OBJECTIVE To establish an in vitro test method and to evaluate the genotoxicity of chemicals using primary cultured mouse hepatocytes and the changes in phosphorylated histone H2AX(γH2AX)expression levels to provide a more reliable marker of the identification of genotoxicity. METHODS Hepatocytes were isolated from BALB/c mice by an improved two-step collagenase diges?tion method and then cultured in sandwich configuration. The primary cultured hepatocytes were treat?ed with various concentrations of four known genotoxic agents bleomycin(BLM),benzo(a)pyrene〔B (a)p〕,styrene and styrene-7,8-oxide(SO)within the range of 40 μmol · L-1 and two non-genotoxic agents azathioprine(Aza)and ciclosporin A(CsA)at different time points within 24 h. The cytotoxicity induced by these toxicants was assessed by CCK-8 assay. Then,the changes in γH2AX expression levels in treated cells were determined by flow cytometry. RESULTS The four genotoxic agents could be detected and two non-genotoxic agents could not be detected by this method. The γH2AX expression level was the highest when hepatocytes were exposed to BLM and SO for 3 h,or B(a)p and styrene for 6 h(P<0.01). The production of γH2AX was 25.67,18.36,12.43 and 14.25 for the four types of genotoxic agents,respectively,and was approximately 19,13,9 and 11 times that of the vehicle control group(P<0.01)at the optimum time point and concentration. There was a significant positive corre?lation between the indicated concentrations of genotoxic chemicals and γH2AX expression levels(P<0.01). In addition,the production ofγH2AX indicated no marked increase in two non-genotoxic agents such as Aza and CsA in comparison with the control group. CONCLUSION This test method can effec?tively distinguish genotoxic agents from non-genotoxic agents,and direct genotoxic agents from indirect genotoxic agents in the absence of S9. γH2AX might be a reliable marker for the identification of the potential genotoxicity of chemicals.

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are a kind of progenitor cells with high potential of proliferation, which exist in the bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, and peripheral blood. Under certain conditions, EPCs can differentiate into mature vascular endothelial cells. Many studies have shown that EPCs could delay the onset and development of atherosclerosis by promoting the repair of the endothelium and neovascularization. EPCs have also been considered to be a biological marker for cardiovascular diseases. Recent investigations demonstrate that EPCs can mediate the effect of some anti-atherosclerosis drugs. This paper reviews the role of EPCs in atherosclerosis and the influence of drugs on EPC function. The feasibility and the problem of using EPCs as a treatment strategy are also discussed.
Atherosclerosis ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Cell Differentiation ; Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; Humans ; Stem Cells ; cytology ; physiology

Objective:To investigate the prevalence, risk factors and outcomes of diastasis recti abdominis (DRA) in multiparas after the second delivery.Methods:From June 2017 to September 2019, 300 multiparas with an average age of (31.7±4.0) years (26 to 43 years) after the second delivery were recruited at 6 weeks postpartum from two hospitals in Wenzhou. There were 171 multiparas with two natural births,36 multiparas with one natural birth and one caesarean delivery, and 93 multiparas with two caesarean deliveries. The interrectus distance (IRD) was measured with palpation at 6 weeks, 6 months and 12 months after delivery. Data on age, height, weight before pregnancy and delivery, baby′s birth weight, abdominal circumference before pregnancy and delivery, fetus number, delivery mode and occupation type were collected. Strength and endurance of abdominal muscle was assessed using manual muscle testing and curl-ups, low back pain was assessed using Oswestry disability index(ODI), urinary incontinence was assessed with International Consultation on Incontinence guestionnaire-incontinentia urinae (ICIQ-UI) short form (ICIQ-SF), and quality of life was assessed using 36-item short form health survey (SF-36).Results:Prevalence of DRA was 51.7%(155/300), 39.3%(116/295) and 27.7%(80/289) 6 weeks, 6 months and 12 months after delivery, respectively. Logistic regression analysis indicated that age ( OR=1.39, 95 %CI:1.02-1.91, P=0.38), abdominal circumference ratio ( OR=2.31, 95 %CI:1.23-4.33, P=0.01), twins ( OR=11.41, 95 %CI:2.15-60.76, P<0.01), and cesarean section ( OR=1.44, 95 %CI:1.06-1.95, P=0.02) were the risk factors of DRA at 12 months after delivery. At 12 months after delivery, the multiparas with DRA had weaker strength and endurance of abdominal muscle ( Z=-3.62, P<0.01; Z=-8.91, P<0.01), more serious low back pain ( Z=-2.10, P=0.04), and lower quality of life on physical health ( t=-3.34, P<0.01) than the multiparas without DRA. No difference in prevalence and severity of urinary incontinence and quality of life on psychological health was found when comparing multiparas with and without DRA (χ 2=0.66, P=0.42; Z=-1.18, P=0.24; t=0.91, P=0.36). Conclusion:Multipara after the second delivery has great likelihood for DRA.Age, abdominal circumference ratio, twins, and cesarean section are the risk factors of DRA. DRA is related to abdominal muscle dysfunction, low back pain, and quality of life.

