CONTEXT Iron overload is a known risk factor for type 2 diabetes (T2D); however, iron overload and iron deficiency have both been associated with metabolic disorders in observational studies. OBJECTIVE Using mendelian randomization (MR), we assessed how genetically predicted systemic iron status affected T2D risk. METHODS A 2-sample MR analysis was used to obtain a causal estimate. We selected genetic variants strongly associated (P < 5 × 10-8) with 4 biomarkers of systemic iron status from a study involving 48 972 individuals performed by the Genetics of Iron Status consortium and applied these biomarkers to the T2D case-control study (74 124 cases and 824 006 controls) performed by the Diabetes Genetics Replication and Meta-analysis consortium. The simple median, weighted median, MR-Egger, MR analysis using mixture-model, weighted allele scores, and MR based on a Bayesian model averaging approaches were used for the sensitivity analysis. RESULTS Genetically instrumented serum iron (odds ratio [OR]: 1.07; 95% CI, 1.02-1.12), ferritin (OR: 1.19; 95% CI, 1.08-1.32), and transferrin saturation (OR: 1.06; 95% CI, 1.02-1.09) were positively associated with T2D. In contrast, genetically instrumented transferrin, a marker of reduced iron status, was inversely associated with T2D (OR: 0.91; 95% CI, 0.87-0.96). CONCLUSION Genetic evidence supports a causal link between increased systemic iron status and increased T2D risk. Further studies involving various ethnic backgrounds based on individual-level data and studies regarding the underlying mechanism are warranted for reducing the risk of T2D.

Genetic Support of A Causal Relationship Between Iron Status and Type 2 Diabetes: A Mendelian Randomization Study.

Prenatal vitamin D (VitD) deficiency influences children’s health in later life. We aimed to test the associations between maternal VitD status in each of the three trimesters of pregnancy and cord blood 25(OH)D concentrations in newborns. Participants were pregnant women recruited from the Shanghai Birth Cohort (SBC) (n = 1100). Of all the participants, 946 completed the collection of venous blood at early (< 16 weeks, T1), mid- (24–28 weeks, T2), and late (32–34 weeks, T3) pregnancy as well as the corresponding cord blood in the newborns. Maternal serum 25(OH)D concentrations were measured by LC–MS/MS, and the information on confounding factors was obtained through a standardized questionnaire. The mean 25(OH)D concentrations at time points T1, T2, T3 in maternal blood and cord blood of the newborns were 26.31 ng/mL, 31.92 ng/mL, 35.62 ng/mL, and 19.77 ng/mL, respectively. Neonatal 25(OH)D level in cord blood was positively correlated with maternal serum 25(OH)D levels at each trimester, and the strongest correlation was found at time point T3. Maternal 25(OH)D concentrations at each trimester were positively associated with neonatal VitD status in cord blood, and the strongest correlation was found in the late stage of pregnancy, which could be considered as a sensitive time window. Attention should be paid to the nutritional status of VitD during pregnancy to better prevent the VitD deficiency in neonates.

Associations between maternal vitamin D status during three trimesters and cord blood 25(OH)D concentrations in newborns: a prospective Shanghai birth cohort study

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is usually associated with varying degrees of cirrhosis. Among cirrhotic patients with solitary HCC in the absence of macro-vascular invasion, whether tumor size drives prognosis or not after hepatectomy remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic impact of tumor size on long-term outcomes after hepatectomy for solitary HCC patients with cirrhosis and without macrovascular invasion. A total of 813 cirrhotic patients who underwent curative hepatectomy for solitary HCC and without macrovascular invasion between 2001 and 2014 were retrospectively studied. We set 5 cm as the tumor cut-off value. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to minimize the influence of potential confounders including cirrhotic severity that was histologically assessed according to the Laennec staging system. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared between the two groups before and after PSM. Overall, 464 patients had tumor size ≤ 5 cm, and 349 had tumor size > 5 cm. The 5-year RFS and OS rates were 38.3% and 61.5% in the  ≤ 5 cm group, compared with 25.1% and 59.9% in the > 5 cm group. Long-term survival outcomes were significantly worse as tumor size increased. Multivariate analysis indicated that tumor size > 5 cm was an independent risk factor for tumor recurrence and long-term survival. These results were further confirmed in the PSM cohort of 235 pairs of patients. In cirrhotic patients with solitary HCC and without macrovascular invasion, tumor size may significantly affect the prognosis after curative hepatectomy.

