Background: Epidemiologic and experimental studies support an association between PM2.5 exposure and insulin resistance (IR). Innate immune cell activation has been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of these effects.Objectives: We sought to evaluate the role of CC-chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2) in PM2.5-mediated inflammation and IR.Methods: Wild-type C57BL/6 and CCR2–/– male mice were fed a high-fat diet and exposed to either concentrated ambient PM2.5 or filtered air for 17 weeks via a whole-body exposure system. We evaluated glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. At euthanasia, blood, spleen, and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) were collected, and inflammatory cells were measured using flow cytometry. We used standard immunoblots, immunohistochemical methods, and quantitative PCR (polymerase chain reaction) to assess pathways of interest involving insulin signaling, inflammation, and lipid and glucose metabolism in various organs. Vascular function was assessed using myography.Results: PM2.5 exposure resulted in whole-body IR and increased hepatic lipid accumulation in the liver, which was attenuated in CCR2–/– mice by inhibiting SREBP1c-mediated transcriptional programming, decreasing fatty acid uptake, and suppressing p38 MAPK activity. Abnormal phosphorylation levels of AKT, AMPK in VAT, and adipose tissue macrophage content in wild-type mice were not present in CCR2–/– mice. However, the impaired whole-body glucose tolerance and reduced GLUT-4 in skeletal muscle in response to PM2.5 was not corrected by CCR2 deficiency.Conclusions: PM2.5 mediates IR by regulating VAT inflammation, hepatic lipid metabolism, and glucose utilization in skeletal muscle via both CCR2-dependent and -independent pathways. These findings provide new mechanistic links between air pollution and metabolic abnormalities underlying IR.Citation: Liu C, Xu X, Bai Y, Wang TY, Rao X, Wang A, Sun L, Ying Z, Gushchina L, Maiseyeu A, Morishita M, Sun Q, Harkema JR, Rajagopalan S. 2014. Air pollution–mediated susceptibility to inflammation and insulin resistance: influence of CCR2 pathways in mice. Environ Health Perspect 122:17–26; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1306841

The pattern of EOS in Asian settings is similar to that in industrialised countries with low incidence of GBS sepsis. The important features of neonatal sepsis in Asia are the burden of Klebsiella spp. and high level of antibiotic resistance. These should be addressed while developing measures to reduce neonatal mortality due to infection.

Background:With the progress of perinatal medicine and neonatal technology, more and more extremely low birth weight (ELBW) survived all over the world. This study was designed to investigate the short-term outcomes of ELBW infants during their Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) stay in the mainland of China.Methods:All infants admitted to 26 NICUs with a birth weight (BW) < l000 g were included between January l, 2011 and December 31, 2011. All the data were collected retrospectively from clinical records by a prospectively designed questionnaire. The data collected from each NICU transmitted to the main institution where the results were aggregated and analyzed. Categorical variables were performed with Pearson Chi-square test. Binary Logistic regression analysis was used to detect risk factors.Results:A total of 258 ELBW infants were admitted to 26 NICUs, of whom the mean gestational age (GA) was 28.1 ± 2.2 weeks, and the mean BW was 868 ± 97 g. The overall survival rate at discharge was 50.0%. Despite aggressive treatment 60 infants (23.3%) died and another 69 infants (26.7%) died after medical care withdrawal. Furthermore, the survival rate was significantly higher in coastal areas than inland areas (53.6% vs. 35.3%, P = 0.019). BW < 750 g and GA < 28 weeks were the largest risk factors, and being small for gestational age was a protective factor related to mortality. Respiratory distress syndrome was the most common complication. The incidence of patent ductus arteriosus, intraventricular hemorrhage, periventricular leukomalacia, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, retinopathy of prematurity was 26.2%, 33.7%, 6.7%, 48.1%, and 41.4%, respectively. Ventilator associated pneumonia was the most common hospital acquired infection during hospitalization.Conclusions:Our study was the first survey that revealed the present status of ELBW infants in the mainland of China. The mortality and morbidity of ELBW infants remained high as compared to other developed countries.

