Age- and sex-related changes in fasting plasma glucose and lipoprotein in cynomolgus monkeys

BACKGROUND: The age-related dysfunction of glucose and lipid metabolism has a long-standing relationship with cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disease. However, the effects of metabolic dysfunction on men and women are different. Reasons for these sex differences remains unclear. Cynomolgus monkeys have been used, in the past, for the study of human metabolic diseases due to their biologically proximity to humans. Nevertheless, few studies to date have focused on both age- and sex-related differences in glucose and lipid metabolism. The present study was designed to specifically address these questions by using a large cohort of cynomolgus monkeys (N = 1,399) including 433 males and 966 females with ages ranging 4 to 24 years old. METHODS: Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and lipid parameters including total cholesterol (T-Cho), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were measured. All these parameters were compared between ages and sexes. RESULTS: Among the entire cohort, age was strongly correlated with levels of FPG, TG and HDL. Consequently, sex-related analysis revealed that females had significantly higher average levels of FPG, T-Cho, TG, HDL-C and LDL-C than their male counterparts. In addition, more female (28.5 %) than male (16 %) monkeys qualified for impaired fasting plasma glucose (IFPG). In those IFPG animals, sex-related differences were also detected i.e. females had significantly increased levels of T-Cho, TG and LDL-C. CONCLUSIONS: The result, for the first time, demonstrated the similarities and differences in detail between male and female cynomolgus monkeys in relationship to age-related glucose and lipoprotein metabolisms, and differences under various physiological conditions. The detailed glucose and lipoprotein profiling should provide additional and important insights for prediabetic conditions. Cynomolgus monkeys appear to be an excellent model for translational research of diabetes and for novel therapeutic strategies testing to overt diabetes

A retrospective and agenda for future research on Chinese outward foreign direct investment

Our original paper “The determinants of Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investment” was the first theoretically based empirical analysis of the phenomenon. It utilised internalisation theory to show that Chinese state-owned firms reacted to home country market imperfections to surmount barriers to foreign entry arising from naivety and the lack of obvious ownership advantages, leveraging institutional factors including favourable policy stimuli. This special theory explained outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) but provided surprises. These included the apparent appetite for risk evinced by these early investors, causing us to conjecture that domestic market imperfections, particularly in the domestic capital market, might be responsible. The article stimulated a massive subsequent, largely successful, research effort on emerging country multinationals. In this Retrospective article we review some of the main strands of research that ensued, for the insight they offer for the theme of our commentary. Our theme is that theoretical development can only come through embracing yet more challenging, different, and new contexts, and we make suggestions for future research directions

Serious cardiovascular adverse events with fluoroquinolones versus other antibiotics: A self-controlled case series analysis.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between fluoroquinolone (FQ) use and the occurrence of aortic aneurysm/dissection (AA/AD), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), ventricular arrhythmias (VenA), and all-cause mortality vs other commonly used antibiotics. We conducted a self-controlled case series analysis of patients who experienced the outcomes of AA/AD, AMI, and VenA, based on diagnosis codes from emergency department visits and hospitalizations within Veterans Health Administration, and death in FY2014-FY2018. These Veterans also received outpatient prescriptions for FQs. Conditional Poisson regression models were used to estimate the association between FQs and each of the outcomes vs antibiotics of interest (ie amoxicillin or amoxicillin/clavulanate, azithromycin, doxycycline, cefuroxime or cephalexin, or sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim), adjusted for time-varying covariates. Using a 30-day risk period after each antibiotic prescription, adjusted incidence rate ratios (aIRRs) for FQs vs each comparator antibiotic were not statistically different for outcomes of VenA or AMI. For AA/AD, incidence was higher during FQ risk periods vs amoxicillin [aIRR 1.50 (95% CI 1.01, 2.25)] and azithromycin [aIRR 2.15 (95% CI 1.27, 3.64)] risk periods. A significantly increased risk of mortality was observed with FQs vs each antibiotic of interest. FQs were associated with an increased risk of AA/AD vs amoxicillin and azithromycin and an increased risk of all-cause mortality vs multiple antibiotics commonly used for outpatient infections. Although the differences in event rates are small, FQ use should be limited to serious infections without appropriate alternatives

Serious cardiovascular adverse events with fluoroquinolones versus other antibiotics: A self-controlled case series analysis.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between fluoroquinolone (FQ) use and the occurrence of aortic aneurysm/dissection (AA/AD), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), ventricular arrhythmias (VenA), and all-cause mortality vs other commonly used antibiotics. We conducted a self-controlled case series analysis of patients who experienced the outcomes of AA/AD, AMI, and VenA, based on diagnosis codes from emergency department visits and hospitalizations within Veterans Health Administration, and death in FY2014-FY2018. These Veterans also received outpatient prescriptions for FQs. Conditional Poisson regression models were used to estimate the association between FQs and each of the outcomes vs antibiotics of interest (ie amoxicillin or amoxicillin/clavulanate, azithromycin, doxycycline, cefuroxime or cephalexin, or sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim), adjusted for time-varying covariates. Using a 30-day risk period after each antibiotic prescription, adjusted incidence rate ratios (aIRRs) for FQs vs each comparator antibiotic were not statistically different for outcomes of VenA or AMI. For AA/AD, incidence was higher during FQ risk periods vs amoxicillin [aIRR 1.50 (95% CI 1.01, 2.25)] and azithromycin [aIRR 2.15 (95% CI 1.27, 3.64)] risk periods. A significantly increased risk of mortality was observed with FQs vs each antibiotic of interest. FQs were associated with an increased risk of AA/AD vs amoxicillin and azithromycin and an increased risk of all-cause mortality vs multiple antibiotics commonly used for outpatient infections. Although the differences in event rates are small, FQ use should be limited to serious infections without appropriate alternatives

Do Anogenital Gland Secretions of Giant Panda Code for Their Sexual Ability?

To test the hypothesis of whether anogenital gland secretions (AGS) of giant panda code for their sexual ability, we collected AGS samples of 11 male (5 adult and 6 subadult) and 14 female (7 adult and 7 subadult) captive giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) from China Research and Conservation Center for the Giant Panda at Wolong, Sichuan, China from 1994 to 2002. The samples were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The GC results showed that male and female pandas shared 20 constituents with equal capacity factors in the AGS. Further GC-MS analyses showed that there were a total of 95 compounds in the AGS. Nine constituents for the males and three for the females differed significantly in relative abundances between sexually active and inactive individuals, but no clear division between sexually active and inactive pandas by hierarchical cluster analyses on the relative abundances of a subset of 56 compounds. However, we were able to separate different age groups of male pandas by the constituents of AGS. 14 compounds were found significantly and negatively, and 8 compounds positively, correlated with pandas’ age by year. Our results suggest that the information contained in the AGS of panda might not code for pandas’ sexual ability but might for their age. These results will be valuable for captive breeding and conservation in the wild