Correlation of body composition in early pregnancy on gestational diabetes mellitus under different body weights before pregnancy

OBJECTIVE

The prediction of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) by body composition-related indicators in the first trimester was analyzed under different body mass index (BMI) values before pregnancy.

METHODS

This was a retrospective analysis of pregnant women who were treated, had documented data, and received regular perinatal care at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021. Women with singleton pregnancies who did not have diabetes before pregnancy were included. In the first trimester (before the 14th week of pregnancy), bioelectric impedance assessment (BIA) was used to analyze body composition-related indicators such as protein levels, mineral levels, fat volume, and the waist-hip fat ratio. The Pearman's correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the linear relationship between the continuous variables and pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI). In the univariate body composition analysis, the association with the risk of developing GDM was included in a multivariate analysis using the relative risk and 95% confidence interval obtained from logarithmic binomial regression, and generalized linear regression was used for multivariate regression analysis. Furthermore, the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The optimal cutoff value of each risk factor was calculated according to the Youden Index.

RESULTS

In a retrospective study consisting of 6698 pregnant women, we collected 1109 cases of gestational diabetes. Total body water (TBW), protein levels, mineral levels, bone mineral content (BMC), body fat mass (BFM), soft lean mass (SLM), fat-free mass (FMM), skeletal muscle mass (SMM), percent body fat (PBF), the waist-hip ratio (WHR), the visceral fat level (VFL), and the basal metabolic rate (BMR) were significantly higher in the GDM group than in the normal group (P<0.05). Under the pre-pregnancy BMI groupings, out of 4157 pregnant women with a BMI <24 kg/m², 456 (10.97%) were diagnosed with GDM, and out of 2541 pregnant women with a BMI ≥24 kg/m², 653 (25.70%) were diagnosed with GDM. In the generalized linear regression model, it was found that in all groups of pregnant women, pre-pregnancy BMI, age, gestational weight gain (GWG) in the first trimester, and weight at the time of the BIA had a certain risk for the onset of GDM. In Model 1, without adjusting for confounders, the body composition indicators were all positively correlated with the risk of GDM. In Model 3, total body water, protein levels, mineral levels, bone mineral content, soft lean mass, fat-free mass, skeletal muscle mass, and the basal metabolic rate were protective factors for GDM. After Model 4 was adjusted for confounders, only the waist-hip ratio was positively associated with GDM onset. Among pregnant women with a pre-pregnancy BMI <24 kg/m², the body composition-related indicators in Model 2 were all related to the onset of GDM. In Model 3, total body water, soft lean mass, fat-free mass, and the basal metabolic rate were negatively correlated with GDM onset. In the body composition analysis of among women with a pre-pregnancy BMI ≥ 24 kg/m², only Model 1 and Model 2 were found to show positive associations with GDM onset. In the prediction model, in the basic data of pregnant women, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve predicted by gestational weight gain for GDM was the largest (0.795), and its cutoff value was 1.415 kg. In the body composition results, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of body fat mass for predicting GDM risk was larger (0.663) in all pregnant women.

CONCLUSIONS

Through this retrospective study, it was found that the body composition-related indicators were independently associated with the onset of GDM in both the pre-pregnancy BMI <24 kg/m² and pre-pregnancy BMI ≥24 kg/m² groups. Body fat mass, the visceral fat level, and the waist-hip ratio had a higher correlation with pre-pregnancy BMI. Total body water, protein levels, mineral levels, bone mineral content, soft lean mass, fat-free mass, skeletal muscle mass, and the basal metabolic rate were protective factors for GDM after adjusting for some confounders. In all pregnant women, the waist-hip ratio was found to be up to 4.562 times the risk of GDM development, and gestational weight gain had the best predictive power for GDM. Gestational weight gain in early pregnancy, body fat mass, and the waist-hip ratio can assess the risk of GDM in pregnant women, which can allow clinicians to predict the occurrence of GDM in pregnant women as early as possible and implement interventions to reduce adverse perinatal outcomes.

Human papillomavirus 16E6/E7 activates autophagy via Atg9B and LAMP1 in cervical cancer cells

BACKGROUNDS

Although the role of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) E6 and E7 in cellular malignant transformation has been elucidated， the function of both genes in cellular homeostasis is still unknown. Autophagy functions in maintenance of cellular homeostasis play a key role in the initiation and development of cancer and infectious disease.

METHODS

Cervical cancer cell lines SiHa and CaSki were utilized in this study.

RESULTS

We found that HPV 16E6/E7 (16E6/E7) downregulation inhibited autophagy, and consequently suppressed cell proliferation and promoted early apoptosis. Transcriptome sequencing demonstrated that Atg9B and LAMP1 were downregulated in 16E6/E7 knockdown cells. Gene function experiments revealed that 16E6/E7 downregulation depressed Atg9B and LAMP1, and Atg9B and LAMP1 overexpression compensated, at least partially, autophagy blockage induced by 16E6/E7 knockdown. Immunoprecipitation assay showed that 16E7 interacted with Atg9B and dual-luciferase reporter system revealed that 16E6 most likely regulated -1750 to -2000 nt in Atg9B and -1800 to -2000 nt in LAMP1 promoter region.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings verified that 16E6/E7 activated autophagy via accelerating autophagosome formation and degradation, and Atg9B and LAMP1 were involved in the process of 16E6/E7 modulating autophagy, suggesting that targeting autophagy may be a potential approach in cervical cancer therapeutics.

