[Current research progress on health problems and health management of E-sports players]

Electronic sports (E-sports) are series of competitive activities different from the traditional physical sports, and E-sports athlete is becoming a new profession. Along with the fast development of E-sports industry, the number of E-sports athletes increased tremendously. The early retirement of some top-ranking athletes caused by occupational injuries has aroused the societal attentions on the health problems of E-sports athletes. Facing special occupational exposure, E-sports athletes encounter different health issues comparing to the counterparts of their ages. It is necessary to scientifically identify their health hazards and common health issues, in order to conduct effective health management for this particular professional group. This review summarized global literature on health issues and health management on E-sports athletes. The research on their health issues were mainly descriptive and there was a paucity on interventional research and health management. These provide references and directions on the future health services and research on E-sports athletes.

Polymorphism of flagellin A gene in Helicobacter pylori

AIM: To study the polymorphism of flagellin A genotype and its significance in Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori).

METHODS: As the template, genome DNA was purified from six clinical isolates of H. pylori from outpatients, and the corresponding flagellin A fragments were amplified by polymerase chain reaction. All these products were sequenced. These sequences were compared with each other, and analyzed by software of FASTA program.

RESULTS: Specific PCR products were amplified from all of these H. pylori isolates and no length divergence was found among them. Compared with each other, the highest ungapped identity is 99.10%, while the lowest is 94.65%. Using FASTA program, the alignments between query and library sequences derived from different H. pylori strains were higher than 90%.

CONCLUSION: The nucleotide sequence of flagellin A in H. pylori is highly conservative with incident divergence. This information may be useful for gene diagnosis and further study on flagellar antigen phenotype.

Relationship between genotype and phenotype of flagellin C in Salmonella

AIM: To discover the relationship between the genotype and antigen serotype of flagellin C among Salmonella strains.

METHODS: Fragment of Salmonella flagellin C in plasmid pLS408 was cloned, sequenced and compared with the corresponding sequence in other strains. Salmonella strains including two typhi strains, one paratyphoid strain, one enteritidis and one typhimurium strain were isolated from outpatients. Genome DNA was purified respectively from these clinical isolates, then the corresponding flagellin C fragment was amplified by polymerase chain reaction, and the amplification products were analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis.

RESULTS: The cloned fragment includes 582 nucleotides encoding the variable region and partial conservative region of Salmonella flagellin C in plasmid pLS408. With comparison to the corresponding sequences reported previously, there is only a little difference from other strains with the same flagellar serotype in both nucleotide and amino acid level. Specific PCR products were amplified in Salmonella strains with flagellar serotype H-1-d including S. muenchen, typhi and typhimurium, but not in S. paratyphoid C or S. enteritidis strains.

CONCLUSION: In this experiment, the specificity of nucleotide sequence could be found in flagellin C central variable regions as it exists in flagellar serotypes in Salmonella. It may be helpful to developing a rapid, sensitive, accurate and PCR-based method to detect Salmonella strains with serotype H-1-d.

Evaluation of the effect of butyl p-hydroxybenzoate on the proteolytic activity and membrane function of human spermatozoa

The inhibition of the proteolytic activity of acrosin in human spermatozoa by butyl p-hydroxybenzoate was assessed by the gelatin substrate film method. Compared with a typical acrosin inhibitor, TLCK, the inhibitory activity of butyl p-hydroxybenzoate to acrosin was much more effective (20 times) than that of TLCK, proving that butyl p-hydroxybenzoate was a potent acrosin inhibitor. The effect of butyl p-hydroxybenzoate on membrane function of human spermatozoa was evaluated using a sperm-tail hypoosmotic swelling test and supravital stain method. A good correlation (r = 0.92) was observed between the % spermatozoa with normal membrane function and the % live spermatozoa after treatment of the spermatozoa with butyl p-hydroxybenzoate for 1 min, indicating that the death of spermatozoa caused by butyl p-hydroxybenzoate is probably due to impairment of sperm membrane function. Both the inhibitory effect on acrosin and the adverse effect on membrane function suggest that butyl p-hydroxybenzoate could be developed as a new vaginal contraceptive.

