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The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has been increasing worldwide. Dietary patterns and air pollution are closely related to the occurrence of GDM. No previous study has explored the interaction effect of air pollution exposure and dietary patterns on GDM. We explored the interaction effect between main dietary patterns and pre-pregnancy exposure to air pollution on the development of GDM based on a prospective birth cohort in Northeast China. A total of 2244 participants were included in this study. Factor analysis was used to identify dietary patterns. We found that long-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) before pregnancy was significantly associated with an increased risk of GDM; the animal foods pattern significantly modified these associations. The sub-group analysis showed that compared with a lower intake in the animal foods pattern (NO2, odds ratio [OR] = 1.07, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.84, 1.35; CO, OR = 1.05, 95% CI: 0.81, 1.34), higher intake in the animal foods pattern (NO2, OR = 1.41, 95% CI: 1.09, 1.83; CO, OR = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.05, 1.76) before pregnancy increased the hazardous effects of NO2 and CO on GDM development. The intake of animal blood, animal organs, preserved eggs, and processed meat products in animal food pattern could all aggravate the effect of exposure to air pollution due to NO2 and CO on GDM. Our study demonstrated that there was a significant interaction effect between animal foods pattern and exposure to air pollution on GDM. These results provide further scientific evidence of the associations among air pollution, dietary intake, and GDM, and may help as well as the prevention of GDM.

The intake of each nutrient was calculated using the Chinese Food Composition Tables, by first multiplying the quantity (grams) of each food and beverage item consumed by their nutrient content per gram, and then adding the nutrient contributions from all food items. We also collected data on the intake of 110 food items by using a validated FFQ for most of the participants; this allowed us to explore the associations between intake of food items and nutrients, as well as dietary patterns and health outcomes. Key Features Only few large, prospective cohort studies on interaction between dietary and environmental exposures and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have been conducted in Northeast China. Daily food intake The intake of food and beverage items was calculated by multiplying fitted portion sizes (according to sex, g/time) by the frequency at which each food and beverage item was consumed per day in the FFQ. [Extracted from the article]

FASN plays a critical role in lipid metabolism, which is involved in regulating ovarian follicular development. However, the molecular mechanisms of how FASN regulate the function of ovarian follicular cells still remain elusive. In this study, by overexpression or interference of FASN in pre-hierarchical follicle granulosa cells (phGCs) and hierarchical follicle granulosa cells (hGCs), we analyzed their effects on the granulosa cell transcriptome and metabolome profiles using RNA-Seq and LC-MS/MS, respectively. The results showed that overexpression of FASN promoted proinflammatory factors expression by activating TLR3/IRF7 and TLR3/NF-κB pathways in phGCs, but only by activating TLR3/IRF7 pathways in hGCs. Then, necroptosis and apoptosis were triggered through the JAK/STAT1 pathway (induced by inflammatory factors) and BAK/caspase-7 pathway, respectively. The combined analysis of the metabolome and transcriptome revealed that FASN affected the demand of GCs for 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) by activating the neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction pathway in two categorized GCs and only altering the metabolic pathway of tryptophan in phGCs, and ultimately participated in regulating the physiological function of geese GCs. Taken together, this study showed that the mechanisms of FASN regulating the physiological function of geese phGCs and hGCs were similar, but they also had some different characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In China, mental health of frontline medical staff might be influenced by clinicians' ability to handle the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Few studies to-date have addressed the association between clinicians' competencies and mental health in this context. This cross-sectional study was to examine the prevalence of mental health symptoms among frontline medical staff that fought against the COVID-19 outbreak, and explore the associations between their competencies, and separate and concurrent depressive and anxiety symptoms. Methods: A total of 623 frontline medical staff was included in this study. Competencies, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms were assessed using a self-reported short form of the Chinese clinical physicians' competency model, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire, respectively. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations between one SD increase in competency scores and the prevalence of mental health problems. Results: The prevalence of depressive, anxiety, and comorbid depressive and anxiety symptoms was 40.93, 31.78, and 26.00%, respectively. Among the medical staff with higher total competency scores, the prevalence of depressive [odds ratios (ORs) = 0.67, 95% confidence intervals (CIs): 0.55–0.81], anxiety (OR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.56–0.83), and comorbid anxiety and depressive symptoms (OR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.55–0.83) was lower than among their lower-scoring counterparts. Subgroup analyses stratified by core competency scores revealed similar associations as the main analyses. Conclusion: The present findings highlight the association between high core competency scores and lower prevalence of depressive, anxiety, and comorbid anxiety and depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theca cells (TCs) play an important role in follicular development, which cannot be separated from granulosa cells (GCs). However, compared with mammals, the TCs and the effects of GCs on TCs at different follicular development stages (FDSs) have specific characteristics in avian species, but none of them have been clearly defined. In this study, we established an in vitro co‐culture (with GC at the corresponding stage) model of goose TCs at different FDSs (pre‐hierarchical, hierarchical and F1) by using a transwell system. The properties of TCs in co‐culture at the three FDSs, including cell morphology, activity and intracellular lipid content, as well as the expression of key genes involved in de novo lipogenesis, steroidogenesis, proliferation and apoptosis, were examined and defined. We further compared the mono‐culture and co‐culture groups. After co‐culture, the activity of TCs showed significant (p <.01) increases in all stages; moreover, in pre‐hierarchical TCs, the expression levels of FAS, SREBP, 3β‐HSD and CCND1 were promoted, and PPARγ, CYP19, BCL2 and CAS3 were inhibited (p <.05); in the hierarchical TCs, the expression levels of PPARγ, FAS, CYP19, CCND1 and BCL2 were promoted, and SREBP, STAR, 3β‐HSD and CAS3 were inhibited (p <.05), whereas in the F1 TCs, the expression levels of PPARγ, FAS, 3β‐HSD, CYP19 and CCND1 were promoted, and STAR and CAS3 were inhibited (p <.05). These results suggested that GCs at the three FDSs have dynamic and complex influences on the physiological characteristics of TCs, and the influences on TCs at the three FDSs were varied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lipid metabolism participates in regulating the functions of granulosa cells (GCs), which is important for follicular development. In this experiment, goose GCs from pre-hierarchical follicles and hierarchical follicles were selected to be the model for studying the putative regulatory role of lipid metabolism in apoptosis and steroidogenesis, through overexpression and interference with fatty acid synthase (FASN). When FASN was overexpressed, the lipid accumulation was increased in hierarchical GCs (hGCs) and it was increased in the two categorized GCs when FASN was interfered. In addition, the apoptosis of the two categorized GCs was increased when FASN was overexpressed, and their progesterone production was decreased when FASN was interfered. The results of qRT-PCR showed that, when FASN was overexpressed, the expression level of CYP11A1 was decreased in pre-hierarchical GCs (phGCs), while the expression levels of SCD1 , DGAT2 , APOB , and StAR were increased in hGCs. When FASN was interfered, the expression levels of CPT-1 , DGAT2 , and StAR were decreased whereas the expression level of CYP11A1 was increased in phGCs, and the expression levels of CPT-1 , SCD1 , and StAR were decreased in hGCs. These results not only identify the different effects of manipulated FASN expression on lipid metabolism of goose phGCs and hGCs but also demonstrate that FASN -mediated lipid metabolism plays an important role in regulating apoptosis and steroidogenesis of in vitro cultured goose GCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Distinct expression profiles of DGAT1 and DGAT2 were identified in individual granulosa layers of goose follicles before and after selection. • DGAT1 is less efficient than DGAT2 in promoting lipid accumulation in both undifferentiated- and differentiated granulosa cells. • DGAT1 is negatively while DGAT2 is positively involved in regulation of progesterone production in undifferentiated granulosa cells. Accumulating evidence shows that granulosa cells within both mammalian and avian ovaries have the ability to synthesize fatty acids through de novo lipogenesis and to accumulate triglycerides essential for oocyte and ovarian development. However, very little is known about the exact roles of key genes involved in the lipid metabolic pathway in granulosa cells. The goal of this study was to investigate the differential actions of diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) 1 and 2, which are recognized as the rate-limiting enzymes catalyzing the last step of triglyceride biosynthesis, in regulating lipid metabolism and steroidogenesis in granulosa cells of goose follicles at different developmental stages. It was observed that the mRNAs encoding DGAT1 and DGAT2 were ubiquitous in all examined granulosa cell layers but exhibited distinct expression profiles during follicle development. Notably, the mRNA levels of DGAT1, DGAT2, FSHR, LHR, STAR, CYP11A1, and 3βHSD remained almost constant in all except for 1–2 follicles within the 8−10 mm cohort, followed by an acute increase/decrease in the F5 follicles. At the cellular level, siRNA-mediated downregulation of DGAT1 or DGAT2 did not change the amount of lipids accumulated in both undifferentiated- and differentiated granulosa cells, while overexpression of DGAT2 promoted lipid accumulation and expression of lipogenic-related genes in these cells. Meanwhile, we found that interfering DGAT2 had no effect but interfering DGAT1 or overexpressing DGAT2 stimulated progesterone secretion in undifferentiated granulosa cells; in contrast, interference or overexpression of DGAT1/2 failed to change progesterone levels in differentiated granulosa cells but differently modulated expression of steroidogenic-related genes. Therefore, it could be concluded that DGAT1 is less efficient than DGAT2 in promoting lipid accumulation in both undifferentiated- and differentiated granulosa cells and that DGAT1 negatively while DGAT2 positively regulates progesterone production in undifferentiated granulosa cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

