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Folate and vitamin B12 involved in the one-carbon metabolism may play a key role in carcinogenesis and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) through influencing DNA integrity. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the association of plasma folate and vitamin B12 levels with HCC in a case-control study on 312 HCC patients and 325 cancer-free controls. Plasma concentrations of folate and vitamin B12 in all the subjects were measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. Meanwhile, the information of HCC patients’ clinical characteristics including tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage, tumor size and tumor markers were collected. The patients of HCC had significantly lower folate levels than those of controls; there was no significant difference in the mean of plasma vitamin B12 levels. We also observed an inverse association between the levels of plasma folate and HCC: the adjusted odds ratios (OR) (95% confidence intervals (CI)) of HCC from the highest to lowest quartile of folate were 0.30 (0.15–0.60), 0.33 (0.17–0.65), and 0.19 (0.09–0.38). Compared to the subjects in the lowest quartile of plasma vitamin B12, only the subjects in the highest quartile of vitamin B12 exhibited a significant positive relationship with HCC, the adjusted OR was 2.01 (95% CI, 1.02–3.98). HCC patients with Stage III and IV or bigger tumor size had lower folate and higher vitamin B12 levels. There was no significant difference in the mean plasma folate levels of the HCC cases in tumor markers status (AFP, CEA and CA19-9 levels), whereas patients with higher CEA or CA19-9 levels retained significantly more plasma vitamin B12 than those with normal-CEA or CA19-9 level. In conclusion, plasma folate and vitamin B12 levels could be associated with HCC, and might be used as predictors of clinical characteristics of HCC patients. However, further prospective studies are essential to confirm the observed results.

Background: Air pollution in large Chinese cities has led to recent studies that highlighted the relationship between particulate matters (PM) and elevated risk of cardio-cerebrovascular mortality. However, it is unclear as to whether: (1) The same adverse relations exist in cities with relatively low levels of air pollution; and (2) the relationship between the two are similar across ethnic groups. Methods: We collected data of PM2.5 (PM with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 µm) and PM10 (aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10 µm) in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2016. Using a time-stratified case-crossover design, we investigated whether levels of particulate pollutants influence the risk of cardio-cerebrovascular disease mortality among ethnic Korean vs. ethnic Han residents residing in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Results: Under the single air pollutant model, the odds ratios (ORs) of cardio-cerebrovascular disease were 1.025 (1.024–1.026) for each 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 at lag0 day, 1.012 (1.011–1.013) for each 10 μg/m3 increase in PM10 at lag1 day. In the multi-pollutant model adjusted by PM10, SO2, and NO2, the ORs of cardio-cerebrovascular disease were 1.150 (1.145–1.155) for ethnic Koreans and 1.154 (1.149–1.158) for ethnic Hans for each 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5. In the multi-pollutant model adjusted by PM2.5, SO2, and NO2, the ORs of cardio-cerebrovascular disease were 1.050 (1.047–1.053) for ethnic Koreans and 1.041 (1.039–1.043) for ethnic Hans for each 10 μg/m3 increase in PM10. Conclusion: This study showed that PM2.5 and PM10 were associated with increased risks of acute death events in residential cardio-cerebrovascular disease in Yanbian, China.

Prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)During the past few decades, the prevalence of COPD in China has increased such that the total prevalence of COPD in China has increased from 2.70% in 1990 to 3.84% in 2010. This increase was greater in elderly patients (1990: 0.49% in <20 years old, 20.95% in ≥80 years old; 2010: 0.55% in <20 years old, 22.89% in ≥80 years old). The total number of patients with COPD increased by 66.73% from 30 million in 1990 to 50 million in 2010 (1). In 1991, the national prevalence of COPD in people over 15 years of age was 3% (2). From 2002 to 2004, the results of a survey in seven provinces and cities of China showed that the Review Article on Current Epidemiology and Policies of COPD Worldwide