Objective To investigate the expression of Wnt-5a gene in primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to expose its role and clinical significance in the development of HCC.Methods Real time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed in 26 fresh HCC samples and the corresponding para-carcinoma tissues to detect mRNA expression of Wnt-5a gene.Wnt-5a protein was detected with immunohistochemical method in paraffin embedding tissues of 85 cases of HCCs and the corresponding para-carcinoma tissues,and 15 cases of hepatic cirrhosis.Results RT-PCR analysis showed that Wnt-5a mRNA (0.102 127 ±0.158 620) in the HCC tissues was more than that (0.020 106 ±0.022 075) in the para-carcinoma tissues (P＜0.05).The positive expression rate of Wnt-5a protein in HCC,para-carcinoma,and hepatic cirrhosis tissues were 21.2％ (18/85),81.26％ (69/85),and 86.7％ (13/15),respectively.The positive rate of Wnt-5a was significantly lower in the HCC than in the para-carcinoma and hepatic cirrhosis tissues (P ＜ 0.01).The expression of Wnt-5a was significantly associated with lower tumor node metastasis (TNM) stages and small alpha fetoproteins (AFP) content of blood serum (P ＜0.05).Conclusions The high expression of Wnt-5a mRNA was found in the gene transcription of HCC,while Wnt-5a protein was absent or low in HCC.It was suggested that the roles of Wnt-5a was interfered at the protein level rather than the transcriptional level in the HCC.

Objective To observe the effects ofLiuwei Dihuang Decoction on cAMP and PDE3B in adipose tissues of rats with type 2 diabetes;To explore its mechanism.MethodsTotally 80 SD rats were randomly divided into two groups:control group and molding group. Rats in the molding group established the type 2 diabetic models by feeding high sugar and fat diet combined with intraperitoneal injection of Streptozotocin. The successful modeling rats were divided into model group, Rosiglitazone group, andLiuwei Dihuang Decoction group. Administration groups were given relevant medicine for gavage, while model group and blank group were given the same amount of normal saline for 30 days. FBG levels were detected, and cAMP and INS levels were detected by ELISA. The protein expressions of PDE3B in adipose tissues were determined by Western blot. The mRNA expressions of PDE3B in adipose tissues were detected by RT-PCR.Results Compared with the model group, the FBG and INS levels in type 2 diabetic rats were reduced in Rosiglitazone group andLiuwei DihuangDecoction group (P<0.05,P<0.01). InLiuwei Dihuang Decoction group, the protein and mRNA expressions of PDE3B in the adipose tissues were higher, and cAMP levels were lower than the model group (P<0.01).ConclusionLiuwei Dihuang Decoction can increase PDE3B expression, and decrease cAMP level, which may be one of the mechanisms for improving insulin resistance in type 2 diabetic rats.

Objective: To explore the impact of household tobacco smoke exposure on adolescents attempted smoking behavior, so as to provide a reference for tobacco control policy formulation and evaluation. Methods: From September to November 2023, a stratified cluster random sampling method was employed to select 7 841 middle and high school students from 10 monitoring sites (districts/counties) in Beijing for a questionnaire survey. Rao-Scott Chi square test was used to assess differences in proportions across subgroups, and complex sampling design based multivariate Logistic regression analysis was conducted to explore the influence of parental smoking and secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure at home on adolescents attempted smoking behavior. Results: About 47.17% of adolescents reported to have at least one parent smoked, with 42.36% reported of having only the father smoked, 0.73% reported of having only the mother smoked, and 4.08% reported of having both parents smoked. About 34.66% of middle and high school students were reported SHS exposure at home in the past 7 days, with 10.98%, 4.79% and 18.89% reported SHS exposure for 1-2, 3-4 and 5-7 days. Compared to adolescents with non smoking parents, those with a smoking father or both smoking parents had higher rates of attempted smoking [ OR (95% CI )=1.45(1.06-1.98), 3.73(2.18-6.37), P < 0.05 ]. Compared to adolescents without SHS exposure at home in the past 7 days, those exposed for 3-4 or 5- 7 days had higher rates of attempted smoking [ OR (95% CI )=2.21(1.27- 3.84 ), 2.46(1.58-3.83), P <0.01]. Conclusions Household tobacco smoke exposure is associated with adolescent attempted smoking behavior. Parents should quit smoking and prohibit smoking at home to create a smoke free environment for adolescents.

