Attitudes toward smoking cessation among men and women

Recent reports indicate that women are less successful than men in their attempts to quit smoking. Sex differences in attitudes toward smoking cessation were examined cross-sectionally in a sample of 447 smokers randomly selected from employees of 10 diverse Minnesota worksites and interviewed in early 1984. No sex differences were found in the percentage of smokers who had tried to quit at least once in the past; indeed, over four of five respondents reported prior attempts to quit. Yet compared to women, men were more interested in quitting. Women were less likely than men to perceive the health benefits of quitting and expressed more concern about weight gain and job pressures related to quitting. No significant sex differences were found in prior use of formal cessation services, which had been used by about one-fourth of these respondents. Yet compared to men, women appeared to rely on informal sources of support, such as encouragement from co-workers. These findings underline the importance of intervention programs targeting women and suggest strategies that might enhance the effectiveness of such programs oriented toward women.     

Cigarette smoking and the intention to quit among pregnant smokers

Research has demonstrated that smoking during pregnancy has deleterious effects on the health of the unborn child as well as the mother. The present study examined whether pregnant smokers would have a greater intention to quit smoking, whether the stage of pregnancy would influence the intention to quit, and whether variables which have predicted cessation among pregnant smokers would also predict intention to quit. The results indicated that pregnant women did not have a significantly greater intention to quit smoking compared to nonpregnant smokers, despite the health risks to their child. Women who were further along in their pregnancy and women who smoked more cigarettes on a daily basis demonstrated the least intention to quit. Notably, women in the first trimester showed the greatest intention to quit, suggesting that pregnant women may be most receptive to quitting during their first trimester.     

Polymorphic metabolizing genes and susceptibility to atherosclerosis among cigarette smokers

Atherosclerosis (AR) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the US and cigarette smoking is a major contributing factor to the disease. Like cigarette smoking in lung cancer, genetic susceptibility may be an important factor in determining who is more likely to develop AR. However, the current emphasis has been on susceptibility based on altered cardiovascular homeostasis. In this investigation, we studied 120 AR patients and 90 matched controls to elucidate the association between polymorphisms in some metabolizing genes (GSTM1, GSTT1, CYP2E1, mEH, PON1, and MPO) and susceptibility to AR. We found that the GSTT1 null allele and the fast allele of mEH(*) (exon 4) are associated with risk for AR. Furthermore, the combined genotypes GSTM1 null/ CYP2E1(*)5B, GSTM1 null/mEH YY, and GSTT1 null/mEH YY are significantly associated with susceptibility to AR (OR = 15.42, 95% CI = 1.33-77.93, P = 0.021; OR = 3.48, 95% CI = 1.63-8.04, P = 0.0008; OR = 3.4; 95% CI = 0.99-17.38, P = 0.05; respectively). We have also conducted cytogenetic analysis to elucidate if induction of chromosome aberrations (CAs) is a biomarker of AR susceptibility. We found that among cigarette smokers (AR patients and smoker controls), individuals having the GSTM1 null allele had a significantly higher frequency of CAs compared to those with the normal allele (P < 0.05). This association was not found among nonsmokers. In addition, individuals who had inherited the CYP2E1(*)5B allele exhibited a significantly higher CA frequency (8.0 +/- 0.82) compared to those with the CYP2E1 wild-type genotype (4.31 +/- 0.35). Since the analysis of genetic susceptibility factors is still in its infancy, our study may stimulate additional investigations to understand the roles of genetic susceptibility and cigarette smoking in AR.     

HLA antigens are candidate markers for prediction of lymph node metastasis in gastric cancer

We investigated the association between human leucocyte antigen (HLA) antigens and lymph node metastasis in 724 gastric cancer patients. Among patients who had poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with or without HLA-DR4 antigen, lymph node metastasis was detected in 80.8 and 54.9%, respectively (relative risk (RR)=3.5, P = 0.0005, corrected P = 0.0285). It was more common in patients with a family history of cancer death (RR = 7.7). Among signet ring cell carcinoma patients with or without HLA-1152 antigen, lymph node metastasis was detected in 57.7 and 19.7%, respectively (RR =5.6, P=0.0001, corrected P=0.0086). It was more common in patients who were smokers (RR = 8.3). Our findings suggest that HLA-DR4 and HLA-1152 antigens are associated with lymph node metastasis in gastric cancer.     

大鼠心肌匀浆上清液对骨髓间质干细胞诱导分化的影响

目的：探讨心肌匀浆上清液对大鼠骨髓间质干细胞（MSCs）诱导分化的影响。 方法： 体外分离培养大鼠MSCs，检测纯度。于原代培养第3 d加入自体心肌匀浆上清液持续作用1周。3周后，观察细胞形态，采用免疫细胞化学检测肌球蛋白重链和心肌特异性肌钙蛋白-T，RT-PCR方法检测Nkx2.5、α-MHC和ANP基因的表达。 结果： 大鼠MSCs经诱导后，表达肌球蛋白重链、心肌特异性肌钙蛋白-T和Nkx2.5、α-MHC基因，但未表达ANP基因，也未观察到肌管和闰盘样结构。 结论： 心肌匀浆上清液对MSCs具有定向诱导分化作用，但诱导不完全，具体机制仍需深入研究。     

Effects of Cigarette Smoking on Bilateral Skin Conductance

Bilateral skin conductance was recorded from 8 male and 8 female cigarette smokers and from 8 male and 8 female nonsmoker control subjects on two different days. On one day smokers smoked a cigarette prior to the recording session and on the other they remained abstinent. Subjects also engaged in tasks designed to differentially involve the cerebral hemispheres. SCR asymmetry was measured using two different indices. During both the resting and task periods smokers had larger SCRs in their right than left hands following smoking. Unlike control subjects during the first recording session, smokers did not show task related changes in SCR asymmetry. During tasks smokers showed smaller SCRs in both hands following smoking than following abstinence. Changes in SCR asymmetry associated with smoking were seen in subjects who smoked more cigarettes, reported more subjective craving, were more introverted, and indicated a preference for cognitive processes and strategies associated with the left hemisphere. Results are discussed in terms of relative involvement of the cerebral hemispheres following smoking and smoking abstinence.     