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Tumor size may influence the prognosis of solitary hepatocellular carcinoma patients with cirrhosis and without macrovascular invasion after hepatectomy.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), as one of most common dementia, mainly affects older people from the worldwide. In this study, we intended to explore the possible mechanism of improving cognitive function and protecting the neuron effect by electroacupuncture. Method: We applied senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) mice as AD animal model, used Morris water maze, HE staining, 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing of gut microbiota and ELISA to demonstrate our hypothesis. Results: electroacupuncture improved the learning and memory abilities in SAMP8 mice (P<0.05) and could protect the frontal lobe cortex and hippocampus of SAMP8 mice; electroacupuncture significantly decreased the expression of IL-1β (P<0.01), IL-6 (P<0.01) and TNF-α (P<0.01 in hippocampus, P<0.05 in serum) in serum and hippocampus; electroacupuncture balanced the quantity and composition of gut microbiome, especially of the relative abundance in Delta-proteobacteria (P<0.05) and Epsilon-proteobacteria (P<0.05). Conclusion: electroacupuncture treatment could inhibit the peripheral and central nerve system inflammatory response by balancing the gut microbiota.

Electroacupuncture could balance the gut microbiota and improve the learning and memory abilities of Alzheimer's disease animal model.

Objective To explore the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency of women of childbearing age in rural northern China. Design A population-based, case–control study was conducted. Setting Four counties of Henan Province, China from 2009 to 2010. Participants 1151 non-pregnant healthy women between 18 and 40 years old. Primary and secondary outcome measures Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Vitamin D insufficiency was defined as serum 25(OH)D ≥20 ng/mL and Results The median serum 25(OH)D level was 20.90 (13.60–34.60) ng/mL, and the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency, deficiency and severe deficiency was 20.16%, 31.80% and 15.99%, respectively. After adjustment, household annual income Conclusions Lower SES was associated with higher risk of vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency in women of childbearing age in rural northern China. More should be done to explore potential mechanisms and to narrow down SES inequalities in vitamin D status.

https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/11/3/e042227.full.pdf

Socioeconomic status and vitamin D deficiency among women of childbearing age: a population-based, case-control study in rural northern China.

Effects of circulating vitamin D concentrations on emotion, behavior and attention: A cross-sectional study in preschool children with follow-up behavior experiments in juvenile mice

Background Measurement of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D)] levels is important The current method requires a relatively large volume of serum To minimize the amount of serum needed, we established a high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method to measure 25(OH)D in capillary serum Methods Venous blood and fingertip blood were collected from 90 participants Volumes of 100 µL of venous serum and 20 µL of capillary serum were collected The serum samples were pretreated by protein removal, extraction and concentration, and an HPLC-MS/MS method based on chromatographic separation and multi reactive ion monitoring was conducted The intra- and inter-batch variation coefficients were less than 10% for both 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3 ] and 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 [25(OH)D2 )] For venous specimens, the accuracies were 387% and 491%, respectively For capillary specimens, the accuracies were 165% and 532%, respectively Results The limit of detection (LOD) of 25(OH)D3 was 001 ng/mL, and the LOD of 25(OH)D2 was 005 ng/mL The results showed that the mean concentration of 25(OH)D in venous blood was 2256 ± 950 ng/mL, while the mean concentration of 25(OH)D in capillary blood was 1814 ± 786 ng/mL Furthermore, the adjusted capillary blood 25(OH)D level was 2299 ± 1024 ng/mL by the correction formula in our study Similarly, the mean concentration of 25(OH)D3 in capillary blood was 1798 ± 798 ng/mL The adjusted capillary blood 25(OH)D3 level was 2285 ± 1042 ng/mL No difference in the content of 25(OH)D or 25(OH)D3 was found between venous serum and corrected capillary serum The correlation coefficients between venous and corrected capillary concentrations of 25(OH)D and 25(OH)D3 were 07941 and 08103, respectively, and the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve were 09367 and 09565, respectively Conclusions This capillary blood method requires minimal sample preparation and is suitable for routine use in the 25(OH)D detection

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jcla.23451

Development of a sensitive HPLC-MS/MS method for 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 and D3 measurement in capillary blood.

