Better understanding of esophageal precancerous lesions (EPL) can inform prevention strategies for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Here, a cross-sectional epidemiologic study based on the Early Diagnosis and Early Treatment Project of Esophageal Cancer database from 2011 to 2017 was performed to fully investigate and characterize the epidemiology of EPL in rural Huai'an District. Data of 11,518 participants ages 35-75 years were collected through face-to-face interviews by questionnaire. Participants underwent a routine endoscopy examination, tissues were biopsied, and diagnosed according to the histologic criteria of dysplasia. Unconditional univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to obtain crude and adjusted odds ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals, respectively. A total of 667 subjects were diagnosed with EPL. Factors associated with an increased risk of EPL included: drinking shallow well water and surface water, irregular diet, excessive smoking, exposure to secondhand smoke, consumption of corn, corn flour, pickled food, fried food, and hot food, and having a history of digestive system diseases. In addition, liquor use, but not other alcohol types, contributed to risk of EPL. Consumption of deep well water and vegetables, fruits, and animal livers were associated with lower EPL risk. This study suggested a completely distinct pattern that alcohol use plays only a minor role in EPL and excessive tobacco use shows a significant association in rural Huai'an District, while eating habits and environmental exposure may be the dominant factors. This work may be promising to provide scientific evidence to support primary prevention of ESCC in this region.

BackgroundThe study aimed to explore the associations between the interactions of serum vitamin B2 or B12 levels, aberrant DNA methylation of p16 or p53 and MTHFR C677T polymorphism and the risks of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and esophageal precancerous lesion (EPL).Methods200 ESCC cases, 200 EPL cases and 200 normal controls were matched by age (± 2 years) and gender. Serum vitamin B2 and B12 levels, MTHFR C677T genetic polymorphisms and the methylation status of genes were assessed. Chi square test, one-way analysis of variance and binary logistic regression were performed.ResultsThe lowest quartile of both serum vitamin B2 and B12 with TT genotype showed significant increased EPL risk (OR = 4.91, 95% CI 1.31–18.35; OR = 6.88, 95% CI 1.10–42.80). The highest quartile of both serum vitamin B2 and B12 with CC genotype showed significant decreased ESCC risk (OR = 0.16, 95% CI 0.04–0.60; OR = 0.10, 95% CI 0.02–0.46). The ORs of p16 methylation for genotype CT and TT were 1.98 (95% CI 1.01–3.89) and 17.79 (95% CI 2.26–140.22) in EPL, 4.86 (95% CI 2.48–9.50) and 20.40 (95% CI 2.53–164.81) in ESCC, respectively. Similarly, p53 methylation with genotype TT was associated with increased EPL and ESCC risks (OR = 13.28, 95% CI 1.67–105.70; OR = 15.24, 95% CI 1.90–122.62).ConclusionsThe MTHFR C677T genotype and serum vitamin B2 or B12 levels may interact in ways which associated with the EPL and ESCC risks. The gene–gene interaction suggested that aberrant DNA methyaltion of either p16 or p53 combined with T alleles of MTHFR was associated with increased risks of both EPL and ESCC.

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Although several meta-analyses have revealed the beneficial effects of dietary fiber intake on human health, some have reported inconsistent findings. The purpose of this work was to perform an umbrella meta-analysis to evaluate the relevant evidence and elucidate the effect of dietary fiber intake on glycemic control, lipid profiles, systematic inflammation, and blood pressure. Eligible studies were searched in several electronic databases, including Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library, up to March 2022. A total of 52 meta-analyses involving 47,197 subjects were identified to assess the pooled effect size. Overall, higher dietary fiber intake was significantly associated with reductions in parameters involving glycemic control, including fasting plasma glucose (ES = −0.55, 95% CI: −0.73, −0.38, P < 0.001), fasting plasma insulin (ES = −1.22, 95% CI: −1.63, −0.82, P < 0.001), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (ES = −0.43, 95% CI: −0.60, −0.27, P < 0.001), and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (ES = −0.38, 95% CI: −0.50, −0.26, P < 0.001). In terms of lipid profiles, higher dietary fiber intake was associated with significant reductions in the serum level of total cholesterol (ES = −0.28, 95% CI: −0.39, −0.16, P < 0.001) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (ES = −0.25, 95% CI: −0.34, −0.16, P < 0.001), but not triglycerides (ES = −0.001, 95% CI: −0.006, 0.004, P = 0.759) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (ES = −0.002, 95% CI: −0.004, 0.000, P = 0.087). Higher dietary fiber intake was also significantly associated with improved tumor necrosis factor-alpha serum levels (ES = −0.78, 95% CI: −1.39, −0.16, P = 0.013), while no significant effect was observed for C-reactive protein (ES = −0.14, 95% CI: −0.33, 0.05, P = 0.156). Finally, blood pressure was also significantly improved following higher dietary fiber intake (systolic blood pressure: ES = −1.72, 95% CI: −2.13, −1.30, P < 0.001; diastolic blood pressure: ES = −0.67, 95% CI: −0.96, −0.37, P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed that the study population and type of dietary fiber could be partial sources of heterogeneity. In conclusion, the present umbrella meta-analysis provides evidence for the role of dietary fiber supplementation in the improvement of established cardiovascular risk factors.