Association of bacterial vaginosis with a history of second trimester miscarriage

The aim of this study was to determine whether bacterial vaginosis(BV) is associated with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss.A total of 500 consecutive patients attending the RecurrentMiscarriage Clinic were screened for the presence of BV. Inwomen who had had at least one late miscarriage BV was foundtwice as commonly (27/130; 21%) as in women who had had onlyearly losses (31/370; 8%) (P<0.001). The difference was evenlarger (26 versus 8%) if women who had had term pregnancieswere excluded. Moreover, BV was found three times more commonlyin Afro-Caribbean women [17 (29%) of 58] than in Caucasian women[36 (9%) of 379] and, in both groups of women, BV was diagnosedat least twice as frequently in those with a history of at leastone late miscarriage than in those who had experienced firsttrimester pregnancy losses only (P<0.001). The conditionoccurred twice as often among smokers than non-smokers and,in both groups, it was at least twice as common in women witha history of at least one late miscarriage as in those who hadhad early pregnancy losses only (P<0.001). However, the relationshipbetween BV and smoking was independent of ethnic origin. Womenwho douched with chloroxylenol were mostly Afro-Caribbean andhad BV more than twice as often as women who did not douche.     

The relationship between smoking,psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis

Introduction: Smoking is the single most important cause of preventable mortality worldwide. Besides being associated with major cardiovascular and bronchopulmonary diseases, and several cancers, it has been linked with a number of immune-related conditions, including psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA)

We aimed to summarize data on the role of smoking in the development and prognosis of psoriasis and PsA, pointing to the consequences in terms of disease management.

Areas covered: Mechanisms, clinical manifestations, and comorbidities associated with smoking in psoriasis and PsA were reviewed by searching Medline, Embase and Cochrane Library databases for papers published between January 2000 and July 2018 using combination of terms. Articles not written in English were excluded.

Expert commentary: Smoking is a risk factor for psoriasis development. As for PsA, smoking is positively associated with the disease at the population level, but it is negatively associated in patients with psoriasis. This phenomenon is referred to as the ‘smoking paradox’ of PsA. Smoking may cause poor response and reduced adherence to treatment of both psorasis and PsA. Physicians need to be aware of the smoking habits of their patients with psoriasis and PsA; whenever possible, smoking cessation programs should be considered.     

Occurrence of leukoplakia and some other oral white lesions among 20 333 adult Swedish people

Among 20,333 people aged 15 yr or above, the prevalences of oral white lesions were calculated based on a partly new classification. The total prevalences were: cheek and lip biting 5.1%, smoker's palate 1.1%, frictional white lesion 5.5%, snuff dipper's lesion 8.0%, preleukoplakia 6.4% and leukoplakia 3.6%. If all these lesions were pooled, the prevalence was 24.8% and if only the entities cheek and lip biting and smoker's palate were excluded it became 20.1%. If weak "preleukoplakic" lesions were excluded from the latter figure the prevalence for marked whitish lesions was 13.8%. Etiologic and clinical subgroups of leukoplakia showed the following prevalences: using the etiologic subgroups, idiopathic leukoplakia 0.7% and tobacco-associated leukoplakia 2.9%; using the clinical subgroups, homogeneous leukoplakia 3.5% and non-homogeneous leukoplakia 0.3%. The intraoral location pattern of leukoplakias was preponderant in the commissural and buccal areas. However, the idiopathic leukoplakias showed a somewhat more even distribution and thus a more similar distribution to that of oral cancer.     

泽漆水提物对香烟烟雾诱导小鼠慢性阻塞性肺病及肺组织癌前病变相关蛋白的影响

目的：探究泽漆水提物对香烟烟雾(CS)所致的慢性阻塞性肺病(COPD)的保护作用及肺组织癌前病变相关蛋白的影响。方法：通过建立CS所致的COPD小鼠模型(60只),随机分为正常组、模型组、阳性药组(地塞米松2 mg·kg^-1)及泽漆水提物低、中、高剂量组(1.875、3.75、7.5 g·kg^-1)。采用高效液相色谱法(HPLC)测定泽漆水提物中相关成分;动物肺功能仪检测小鼠呼气末期暂停(EEP)、气道阻力(Penh)、50%肺活量呼吸时的呼气流量(EF50)等肺功能指标变化;高通量液相蛋白芯片技术检测小鼠肺泡灌洗液(BALF)中白细胞介素(IL)-2、IL-5、IL-18、IL-17A、IL-27等炎性因子水平变化;苏木素-伊红(HE)染色检测小鼠肺组织的病理变化;比色法测定小鼠肺组织中的丙二醛(MDA)、髓过氧化物酶(MPO)及谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶(GSH-Px)含量变化;实时荧光定量聚合酶链式反应(Real-time PCR)检测肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)、转化生长因子-β(TGF-β)、基质金属蛋白酶(MMP)-2、MMP-9及MM...