No abstract

BACKGROUND Cardiovascular risk factors are associated with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), but little is known regarding related impact of longitudinal measures of childhood adiposity and left ventricular (LV) hemodynamics. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study is to examine the cumulative long-term burden and trends of excessive adiposity and elevated blood pressure (BP) during childhood on adult LVH and LV geometric remodeling patterns. Methods This longitudinal study consisted of 1,061 adults, aged 24 to 46 years, who had been examined 4 or more times for body mass index (BMI) and BP starting in childhood with an average follow-up of 28.0 years. The area under the curve (AUC) was calculated as a measure of long-term burden (total AUC) and trends (incremental AUC) of BMI and BP from childhood to adulthood. Four LV geometric types were defined as normal, concentric remodeling (CR), eccentric hypertrophy (EH), and concentric hypertrophy (CH), all based on LV mass indexed for body height (m2.7) and relative wall thickness. Results Higher values of BMI and systolic and diastolic BP of childhood and adulthood, as well as total AUC and incremental AUC were all significantly associated with higher LV mass index and LVH, adjusted for race, sex, and age. In addition, higher values of BMI and BP of childhood and adulthood, total AUC, and incremental AUC were significantly associated with EH and CH but not CR. Importantly, all these measures of BMI had a consistently and significantly greater influence on EH than measures of BP. Conclusions These findings indicate that the adverse influence of excessive adiposity and elevated BP levels on LVH begins in childhood.

Soybean isoflavones are valued in certain medicines, cosmetics, foods and feeds. Selection for high-isoflavone content in seeds along with agronomic traits is a goal of many soybean breeders. The aim of the study was to identify the quantitative trait loci (QTL) underlying seed isoflavone content in soybean among seven environments in China. A cross was made between 'Zhongdou 27', a soybean cultivar with higher mean isoflavone content in the seven environments (daidzein, DZ, 1,865 microg g(-1); genistein, GT, 1,614 microg g(-1); glycitein, GC, 311 microg g(-1) and total isoflavone, TI, 3,791 microg g(-1)) and 'Jiunong 20', a soybean cultivar with lower isoflavone content (DZ, 844 microg g(-1); GT, 1,046 microg g(-1); GC, 193 microg g(-1) and TI, 2,061 microg g(-1)). Through single-seed-descent, 130 F(5)-derived F(6) recombinant inbred lines were advanced. A total of 99 simple-sequence repeat markers were used to construct a genetic linkage map. Seed isoflavone contents were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography for multiple years and locations (Harbin in 2005, 2006 and 2007, Hulan in 2006 and 2007, and Suihua in 2006 and 2007). Three QTL were associated with DZ content, four with GT content, three with GC content, and five with TI content. For all QTL detected the beneficial allele was from Zhongdou 27. QTL were located on three (DZ), three (GC), four (GT) and five (TI) molecular linkage groups (LG). A novel QTL was detected with marker Satt144 on LG F that was associated with DZ (0.0014 > P > 0.0001, 5% < R (2) < 11%; 254 < DZ < 552 microg g(-1)), GT (0.0027 > P > 0.0001; 4% < R (2) < 9%; 262 < GT < 391 microg g(-1)), and TI (0.0011 > P > 0.0001; 4% < R (2) < 15%; 195 < TI < 871 microg g(-1)) across the various environments. A previously reported QTL on LG M detected by Satt540 was associated with TI across four environments and TI mean (0.0022 > P > 0.0001; 3% < R (2) < 8%; 182 < TI < 334 microg g(-1)) in China. Because both beneficial alleles were from Zhongdou 27, it was concluded that these two QTL would have the greatest potential value for marker-assisted selection for high-isoflavone content in soybean seed in China.

Human female germline stem cells (FGSCs) have opened new opportunities for understanding human oogenesis, delaying menopause, treating infertility, and providing a new strategy for preserving fertility. However, the shortage of adult human ovaries tissues available impedes their future investigations and clinical applications. Here, we have established FGSC lines from scarce ovarian cortical tissues that exist in follicular aspirates (faFGSCs), which are produced and discarded in in vitro fertilization centers worldwide. The faFGSCs have characteristics of germline stem cells involved in the gene expression profile, growth characteristics, and a normal karyotype consistent with that of FGSCs obtained from ovarian cortexes surgically removed from patients (srFGSCs). Furthermore, faFGSCs have developmental potentials including spontaneous differentiation into oocytes under feeder-free conditions, communicating with granulosa cells by gap junctions and paracrine factors, entering meiosis after RA induction, as well as forming follicles after injection into human ovarian cortical tissues xenografted into adult immunodeficient female mice. Lastly, we developed a strategy guiding FGSCs differentiated into germinal vesicle (GV) stage oocytes in vitro and revealed their developmental mechanisms. Our study not only provides a new approach to obtain human FGSCs for medical treatment, but also opens several avenues to investigate human oogenesis in vitro.