The static magnetic fields (SMFs) impact on biological systems, induce a variety of biological responses, and have been applied to the clinical treatment of diseases. However, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unclear. In this report, by using human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as a model, we investigated the biological effect of SMFs at a molecular and cellular level. We showed that SMF exposure promotes MSC proliferation and activates the expression of transcriptional factors such as FOS (Fos Proto-Oncogene, AP-1 Transcription Factor Subunit) and EGR1 (Early Growth Response 1). In addition, the expression of signal-transduction proteins p-ERK1/2 and p-JNK oscillate periodically with SMF exposure time. Furthermore, we found that the inhibition of the T-type calcium ion channels negates the biological effects of SMFs on MSCs. Together, we revealed that the SMFs regulate T-type calcium ion channels and mediate MSC proliferation via the MAPK signaling pathways.

BackgroundAnkle-brachial index (ABI) and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) are both important indicators of arterial stiffness and vascular injury. At present, most studies on the relationship between ABI and baPWV and all-cause mortality in community-based elderly are analyzing ABI or baPWV alone, and will focus on a single special population such as diabetes and stroke. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between ABI and baPWV in a Chinese community-based elderly population, and to analyze their impact on all-cause mortality in a community-based population through a follow-up of nearly 10 years.MethodsParticipants were residents of the Wanshou Road community in Beijing, China. A total of 2,162 people in the community were included, with an average age of 71.48 years. During a mean follow-up period of 9.87 years, 1,826 subjects completed follow-up. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and different Cox regression models were used to verify the association of ABI and baPWV with all-cause mortality. The selected subjects were divided into two groups according to ABI and baPWV, and ABI was divided into two groups with 0.90 as the cut-off point (group 1: 0.9 < ABI ≤ 1.3; group 2: ABI ≤ 0.9); according to the level of baPWV, they were divided into three groups (Tertile 1: baPWV <1761.5 cm/s; Tertile 2: 1761.5 ≤ baPWV <2121.5 cm/s; Tertile 3: baPWV ≥2121.5 cm/s).Results1,826 people were included in the statistical analysis, and the total mortality rate was 181.3/1000. The 10-year all-cause mortality rate of the abnormal ABI group (group 2) was 44.7%, and that of the normal ABI group (group 1) was 17.0%; The 10-year all-cause mortality rates from low to high in the baPWV tertile were 10.0%, 18.7%, and 26.4%. In the Cox proportional hazards model, after adjusting for possible confounders, the effect of baPWV on all-cause mortality was significant, with the 3rd tertile having a 1.647-fold higher risk of all-cause mortality than the 1st tertile (P = 0.014 ).ConclusionsABI and baPWV are risk factors affecting all-cause mortality in the elderly community population, and baPWV is an independent predictor of all-cause mortality in the elderly community population.

IntroductionTo investigate the independent and combined effects of advanced maternal age and pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) on the risk of pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).Research design and methodsLogistic regression models were used to estimate the OR and 95% CIs of pre-eclampsia and GDM with advanced maternal age and pre-pregnancy BMI, respectively, and the interaction between advanced maternal age and pre-pregnancy BMI. We also used causal mediation analysis to assess the mediating role of pre-pregnancy BMI on maternal age–pre-eclampsia/GDM associations.ResultsIn this study, 788 cases (2.31%) were diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and 5430 cases (15.92%) were diagnosed with GDM. We found that advanced maternal age was associated with a higher risk for pre-eclampsia and GDM, with adjusted ORs (aORs) of 1.74 (95% CI 1.49–2.05) and 1.76 (95% CI 1.65–1.89) after adjusting for potential confounders, respectively. In addition, maternal pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity was associated with the risk of pre-eclampsia and GDM, with the corresponding aORs of 3.64 (95% CI 3.12–4.24) and 1.71 (95% CI 1.60–1.85), respectively. We also observed the interaction between maternal age and pre-pregnancy BMI for the risk of pre-eclampsia/GDM (all p for interaction <0.001). In the mediating effect analysis, we found that maternal pre-pregnancy BMI mediated the associations between maternal age and the development of pre-eclampsia and GDM.ConclusionsAdvanced maternal age and pre-pregnancy BMI were respectively associated with the risk of pre-eclampsia/GDM, and there was an interaction between the two risk factors. In addition, we found that pre-pregnancy BMI served as a mediator of the association between advanced maternal age and the risk of pre-eclampsia/GDM, providing an essential target for the prevention of maternal overweight/obesity.

Background Abdominal obesity (AO) has been regarded as the most dangerous type of obesity. The Conicity-index (C-index) had a high ability to discriminate underlying AO. The purpose of this study was to determine the ability of C-index to predict all-cause mortality among non-cancer Chinese older people. Methods The participants were residents of the Wanshou Road community in Beijing, China. Receiver operating curve (ROC) curves were used to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the best cut-off values for different anthropometric measures for predicting all-cause mortality. The area under the curve (AUC) of the ROC curves were calculated to compare the relative ability of various anthropometric measures to correctly identify older people in the community where all-cause mortality occurs. Included subjects were grouped according to C-index tertiles. The association between C-index and all-cause mortality was verified using Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and different Cox regression models. Results During a mean follow-up period of 9.87 years, 1821 subjects completed follow-up. The average age was 71.21 years, of which 59.4% were female. The ROC curve results showed that the AUC of the C-index in predicting all-cause mortality was 0.633. Kaplan–Meier survival curves showed a clear dose–response relationship between C-index and all-cause mortality. With the increase of C-index, the survival rate of the study population showed a significant downward trend (P < 0.05). Adjusted for age, gender, hip circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose (FBG), 2-h postprandial blood glucose (2hPG), glycosylated hemoglobin, high-density lipids protein (LDL), triglyceride, serum creatinine, serum uric acid, urine albumin-creatinine ratio (UACR), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), smoking history, and drinking history, COX regression analysis showed that in the model adjusted for all covariates, the risk of all-cause mortality in tertile 3 was 1.505 times that in tertile 1, and the difference was statistically significant. Conclusions The C-index is an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality in the non-cancer Chinese older people.