[Association between rs10938397 polymorphism in GNPDA2 and obesity in children at different stages of development]

Objective: To examine the association between rs10938397 polymorphism in glucosamine-6-phosphate deaminase 2 (GNPDA2) and risk of obesity in children at different stages of development and analyze the differences in the association. Methods: A total of 3 503 school-aged children were selected from the Beijing Child and Adolescent Metabolic Syndrome (BCAMS) study in Beijing and their complete anthropometry weight, height, fat mass percentage (FMP), fat mass index (FMI) and free fat mass index (FFMI) and sexual maturation (SM) data were used. The developmental stages were evaluated using male testicular volume and female breast Tanner staging. FMP, FM and FFM were measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis. General obesity and adiposity were respectively defined according to Chinese sex-age-specific body mass index (BMI) cutoffs and sex-age-specific FMP cutoffs. The SNP rs10938397 were genotyped by the TaqMan Allelic Discrimination Assay with the GeneAmp 7900 sequence detection system (Applied Biosystems, Foster city, CA, USA). Relationships between rs10938397 polymorphism and BMI, FMP, FMI and FFMI and different types of obesity were tested using multivariate linear regression and logistic regression models. Results: After age adjustment and correction for multiple testing, the rs10938397-G was associated with BMI and risk of general obesity in boys in early puberty (β=0.328, P=0.001; OR=1.420, 95%CI: 1.126-1.790), and the rs10938397-G was associated with BMI in girls in late puberty (β=0.266, P=0.001). The associations of GNPDA2 rs10938397-G with FFMI and FMI were observed in boys in early puberty (β=0.137, P=0.016; β=0.202, P=0.007) and the associations of rs10938397-G with FMP and FMI were observed in girls in late puberty (β=0.153, P=0.002; β=0.168, P=0.001). The rs10938397-G was also associated with adiposity in girls in late puberty (OR=1.339, 95%CI: 1.093-1.637). Conclusion: The rs10938397 polymorphism in GNPDA2 is associated with adiposity in girls, and it is important to use an accurate indicator of obesity in exposing the genuine association between genes and obesity.

[Reliability and validity of Driving Anger Scale in professional drivers in China]

Objective: To assess the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of Driving Anger Scale (DAS) in professional drivers in China and provide a scientific basis for the application of the scale in drivers in China. Methods: Professional drivers, including taxi drivers, bus drivers, truck drivers and school bus drivers, were selected to complete the questionnaire. Cronbach's α and split-half reliability were calculated to evaluate the reliability of DAS, and content, contract, discriminant and convergent validity were performed to measure the validity of the scale. Results: The overall Cronbach's α of DAS was 0.934 and the split-half reliability was 0.874. The correlation coefficient of each subscale with the total scale was 0.639-0.922. The simplified version of DAS supported a presupposed six-factor structure, explaining 56.371% of the total variance revealed by exploratory factor analysis. The DAS had good convergent and discriminant validity, with the success rate of calibration experiment of 100%. Conclusion: DAS has a good reliability and validity in professional drivers in China, and the use of DAS is worth promoting in divers.

[Association between SEC16B polymorphisms and body mass index variation or risk of obesity: a Meta-analysis]

Objective: To systematically evaluate the associations between SEC16B polymorphisms and body mass index (BMI) or risk of obesity in different ethnic populations. Methods: A literature retrieval was carried out by using Wanfangdata, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP databases), PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, NIH GWAS catalog databases to collect the research papers published between 2009 and 2015 on the associations between SEC16B polymorphisms and BMI or risk of obesity. Summary beta estimates (βs), odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the strength for the BMI analyses and obesity status. Meta-analysis was performed with Stata 12.0 software. Results: Totally 15 papers for rs10913469 and 13 papers for rs543874 were included in this Meta-analysis. Under additive genetic model, rs10913469 and rs543874 in SEC16B gene were positively associated with BMI, and the combined β was 0.04 (95%CI: 0.03-0.05) and 0.03 (95%CI: 0.02-0.04), respectively, and rs10913469 and rs543874 were also associated with the risk of obesity, and the combined OR was 1.11 (95%CI: 1.08-1.15) and 1.28 (95%CI: 1.20-1.36), respectively. There were no significant differences among subgroups of ethnicity, different age groups and literatures with different quality. Conclusion: rs10913469 and rs543874 in SEC16B gene are significantly associated with BMI and the risk of obesity, and C allele of rs10913469 and G allele of rs543874 increase the risk for obesity in different ethnic populations.

Comparative RNA profile analysis of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and ischemic cardiomyopathy

Previous research has focused on revealing the functions of each individual gene and/or pathway in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) or ischemic cardiomyopathy (IC). However, the common or specific pathways of the initiation and processes of DCM and IC are still unclear. Here, we attempted to uncover the critical genes and potential molecular networks that play important roles in DCM and IC progression commonly or specifically. The transcriptional profiles from normal and DCM or IC patient samples were analyzed and compared using bioinformatic methods. Initially, the normal and DCM or IC sample data were processed and the most notable differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from DCM or IC were identified. By comparing the DEGs from DCM with those from IC, the DCM- and IC-specific DEGs were identified. The gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses indicated the significance of multiple biological processes as well as signaling pathways that affect heart function and DCM or IC progression. Protein-protein interaction network analysis identified the relationships between different genes, and some important genes such as MYC and FN1 were found to be hubs, which master each individual module of DCM-specific and IC-specific DEGs, respectively. We discovered commonalities and differences of gene expression profiles and molecular pathways between different cardiomyopathies. The gene discovery and molecular signature analysis in this study could offer insights into disease mechanisms and also identify markers useful for diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic purposes.