Context: Maternal thyroid disorders during early pregnancy can influence pregnancy outcome and fetal development. The recent Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline recommends a casefinding approach in which pregnant women who are at high risk for developing thyroid disease are tested. Objective: The purpose of this study was to use the first trimester-specific reference intervals of thyroidrelated hormones to explore the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction during early pregnancy and to analyze effectiveness of different screening strategies. Design: A multicenter cohort study. Method: A total of 2899 pregnant women were enrolled in this study during their first trimester of gestation. Levels of TSH, free thyroxine, free triiodothyronine, and thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb) were measured and thyroid disorders of pregnant women were diagnosed based on the first trimester-specific reference intervals. Results: The prevalence of hypothyroidism was significantly higher in the high-risk group than in the non-high-risk group (10.9 vs 7.0%, c 2 Z7.1, PZ0.008). The prevalence of hyperthyroidism was not significantly different between the high-risk group and the non-high-risk group (2.7 vs 1.6%, c 2 Z2.27, PZ0.13). Elevated levels of TPOAb and a personal history of thyroid disease increased the risk of thyroid dysfunction. Conclusions: A case-finding strategy for screening thyroid function in the high-risk group would miss about 81.6% pregnant women with hypothyroidism and 80.4% pregnant women with hyperthyroidism.

Ganoderma lucidum has drawn worldwide interest with regard to its secondary metabolism and pharmaceutical activity. However, the development of such research has been limited because of a lack of basic biological knowledge. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidases (Nox) have recently been highlighted because of the many important biological roles in plants and animals; however, the exact functions of Nox are still not fully understood in fungi. In this study, we identified two Nox isoforms (NoxA and NoxB) and a regulator, NoxR. RNA interference was used, and silencing of the Nox isoforms and NoxR expression indicated a central role for these genes in hyphal branching, fruiting body development, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, ROS resistance and ganoderic acid biosynthesis regulation. Further mechanistic investigation revealed that Nox-generated ROS elevated cytosolic Ca(2+) levels by activating a plasma membrane Ca(2+) influx pathway, thereby inducing the Ca(2+) signal pathway to regulate ganoderic acid biosynthesis and hyphal branching. Importantly, our results highlight the Nox functions in signal crosstalk between ROS and Ca(2+), and these findings provide an excellent opportunity to identify the potential pathway linking ROS networks to calcium signalling in fungi and suggest that plants, animals and fungi share a conserved signal-crosstalk mechanism.

Iodine nutrition is an important factor associated with TSH concentration even in the rigorously selected reference population. Baseline TSH of 1.0-1.9 mIU/l is an optimal interval with the lowest incidence of abnormal TSH in 5 years.

Acteoside is one kind of phenylethanoid glycoside, which has shown a lot of biological activities. This article reviewed the study progress of acteoside, such as distribution, preparation, identification, and bioactivities.