Objective:To evaluate the quality of information about bronchial asthma in Chinese Internet Site.Methods:According to the traffic ranking of Alexa website, three Chinese keywords of “bronchial asthma”, “asthma” and “asthma treatment” were searched in two most common Chinese search engines: Baidu and Sohu, and the information quality was evaluated by DISCERN tool. The completeness and accuracy of the information were evaluated according to the “2019 Global Strategy For Asthma Management And Prevention”.Results:A total of 25 websites were obtained. The DISCERN evaluation showed that none of the evaluations had an average score of more than 3.40 points. More than 50% of the information on the websites was incomplete or incorrect, and 4% of the websites contained incorrect information. The website content scores were graded, and the grading results were: excellent 12%, good 40%, fair 36%, poor 12%. The website was evaluated according to the attributes of the owner. Professional websites had better accuracy and comprehensive websites had better comprehensiveness. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the content score was positively correlated with the reliability score, detail score, and total score in DISCERN score ( r=0.58, 0.63, 0.61, all P<0.001). Conclusion:The quality of asthma information on Chinese Internet Site is generally poor.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of occupational exposure to toluene diisocyanate (TDI) on the workers' health.

METHODSA total of 76 workers exposed to TDI (exposure group) and 64 management staff members (control group) were selected from a factory as the study subjects. Area sampling was performed for the place with exposure to TDI according to the method in GBZ 159-2004 Specifications of air sampling for hazardous substances monitoring in the workplace, and gas chromatography was applied to measure the concentration of TDI in workplace air. The workers' personal information was collected with questionnaire, pulmonary ventilation function was determined with a portable spirometer, hematological parameters were analyzed by automatic blood analyzer and blood chemistry analyzer, and the indicators of oxidative damage and energy metabolism were measured by the reagent kit provided by Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute. SPSS 17 software was applied for statistical analysis.

RESULTSThe exposure group had significantly lower forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second(FEV1.0), and FEV1.0/FVC ratio than the control group (P <0.05). Compared with the control group, the exposure group had significantly higher red blood cell count, platelet distribution width, mean platelet volume, lymphocyte count, and neutrophil count(P<0.01), and significantly lower activities of lactate dehydrogenase(LDH), superoxide dismutase, and succinodehydrogenase (SDH)(P <0.01). In the exposure group, the length of exposure was negatively correlated with the activities of SDH and LDH in the serum (r=-0.319, P <0.05; r=-0.239, P <0.05), and the length of exposure was not found to be correlated with the activity of SOD and pulmonary function indices.

CONCLUSIONTDI can induce inflammatory response and lung ventilation function impairment in workers exposed to TDI, as well as oxidative stress and imbalance of energy metabolism. Therefore, it can cause damage to workers' health, and protective measures should be enhanced.

