A number of studies have reported that sleep duration might have an important role in the development of hypertension. However, the results have been inconsistent. In this study, a meta-analysis was performed to clarify the association between sleep duration and hypertension risk. PubMed, Embase and ISI web of science databases updated on 28 October 2011 were searched for eligible publications. Pooled odds ratio (OR) or relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was calculated using a random-or fixed-effect model. Six prospective (N ¼ 9959) and seventeen cross-sectional (N ¼ 105432) studies were identified for the data analysis on sleep duration. The results indicated that short sleep duration was associated with an increased risk of prevalent hypertension (OR ¼ 1.20, 95% CI: 1.09-1.32, Po0.001), especially among subjects younger than 65 years and females. In addition, short sleep duration was also associated with an increased risk of incident hypertension among subjects younger than 65 years (RR ¼ 1.33, 95% CI: 1.11-1.61, P ¼ 0.002). Overall, there was a significant association between long sleep duration and the risk of prevalent hypertension (OR ¼ 1.11, 95% CI: 1.05-1.17, Po0.001). Further subgroup analysis also suggested a significant association between long sleep duration and the risk of prevalent hypertension among subjects younger than 65 years (OR ¼ 1.12, 95% CI: 1.06-1.19, Po0.001). The present meta-analysis indicated that short sleep duration was associated with an increased risk of hypertension in the overall polulation and incident hypertension among subjects younger than 65 years. In addition, long sleep duration might be associated with a risk of prevalent hypertension, especially among subjects younger than 65 years.

The vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms have been suggested to be involved in the development of diabetes mellitus, including type 1 diabetes (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes (T2DM). However, the results have been inconsistent. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis to investigate the associations. Literature was retrieved from PubMed, ISI Web of Science and Chinese databases. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random or fixed effect model. 79 studies (FokI: 22 studies; BsmI: 25 studies; ApaI: 17 studies; TaqI: 15 studies) on T1DM and 44 studies (FokI: 10 studies; BsmI: 10 studies; ApaI: 14 studies; TaqI: 10 studies) on T2DM were included. The results indicated that BsmI polymorphism was associated with an increased risk of T1DM (B vs. b: OR 1.31, 95 % CI 1.10-1.55, P = 0.002), especially in East Asians (B vs. b: OR 2.57, 95 % CI: 1.55-4.24, P < 0.001); FokI polymorphism was associated with an increased risk of T2DM (f vs. F: OR 1.30, 95 % CI: 1.17-1.45, P < 0.001), especially in East Asians (f vs. F: OR 1.36, 95 % CI: 1.21-1.54, P < 0.001). However, no significant association was observed between ApaI or TaqI polymorphism and diabetes risk with the exception of significant association between ApaI polymorphism and T1DM risk in East Asians. Thus, the authors found BsmI polymorphism in the VDR gene may increase the risk of T1DM in East Asians and the FokI polymorphism may increase the risk of T2DM in East Asians.

No abstract

Integrin beta3, like E-cadherin, may be also a suppressor gene down-regulating invasive features of ovarian cancer cells in SKOV3 cell subclones.

Exposure to pesticides during pregnancy was associated with a non-significant increase in low birth weight in this rural Chinese population. Future studies using larger sample sizes and longer follow-up periods are warranted.