeatedly been used as the metal–organic motifs of inorganic silicate ...analogues. By modulating the synthetic strategy based on the solvothermal and liquid diffusion method, seven further MOFs (including at least three zeolitic MOFs) of zinc(II) imidazolates, Zn(im)2⋅x G (G=guest molecule, x=0.2–1) 1 a–7 a, have been successfully synthesized. Of these, 1 a–3 a are isostructural with the previously reported cobalt analogues 1 b–3 b, respectively, while 4 a–7 a are new members of the metal imidazolate MOF family. Complex 4 a exhibits a structure related to silicate CaAl2Si2O8 of CrB4 topology, but with a higher network symmetry; complex 5 a has a structure with zeolitic DFT topology that was discovered in zeolite‐related materials of DAF‐2, UCSB‐3, and UCSB‐3GaGe; complex 6 a demonstrates an unprecedented zeolite‐like topology with one dimensional channels with 10‐rings; and 7 a displays a structure of natural zeolite GIS (gismondine) topology. All of these polymorphous MOFs were created only by using certain solvents as structure‐directing agents (SDAs). Further extensive metal–organic frameworks with zeolitic topologies can be envisaged if other solvents were to be used.
Topping topologies: Extended zeolitic metal–organic frameworks (ZMOFs) of zinc(II) imidazolates have been synthesized by using a nonsolvothermal synthetic strategy, involving buffering and structure‐directing agents (BA and SDA; see scheme). As genuine metal–organic analogues of inorganic silica, the metal imidazolates and metal imidazole derivates can be expected to generate further extensive ZMOFs.
Abnormal shifts in the composition of gut microbiota contribute to the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases, including obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2DM). The crosstalk between gut microbes and the ...host affects the inflammatory status and glucose tolerance of the individuals, but the underlying mechanisms have not been elucidated completely. In this study, we treated the lean chow diet-fed mice with Akkermansia muciniphila, which is thought to be inversely correlated with inflammation status and body weight in rodents and humans, and we found that A. muciniphila supplementation by daily gavage for five weeks significantly alleviated body weight gain and reduced fat mass. Glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity were also improved by A. muciniphila supplementation compared with the vehicle. Furthermore, A. muciniphila supplementation reduced gene expression related to fatty acid synthesis and transport in liver and muscle; meanwhile, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in liver and muscle was also alleviated by A. muciniphila. More importantly, A. muciniphila supplementation reduced chronic low-grade inflammation, as reflected by decreased plasma levels of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-binding protein (LBP) and leptin, as well as inactivated LPS/LBP downstream signaling (e.g. decreased phospho-JNK and increased IKBA expression) in liver and muscle. Moreover, metabolomics profiling in plasma also revealed an increase in anti-inflammatory factors such as α-tocopherol, β-sitosterol and a decrease of representative amino acids. In summary, our study demonstrated that A. muciniphila supplementation relieved metabolic inflammation, providing underlying mechanisms for the interaction of A. muciniphila and host health, pointing to possibilities for metabolic benefits using specific probiotics supplementation in metabolic healthy individuals.
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