Case-Control Studies ; Erythrocyte Count ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Inflammation ; physiopathology ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; blood ; metabolism ; Leukocyte Count ; Lung ; physiopathology ; Occupational Exposure ; adverse effects ; Pulmonary Ventilation ; Succinate Dehydrogenase ; blood ; metabolism ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism ; Toluene 2,4-Diisocyanate ; adverse effects ; Vital Capacity

Objective:To evaluate the deformity changes in the treatment of congenital clubfoot in infants by ultrasound, and to explore its clinical application value.Methods:Seventeen infants with congenital clubfoot treated in the Department of Pediatric Orthopaedics of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from March 2020 to June 2021 and 27 normal infants in the same period were selected. The distance between medial malleolus and scaphoids (MM-N distance) of all feet was measured by ultrasound. The distance from the tangent line of the lateral edge of calcaneus to the midpoint of the lateral edge of the chondroid bone (C-C distance), medial soft tissue thickness and tibial calcaneal angle were measured by ultrasound. The data before, after treatment and during follow-up were statistically analyzed.Results:A total of 88 feet of 44 infants were evaluated. The mean number of cast was 4.7±1.1, the follow-up time was (96.9±59.3)days. The MM-N distance, C-C distance and posterior tibial calcaneal angle in the clubfoot group were improved after treatment and at the last follow-up, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.01). During the treatment, 1 case had false correction, and 2 cases recurred in the last follow-up. Conclusions:Ultrasound can clearly display the medial, dorsal, lateral and posterior articular structures of normal and clubfoot, and can observe the deformity changes of clubfoot during the correction process, which can provide guidance for the clinical treatment of clubfoot.

Objective To investigate the effects of chronic exposure to monochloroacetic acid on the lung function and whole blood counts in occupational exposed workers,and provide new markers for occupational health surveillance.Methods We conducted a cross-sectional molecular epidemiology study of 121 workers who were occupationally exposed to monochloroacetic acid and 69 unexposed workers frequencymatched by age and smoking status from the same geographic region.The lung function was measured by portable lung function instrument,and the lymphocyte subsets were measured by flow eytometry.Linear regression was used to test for differences in the levels of each marker between exposed and control workers.Results FEV1.0/FVC was significantly decreased in both male and female workers exposed to monochloroacetic acid compared to unexposed workers (P＜0.01) after adjusting for potential confounders,which were highly consisteut when stratified by smoking status.Among male workers,monochloroacetic acid exposure was associated with significant decrease in the levels of CD8+ T cells (P＜0.05) and monocytes (P＜0.05),and these statistically significant differences were observed between exposure and control workers only among smokers,not among non-smokers.However,there were no significant differences in the levels of whule blood cells and lymphocyte subsets between two groups anong female workers.Conclusion The chronic monochloroacetic acid exposure was associated with pulmonary dysfunction and immunosuppression,which mainly occurred among nale workers and smokers.

Objective:To analyze the correlation between the changes of lung function and serum proinflammatory cytokines in workers occupationally exposed to toluene diisocyanate (TDI), and to explore the evaluation index of respiratory toxicity of TDI.Methods:In October 2014, 61 male workers engaged in TDI synthesis process, purification process, packaging process and the above production process in a TDI factory in western China were selected as TDI exposure group; 62 male enterprise managers who were not exposed to TDI and other known allergenic chemicals were selected as control group, which were matched at the age of workers in exposure group. The questionnaire survey obtained information such as gender, length of service, age, occupational history, exposed length of service and so on. The lung function indexes [forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV1/FVC] and serum levels of interleukin (IL)-1 β, IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, macrophage inflammatory factor-1 β, monocyte chemoattractant factor-1 and vascular endothelial growth factor were measured. The urine was collected after the weekend shift, and the concentration of (TDA), the metabolite of TDI, was determined as the index of internal exposure. Spearman rank correlation was used to analyze the correlation between cytokines and lung function indexes, and multivariate linear regression was used to analyze the changes of lung function indexes and cytokines with TDI exposure concentration and time.Results:The median age ( P5- P95) of the exposed group and the control group was 36.5 (24.0-51.0) and 38.0 (24.0-50.0) years, respectively. In the exposed group, the median length of service ( P5- P95) was 6.94 (0.97-26.33) years, and the median concentration of TDA in urine was 15.56 (2.28-112.16) ng/ml. The three indexes of lung function, FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC and the levels of serum IL-8 and TNF-α were significantly lower than those in the control group ( P<0.01). With the increase of exposure concentration and exposure time, the level of serum TNF-α, FVC and FEV1 decreased, and showed a good dose-effect and time-effect relationship (all Ptrend values< 0.05). Serum IL-8 and TNF-α were positively correlated with FVC, FEV1 and FEV1/FVC (all P values<0.01). Conclusion:The levels of serum inflammatory factors IL-8 and TNF-α in worker exposed to TDI are related to lung function indexes, which can be used as early evaluation indexes of respiratory toxicity induced by TDI.

