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Background Vaccination is important in influenza prevention but the immune response wanes with age. The circadian nature of the immune system suggests that adjusting the time of vaccination may provide an opportunity to improve immunogenicity. Our previous cluster trial in Birmingham suggested differences between morning and afternoon vaccination for some strains in the influenza vaccine in older adults. Whether this effect is also seen in a younger age group with less likelihood of compromised immunity is unknown. We therefore conducted an individual-based randomized controlled trial in Guangzhou to test the hypothesis that influenza vaccination in the morning induces a stronger immune response in older adults than afternoon vaccination. We included adults in middle age to determine if the effect was also seen in younger age groups. Results Of the 418 participants randomised, 389 (93.1%, 191 middle-aged adults aged 50–60 years and 198 older adults aged 65–75 years) were followed up. Overall, there was no significant difference between the antibody titers (geometric mean /95% CI) after morning vs afternoon vaccination (A/H1N1: 39.9 (32.4, 49.1) vs. 33.0 (26.7, 40.7), p = 0.178; A/H3N2: 92.2 (82.8, 102.7) vs. 82.0 (73.8, 91.2), p = 0.091; B: 15.8 (13.9, 17.9) vs. 14.4 (12.8, 16.3), p = 0.092), respectively. However, in pre-specified subgroup analyses, post-vaccination titers for morning versus afternoon vaccination in the 65–75 years subgroup were (A/H1N1): 49.5 (36.7, 66.6) vs. 32.9 (24.7, 43.9), p = 0.050; (A/H3N2): 93.5 (80.6, 108.5) vs. 73.1 (62.9, 84.9), p = 0.021; (B): 16.6 (13.8, 20.1) vs. 14.4 (12.3, 17.0), p = 0.095, respectively. Among females, antibody titers for morning versus afternoon vaccination were (A/H1N1): 46.9 (35.6, 61.8) vs. 31.1 (23.8, 40.7), p = 0.030; (A/H3N2): 96.0 (83.5, 110.3) vs. 84.7 (74.4, 96.5), p = 0.176; (B): 14.8 (12.7, 17.3) vs. 13.0 (11.3, 14.9), p = 0.061, respectively. In the 50–60 years old subgroup and males, there were no significant differences between morning and afternoon vaccination. Conclusions Morning vaccination may enhance the immunogenicity to influenza vaccine in adults aged over 65 and women. An intervention to modify vaccination programs to vaccinate older individuals in the morning is simple, cost free and feasible in most health systems.

Aims/IntroductionPancreatic‐derived factor (PANDER) is an important factor involved in obesity, glucose intolerance and abnormal lipid metabolism in animals. Nevertheless, the relationship between PANDER and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in humans has not yet been reported.Materials and MethodsTo determinate the relationship between PANDER and MetS components, 212 individuals aged between 40 and 65 years were recruited. Fasting plasma PANDER and other variables were measured. Correlations of plasma PANDER and other variables were carried out. Plasma PANDER level was compared in participants with no metabolic components and those with any metabolic components, as well as in normal glucose tolerance, impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes mellitus participants.ResultsIn all the participants, there were 65 participants in the no metabolic components group and 147 participants in the any metabolic components group. Plasma PANDER level was increased with the number of MetS components (P < 0.05) and correlated with metabolic score (r = 0. 529, P < 0.001). In addition, plasma PANDER significantly correlated with fasting plasma glucose (r = 0.187, P = 0.046), 2‐h plasma glucose (r = 0.195, P = 0.035), homeostasis model assessment of β‐cell function (r = −0.191, P = 0.039), triglyceride (r = 0.305, P = 0.001) and high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = −0.333, P < 0.001). Using multivariable logistic regression analysis, circulating PANDER was associated with an increased risk ratio of impaired glucose tolerance or diabetes mellitus (odds ratio 2.22, 95% confidence interval 1.15–4.42, P = 0.018) after adjustment of the other possible confounders.ConclusionsCirculating level of PANDER in relation to the accumulation in MetS suggested that persons with elevated levels of PANDER were associated with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome.

Background This study aimed to analyze the incidence of early postpartum dyslipidemia and its potential predictors in women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Methods This was a retrospective study. Five hundred eighty-nine women diagnosed with GDM were enrolled and followed up at 6–12 weeks after delivery. A 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and lipid levels were performed during mid-trimester and the early postpartum period. Participants were divided into the normal lipid group and dyslipidemia group according to postpartum lipid levels. Demographic and metabolic parameters were analyzed. Multiple logistic regression was performed to analyze the potential predictors for early postpartum dyslipidemia. A receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was calculated to determine the cut-off values. Results A total of 38.5% of the 589 women developed dyslipidemia in early postpartum and 60% of them had normal glucose metabolism. Delivery age, systolic blood pressure (SBP), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were independent predictors of early postpartum dyslipidemia in women with a history of GDM. The cut-offs of maternal age, SBP, HbA1c values, and LDL-C levels were 35 years, 123 mmHg, 5.1%, and 3.56 mmol/L, respectively. LDL-C achieved a balanced mix of high sensitivity (63.9%) and specificity (69.2%), with the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) (0.696). When LDL-C was combined with age, SBP, and HbA1c, the AUC reached to 0.733. Conclusions A lipid metabolism evaluation should be recommended in women with a history of GDM after delivery, particularly those with a maternal age > 35 years, SBP > 123 mmHg before labor, HbA1c value > 5.1%, or LDL-C levels > 3.56 mmol/L in the second trimester of pregnancy.