Inflammation and oxidative stress play fundamental roles in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Myeloperoxidase has been extensively implicated as a key mediator of inflammatory and redox-dependent processes in atherosclerosis. However, the effect of synthetic myeloperoxidase inhibitors on atherosclerosis has been insufficiently studied. In this study, ApoE−/− mice were randomized to low- and high-dose INV-315 groups for 16 weeks on high-fat diet. INV-315 resulted in reduced plaque burden and improved endothelial function in response to acetylcholine. These effects occurred without adverse events or changes in body weight or blood pressure. INV-315 treatment resulted in a decrease in iNOS gene expression, superoxide production and nitrotyrosine content in the aorta. Circulating IL-6 and inflammatory CD11b+/Ly6Glow/7/4hi monocytes were significantly decreased in response to INV-315 treatment. Acute pretreatment with INV-315 blocked TNFα-mediated leukocyte adhesion in cremasteric venules and inhibited myeloperoxidase activity. Cholesterol efflux was significantly increased by high-dose INV-315 via ex-vivo reverse cholesterol transport assays. Our results suggest that myeloperoxidase inhibition may exert anti-atherosclerotic effects via inhibition of oxidative stress and enhancement of cholesterol efflux. These findings demonstrate a role for pharmacologic modulation of myeloperoxidase in atherosclerosis.

Hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon thin films were deposited at a high rate of 0.8 nm s−1 by conventional (13.56 MHz) plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition from SHi4/H2 gas mixture at a low temperature of 200 °C. The effects of hydrogen dilution, radio frequency power density, substrate temperature and deposition pressure on the crystalline volume fraction and the deposition rate of films were systematically investigated. The results show that the high hydrogen dilution and the substrate temperature are favourable for improving the crystallinity properties. The high deposition rate requires high power density over 0.7 W cm−2 in combination with high deposition pressure above several hundreds of Pa to overcome the degradation of film quality.

Background:Globally, the proportion of child deaths that occur in the neonatal period remains a high level of 37–41%. Differences of cause in neonate death exist in different regions as well as in different economic development countries. The specific aim of this study was to investigate the causes, characteristics, and differences of death in neonates during hospitalization in the tertiary Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of China.Methods:All the dead neonates admitted to 26 NICUs were included between January l, 2011, and December 31, 2011. All the data were collected retrospectively from clinical records by a designed questionnaire. Data collected from each NICU were delivered to the leading institution where the results were analyzed.Results:A total of 744 newborns died during the 1-year survey, accounting for 1.2% of all the neonates admitted to 26 NICUs and 37.6% of all the deaths in children under 5 years of age in these hospitals. Preterm neonate death accounted for 59.3% of all the death. The leading causes of death in preterm and term infants were pulmonary disease and infection, respectively. In early neonate period, pulmonary diseases (56.5%) occupied the largest proportion of preterm deaths while infection (27%) and neurologic diseases (22%) were the two main causes of term deaths. In late neonate period, infection was the leading cause of both preterm and term neonate deaths. About two-thirds of neonate death occurred after medical care withdrawal. Of the cases who might survive if receiving continuing treatment, parents’ concern about the long-term outcomes was the main reason of medical care withdrawal.Conclusions:Neonate death still accounts for a high proportion of all the deaths in children under 5 years of age. Our study showed the majority of neonate death occurred in preterm infants. Cause of death varied with the age of death and gestational age. Accurate and prompt evaluation of the long-term outcomes should be carried out to guide the critical decision.

Endothelial dysfunction in kidney vasculature is the initial and key element for nephropathy in diabetes mellitus. Accumulating evidence suggests the protective role of Rho kinase inhibitors in endothelial dysfunction via modulating eNOS activity and NO production. However, the role of Rho kinase in diabetes-related endothelial dysfunction in kidney vasculature and the relevant mechanisms remain unknown. We assessed whether pharmacological inhibition of Rho kinase attenuates endothelial dysfunction in intrarenal arteries from type 1 diabetic rats. Fasudil, a Rho kinase inhibitor effectively decreased the phosphorylated level of MYPT1 without affecting the expression of ROCKs in the kidney. Fasudil treatment showed no improvement in diabetes-related abnormality in metabolic indices, but it significantly ameliorated endothelial dysfunction in intrarenal arteries and lessened the mesangial matrix expansion in the kidney cortex. Mechanistically, superoxide production in the intrarenal artery and NOX4 member of NADPH oxidase in the renal cortex that contribute to diabetic nephropathy were also prevented by the Rho kinase inhibitor. In conclusion, the present results indicate that Rho kinase is involved in endothelial dysfunction in type 1 diabetes via enhancement of oxidative stress and provides new evidence for Rho kinase inhibitors as potential therapeutic agents for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy.

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