Abscisic acid prevents pollen abortion under high-temperature stress by mediating sugar metabolism in rice spikelets

Heat stress at the pollen mother cell (PMC) meiotic stage leads to pollen sterility in rice, in which the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and sugar homeostasis are always adversely affected. This damage is reversed by abscisic acid (ABA), but the mechanisms underlying the interactions among the ABA, sugar metabolism, ROS and heat shock proteins in rice spikelets under heat stress are unclear. Two rice genotypes, Zhefu802 (a recurrent parent) and fgl (its near-isogenic line) were subjected to heat stress of 40°C after pre-foliage sprayed with ABA and its biosynthetic inhibitor fluridone at the meiotic stage of PMC. The results revealed that exogenous application of ABA reduced pollen sterility caused by heat stress. This was achieved through various means, including: increased levels of soluble sugars, starch and non-structural carbohydrates, markedly higher relative expression levels of heat shock proteins (HSP24.1 and HSP71.1) and genes related to sugar metabolism and transport, such as sucrose transporters (SUT) genes, sucrose synthase (SUS) genes and invertase (INV) genes as well as increased antioxidant activities and increased content of adenosine triphosphate and endogenous ABA in spikelets. In short, exogenous application of ABA prior to heat stress enhanced sucrose transport and accelerated sucrose metabolism to maintain the carbon balance and energy homeostasis, thus ABA contributed to heat tolerance in rice.

Utilization of Anticoagulants in Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation Before and After Catheter Ablation at Shanghai, China

Both vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) and novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are effective for stroke prevention in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients. This study evaluated the utilization of VKA and NOACs in NVAF patients before and after catheter ablation in China. Prescription data were retrospectively collected between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2016, including indication of use, dose, renal function, and risk assessment (CHA₂DS₂-VASc score and HAS-BLED score) in Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University. Trends and factors associated with anticoagulants use before and after ablation were evaluated. A total of 475 patients with NVAF who received ablation were included in the analysis. Of all, 53.26% of them received antithrombotic therapy preablation. Warfarin was prescribed in 35.26%, with NOACs in 11.37%. Four hundred seventy-three patients received antithrombotic therapy (99.58%) postablation, 236 patients with NOACs (49.68%). CHA₂DS₂-VASc score, HAS-BLED score, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and alcohol were independently associated with anticoagulant utilization before catheter ablation. The higher CHA₂DS₂-VASc score was associated with less frequent prescription of NOACs postablation. The preablation anticoagulation use was still inadequate in China, and CHA₂DS₂-VASc score was a significant factor influencing the preablation anticoagulant utilization. The utilization rate of NOACs increased significantly postablation, especially for dabigatran, which implied that more physicians prefer to prescribe NOACs for NVAF patients after ablation in our country and may be attributed to the aspects such as ease of NOAC use but also possibly the greater safety and efficacy. Furthermore, the physicians may reluctant to use NOACs for high stroke risk atrial fibrillation patients after catheter ablation.

Apoptosis and antitumor effects between β-elemene and astragaloside and drug mechanism analysis

β-elemene is an effective anticancer drug extracted from Rhizoma curcumae. It is a non cytotoxic antineoplastic agent, which can obviously inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells. In this paper, we observed the proliferation inhibition and apoptosis of β-elemene and Astragaloside on human hepatoma cell HepG2 and mouse hepatoma H22 cells, and provide a reference for further proof that β-elemene and astragaloside can induce tumor cell apoptosis. The results showed that after 24 h, group astragaloside, β-elemene group and combined treatment group had inhibitory effect on the proliferation of HePG2 cells, in which the combined treatment group had the best effect and the inhibition rate reached 66.71%. The apoptosis rates of Hep G2 cells in the drug treatment group were 0.9%, 22.4% and 45.8%, respectively, and there was statistical significance in each drug group compared with the control group (P<0.05). It can be seen that Astragalus membranaceus and β-elemene have obvious inhibitory effects on the growth of liver cancer cells and their combination has synergistic effect.

Simultaneous location and size measurement of particles using extended glare-point imaging technique

Interferometric particle imaging (IPI) is a robust and popular technique for measuring particle size and velocity. A method based on a template matching algorithm and an auto-correlation method is proposed to simultaneously extract the location and the separation of doublet images of a particle from an IPI focused image. The position coordinate (x,y) of the particle can be determined with high accuracy, as evaluated by using a serial particle mask. Furthermore, the method can be employed to achieve sub-pixel spacing extraction when combined with Gaussian interpolation. The algorithm is tested using synthetic and experimental data. The results suggest that the method presented here is promising for its application to a high-density particle field, in accurately measuring both the particle size and its location.