BackgroundCigarette smoking is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), but the association between smoking and blood pressure is unclear. Thus, the current study examined the association between cigarette smoking and blood pressure in men.MethodsSystolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP) and pulse pressure (PP) were examined using digital blood pressure measuring device, and smoking status was determined with China National Health Survey.ResultsThe ANCOVA showed that the adjusted DBP and MAP were lower in current smokers versus nonsmokers and the adjusted SBP was lower in current smokers versus former smokers (P < 0.05). Additionally, the adjusted PP tend to be decreased steadily as the pack·years increased in current smokers. In a fully adjusted logistic regression model, former smokers had increased ORs (95% CI) of 1.48 (1.01, 2.18) of hypertension and current smokers had not increased ORs (95% CI) of 0.83 (0.61, 1.12), compared with never smokers.ConclusionsThe findings revealed that the adjusted blood pressure were lower in current smokers versus nonsmokers and former smokers. No significant dose-dependent effect of current smoking on blood pressure indices except PP was observed. Smoking cessation was significantly associated with an increased risk of hypertension. However, current smoking was not a risk factor of hypertension.

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A previous whole-genome association analysis identified lysine demethylase 6A (KDM6A), which encodes a type of histone demethylase, as a candidate gene associated to goat fecundity. KDM6A gene knockout mouse disrupts gametophyte development, suggesting that it has a critical role in reproduction. In this study, goat KDM6A mRNA expression profiles were determined, insertion/deletion (indel) variants in the gene identified, indel variants effect on KDM6A gene expression assessed, and their association with first-born litter size analyzed in 2326 healthy female Shaanbei white cashmere goats. KDM6A mRNA was expressed in all tissues tested (heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, muscle, brain, skin and testis); the expression levels in testes at different developmental stages [1-week-old (wk), 2, 3 wk, 1-month-old (mo), 1.5 and 2 mo] indicated a potential association with the mitosis-to-meiosis transition, implying that KDM6A may have an essential role in goat fertility. Meanwhile, two novel intronic indels of 16 bp and 5 bp were identified. Statistical analysis revealed that only the 16 bp indel was associated with first-born litter size (P < 0.01), and the average first-born litter size of individuals with an insertion/insertion genotype higher than that of those with the deletion/deletion genotype (P < 0.05). There was also a significant difference in genotype distributions of the 16 bp indel between mothers of single-lamb and multi-lamb litters in the studied goat population (P = 0.001). Consistently, the 16 bp indel also had a significant effect on KDM6A gene expression. Additionally, there was no significant linkage disequilibrium (LD) between these two indel loci, consistent with the association analysis results. Together, these findings suggest that the 16 bp indel in KDM6A may be useful for marker-assisted selection (MAS) of goats.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) caused by SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is a fatal disease. Prevention of future outbreaks is essential and requires understanding pathogenesis and evolution of the virus. We have isolated a SARS-CoV in China and analyzed 47 SARS-CoV genomes with the aims to reveal the evolution trends of the virus and provide insights into understanding pathogenesis and SARS epidemic. Specimen from a SARS patient was inoculated into cell culture. The presence of SARS-CoV was determined by RT-PCR and confirmed by electron microscopy. Virus was isolated followed by the determination of its genome sequences, which were then analyzed by comparing with other 46 SARS-CoV genomes. Genetic mutations with potential implications to pathogenesis and the epidemic were characterized. This viral genome consists of 29,728 nucleotides with overall organization in agreement with that of published isolates. A total of 348 positions were mutated on 47 viral genomes. Among them 22 had mutations in more than three genomes. Hot spots of nucleotide variations and unique trends of mutations were identified on the viral genomes. Mutation rates were different from gene to gene and were correlated well with periodical or geographic characteristics of the epidemic.

Background Compressed sensing (CS) has been widely used to improve the speed of MRI, but the feasibility of application in 3D intracranial MR angiography (MRA) needs to be evaluated in clinical practice. Purpose To evaluate the clinical feasibility of CS‐MRA in comparison with conventional 3D‐MRA (Con‐MRA). Study Type Retrospective. Subjects Forty‐nine consecutive patients with suspected intracranial arterial disease. Field Strength/Sequence 3T MRI. 3D time‐of‐flight (TOF) MRA using a CS algorithm and conventional 3D TOF MRA scan. Assessment Three radiologists (4, 11, and 12 years of experience in neuroradiology) independently assessed the image quality, vascular lesions, and variations of intracranial arteries of both CS‐MRA and Con‐MRA, respectively. Statistical Tests The Kendall W test was performed to assess the interobserver agreement of image quality and intracranial arterial stenosis. A nonparametric test (Wilcoxon test) was used for comparison of the image quality and definition of the external carotid artery (ECA). Weighted kappa analysis was performed for the interstudy agreement of intracranial arterial stenosis. The aneurysm, decreased branches, congenital hypoplasia, absence, and variant branching of intracranial arteries were observed and evaluated for interobserver agreement and interstudy agreement by kappa analysis. Paired‐t‐tests for signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) and contrast‐to‐noise ratio (CNR) were conducted. Results Image quality is better for CS‐MRA compared with Con‐MRA with significance (Z = –3.710 to –2.673, with P < 0.01). The interstudy agreement of lesion and variation of intracranial arteries assessment for each observer was excellent. The SNR and CNR were significantly higher in CS‐MRA compared with Con‐MRA (P < 0.001). The definition of ECA of CS‐MRA was significantly better (Z = –4.9, P < 0.001). Data Conclusion CS‐MRA showed significantly higher image quality with less blur, comparable image diagnostic performance of intracranial arteries, and better display of ECA than Con‐MRA. Level of Evidence: 3 Technical Efficacy Stage: 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019;50:1843–1851.

The growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) gene, a candidate gene for high prolificacy in livestock, regulates several key granulosa cell enzymes involved in cumulus expansion in female reproduction. 1 In this study, we found a novel 12bp insertion/deletion (indel) in the 3 0 regulatory region of the goat GDF9 gene and studied its association with firstborn litter size and growth traits.Genomic DNA was extracted from ear tissues of 1816 Shaanbei white cashmere (SBWC) ewes and from blood samples of 133 Guanzhong dairy goats (GZ). For the SBWC ewes, 1422 individuals had growth traits data records and 1328 individuals had first-born litter size data, and all GZ individuals had related growth traits data. A novel 12-bp indel polymorphism (NC_022299.1:g.66028950insTACTTT CAACAA; rs670709574; Fig. S1) was detected by amplication and sequencing of a GDF9 gene fragment with primers (forward: 5 0 -ACCCATCTAGTGTTCTCGCC-3 0 ; reverse: 5 0 -GCCATCTAAAGCGCAGAGTT-3 0 ) in randomly pooled DNA samples from 50 SBWC goats. This polymorphism was genotyped in all studied individuals by 3.0% agarose gel electrophoresis. Association of the 12-bp indel with firstborn litter size and growth traits in all individuals with data was determined using a mixed linear model with R version 3.2.0 software. A fixed effects model was used to establish the influence of different parameters on first-born litter size. Ewe and lambing year factors were considered random, and least squares means were used for multiple comparisons in litter size among different genotypes: Y ijklm = l + S i + HYS j + P k + G l + e ijklm , where Y ijklm is the phenotypic value of litter size, l is the overall population mean, S i is the effect of lambing year, HYS j is the mean of the population, P k is the fixed effect of the parity, G l is the fixed effect of the genotype and e ijklm is the random error. Allele and genotype distributions of single-kid and multi-kid goats were compared using the chi-square test. 2 For growth traits, analysis of variance was applied to the general linear model with a reduced linear model:where Y ijk is the observation of the growth trait (body height, etc.) evaluated on the i th level of the fixed factor age (a i ) and the j th level of the fixed factor genotype (b j ), l is the overall mean for each trait and e ijk is the random error for the ijk th individual. 3,4 For the 12-bp indel locus, genotypes II, ID and DD were detected (Fig. S2) in SBWC goats with frequencies of the I and D alleles of 0.455 and 0.545 respectively (Table S1). Importantly, first-born litter size in ewes with the II and DD genotypes was significantly larger than in ewes with the ID genotype (P = 0.033) ( Table 1) with genotype distributions significantly different between mothers of singlelamb and multi-lamb litters (v 2 test, P = 4.5 9 10 -7 ) (Table S2). Moreover, a significant relationship was observed between this indel locus and body height (P = 0.006) in the SBWC breed, again II-and DD-genotype individuals being superior. Interestingly, we found a significan...

Current therapies are still unsatisfied for skin pigmentation disease conditions. Furthermore, Asian women prefer lighter skin color and there is a great demand to develop more safe and effective skin whitening agents. Recently, many efforts have been paid to develop new therapeutic agents against pigmentation abnormalities, especially using novel biologically active compounds from natural plants. Many tyrosinase inhibitors that suppress melanogenesis have been actively studied with the aim of developing new whitening agents. 1-3)Medicinal plants are most suitable for pharmacological research and drug development, because their constituents can be used not only as therapeutic agents but also as starting materials or models for the synthesis of drugs or pharmacologically active compounds. We are interested in re-evaluation of traditional Chinese herbs on melanogenesis from huge resources of famous whitening formulations and recipes in ancient literature. Traditional Chinese medicine has been used for the treatment of chloasma for a long history. Many famous ancient formulations and recipes are still in use to treat pigmentation disorders. Though these drugs were reported to be clinically effective in China, the mechanism and the active components have not been studied yet. Evaluation of Chinese herbal medicine in the treatment of skin pigmentation abnormalities may be beneficial for the development of new and more efficient remedies. In China, search for depigmentation medicine from traditional Chinese herbs is currently focused on those having inhibitory activity to tyrosinase. In a previous screening study performed by Japanese researchers with mushroom tyrosinase, several extracts of crude traditional Chinese drugs showed highly inhibitory activity. 4) Results from these studies provided important information about traditional Chinese herbs on melanogenesis. However, melanin biosyntheis is a complicated process involving many factors including the key enzymes tyrosinase, tyrosinase related protein-1 (TRP-1), tyrosinase related protein-2 (TRP-2), cytokines from autocrine and paracrine and those related to melanin transportation and decomposition. 5,6) Mushroom tyrosinase test is a simple method but with some disadvantages. Plant tyrosinase is different from mammalian tyrosinase because of its unique requirements for substrate and cofactor as well as its different sensitivity to inhibitors. 7,8) Several papers published in Chinese indicated that many plant extracts showing inhibitory activity to mushroom tyrosinase in vitro did not reduce pigmentation activity in cells. Also, some compounds tested on mammalian tyrosinase did not give comparable results with mushroom tyrosinase.9) Thus, this study was undertaken to evaluate the depigmentation effect of traditional Chinese herbs based on melanocyte cell culture assays. MATERIALS AND METHODS Preparation of Herb ExtractsIdentification of the herbs used in this study was provided by the Union Bioengineering Institute (Beijing, China). The raw herbs were extracted wit...

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