A population-based survey of the epidemiology of symptom-defined gastroesophageal reflux disease: the Systematic Investigation of Gastrointestinal Diseases in China.

Background: The epidemiology of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) has yet to be investigated using the symptomatic threshold criteria recommended by the Montreal Definition. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of symptom-defined GERD across five regions of China, and to investigate variables associated with GERD.

Methods: A representative sample of 18 000 adults (aged 18-80 years) were selected equally from rural and urban areas in each region (n = 1800).

Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 generic core scales.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 (PedsQL 4.0) generic core scales.

Evaluation of an interpersonal-psychotherapy-oriented childbirth education programme for Chinese first-time childbearing women: a randomised controlled trial.

Objective: This study investigated the effects of an interpersonal-psychotherapy-oriented childbirth psychoeducation programme on postnatal depression, psychological well-being and satisfaction with interpersonal relationships in Chinese first-time childbearing women.

Method: A randomised, controlled trial was conducted in the maternity clinic of a regional hospital in China. The intervention was based on the principles of interpersonal psychotherapy, and consisted of two 90-min antenatal classes and a telephone follow-up within 2 weeks after delivery.

Phacoemulsification treatment of subjects with acute primary angle closure and chronic primary angle-closure glaucoma.

Purpose: To investigate and compare the effects of phacoemulsification as an initial procedure to control intraocular pressure (IOP) in eyes with acute primary angle closure (APAC) and chronic primary angle-closure glaucoma (CPACG) with coexisting cataracts and peripheral anterior synechiae (PAS) of greater than 180 degrees.

Setting: Prospective, cross-sectional study.

Methods: Thirteen patients (13 eyes) with APAC and 10 patients (10 eyes) with CPACG were enrolled in the study.

Remission of hyperglycemia following intensive insulin therapy in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients: a long-term follow-up study.

Background: Early intensive insulin therapies in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients may improve beta-cell function and yield prolonged glycemic remissions. This study was performed to evaluate the relationship between the glycemic remission and beta-cell function and assess the variables predictive of long-term near-normoglycemic remission.

Methods: Eighty-four newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients were treated with 2-week continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) and followed up longitudinally.

Systematic investigation of gastrointestinal diseases in China (SILC): validation of survey methodology.

Background: Symptom-based surveys suggest that the prevalence of gastrointestinal diseases is lower in China than in Western countries. The aim of this study was to validate a methodology for the epidemiological investigation of gastrointestinal symptoms and endoscopic findings in China.

Methods: A randomized, stratified, multi-stage sampling methodology was used to select 18,000 adults aged 18-80 years from Shanghai, Beijing, Xi'an, Wuhan and Guangzhou.

Association between polymorphisms in interleukin-17A and interleukin-17F genes and risks of gastric cancer.

Chronic inflammation is the hallmark of the pathogenesis of Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric cancer. Interleukin (IL)-17A and IL-17F are inflammatory cytokines expressed by a novel subset of CD4+ Th cells and play critical function in inflammation and probably in cancer. We conducted a case-control study including 1,010 gastric cancer patients and 800 healthy controls to assess the association between IL-17A G197A and IL-17F A7488G polymorphisms and risk of gastric cancer.

Novel rare alleles of ABCA1 are exclusively associated with extreme high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels among the Han Chinese.

Background: High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is a major plasma lipoprotein directly associated with cholesterol metabolism. The ATP binding cassette transporter 1 gene (ABCA1) is one of the major genes modulating plasma levels of HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C). Rare alleles of ABCA1 associated with extreme HDL-C concentrations have not been previously investigated in the Chinese.

Anthocyanin supplementation improves serum LDL- and HDL-cholesterol concentrations associated with the inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein in dyslipidemic subjects.

Background: Anthocyanins have been shown to exert benefits on the lipid profile in many animal models. Whether these molecules have similar beneficial effects in humans is currently unknown.

Objective: The objective was to investigate the effects of berry-derived anthocyanin supplements on the serum lipid profile in dyslipidemic patients.