Objective: To monitor the second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure in residents aged 15 years and over in public venues, indoor workplaces, on public transportation vehicles and at home in Beijing and evaluate the effect of Beijing Tobacco Control Regulation. Methods: Data from 2014 and 2016 Beijing Adult Tobacco Survey were used. The surveys covered 16 districts in Beijing. The study subjects were selected through multi-stage cluster sampling with probability proportional to population size, and data were collected by using electronic questionnaire in face-to-face household interviews. A total of 8 484 and 9 372 valid questionnaires were collected for the surveys in 2014 and 2016, respectively. Statistical packages SPSS 20.0 and R 3.4.4 were used for data analyses. After weighting the samples using complex survey designs, the SHS exposure rates in different places in adults of Beijing were estimated. χ² tests were performed for the comparison. Results: The SHS exposure rates of residents aged 15 years and over in Beijing who visited health care facilities, government buildings, universities, primary and secondary schools and restaurants declined from 12.8%, 19.7%, 24.3%, 32.8% and 65.7% in 2014 to 6.2%, 10.8%, 12.5%, 19.1% and 32.5% in 2016, respectively. The SHS exposure rates in bars/nightclubs were 89.5% in 2014 and 80.3% in 2016. From 2014 to 2016, the SHS exposure rates declined from 35.7% to 20.0% in indoor workplaces and declined from 3.9% to 2.5% on public transportation vehicles. The SHS exposure rates at home were 39.8% in 2014 and 37.6% in 2016, respectively. Conclusions The SHS exposure rates in public places declined obviously in Beijing after the one year implementation of Beijing Tobacco Control Regulation, indicating the effect of the regulation implementation.

Objective:To evaluate the effect of the implementation of Beijing Smoking Control Regulation in 2015 on the smoking prevalence in people aged ≥15 years in Beijing during 2014-2021, and explore factors associated with tobacco use behavior in local population. Methods Using a pooled cross-sectional design, data from Beijing Adult Tobacco Survey in 2014, 2016, 2019 and 2021 (4 surveys) were combined into one dataset. The 4 surveys used same multistage cluster sampling procedure. After complex survey weighting, multiple logistic regression models were constructed to analyze factors influencing smoking status. Results:A total of 8 484, 9 372, 8 534 and 10 551 respondents were included in the surveys in 2014, 2016, 2019 and 2021, respectively. The smoking prevalence rate was 23.4%, 22.3%, 20.3% and 19.9%, respectively, in Beijing residents aged ≥15 years, exhibiting a linear declining trend ( P=0.010). Factors associated with current smoking in men were age 25-44 years ( OR=2.22, 95% CI: 1.68-2.95) and 45-64 years, ( OR=2.64, 95% CI: 2.06-3.39), educational level of high school ( OR=0.69, 95% CI: 0.49-0.95) and undergraduate and above ( OR=0.46, 95% CI: 0.33-0.63), and awareness of smoking causing stroke ( OR=0.71, 95% CI: 0.61-0.81), and awareness of smoking causing lung cancer ( OR=0.53, 95% CI: 0.42-0.66), the differences were significant (all P<0.05). After controlling interfering factors, the current smoking prevalence in men in 2019 ( OR=0.73, 95% CI: 0.63-0.87, P<0.001) and 2021 ( OR=0.72, 95% CI: 0.61-0.88, P<0.001) were significantly lower than that in 2014. Factors associated with current smoking in women were living alone ( OR=1.80, 95% CI: 1.33-2.44), educational level of undergraduate and above ( OR=0.43, 95% CI: 0.27-0.69), other occupations except doctor and teacher ( OR=8.54, 95% CI: 2.80-26.02) or being retired/unemployed ( OR=9.39, 95% CI: 3.19-27.65), and awareness of smoking causing cardiovascular events ( OR=0.58, 95% CI: 0.39-0.84), and awareness of smoking causing lung cancer ( OR=0.54, 95% CI: 0.35-0.83), the differences were significant (all P<0.05). No significant change in smoking status in women was found in 4 surveys. Conclusions:The smoking prevalence rate in men in Beijing has declined since the implementation of Beijing Smoking Control Regulation 5 years, indicating the effectiveness of legislative approach in tobacco control. Socio-demographic factors and the awareness level of tobacco harm could influence smoking status. Future tobacco control programs should target the people with lower education level, young men, women living alone, and those with occupations other than teachers/doctors or the unemployed/retired and include more comprehensive health education.