Reasons behind the rapid increase of thyroid cancer (TC) in China are uncertain. We assessed the burden of TC and the role of access to screening and salt iodization. We analyzed two national databases in China: Hospital Quality Monitoring System (HQMS) and China Reinsurance Company (CRC) database. HQMS covered 1037 (44.3%) Class 3 hospitals and 76 263 617 Class 3 hospital inpatients in 2013 to 2017 and CRC covered 93 123 018 clients in 2000 to 2016. The proportion of TC inpatients among inpatients in HQMS and TC incidence in critical illness insurance buyers were used to evaluate the association with screening and iodine status. Between 2013 and 2017, the proportion of TC patients in HQMS with urban employee medical insurance and good access to screening increased sharply while there was little change among those with the other two forms of medical insurance. Across provinces, the proportion of TC inpatients in HQMS was positively correlated with per capita disposable income but not with median urinary iodine. Similar findings were observed in the CRC database. In 2017, approximately 1000 individuals were overdiagnosed with TC daily. We conservatively forecast that 5.1 million healthy individuals would become TC patients unnecessarily between 2019 and 2030. Our findings suggested the epidemic of TC in China was substantially underestimated. It was associated with screening but not with salt iodization.

BackgroundA better understanding of the current characteristics of clinical trials on thyroid cancer (TC) is important to improve trial designs and identify neglected areas of research. However, there is a lack of a thorough understanding of the clinical studies on TC. Therefore, this study aimed to present a comprehensive overview of clinical trials on TC based on the ClinicalTrials.gov database and evaluate their publication status.MethodsWe searched for TC-related clinical studies registered in the ClinicalTrials.gov database before December 2018 by using the keyword “thyroid cancer” and assessed the characteristics of the included trials. We searched the publication status of primary completed studies in PubMed and Google Scholar.ResultsA total of 450 studies were identified for analysis, including 333 (74.0%) interventional studies and 117 (26.0%) observational studies. Interventional studies about TC were commonly non-randomized (67.6%), single-arm (55.6%), single-center (76.3%), and early-phase (60.0%) trials. The major category for which studies were performed was for target drug-related therapy (53.6%). In addition, 57.0% of the primary completed interventional studies were published. The published studies were more commonly primary completed studies after 2010 and used randomization and were less commonly designed as single-arm studies and were conducted in the USA/Canada, compared to non-published studies (P &lt; 0.05 for all). The median time from primary completion to publication was 46.5 months, and the time decreased to 36.5 months after 2010. Studies conducted in the USA/Canada [odds ratio (OR) = 9.43, P = 0.020] and multi-center studies (OR = 6.55, P = 0.021) significantly increased the potential of publication in high-impact journals.ConclusionsHigh-quality, randomized phase 3 trials regarding TC are still insufficient. Therefore, more efforts are needed to improve the treatment of poor prognostic TC and timely publication.

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Background: We sought to investigate the methodological and reporting quality of published systematic reviews describing randomized controlled trials in type 2 diabetes mellitus and analyze their association with status of protocol registration.Methods: We searched the PubMed database and identified non-Cochrane systematic reviews, with or without meta-analysis, reporting on type 2 diabetes mellitus and published between 2005 and 2018. We then randomly selected 20% of these reviews in each year, and performed methodological and reporting quality assessment using the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Review 2 (AMSTAR-2) checklist and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement. We also conducted regression analyses to explore the association between characteristics of systematic reviews and AMSTAR-2 or PRISMA scores.Results: A total of 238 systematic reviews, including 33 registered and 205 non-registered articles, met the inclusion criteria and were subsequently reviewed. Analysis indicated an increase in both registered rates and quality of systematic reviews in type 2 diabetes mellitus over the recent years. With regards to methodological and reporting quality, we found higher scores in registered, relative to non-registered reviews (AMSTAR-2 mean score: 18.0 vs. 14.5, P = 0.000; PRISMA mean score: 20.4 vs. 17.6, P = 0.000). AMSTAR-2 and PRISMA scores were associated with registration status, country of the first author, and statistical results, whereas the proportion of discussing publication bias and reporting funding sources were &lt;40% for both registered and non-registered systematic reviews.Conclusions: Methodological and reporting quality of systematic reviews in type 2 diabetes mellitus indicates an improvement in the recent years. However, the overall quality remains low, necessitating further improvement. Future studies are expected to pay more attention to prospective registration, description of publication bias and reporting of funding sources.