Folic Acid Supplementation in Chinese Peri-conceptional Population: Results from the SPCC Study.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and determinants of folic acid (FA) supplementation in Chinese couples planning for pregnancy and in women during early pregnancy.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study based on the Shanghai PreConception Cohort (SPCC) study. Data on FA supplementation and socio-demographic features were collected using questionnaires.

The different mechanisms of insulin sensitizers to prevent type 2 diabetes in OLETF rats.

Objective: To investigate the effects of pioglitazone and metformin treatment during pre-diabetic period for the prevention of diabetes in a rat model.

Methods: OLETF rats aged 18-weeks, were treated with pioglitazone (10 mg/kg/day) and metformin (300 mg/kg/day) for 10 weeks from their pre-diabetic period. We measured weight, lipid profiles, fat distribution, glucose tolerance, and pancreatic insulin content.

Safety and efficacy of adeno-associated viral vector-mediated insulin gene transfer via portal vein to the livers of streptozotocin-induced diabetic Sprague-Dawley rats.

Background: Previous studies demonstrating the efficacy of insulin gene therapy have mostly involved use of adenoviral vectors or naked DNA to deliver the insulin gene. However, this procedure may not guarantee long-term insulin production. To improve the performance, we prepared recombinant adeno-associated viral vectors (rAAV) harboring the gene encoding a furin-modified human insulin under the cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter [rAAV-hPPI(F12)].

Left-ventricular diastolic dysfunction may be prevented by chronic treatment with PPAR-alpha or -gamma agonists in a type 2 diabetic animal model.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) ligands could prevent left-ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) in rats with advanced diabetes. In addition, this study examined whether the activity of malonyl-CoA decarboxylase (MCD), which is an enzyme related to the degradation of malonyl-CoA that is known to regulate the fatty acid metabolism, is changed by the diabetic state itself or by treatment with the PPAR ligands.

Methods: Male Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats, a model of type 2 diabetes, aged 28 weeks, were divided into 3 groups: the untreated, pioglitazone-treated (10 mg/kg/d), and fenofibrate-treated (150 mg/kg/d) groups.

Peroxisomal-proliferator-activated receptor alpha activates transcription of the rat hepatic malonyl-CoA decarboxylase gene: a key regulation of malonyl-CoA level.

MCD (malonyl-CoA decarboxylase), which catalyses decarboxylation of malonyl-CoA, is known to play an important role in the regulation of malonyl-CoA concentration. Recently, it has been observed that the expression of MCD is significantly decreased in the hearts of the PPARalpha (peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor alpha) (-/-) mice, where the rate of fatty-acid oxidation is decreased by the increased malonyl-CoA level [Campbell, Kozak, Wagner, Altarejos, Dyck, Belke, Severson, Kelly and Lopaschuk (2002) J. Biol.