Behavioural development of school-aged children who live around a multi-metal sulphide mine in Guangdong province, China: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The deleterious biological effects of low-level, long-term exposure to heavy metals are well known, and children are the most susceptible population. Dabaoshan Mine in the southeast of Guangdong Province is at high risk of discharging multi-metals pollutants into a local river (Hengshihe) and the surrounding area. The present study aimed to estimate relationships between measured multi-metal exposures and the presence of behavioural problems for the school-aged children in the polluted area.

Which preventive measures might protect health care workers from SARS?

Background: Despite the use of a series of preventive measures, a high incidence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was observed among health care workers (HCWs) during the SARS epidemic. This study aimed to determine which preventive measures may have been effective in protecting HCWs from infection, and which were not effective.

Methods: A retrospective study was performed among 758 'frontline' health care workers who cared for SARS patients at the Second Affiliated Hospital and the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.

[Validity and reliability of Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Version 4.0 Generic Core Scales in Chinese children and adolescents].

Objective: To evaluate the reliability and validity of parent proxy-report scales of Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Version 4.0 (PedsQL 4.0) Generic Core Scales, the Chinese Version.

Rabies trend in China (1990-2007) and post-exposure prophylaxis in the Guangdong province.

Background: Rabies is a major public-health problem in developing countries such as China. Although the recent re-emergence of human rabies in China was noted in several epidemiological studies, little attention was paid to the reasons behind this phenomenon paralleling the findings of the previous reports. The purpose of this study is thus first to characterize the current trends of human rabies in China from 1990 to 2007, and then to define better recommendations for improving the post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) schedules delivered to rabies patients.

The oxidation ratio of LDL: a predictor for coronary artery disease.

Objective: Oxidized LDL cholesterol (ox-LDL-C) is considered to be a key factor of initiating and accelerating atherosclerosis (AS). The purpose of this study is to elucidate the sensitivity and specificity of ox-LDL and oxidation ratio of LDL in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD). For the first time, we investigated the ratio of ox-LDL to ALB(ox-LDL/ALB).

Cross-linguistic equivalence of WHOQOL-100: a study from North India.

The study examined the equivalence between Hindi and English versions of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment (WHOQOL)-100 in North India. Eighty two bilingual subjects were administered the two language versions of WHOQOL-100 in a cross-over design after an interval of 1 week. More than half of item-facet correlations and one-third of Cronbach alpha values for facets were above 0.

[Effect of CYP2C19 genetic polymorphism on treatment efficacy of Helicobacter pylori infection with rabeprazole-based triple therapy in Chinese].

Objective: To investigate the effect of different S-mephenytoin 4'-hydroxylase (CYP2C19) genotype on the eradication rate of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) by different rabeprazole-based triple therapy in Chinese.

Methods: 128 subjects with Hp positive gastritis or peptic ulcers were randomly assigned to receive 10 mg rabeprazole twice daily with 1000 mg amoxicillin twice daily and 500 mg clarithromycin (RAC group) or 400 mg metronidazole (RAM group) twice daily for 1 week. The CYP2C19 genotype (homozygous extensive metabolizer, hom-Ems; heterozygous extensive metabolizer, het-Ems; or poor metabolizer, PMs) was determined by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method.

The 1239G/C polymorphism in exon 5 of BACE1 gene may be associated with sporadic Alzheimer's disease in Chinese Hans.

Beta-site amyloid-precursor protein cleaving enzyme (BACE1) is a candidate risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) because of involving in generating beta-amyloid peptide, which is thought to play a central role in the pathogenesis of the disease. A single nucleotide polymorphism 1239G/C in exon 5 of BACE1 gene and a weak association between this polymorphism and AD in Caucasian APOEepsilon4 allele carriers has been reported. To examine possible association of the polymorphism with sporadic AD, two Chinese Han cohorts including 257 patients and 242 age-matched controls in Guangzhou and 112 patients and 113 controls in Chengdu were genotyped using PCR-RFLP techniques.