Objective:To analyze the correlation between the changes of lung function and serum proinflammatory cytokines in workers occupationally exposed to toluene diisocyanate (TDI), and to explore the evaluation index of respiratory toxicity of TDI.Methods:In October 2014, 61 male workers engaged in TDI synthesis process, purification process, packaging process and the above production process in a TDI factory in western China were selected as TDI exposure group; 62 male enterprise managers who were not exposed to TDI and other known allergenic chemicals were selected as control group, which were matched at the age of workers in exposure group. The questionnaire survey obtained information such as gender, length of service, age, occupational history, exposed length of service and so on. The lung function indexes [forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV1/FVC] and serum levels of interleukin (IL)-1 β, IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, macrophage inflammatory factor-1 β, monocyte chemoattractant factor-1 and vascular endothelial growth factor were measured. The urine was collected after the weekend shift, and the concentration of (TDA), the metabolite of TDI, was determined as the index of internal exposure. Spearman rank correlation was used to analyze the correlation between cytokines and lung function indexes, and multivariate linear regression was used to analyze the changes of lung function indexes and cytokines with TDI exposure concentration and time.Results:The median age ( P5- P95) of the exposed group and the control group was 36.5 (24.0-51.0) and 38.0 (24.0-50.0) years, respectively. In the exposed group, the median length of service ( P5- P95) was 6.94 (0.97-26.33) years, and the median concentration of TDA in urine was 15.56 (2.28-112.16) ng/ml. The three indexes of lung function, FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC and the levels of serum IL-8 and TNF-α were significantly lower than those in the control group ( P<0.01). With the increase of exposure concentration and exposure time, the level of serum TNF-α, FVC and FEV1 decreased, and showed a good dose-effect and time-effect relationship (all Ptrend values< 0.05). Serum IL-8 and TNF-α were positively correlated with FVC, FEV1 and FEV1/FVC (all P values<0.01). Conclusion:The levels of serum inflammatory factors IL-8 and TNF-α in worker exposed to TDI are related to lung function indexes, which can be used as early evaluation indexes of respiratory toxicity induced by TDI.

Objective To investigate the relationship of miRNA gene polymorphisms with blood pressure(BP)responses to the sodium and potassium diet intervention.Methods In 2004,we recruited 514 participants from 124 families in seven villages of Baoji,Shaanxi Province,China.All subjects were given a three-day normal diet,followed by a seven-day low-salt diet,a seven-day high-salt diet,and finally a seven-day high-salt and potassium supplementation.A total of 19 miRNA single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)were selected for analysis.Results Throughout the sodium-potassium dietary intervention,the BP of the subjects fluctuated across all phases,showing a decrease during the low-salt period and an increase during the high-salt period,followed by a reduction in BP subsequent to potassium supplementation during the high-salt diet.MiR-210-3p SNP rs 12364149 was significantly associated with systolic BP(SBP),diastolic BP(DBP)and mean arterial pressure(MAP)responses to low-salt diet.MiR-4638-3p SNP rs6601178 was significantly associated with SBP while miR-26b-3p SNP rs115254818 was significantly associated with MAP responses to low-salt intervention.In addition,miR-26b-3p SNP rs115254818 was significantly correlated with SBP,DBP and MAP responses to high-salt intervention.MiR-1307-5p SNPs rs1 1191676 and rs2292807 were associated with SBP and MAP responses to high-salt diet.MiR-4638-3p SNP rs6601178,miR-210-3p SNP rs12364149,miR-382-5p SNP rs4906032 and rs4143957 were significantly associated with SBP response to high-salt diet.In addition,miR-26b-3p SNP rs115254818 was significantly associated with SBP,DBP and MAP responses to potassium supplementation.MiR-1307-5p SNPs rs11191676,rs2292807,and miR-19a-3p SNP rs4284505 were significantly associated with SBP responses to high-salt and potassium supplementation.Conclusion miRNA gene polymorphisms are associated with BP response to sodium and potassium,suggesting that miRNA genes may be involved in the pathophysiological process of salt sensitivity and potassium sensitivity.