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Borg Ferguson posted an update 4 days, 23 hours ago
Cadmium exposure may increase the risk of osteoporosis. However, there is no quick method to get bone mineral density (BMD) unless dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) examinations were performed. In the present study, we aimed to identify associated factors to osteoporosis and fracture in a Chinese female population with cadmium exposure and develop nomograms to predict the risk. A total of 488 women was included in this study. Cadmium in blood (BCd) and urine (UCd) were determined as exposure biomarkers. BMD was determined using single-photon absorptiometry. Urinary N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase (UNAG) and urinary albumin (UALB) were determined as renal function biomarkers. Osteoporosis was defined if T-score less then - 2.5. Multiple logistic regression showed that age, BCd, and menopausal status were independent risk factors for osteoporosis. The odds (OR) value was 1.19 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.14-1.25) for age, 1.05 (95% CI 1.004-1.10) for BCd, and 4.75 (95% CI 1.65-13.69) for menopausal status after adjusting with cofounders. Age and UCd were the independent risk factors for bone fracture. Nomograms were developed based on the associated factors. Age was the main determinant for osteoporosis or fracture. Receiver operating curve showed acceptable performance in predicting osteoporosis (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.93, 95CI 0.90-0.96) and fracture (AUC = 0.67, 95% CI 0.58-0.75). Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) further showed that 88.9% of osteoporosis and 68.4% of fractures were correctly classified. compound W13 ic50 Our study develops nomograms that may be used to predict cadmium-induced osteoporosis or fracture if BMD data is not available.Copper is often used as a growth promoter, at the same time copper is one of the most important essential trace elements for fur animals, especially Rex rabbits. However, too much copper added to the diet may harm animal health, and copper excreted in feces can pollute the environment. In this study, 3-month-old Rex rabbits were randomly divided into four groups and fed a basal diet containing 0, 30, 60, or 120 mg/kg Cu for 5 weeks. The diet supplemented with 30 mg/kg Cu significantly increased (P less then 0.05) the average daily feed intake (ADFI) and the average daily gain (ADG) and also the activity of serum Cu-Zn (zinc) superoxide dismutase and the digestibility of ether extract. Supplemental Cu up to 120 mg/kg did not significantly adversely affect the Zn metabolism of growing Rex rabbits. Overall, the data in this study indicate that 30 mg/kg is the optimal level of Cu supplementation in the diet of growing Rex rabbits. The results will provide a reference to improve the breeding of Rex rabbits and possibly other animals. In follow-up studies, the amount of copper in the diet should be reduced as much as possible from the baseline of 30 mg/kg copper.This study aimed to observe the influence of selenium (Se) deficiency on sperm quality and selenoprotein expression in rats. Four-week male Wista rats were randomly divided into three groups Se-A, Se-L, and Se-D (respectively for Se- adequate, low, and deficient group). After 9 weeks, the rats were sacrificed by anesthesia, with the cauda epididymidis quickly fetched for sperm count, motility, and deformity. Meanwhile the blood, liver, brain, heart, and testis were collected for Se and biochemical analysis. It was found that the rats in Se-D had poor growth, while the Se concentrations in blood, liver, and heart for Se-D decreased significantly, compared with Se-A and Se-L (p less then 0.01). But no significant difference was observed in testis and brain and also no statistical significance for sperm count. The sperm motility for Se-A (63.07%) was significantly higher than Se-L (53.91%) and Se-D (54.15%). Deformities were observed in both Se-L and Se-D. Both glutathione peroxidases (GPxs) and selenoprotein-P (SEPP1) levels in plasma and tissues of Se-D were significantly lower than those of Se-A and Se-L (p less then 0.01). The SEPP1 levels in heart and brain of Se-L were lower than Se-A (p less then 0.01). There was no statistical difference for GPx1 between Se-A and Se-L. The GPx4 level in testis of Se-L was lower than Se-A (p less then 0.05). However, the SEPP1 in plasma, liver, testis, and the GPx3 level in plasma of Se-L were higher than those of Se-A (p less then 0.05 or p less then 0.01). Our results show that dietary Se deficiency could reduce GPx4 and SEPP1 expression in testis, which further influence sperm motility and may cause sperm deformity. Selenoprotein expression in some tissues of Se-L was higher than that of Se-A, but sperm quality and GPx4 expression in testis were not improved for Se-L. Low active pseudoselenoproteins might be synthesized in low-Se condition. The underlying mechanism needs to be further investigated.Despite the important role of iron in cellular homeostasis, iron overload (IO) is associated with systemic and tissue deposits which damage several organs. In order to reduce the impact caused by IO, invasive diagnosis exams (e.g., biopsies) and minimally invasive methods were developed including computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. However, current diagnostic methods are still time-consuming and expensive. A cost-effective solution is using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) for real-time and molecular-sensitive biofluid analysis during conventional laboratory exams. In this study, we performed the first evaluation of the accuracy of FTIR for IO diagnosis. The study was performed by collecting FTIR spectra of plasma samples of five rats intravenously injected with iron-dextran and five control rats. We developed a classification model based on principal component analysis and supervised methods including J48, random forest, multilayer perceptron, and radial basis function network. We achieved 100% accuracy for the classification of the IO status and provided a list of possible biomolecules related to the vibrational modes detected. In this preliminary study, we give a first step towards real-time diagnosis for acute IO or intoxication. Furthermore, we have expanded the literature knowledge regarding the pathophysiological changes induced by iron overload.