De novo lipogenesis (DNL) is an important physiological mechanism, but it is poorly understood in avian follicles. The protein distribution patterns of three key genes related to DNL (i.e. FAS, ACC, and PPARγ) were firstly determined in geese developing follicles using immunohistochemistry, and our results showed that all three proteins were present in both prehierarchical and hierarchical follicles. Furthermore, it was revealed by qPCR that transcripts of these three genes were widely expressed in theca and granulosa layers of all staged follicles; however, the expression of DNL-related genes in granulosa cell changed significantly (P < 0.05) after follicle selection (FAS and PPARγ) and before ovulation (FAS). It is suggested that the DNL mechanism may be closely related to the follicular selection, while FAS may be closely associated with ovulation and steroidogenesis. These results suggested that DNL exists throughout follicle development and it potentially have an important role in the process of follicular selection, development, steroidogenesis, and ovulation, especially in their granulosa layers. To further demonstrate this point, granulosa cells isolated from hierarchical follicles were cultured in vitro. By analyzing the mRNA and protein expression patterns of these three genes, the fatty acid synthase enzyme activity, the contents of extracellular triglyceride, and intracellular lipids, as well as the cell activity at different time points of in vitro culture (0, 6, 12, and 18 h). These findings not only ensured the existence of DNL in the granulosa cells of goose follicles, but also suggested the complex process of lipid metabolism that associated with DNL, may play an important role in cell proliferation and physiological functions. Taken together, we first confirmed the existence of lipid metabolism, especially the DNL in goose follicles, and further suggested its role in the follicles, especially in the granulosa cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Granulosa cells (GCs) play a critical role in follicular development, which cannot be separated from the assistance of theca cells (TCs). In the present study, we used a transwell system to develop three stages of goose GCs in vitro mono-culture and co-culture models, and we analyzed the morphology, activity, intracellular lipid content and the expression of core genes involved in de novo lipogenesis (DNL), steroidogenesis, proliferation and apoptosis of the GCs. In the co-culture group, the activity of all three stages of GCs showed significant (P<0.01) changes, and they had a strong (P<0.01) correlation with culture time; further, the intracellular lipid deposition of hierarchical GCs was significantly different (P<0.01) between the two methods. Moreover, after co-culture, in pre-hierarchical GCs, the expression of SREBP, CYP11 and 3βHSD was promoted (P<0.01). In hierarchical GCs, the expression of ACC, SREBP, STAR, CYP11, 3βHSD and CCND1 was promoted at 48 h, but they were inhibited (P<0.05) at 96 h. In F1 GCs, the expression of ACC, FAS, SREBP, CYP11, BCL2 and CAS3 was inhibited (P<0.01). The results indicate that goose TCs had complex and time-dependent effects on the biological function of GCs at each corresponding stage, and the effects were distinct in the different stages. In addition, DNL, steroidogenesis, proliferation and apoptosis in hierarchical and F1 GCs might have some synergistic relationships in the effects of TCs on GCs. Furthermore, we speculated that TCs might play an important role in the differentiation and maturation of GCs during follicular development., (© 2020 The Author(s).)

Previous studies have shown that lipid metabolism in granulosa cells (GCs) plays a vital role during mammalian ovarian follicular development. However, little research has been done on lipid metabolism in avian follicular GCs. The goal of the present study was to investigate the dynamic characteristics of lipid metabolism in GCs from geese pre-hierarchical (6-10 mm) and hierarchical (F4-F2 and F1) follicles during a 6-day period of in vitro culture. Oil red O staining showed that with the increasing incubation time, the amount of lipids accumulated in three cohorts of GCs increased gradually, reached the maxima after 96 h of culture, and then decreased. Moreover, the lipid content varied among these three cohorts, with the highest in F1 GCs. The qPCR results showed genes related to lipid synthesis and oxidation were highest expressed in pre-hierarchical GCs, while those related to lipid transport and deposition were highest expressed in hierarchical GCs. These results suggested that the amount of intracellular lipids in GCs increases with both the follicular diameter and culture time, which is accompanied by significant changes in expression of genes related to lipid metabolism. Therefore, it is postulated that the lipid accumulation capacity of geese GCs depends on the stage of follicle development and is finely regulated by the differential expression of genes related to lipid metabolism., (© 2019 The Author(s).)