Background Hip fracture is a public health concern because of its considerable morbidity, excess mortality, great risk of disability, and high societal healthcare costs. China has the largest population of older people in the world and is experiencing rapid population aging and facing great challenges from an increasing number of hip fractures. However, few studies reported the epidemiology, especially at a national level. We aimed to evaluate trends in hip fracture incidence and associated costs for hospitalization in China. Methods and findings We conducted a population-based study using data between 2012 and 2016 from the national databases of Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance and Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance in China, covering about 480 million residents. Data from around 102.56 million participants aged 55 years and older during the study period were analyzed. A total of 190,560 incident hip fracture patients (mean age 77.05 years, standard deviation 8.94; 63.99% female) were identified. Primary outcomes included the age-and sex-specific incidences of hip fracture. Associated annual costs for hospitalization were also calculated. Incidence was described as per 100,000 person-years at risk, and 95% confidence intervals were computed assuming a Poisson distribution. Hip fracture incidence overall in China did not increase during the study period despite rapid population aging. Incidence per 100,000

BackgroundAbnormal serum lipid levels have been shown to be associated with the occurrence of atherosclerosis, but little is known about the relationships of them with the risk of developing intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) in Chinese population.MethodsWe performed a case–control study to assess the relationship between serum lipid levels and lumbar disc degeneration. A total of 790 Chinese patients were recruited for this study at the time of hospitalization. We examined fasting serum lipid levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). 396 patients (235 men and 161 women; mean age: 41.07 years) underwent surgery for single-level lumbar disc herniation. A control group of 394 patients (225 men and 169 women; mean age: 42.1 years) underwent surgery for wounded lower limbs during the same period. Patients in the control group were collected randomly from among patients who were age- and sex-matched patients with the case group.ResultsPatients with lumbar disc herniation had significantly higher TC and LDL-C serum concentrations (P < 0.001 for both) than controls. Percentage of High-TC, High-TG, High-LDL-C, borderline High-TC and borderline High-LDL-C were significantly higher in the disc herniation group (P = 0.017, P = 0.002, P = 0.039, P =0.002 and P < 0.001, respectively). Ratios of TC/HDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C were significantly associated with disc herniation (P < 0.001 for both). Logistic regression revealed that patients with higher serum LDL-C levels had a higher risk of disc herniation, in which odds ratio (OR) was 1.462 and confidence interval (CI) was 1.179 ~ 1.813. Moreover, patients with High-TG and borderline High-LDL-C had a higher probability of disc herniation (OR: 2.974, CI: 1.488 ~ 5.945, statistical power: 100 %; OR: 1.626, CI: 1.012 ~ 2.612, statistical power: 61.4 %, respectively). However, hyperlipidaemia did not seem to be associated with the herniated segment of the lumbar intervertebral disc (p = 0.374).ConclusionsThe present study suggests that dyslipidaemia may be associated with a higher risk of developing lumbar disc herniation. Serum lipid levels could be a useful predictor for intervertebral disc degeneration in Chinese population.

No abstract

ObjectiveFollistatin-like protein 1 (FSTL1) is a well-known mediator of inflammation. Intervertebral disc disease is an inflammatory disorder. Here, we investigated the role of FSTL1 in the intervertebral discs inflammation.MethodsExpression of FSTL1 in nucleus pulposus tissues from rats and human was determined by immunohistochemistry staining and western blot analysis. The expression levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin1-β (IL-1β) and matrix metalloproteinase 13 (MMP-13) in human and rat nucleus pulposus tissues were measured by immunohistochemistry staining. The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NFκB) signaling pathways were detected by western blotting.ResultsFSTL1 serum levels were significantly increased in lumbar disc herniation patients and had a positive correlation with Visual Analogue Scores. Additionally, FSTL1 expression was significantly increased in extrusion group compared with protrusion and control groups. Furthermore, FSTL1 expression was significantly increased in intervertebral disc degeneration models of rats. Immunohistochemistry staining demonstrated that the levels of TNF-α, IL-1β and MMP-13 were increased in the pathogenesis of intervertebral disc disease. Recombinant human FSTL1 significantly increased the production of proinflammatory cytokines in vitro. In addition, FSTL1 promoted inflammation by activating c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), extracellular regulated protein kinases 1/2(ERK1/2) and NFκB signaling.ConclusionsThese data imply that FSTL1 expression was increased in the pathogenesis of intervertebral disc disease. Importantly, FSTL1 promoted inflammatory catabolism in the nucleus pulposus by activating JNK, ERK 1/2/MAPK and NFκB signaling.

Gut microbiota dysbiosis has been studied under the pathological conditions of osteoarthritis (OA). However, the effect of antibiotic-induced gut flora dysbiosis on OA remains incompletely understood at present. Herein, we used a mouse (8 weeks) OA model of destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) and gut microbiome dysbiosis induced by antibiotic treatment with ampicillin and neomycin for 8 weeks. The results show that antibiotic-induced intestinal microbiota dysbiosis reduced the serum level of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and the inflammatory response, such as suppression of the levels of tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), which can lead to decreased matrix metalloprotease-13 (MMP-13) expression and improvement of OA after joint injury. In addition,  trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) and osteophyte scores were increased significantly in antibiotic-induced male mice compared with female mice. We further used network correlation analysis to verify the effect of gut microbiota dysbiosis on OA. Therefore, this study contributes to our understanding of the gut-joint axis in OA and reveals the relationship between the inflammatory response, sex and gut microbiota, which may provide new strategies to prevent the symptoms and long-term sequelae of OA.

Background: The nucleolus always shows delayed development and malfunction in somatic cell nuclear transfer (NT) embryos. Results: NT embryos showed low rDNA activity and developmental competence when donor cells with low rDNA activity were used. Conclusion: rDNA reprogramming efficiency in NT embryos was determined by the rDNA activity in donor cells from which they derived. Significance: Developmental potential of NT embryos with rDNA activity in the donor cells was correlated.

Permeability is one of the key factors that determine the fluids flow capacity and production potential of hydrate deposits. In this study, an experimental setup is developed to investigate the flow properties of the porous media, and the permeabilities to water are measured in the unconsolidated porous media with or without hydrate deposition in the pores. A specialized method of precisely controlling the amount of injected methane gas is employed to form methane hydrate in the core sample, and the hydrate formation process is described by the change characteristics of the gas and hydrate saturations. It is found that the residual gas plays an obstructive role in the water flow and it tends to slightly reduce the water permeability in the porous media, especially under high pressure conditions. After hydrate formation in the core sample, relatively steady flow state can be obtained under suitable water injection rate Q at which hydrate dissociation rate is very slow. The absolute permeability of the porous sample is reduced from 49.2 to 1.2 Darcies when the hydrate saturation increases from 0 to 9.3% in this study, indicating a strong dependence of k on the hydrate saturation.

Follistain-like protein 1 (FSTL1), has been recently demonstrated to be involved in the embryo development of nervous system and glioblastoma. However, the role of FSTL1 in neuroinflammation remains unexplored. In this study, the expression of FSTL1 in astrocytes was verified and its role was studied in neuroinflammation induced by in vivo intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or LPS treatment to astrocytes in vitro. FSTL1 was significantly induced after ICV LPS injection or LPS treatment. FSTL1 suppressed upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines in astrocytes after LPS treatment. Moreover, FSTL1 downregulated expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines through suppressing MAPK/p-ERK1/2 pathway in astrocytes. Our results suggest that FSTL1 may play an anti-inflammatory role in neuroinflammation mediated by astrocytes.