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Background/Aim. To investigate the association between serum sialic acid (SA) levels and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in a nonobese Chinese population. Methods. A cross-sectional study was performed among the 5916 adults who took their annual health examinations at International Health Care Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, from December 2013 to November 2014. Results. A total of 693 (11.71%) subjects fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of NAFLD, and NAFLD patients had significantly higher serum SA levels than controls (P < 0.001). The prevalence of NAFLD was positively associated with serum SA levels (P for trend <0.001). Serum sialic acid levels are significantly associated with features of metabolic syndrome (Ps < 0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that serum SA level was significantly associated with risk for NAFLD (odds ratio: 1.018, 95%; confidence interval: 1.007–1.030; P = 0.002). Conclusions. Our results suggest for the first time that NAFLD patients had higher serum SA level than controls, and increased serum SA level is significantly associated with risk for NAFLD in a large nonobese Chinese population.

Smart insulin delivery platforms having the ability of mimicking pancreatic cells are highly expected for diabetes treatment. Herein, a smart glucose-sensitive insulin delivery platform on the basis of transcutaneous microneedles has been designed. The as-prepared microneedles are composed of glucose- and pH-responsive supramolecular polymer vesicles (PVs) as the drug storage and water soluble polymers as the matrix. The well-defined PVs are constructed from the host–guest inclusion complex between water-soluble pillar­[5]­arene (WP5) with pH-responsiveness and paraquat-ended poly­(phenylboronic acid) (PPBA-G) with glucose-sensitivity. The drug-loaded PVs, including insulin and glucose oxidase (GOx) can quickly respond to elevated glucose level, accompanied by the disassociation of PVs and fast release of encapsulated insulin. Moreover, the insulin release rate is further accelerated by GOx, which generates gluconic acid at high glucose levels, thus decreasing the local pH. Therefore, the host–guest interaction between WP5 and PPBA-G is destroyed and a total structure disassociation of PVs takes place, contributing to a fast release of encapsulated insulin. The in vivo insulin delivery to diabetic rats displays a quick response to hyperglycemic levels and then can fast regulate the blood glucose concentrations to normal levels, which demonstrates that the obtained smart insulin device has a highly potential application in the treatment of diabetes.

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