The production and emission of short-chain perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) has increased over the years to replace long-chain PFAAs, leading to frequent detection in the environment and raising global concerns about the potential impacts on human health. In this study, the specific urine levels of 10 PFAAs were obtained from 189 children (age 8–12 years) from two primary schools located in urban and suburban areas of Shanghai in 2019, and the contributions of dietary factors were investigated. Perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), and perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) were detected in 100%, 99.5%, and 87.3% of the samples, with median concentrations of 20.20 ng/L, 46.50 ng/L, and 20.95 ng/L, respectively. The most abundant PFAA was perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), with a median concentration of 78.90 ng/L. The concentration of ∑PFAAs ranged from 61.10 to 4108.93 ng/L, with a median concentration of 253.12 ng/L. Children aged 8–9 years had higher median levels of PFBS, perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) than children aged 10–12 years. Obese/overweight children had lower levels of PFHpA, PFBS, and PFOS. The intake of red meats, tubers, sugared beverages, fish and seafood, and eggs contributed to higher concentrations of PFAAs, while frequent intake of poultry and soy milk was associated with lower PFAA concentrations.

Urine concentrations of perfluoroalkyl acids in children and contributions of dietary factors: a cross-sectional study from Shanghai, China.

This study aimed to investigate whether 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations are correlated to overweight/obesity in infants and to explore a threshold of 25(OH)D. A total of 1205 six-month-old infants from two community hospitals in Shanghai were randomly recruited, and 925 of them were followed up at 12 months. Concentration of 25(OH)D, weight, and length were measured at two time points. Overweight/obesity was defined as a weight-for-length Z-score >97th percentile. The prevalence of overweight/obesity at 6 and 12 months was 6.88% and 5.26%, respectively. The occurrence of vitamin D (VitD) deficiency (<20 ng/mL) at 6 and 12 months was 6.56% and 2.05%, respectively. Concentration of 25(OH)D at the corresponding age was negatively associated with weight-for-length percentile (WLP) at both 6 (adjusted β: −0.14; 95% CI: −0.27, −0.02; p = 0.02) and 12 months (adjusted β: −0.22; 95% CI: −0.41, −0.02; p = 0.03), while the relationship between 25(OH)D at 6 months and WLP at 12 months was nonlinear, where 35 ng/mL was identified as an inflection point. Those with a concentration of 25(OH)D <35 ng/mL at 6 months had a higher risk of overweight/obesity (adjusted OR: 1.42; 95% CI: 1.06, 1.91; p = 0.02) compared to the group with a concentration of 25(OH)D ≥35 ng/mL. Moreover, a concentration of 25(OH)D <35 ng/mL at two time points significantly increased the risk of overweight/obesity at 12 months compared to the group with 25(OH)D concentration ≥35 ng/mL at two time points (adjusted OR: 2.91; 95% CI: 1.13, 7.46; p = 0.03). A suboptimal 25(OH)D concentration <35 ng/mL significantly increases the risk of overweight/obesity in infants.

https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/22/4897/pdf?version=1668845488

Xirui Wang

Papers

Associations between maternal vitamin D status during three trimesters and cord blood 25(OH)D concentrations in newborns: a prospective Shanghai birth cohort study

Effects of circulating vitamin D concentrations on emotion, behavior and attention: A cross-sectional study in preschool children with follow-up behavior experiments in juvenile mice

Development of a sensitive HPLC-MS/MS method for 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 and D3 measurement in capillary blood.

Urine concentrations of perfluoroalkyl acids in children and contributions of dietary factors: a cross-sectional study from Shanghai, China.

Association between Suboptimal 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Status and Overweight/Obesity in Infants: A Prospective Cohort Study in China