Objective: To determine associations between lipid profiles in early pregnancy stratified by body mass index (BMI) and risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Study Design: A total of 2488 healthy pregnant women were enrolled prospectively. Fasting plasma lipid profiles were measured at mean 11 weeks of gestation including triglycerides (TGs), total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and cholesterol (CHO). We assessed early pregnancy maternal lipid concentrations in different tertiles in association with the risk of GDM stratified for BMI. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the relative risk of GDM by calculating odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: In univariate analyses, pregnant women with GDM had significantly increased serum TG, CHO, LDL concentrations, LDL/HDL ratio, and decreased LDL concentrations, compared to control groups, each P < .01, respectively. After adjustment for confounders, there was a 1.8-fold increase in risk for GDM in the lean group (95% CI: 1.2-2.7) and 2.7-fold increase in the obese group (95% CI: 1.1-6.6), respectively, if TG 1.58 mmol/L. About a 50% decrease in the risk of GDM was observed in lean women with HDL 2.22 mmol/L (95% CI: 0.3-0.9). No significant correlations of other lipid profiles with the risk of developing GDM were observed. Conclusion: Early pregnancy dyslipidemia is associated with the risk of developing GDM. Lean or obese women with higher TG concentrations are at an increased risk for developing GDM while lean women with high HDL are protected.

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The present study explored the use of methylated NDRG4 gene as a candidate biomarker for diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC). Methylated NDRG4 gene expression from colorectal carcinoma tissue, paracarcinoma tissues, stools, blood and urine were detected successfully in DNA samples from 84 patients, by nested methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction and denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography. The sensitivity and specificity of methylated NDRG4 gene expression for us as a biomarker in colorectal cancer was analyzed and compared with 16 age-matched healthy controls. The positive detection rate of methylated NDRG4 was 81% in carcinoma tissue, 8.3% in paracarcinoma tissues, 54.8% in blood, 72.6% in urine and 76.2% in stools. Considering the convenience of the acquisition of urine samples, an additional group of 76 patients with CRC were recruited for verification of detecting methylated NDRG4 in the urine. The positive detection rate of methylated NDRG4 was 72.4% (55/76) in this cohort. The detection of methylated NDRG4 in stools and urine could be used as a novel diagnostic technique for highly sensitive and specific detection of CRC. Due to the ease of collecting urine samples, this novel method could be a potential biomarker for early diagnosis of CRC.

Infertility has become a major health issue in the world. It affects the social life of couples and of all infertility cases; approximately 40–50% is due to “male factor” infertility. Male infertility could be due to genetic factors, environment or due to gonadotoxic treatment. Developments in reproductive biotechnology have made it possible to rescue fertility and uphold biological fatherhood. In vitro production of haploid male germ cell is a powerful tool, not only for the treatment of infertility including oligozoospermic or azoospermic patient, but also for the fertility preservation in pre-pubertal boys whose gonadal function is threatened by gonadotoxic therapies. Genomic editing of in-vitro cultured germ cells could also potentially cure flaws in spermatogenesis due to genomic mutation. Furthermore, this ex-vivo maturation technique with genomic editing may be used to prevent paternal transmission of genomic diseases. Here, we summarize the historical progress of in vitro spermatogenesis research by using organ and cell culture techniques and the future clinical application of in vitro spermatogenesis.