Objective:To establish the reference values and growth curves of skeletal muscle mass among children in the Nanjing area.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted with children who underwent physical examination at the Department of Child Health Care, Children′s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from 2020 January to 2022 September. Their height, weight, body fat mass and skeletal muscle mass were measured. Body mass index, percentage of body fat mass, percentage of skeletal muscle mass, relative skeletal muscle mass index and the ratio of skeletal muscle to body fat were calculated. The associations between skeletal muscle mass indices and physical measurements index were analyzed through the Spearman correlation test. The Mann-Kendall test was used to assess the trend for skeletal muscle mass. Generalized additive models for location, scale and shape were used to construct percentile reference values and growth curves of male and female skeletal muscle mass indices at different ages.Results:A total of 32 690 children aged 4-14 years were enrolled in this study, including 19 912 boys (60.91%). Skeletal muscle mass, percentage of skeletal muscle mass, relative skeletal muscle mass index and the ratio of skeletal muscle to body fat of boys and girls was 11.10 (8.40, 14.90) and 10.30 (7.90, 13.20) kg, 40.36% (37.01%, 43.13%) and 39.38% (36.43%, 41.88%), 6.70 (6.07, 7.52) and 6.33 (5.79, 7.00), 2.39 (1.46, 3.47) and 2.14 (1.45, 3.00) kg/m 2, respectively. Skeletal muscle mass of both boys and girls was all positively associated with weight ( r=0.97, 0.96), body mass index ( r=0.68, 0.63) and percentage of body fat mass ( r=0.40, 0.43) (all P<0.01). The reference values and growth curves showed that the percentage of skeletal muscle mass P50 ranged from 37.75%-44.61% in boys and from 36.22%-40.55% in girls. The relative skeletal muscle mass index P50 ranged from 5.80-9.68 kg/m 2 in boys and from 5.57-7.98 kg/m 2 in girls. The ratio of skeletal muscle to body fat P50 ranged from 1.86-2.67 in boys and from 1.29-2.41 in girls. There was an increasing trend with age for both boys and girls in the growth of skeletal muscle mass ( Z=4.20, 3.75, both Ptrend<0.01), and increased slightly before 9 years of age and then increased rapidly until 14 years of age in both boys and girls. Conclusions:The skeletal muscle mass indices change with age and gender during childhood. Percentile reference values for pediatric skeletal muscle mass indices can be used to evaluate the muscular growth and development in children in the Nanjing area.

Objective:To investigate the predictive value of neck circumference on cardiometabolic risk in children.Methods:This was a cross-sectional study of natural sources. As the prediction cohort, clinical data were collected from 3 443 children aged 5-14 years who underwent physical examination in the Department of Child Healthcare, Children′s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from July 2021 to September 2022. As the validation cohort for external validation, clinical data were collected from 604 children aged 5-14 years who underwent physical examination in the Department of Child Healthcare, Children′s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from October 2022 to March 2023. Height, weight, neck circumference, waist circumference and body composition were measured in both groups, and body mass index, neck circumference to height ratio (NHtR), waist circumference to height ratio, body fat percentage and skeletal muscle percentage were calculated. Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, blood lipid and uric acid and other cardiovascular and metabolic risk indicators were collected in both groups. The prediction cohort was further stratified into clustered and non-clustered groups based on the clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors (CCRF). Various variables between these 2 groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. Pearson correlation and binary Logistic regression were conducted to investigate the correlations between neck circumference and cardiovascular metabolic risk factors. The accuracy of NHtR in predicting the CCRF was evaluated using the area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC). The cutoff value was determined using the Youden index. The validation cohort was then divided into groups above and below the cutoff value, and the detection rate of CCRF between the 2 groups was compared using the χ2 test for validation .Results:In the prediction cohort of 3 443 children (2 316 boys and 1 127 girls), 1 395 (40.5%) children were overweight or obese, and 1 157 (33.6%) children had CCRF. Pearson correlation analysis revealed all significant positive correlations (all P<0.01) between neck circumference and systolic blood pressure ( r=0.47, 0.39), diastolic blood pressure ( r=0.27, 0.21), uric acid ( r=0.36, 0.30), and triglycerides ( r=0.20, 0.20) after adjusting for age in both males and females. Among both males and females, neck circumference both showed significant negative correlation (both P<0.01) with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( r=-0.27, -0.28), and no correlation with fasting glucose levels ( r=0.03, -0.03, both P>0.05). After adjusting for gender, age, and body fat percentage, increased body mass index, neck circumference, or waist circumference increased the risks of hypertension ( OR=1.23, 1.39, 1.07, all P<0.001), hyperuricemia ( OR=1.16, 1.23, 1.05, all P<0.001), hypertriglyceridemia ( OR=1.08, 1.16, 1.02, all P<0.01), low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( OR=1.10, 1.27, 1.03, all P<0.01), and the CCRF ( OR=1.51, 1.73, 1.15, all P<0.01). The areas under the ROC curves of NHtR in predicting CCRF was 0.73, with sensitivity and specificity at 0.66 and 0.71, respectively. The corresponding optimal cut-off value was 0.21. Validation with 604 children confirmed that the detection of CCRF in the NHtR≥0.21 group was 3.29 times (60.5% (112/185) vs. 18.7% (79/422), χ2=107.82, P<0.01) higher compared to the NHtR <0.21 group. Conclusions:Neck circumference is associated with cardiovascular metabolic risks such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, and hyperuricemia in children. When the NHtR is ≥0.21, there is an increased likelihood of CCRF.