In vitro spermicidal activity of parabens against human spermatozoa

Potent in vitro spermicidal activity of parabens against human spermatozoa was demonstrated in this study. The "pass" point concentration of the four parabens--methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben, at which all spermatozoa were immobilized and no immobilized spermatozoon revived after 30 min incubation in phosphate buffered glucose solution, was 6, 8, 3, and 1 mg/ml, respectively, as tested by Harris' method. These parabens are used as food and pharmaceutic preservatives; less toxicity and side effects were expected for the development of parabens as vaginal contraceptive agents.

Pregnancy-induced increase in metoprolol metabolism

Five women who developed hypertension during pregnancy received metoprolol, 10 mg iv; 3 days later they received metoprolol, 100 mg by mouth. Blood and urine samples were collected after each dose. The same procedure was repeated 3 to 6 months after delivery. The apparent oral clearance of metoprolol during pregnancy exceeded that after pregnancy by a factor of 2 to 13. As a result, after oral dosing the peak plasma concentrations during pregnancy were only 12% to 55% those after delivery, and the plasma AUCs were reduced to the same extent. Oral bioavailability increased by a factor of 1.3 to 3.7 after pregnancy. Systemic clearance after pregnancy was 26% to 97% that during pregnancy, but this difference was not significant. Metoprolol plasma protein binding was the same on both study occasions. Our data cannot be explained by a change in gastrointestinal absorption, because the urinary recovery of metoprolol and its metabolites was slightly higher during pregnancy. It is concluded that the greater metoprolol clearance during pregnancy results from increased hepatic metabolism of the drug.

Quantitation of clonazepam and its 7-amino and 7-acetamido metabolites in plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method is reported for the determination of clonazepam and its metabolites 7-amino- and 7-acetamidoclonazepam. Extraction from buffered plasma is carried out at pH 9.5 with hexane-ethyl acetate (7:3) for clonazepam and with chloroform for the metabolites. Flunitrazepam, 7-aminodemethylflunitrazepam and 7-acetamidoflunitrazepam are used as the internal standards for clonazepam and its 7-amino and 7-acetamido metabolites, respectively. To prevent decomposition of 7-aminoclonazepam a high concentration of 7-aminomethylclonazepam is added to the plasma. Chromatography is carried out on a reversed-phase column with detection at 254 nm for clonazepam and 240 nm for the metabolites. Using the method it was possible to determine 5 ng/ml clonazepam, 7-aminoclonazepam and 7-acetamidoclonazepam in plasma with coefficients of variation of 9.5%, 5.9% and 8.9%, respectively. This method can be used to measure clonazepam in plasma from patients treated with other antiepileptics. It may also be utilized for in vitro studies on the metabolism of clonazepam in subcellular fractions from the liver.

Human fetal liver cultures: basal activities and inducibility of epoxide hydrolases and aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase

The environmental influence of various drugs on the epoxide hydrolase with styrene oxide (EHSO) or benzo(a)pyrene-4,5-oxide (EHBPox) as substrate and the aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) activity was studied in monolayer cultures of human fetal hepatocytes (HFH) obtained at legal abortions. Hepatocytes were isolated by trypsin treatment of liver fragments and primary HFH cultures were maintained in Eagle's minimum essential medium supplemented with 15% newborn calf serum. The HFH were plated on culture dishes and allowed to 'settle' for one day before adding various drugs (in 1 microliter dimethylsulfoxide/ml) or solvent only and assay 1-2 days later. The basal AHH activity [assayed with 3H-benzo(a)pyrene as substrate] varied between 2 and 8.4 pmoles/min/mg protein and the basal EHSO activity was 0.3-4.9 nmoles/min/mg protein (n = 6) after one or two days' culture. The corresponding activity of EHBPox was 0.23-1.48 nmoles/min/mg protein (n = 5). Exposure of cultures to 2 mM phenobarbital (Pb), 2.5-25.0 microM benzanthracene (BA), 0.1 mM trans-stilbene oxide (TSO), or 5 microM beta-naphtoflavone (beta NF) resulted in a 1.2-3.7-fold induction of EHSO. Induction of EHBPox was also observed with Pb, beta NF, BA and TSO as inducers. Pb gave a dose-dependent induction of both EH at 0.1, 1.0 and 2.0 mM. Our results demonstrate that EH and AHH activities in HFH cultures are inducible by classical in vivo inducers. Although difficult to prove, it is plausible that such induction takes place also in intrauterine life.