An inverted J-shaped association of serum uric acid with muscle strength among Japanese adult men: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Uric acid (UA) may protect muscle function from oxidative damage due to reactive oxygen species through its powerful antioxidant capacity. However, several studies have demonstrated that hyperuricemia is closely related to systemic inflammation and has oxidant properties effects, both of which may increase the risk of muscle strength loss. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of serum UA concentration with grip strength and leg extension power in adult men. METHODS: This study is a cross-sectional survey in which 630 Japanese male employees aged 30 years and older participated. Five hundred and eighty-six subjects participated in the measurement of grip strength, and 355 subjects participated in the measurement of leg extension power. Blood samples were obtained for serum UA analysis. RESULTS: After adjustment for potential confounders, grip strength differed significantly between participants with and those without hyperuricemia (geometric mean and 95% confidence interval [CI]: 40.3 [39.2–41.3] kg vs. 41.9 [41.3–42.5] kg; P = 0.01). In addition, serum UA levels (quartiles) showed an inverted J-shaped curve with grip strength (mean and 95% CI: Q1, 41.6 [40.6–42.6] kg; Q2, 42.2 [41.2–43.2] kg; Q3, 41.8 [40.8–42.8] kg; Q4, 40.4 [39.3–41.4] kg; P for quadratic trend = 0.05). The results in the leg extension power group were similar to those observed in the grip strength group. CONCLUSION: This population-based cross-sectional study shows for the first time that hyperuricemia is associated with poor muscle strength. Moreover, the results indicate an inverted J-shaped association between serum UA quartiles and muscle strength

A Wall-Associated Kinase Gene CaWAKL20 From Pepper Negatively Modulates Plant Thermotolerance by Reducing the Expression of ABA-Responsive Genes

Heat stress has become a major threat to crop production due to global warming; however, the mechanisms underlying plant high-temperature sensing are not well known. In plants, the membrane-anchored receptor-like kinases (RLKs) relay environmental signals into the cytoplasm. In a previous study, we isolated a wall-associated RLK-like (WAKL) gene CaWAKL20 from pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). Here, the amino acid sequence of CaWAKL20 was characterized and found to consist of conserved domains of WAK/WAKL family, including an extracellular region containing a GUB-WAK binding domain and a degenerated EGF2-like domain; a transmembrane region; and an intercellular region with an STKc catalytic domain. Moreover, CaWAKL20 transcription was inhibited by heat stress, whereas it was induced by both ABA and H2O2 treatments. Silencing of CaWAKL20 enhanced pepper thermotolerance, while overexpression decreased Arabidopsis thermotolerance. Additionally, Arabidopsis lines overexpressing CaWAKL20 showed less sensitivity to ABA during seed germination and root growth. Finally, the survival rate of Arabidopsis seedlings under heat stress treatment was enhanced by ABA pre-treatment, while it was compromised by the overexpression of CaWAKL20. Furthermore, the heat-induced expression of several ABA-responsive genes and some key regulator genes for thermotolerance was decreased in Arabidopsis CaWAKL20-overexpression lines. These results suggest that CaWAKL20 negatively modulates plant thermotolerance by reducing the expression of ABA-responsive genes, laying a foundation for further investigation into the functional mechanisms of WAKs/WAKLs in plants undergoing environmental stresses

A novel prognostic model for predicting the risk of first variceal hemorrhage in patients with HBV-related cirrhosis

BackgroundVariceal hemorrhage (VH) is a life-threatening complication of cirrhosis. An accurate VH risk evaluation is critical to determine appropriate prevention strategies. We aimed to develop an individualized prediction model to predict the risk of first VH in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related cirrhotic patients.MethodsA nomogram was developed based on a retrospective analysis of 527 consecutive HBV-related cirrhotic patients with gastroesophageal varices (GEVs). The nomogram evaluation was performed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), concordance index (C-index), calibration plot, and decision curve analysis (DCA). The results were verified using an external cohort (n = 187).ResultsWe developed a nomogram based on clinical and endoscopic features, including the size of varices, red wale marks, ascites, spleen thickness, γ‐glutamyltransferase, and hematocrit. The C-index of the nomogram in the derivation and validation cohort was 0.806 and 0.820, respectively, and the calibration plot fitted well. Compared with those of the North Italian Endoscopic Club (NIEC) and revised NIEC indexes, the AUC (derivation cohort: 0.822 vs. 0.653 vs. 0.713; validation cohort: 0.846 vs. 0.685 vs. 0.747) and DCA curves of this nomogram were better. Further, based on the risk scores, patients were classified into low-, medium-, and high-risk groups, and significant differences were noted in VH incidence among the three risk groups (P <0.001 for each cohort).ConclusionsAn effective individualized nomogram to predict the risk of first VH in HBV-related GEV patients was established, which can assist clinicians in developing more appropriate prevention strategies