Background: Observational studies have indicated beneficial effects of whole grain consumption on human health. However, no evidence based on randomized controlled trials has been established. Our objective was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to assess the effects of whole grain consumption in glycaemic control of diabetic patients. Methods: A comprehensive search in four databases (Web of Science, Pubmed, Scopus and Cochrane library) was conducted to collect potential articles which measured the roles of whole grain consumption on glycaemic control up to October 2021. Results: A total of 16 eligible trials involving 1068 subjects were identified to evaluate the pooled effect. The overall results indicated that compared with the control group, whole grain intake presented a significantly reduced concentration in fast plasma glucose (WMD = −0.51mmol/L, 95% CI: −0.73, −0.28; = 88.6%, p < 0.001), a homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (WMD = −0.39μU × mol/L2, 95% CI: −0.73, −0.04; = 58.4%, p = 0.014), and glycosylated haemoglobin (WMD = −0.56%, 95% CI: −0.88, −0.25, = 88.5%, p < 0.001), while no significant difference was observed in fast plasma insulin level between groups (SMD = −0.05, 95% CI: −0.25, 0.14; = 40.7%, p = 0.120). In terms of incremental area under the curve (iAUC), data suggested that whole grain effected a significant decrease in Glucose-iAUC (WMD = −233.09 min × mmol/L, 95% CI: −451.62, −14.57; = 96.1%, p < 0.001) and Insulin-iAUC (SMD = −4.80, 95% CI: −8.36, −1.23; = 89.9%, p = 0.002), although only in a small number of studies. Of note, there is evidence for modest unexplained heterogeneity in the present meta-analysis. Conclusion: Whole grain consumption confers a beneficial effect on glucose metabolism in patients with diabetes. Regrettably, since relevant studies were scarce, we failed to provide confident evidence of whole grain consumption on acute effects including Glucose-iAUC and Insulin-iAUC, which should be addressed in further trials.

Objective: Ready-to-eat (RTE) meat is a kind of popular instant food easily contaminated by microbes, which is one of the causes of foodborne diseases. This study analyzes the possible sources of RTE food bacterial contamination during processing and subsequent selling.Method: Samples of eight kinds of RTE meat were collected from four supermarkets in Nanjing, China. The knives, chopping boards, trays(containers of food), clamps, air, water, and hands of the sales staff were sampled, and the enumeration of aerobic plate count and total coliforms and pathogenic bacteria was performed. Results:The survey revealed that poor hygienic levels was the causes that RTE meat products were contaminated by bacteria at different levels. With regard to pathogen, the incidences of Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus were 4.2% and 2.1%, respectively. These results also revealed that the bacterial contamination of RTE food was caused by the air, as well as clamps, chopping boards, knives, trays, and hands of the operators. The total number of aerobic colonies were positively correlated with the amount of RTE food in one pot (r = .87728, p = .0217), and negatively correlated with the maximum temperature in the center of the meat (r = −.81633, p = .0475). Conclusion:The high number of bacteria in RTE foods indicates potential food safety risks and the need to improve the health of supermarket sales staff. The most important thing is to determine how to raise hygiene awareness of employees through food safety education. Meanwhile, a comprehensive set of regulations on hand cleaning and disinfection should be developed to facilitate public health and reduce foodborne illness caused by the consumption of RTE food. K E Y W O R D Sbacterial contamination, Chinese, pathogens, processing, RTE meat product, selling, supermarket

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