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Objective: To analyze the clinicopathological features of invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) and compare them with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), hoping to find the fact of ILC in China and assist the decision makers with proper individualized treatment. Materials and Methods: A nationwide multicenter retrospective study was performed. A total of 4211 primary breast cancer cases were randomly selected from 1999 to 2008 in seven regions of China. ILC cases were compared with IDC by clinicopathological features and molecular subtypes. Results: A total of 135 (3.2%) ILC and 3471 (82.4%) IDC cases were included for analysis. The age, tumor size, menopausal state, family history, nodal status, and stage of ILC were similar to that of IDC. ILC was more likely to be positive for estrogen receptor (65.5% vs. 57.7%) and progesterone receptor (64.7% vs. 58.5%), and less likely to overexpress human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (17.3% vs. 23.6%). Even though, these differences are not significant, the proportion of luminal A type of ILC is significantly larger than that of IDC (54.8% vs. 42.7%; P < 0.05). Conclusion: ILC has a larger proportion of luminal A type compared with IDC. Larger sample size study for better known of molecular subtypes of ILC is needed in future to individualize the treatment decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a cohort of 29,584 residents of Linxian, China, followed from 1985 to 2001, we conducted a case-cohort study of the magnitude of the association of Helicobacter pylori seropositivity with cancer risk in a random sample of 300 oesophageal squamous cell carcinomas, 600 gastric cardia adenocarcinomas, all 363 diagnosed gastric non-cardia adenocarcinomas, and a random sample of the entire cohort (N=1050). Baseline serum was evaluated for IgG antibodies to whole-cell and CagA H. pylori antigens by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Risks of both gastric cardia and non-cardia cancers were increased in individuals exposed to H. pylori (Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals=1.64; 1.26-2.14, and 1.60; 1.15-2.21, respectively), whereas risk of oesophageal squamous cell cancer was not affected (1.17; 0.88-1.57). For both cardia and non-cardia cancers, HRs were higher in younger individuals. With longer time between serum collection to cancer diagnosis, associations became stronger for cardia cancers but weaker for non-cardia cancers. CagA positivity did not modify these associations. The associations between H. pylori exposure and gastric cardia and non-cardia adenocarcinoma development were equally strong, in contrast to Western countries, perhaps due to the absence of Barrett's oesophagus and oesophageal adenocarcinomas in Linxian, making all cardia tumours of gastric origin, rather than a mixture of gastric and oesophageal malignancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective – To determine the prevalence of dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in rural China. Methods – A cross-sectional study was conducted within a cohort of adults older than 50 years of age in Linxian County, China. A Chinese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (CMMSE) was used to screen cases of possible dementia. Three different cutoff points on CMMSE were applied depending on the participant's level of education. The participants then were given psychiatric interviews, medical and neurological examinations, and psychometric tests to ascertain the clinical diagnoses of dementia and AD. Results – Among the 16,095 participants, 5.26% were screened positive with 374 diagnosed as having dementia. Among them, AD accounted for 80.5%. The adjusted prevalence rates were 0.33%, 0.89%, 3.43%, and 8.19% in people in age groups 50–54, 55–64, 65–74, and 75 and above, respectively. The prevalence of AD correlated with the participant's level of education, and was 2.61%, 0.94%, and 0.56% in the illiterate group, in the primary school group, and in the middle school or higher group, respectively. Adjusted by education levels a higher prevalence in women was observed in the illiterate group. Conclusions – The prevalence of dementia in this population is similar to that reported from other areas in mainland China and Taiwan with aging being a significant risk factor. After controlling for age, being a female and having received less number of years of education were associated with an higher prevalence of AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zhang L, Nie ZY, Liu Y, Chen W, Xin SM, Sun XD, Fan JH, Liu YH, Gao XH, Lu LQ, Como P, McDermott MP, Qiao YL, Kieburtz K. The prevalence of PD in a nutritionally deficient rural population in China.Acta Neurol Scand 2005: 112: 29–35.© Blackwell Munksgaard 2005.In most reports, the prevalence of PD in mainland China is lower than in western populations. To estimate PD prevalence in China, we performed a cross-sectional study in a rural population in Linxian County, China.Clinical diagnosis of PD.Among the 16,488 participants examined, the overall age- and gender-adjusted prevalence rate of PD was 522/100,000 (95% CI: 477–567) assuming no cases of PD would be found among those younger than 50 years of age. The gender-adjusted prevalence rates were 103 (95% CI: 83–123), 621 (95% CI: 572–670), 902 (95% CI: 843–961), and 1744 (95% CI: 1662–1826) per 100,000 in age groups 50–59, 60–69, 70–79, and 80 and above, respectively.The estimated prevalence of PD in Linxian, China is higher than most of those reported from other areas in China, and similar to those reported from non-Asian populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To establish a dynamic syndromic surveillance system in the border areas of Yunnan Province based on information technology, evaluate its effectiveness and timeliness in the response to common communicable disease epidemics and improve the communicable disease prevention and control in border areas. Methods: Three border counties were selected for full coverage as study areas, and dynamic surveillance for 14 symptoms and 6 syndromes were conducted in medical institutions, the daily collection of information about students' school absence in primary schools and febrile illness in inbound people at border ports were conducted in these counties from January 2016 to February 2018 to establish an early warning system based on mobile phone and computer platform for a field experimental study. Results: With syndromes of rash, influenza-like illness and the numbers of primary school absence, the most common communicable disease events, such as hand foot and mouth disease, influenza and chickenpox, can be identified 1-5 days in advance by using EARS-3C and Kulldorff time-space scanning models with high sensitivity and specificity. The system is easy to use with strong security and feasibility. All the information and the warning alerts are released in the form of interactive charts and visual maps, which can facilitate the timely response. Conclusions: This system is highly effective and easy to operate in the detection of possible outbreaks of common communicable diseases in border areas in real time, so the timely and effective intervention can be conducted to reduce the risk of local and cross-border communicable disease outbreaks. It has practical application value.