Skin advanced glycation end product accumulation and muscle strength among adult men

Aging is associated with decreased skeletal muscle function. Increased levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in skeletal muscle tissue are observed with advancing age and in diabetes. Although serum AGE level is negatively associated with grip strength in elderly people, it is unknown whether this association is present in adult males. To determine the relationship between AGE accumulation in tissue and muscle strength and power among Japanese adult men. Skin autofluorescence (AF) (a noninvasive method for measuring tissue AGEs), grip strength (n = 232), and leg extension power (n = 138) were measured in Japanese adult men [median (interquartile range) age, 46.0 (37.0, 56.0) years]. After adjustment for potential confounders, the adjusted means [95% confidence interval (CI)] for grip strength across the tertiles of skin AF were 44.5 (43.2, 45.9) kg for the lowest tertile, 42.0 (40.6, 43.3) kg for the middle tertile, and 41.7 (40.3, 43.1) kg for the highest tertile (P for trend < 0.01). Moreover, the adjusted geometric means (95% CI) of leg extension power across the tertiles of skin AF were 17.8 (16.6, 19.1) W/kg for the lowest tertile, 17.5 (16.4, 18.7) W/kg for the middle tertile, and 16.0 (14.9, 17.1) W/kg for the highest tertile (P for trend = 0.04). Among Japanese adult men, participants with higher skin AF had lower muscle strength and power, indicating a relationship between AGE accumulation and muscle strength and power. A long-term prospective study is required to clarify the causality

Multiple Independent Loci at Chromosome 15q25.1 Affect Smoking Quantity: a Meta-Analysis and Comparison with Lung Cancer and COPD

Recently, genetic association findings for nicotine dependence, smoking behavior, and smoking-related diseases converged to implicate the chromosome 15q25.1 region, which includes the CHRNA5-CHRNA3-CHRNB4 cholinergic nicotinic receptor subunit genes. In particular, association with the nonsynonymous CHRNA5 SNP rs16969968 and correlates has been replicated in several independent studies. Extensive genotyping of this region has suggested additional statistically distinct signals for nicotine dependence, tagged by rs578776 and rs588765. One goal of the Consortium for the Genetic Analysis of Smoking Phenotypes (CGASP) is to elucidate the associations among these markers and dichotomous smoking quantity (heavy versus light smoking), lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We performed a meta-analysis across 34 datasets of European-ancestry subjects, including 38,617 smokers who were assessed for cigarettes-per-day, 7,700 lung cancer cases and 5,914 lung-cancer-free controls (all smokers), and 2,614 COPD cases and 3,568 COPD-free controls (all smokers). We demonstrate statistically independent associations of rs16969968 and rs588765 with smoking (mutually adjusted p-values<10$^{−35}$ and <10$^{−8}$ respectively). Because the risk alleles at these loci are negatively correlated, their association with smoking is stronger in the joint model than when each SNP is analyzed alone. Rs578776 also demonstrates association with smoking after adjustment for rs16969968 (p<10$^{−6}$). In models adjusting for cigarettes-per-day, we confirm the association between rs16969968 and lung cancer (p<10$^{−20}$) and observe a nominally significant association with COPD (p = 0.01); the other loci are not significantly associated with either lung cancer or COPD after adjusting for rs16969968. This study provides strong evidence that multiple statistically distinct loci in this region affect smoking behavior. This study is also the first report of association between rs588765 (and correlates) and smoking that achieves genome-wide significance; these SNPs have previously been associated with mRNA levels of CHRNA5 in brain and lung tissue

Carbon dots-based dual-emission ratiometric fluorescence sensor for dopamine detection

The detection of Dopamine (DA) is significant for disease surveillance and prevention. However, the development of the precise and simple detection techniques is still at a preliminary stage due to their high tester requirements, time-consuming process, and low accuracy. In this work, we present a novel dual-emission ratiometric fluorescence sensing system based on a hybrid of carbon dots (CDs) and 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin (AMC) to quickly monitor the DA concentration. Linked via amide bonds, the CDs and AMC offered dual-emissions with peaks located at 455 and 505 nm, respectively, under a single excitation wavelength of 300 nm. Attributed to the fluorescence of the CDs and AMC in the nanohybrid system can be quenched by DA, the concentration of DA could be quantitatively detected by monitoring the ratiometric ratio change in fluorescent intensity. More importantly, the CDs-AMC-based dual-emission ratiometric fluorescence sensing system demonstrated a remarkable linear relationship in the range of 0–33.6 μM to detection of DA, and a low detection limit of 5.67 nM. Additionally, this sensor successfully applied to the detection of DA in real samples. Therefore, the ratiometric fluorescence sensing system may become promising to find potential applications in biomedical dopamine detection

Multiple Independent Loci at Chromosome 15q25.1 Affect Smoking Quantity: a Meta-Analysis and Comparison with Lung Cancer and COPD

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