Biomedical subjects

Zheng Wu

Publications and source records attributed to Zheng Wu.

21 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2003

Race, ethnicity, and depression in Canadian society.

This study examines racial/ethnic differences in mental health using data from the 1996-97 National Population Health Survey. Three hypotheses are tested. First, a socioeconomic hypothesis tests if differences in family income, education, and low income explain racial/ethnic mental health variation. Second, a social resources hypothesis tests if differences in social support explain racial/ethnic mental health variation. Finally, an interaction hypothesis tests if mental health variation stems from specific interactions of race/ethnicity with economic and social factors. Although there are socioeconomic, social resource, and interaction effects, the analysis shows that they do not fully explain racial/ethnic mental health variation. Overall, our results suggest that East and Southeast Asian, Chinese, South Asian, and black Canadians have better mental health than English Canadians. Jewish Canadians have poorer mental health than English Canadians. All other racial/ethnic groupings have similar mental health as English Canadians.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Disposition of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) in bile duct-cannulated rats: stereoselective metabolism and tissue distribution.

4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) is a chiral compound, and the primary metabolite of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK), a major carcinogen in tobacco smoke. The goal of the present work was to study the pharmacokinetics and stereoselective metabolism and tissue retention of NNK and NNAL in the rat. Groups of rats were dosed with [5-(3)H]NNK (n = 3) or racemic [5-(3)H]NNAL (n = 3) at a target dose of 8.45 micromol/kg and were killed at selected time points for tissue collection. Separate groups of rats (n =5 per group) received the same dose of either NNK or NNAL and serial sampling of blood, bile and urine was carried out over 24 h. All samples were analyzed by C(18) reversed-phase HPLC with gradient elution and radioflow detection. A gas chromatograph-thermal energy analyzer (GC-TEA) was used to separate the (R)-/(S)-NNAL enantiomers. Racemic NNAL and NNK had large volumes of distribution (321 +/- 137 ml for NNK and 2772 +/- 1423 ml for NNAL) and similar total body clearances (12.8 +/- 2.0 ml/min for NNK and 8.6 +/- 2.6 ml/min for NNAL). The results indicated that the enantiomers of NNAL are stereoselectively metabolized and excreted. The glucuronide of (R)-NNAL, ((R)-NNAL-Gluc) was identified as the major metabolite in the bile after administration of either NNK or NNAL. (R)-NNAL was the major NNAL enantiomer in the bile or urine samples. At 24 h after racemic NNAL administration, NNAL comprised an average of 75.4% of total radioactivity in the lung with an (S)-/(R)-ratio of >20. The stereoselective localization of (S)-NNAL to lung tissue may contribute to the lung selectivity of NNK carcinogenesis. The present studies suggest a need to look beyond metabolic activation as the sole mechanism for lung carcinogenesis.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Immigrant status and unmet health care needs.

OBJECTIVES: To compare whether unmet health needs differ between immigrants and non-immigrants, and examine whether help-seeking characteristics account for any unmet needs disparities. METHODS: The data are from the Canadian Community Health Survey Cycle 1.1, conducted by Statistics Canada in 2000-2001. The study sample includes 16,046 immigrants and 102,173 non-immigrants aged 18 and older from across Canada. The study employs logistic regression models to examine whether help-seeking behaviours explain unmet needs differences. RESULTS: Logistic regression analysis indicates that immigrants have a 12% (95% CI: 6-18) lower all-cause unmet needs risk (odds ratio) than non-immigrants after controlling for differences in help-seeking characteristics. The unmet needs risk among long-term immigrants (15 years of residence and more), however, is similar to non-immigrants after considering these characteristics. We found differences between immigrants and non-immigrants in reasons for unmet needs, with more immigrants believing that the care would be inadequate, not knowing where to access health care, and having foreign language problems. CONCLUSIONS: The Canadian health care system delivers sufficient health care to immigrants, even though the poverty rate and proportion of visible minorities are comparatively higher within this subpopulation. Nonetheless, these results indicate that some immigrant-specific health care access barriers may exist.

Adolescent↗