Background: Oral leukoplakia is a precancerous disorder that is common among residents in Linxian. However, the associations between oral leukoplakia and upper gastrointestinal cancers have not been reported. We investigated the relationships between oral leukoplakia and upper gastrointestinal cancers in the Linxian General Population Trial cohort., Methods: The Linxian General Population Trial cohort, with 29,584 healthy adults enrolled in 1985 and followed through the end of 2012. With collected baseline data, hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for developing upper gastrointestinal cancers were estimated using Cox proportional hazard models., Results: During 28 years of follow-up, we confirmed a total of 2924 incident esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cases, 1644 gastric cardia cancers and 590 gastric non-cardia cancers. Overall, participants with oral leukoplakia had significantly higher risk of developing ESCC (HR=1.18, 95% CI: 1.08, 1.29). Among individuals ⩽52 years old at baseline, oral leukoplakia was associated with elevated risk of ESCC (HR=1.31, 95%CI: 1.15, 1.49). No significant associations were observed for gastric cardia or non-cardia cancers in either all subjects or subgroups., Conclusions: Oral leukoplakia was associated with increased risk of ESCC, particularly in younger population. Future studies are needed to confirm these findings., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Salmonella enteritidis (SE) is a foodborne pathogen that negatively affects both animal and human health. Genetic variations in response to pathogenic SE colonization or to SE vaccination were measured in chicken resource populations. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is part of a group of evolutionarily conserved pattern recognition receptors involved in the activation of the immune system in response to various pathogens and in the innate defense against infection. In this study, TLR4 was investigated the association of TLR4 gene polymorphisms with Salmonella natural infection situation of birds from two distinct Chinese genetic breeds. One SNP G1894C in the second intron of chicken TLR4 (chTLR4) was scanned in the two hens breed, which showed significant association with Salmonella natural infection situation (P<0.05). Genetic variations in response to pathogenic SE colonization also existed in distinct Chinese chicken resource population. In this study, mRNA expression of TLR4 was detected to investigate the association with the effect of artificial SE challenge in heterophil granulocytes and spleen of chicks from two distinct Chinese genetic breeds at 1, 3 and 10 day post-infection during the acute infection period. It clearly showed that young chicks' response to SE infection was regulated by TLR4 mRNA expression. The results suggest that genetics, time, gender, and interactions among these factors, play important roles in TLR4 mRNA basic values and copies modulation of SE mediated immune response in distinct Chinese chickens.

Objectives: The effects of age at diagnosis on the clinical characteristics of breast cancer and trends over time were investigated in Chinese women., Methods: Data from 4211 women with pathologically confirmed primary breast cancer collected between 1999 and 2008 for a multicentre retrospective study were analysed according to age at diagnosis., Results: Age at diagnosis ranged from 21 to 86 years, with a mean of 48.7 years, and was shown to be significantly related to tumour size, lymph node status, hormone receptor status and human growth factor receptor-2 status, but not to pathological type or tumour, node, metastasis stage. The age-corrected proportion of patients aged 50-64 years at diagnosis increased significantly between 1999 and 2008. There was a significant difference in the age-corrected distribution of age at diagnosis in China compared with Western countries., Conclusions: Age at diagnosis is related to the clinical and pathological characteristics of breast cancer. The age at diagnosis in China increased over the decade from 1999 to 2008, but is still lower than in Western countries.

Objective: Low serum pepsinogen I (PGI) and low pepsinogen I/pepsinogen II ratio (PGI/II ratio) are markers of gastric fundic atrophy. We aimed to prospectively test the association between serum PGI/II ratio and risks of gastric non-cardia adenocarcinoma, gastric cardia adenocarcinoma, and oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC)., Design: Case-cohort study nested in a prospective cohort with over 15 years of follow-up., Setting: Rural region of the People's Republic of China., Subjects: Men and women aged 40-69 years at study baseline., Main Outcome Measures: Adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the association between serum PGI/II ratio and cancer risk., Results: Compared to subjects with PGI/II ratio of >4, those with

The alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) and aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDHs) that metabolize ethanol are polymorphic. Different alleles encode subunits of the enzymes that differ in their rate of metabolizing ethanol. These polymorphisms are distributed differently among populations and have been shown to influence the risk for alcoholism in some Asian populations. We have examined the allele frequencies at the ADH2, ADH3, and ALDH2 loci in four populations from China (Han, Mongolian, Korean, and Elunchun) and in alcoholics within each population. The four populations differ in allele frequencies, with the Elunchun having a much lower frequency of ADH2*2 alleles, and the Mongolian and Elunchun having a much lower frequency of ALDH2*2 alleles. Within each population, alleles at one or more of these three loci are protective against alcoholism, although the populations differ in which loci play significant roles. The protective allele at each locus (ALDH2*2, ADH2*2, and ADH3*1) encodes a subunit that either metabolizes ethanol to acetaldehyde more rapidly or slows the conversion of acetaldehyde to acetate. Taken as a whole, data demonstrate that genetic differences in the enzymes that metabolize alcohol can substantially affect the risk for alcoholism.