Aims/IntroductionBesides the aging population in China, the following have become serious public health problems: increasing urban population, lifestyle changes and diabetes. We assessed the epidemiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus in China between 2000 and 2014, and analyzed time trends to better determine the prevalence status of diabetes in China and to provide a basis for prevention and decision‐making.Materials and MethodsIn our systematic review, we searched China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese VIP Information, Wanfang and PubMed databases for studies on type 2 diabetes mellitus between 2000 and 2014 in China. Two investigators extracted the data and assessed the quality of the included literature independently. We excluded studies that did not use 1999 World Health Organization criteria for diabetes. We also excluded reviews and viewpoints, studies with insufficient data, studies that were not carried out in mainland China and studies on troops, community, schools or physical examination people. We used stata 12.0 to combine the prevalence of all studies, calculated the pooled prevalence and its 95% confidence interval, and analyzed the differences among men/women, urban/rural areas and year of study. We calculated the prevalence of seven geographic areas of China, respectively, and mapped the distribution in the whole country to estimate the pooled prevalence of each area.ResultsOur search returned 4,572 studies, 77 of which satisfied the inclusion criteria. The included studies had a total of 1,287,251 participants, in which 680,574 cases of type 2 diabetes mellitus were recorded. The overall prevalence (9.1%) has been increasing since the 1970s, and it increased rapidly with age. The prevalence of the 65–74 years group was as high as 14.1%. Meanwhile, the prevalence among men/women and urban/rural areas was significantly different. The prevalence was 9.9% for men and 11.6% for women, which were significantly higher than the average at the end of the last century and the beginning of this century. The prevalence rate in urban areas (11.4%) was significantly higher than that in rural areas and in urban‐rural fringe areas, and the prevalence in rural areas (8.2%) was slightly higher than that in urban‐rural fringe areas (7.5%). In addition, the prevalence in each geographic area were estimated and mapped, which showed a large imbalance in the map.ConclusionsOur analysis suggested that type 2 diabetes mellitus is highly prevalent in China. These results underscore the urgent need for the government to vigorously strengthen the management of diabetes prevention and control.

Fucoidans, fucose-enriched sulfated polysaccharides isolated from brown algae and marine invertebrates, have been shown to exert anticancer activity in several types of human cancer, including leukemia and breast cancer and in lung adenocarcinoma cells. In the present study, the anticancer activity of the fucoidan extracted from the brown seaweed Undaria pinnatifida was investigated in human hepatocellular carcinoma SMMC-7721 cells, and the underlying mechanisms of action were investigated. SMMC-7721 cells exposed to fucoidan displayed growth inhibition and several typical features of apoptotic cells, such as chromatin condensation and marginalization, a decrease in the number of mitochondria, and in mitochondrial swelling and vacuolation. Fucoidan-induced cell death was associated with depletion of reduced glutathione (GSH), accumulation of high intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and accompanied by damage to the mitochondrial ultrastructure, depolarization of the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP, Δψm) and caspase activation. Moreover, fucoidan led to altered expression of factors related to apoptosis, including downregulating Livin and XIAP mRNA, which are members of the inhibitor of apoptotic protein (IAP) family, and increased the Bax-to-Bcl-2 ratio. These findings suggest that fucoidan isolated from U. pinnatifida induced apoptosis in SMMC-7721 cells via the ROS-mediated mitochondrial pathway.

The purpose of the current study was to determine whether maternal prolactin (PRL) had any effects on bone formation in the developing rat pup. Because the most prevalent forms of PRL in rats are unmodified and phosphorylated PRL, both recombinant PRL and a molecular mimic of phosphorylated PRL (PP-PRL) were administered to pregnant animals. Blood samples from the dams showed normal estrogen and progesterone and no effect of extra PRL on parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcium, or alkaline phosphatase (AP). In newborn pups, however, there was a 30% decrease in blood AP in both PRL-treated groups, whereas PTH and calcium levels were not different from controls. When primary rat osteoblasts were exposed to both PRLs, AP activity was reduced, with PP-PRL being the more potent form of the hormone. Histological examination of pup bone formation showed reduced calvarial bone and reduced endochondral ossification in pups exposed to PP-PRL. These results are the first to show a direct inhibitory effect of PRL on osteoblast function.

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