Rats selectively bred for low aerobic running capacity exhibit the metabolic syndrome, including hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, visceral obesity, and dyslipidemia. They also exhibit features ...of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, including chicken-wire fibrosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress. Hyperinsulinemia in these rats is associated with impaired hepatic insulin clearance. The current studies aimed to determine whether these metabolic abnormalities could be reversed by caloric restriction (CR). CR by 30% over a period of 2–3 months improved insulin clearance in parallel to inducing the protein content and activation of the carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1, a main player in hepatic insulin extraction. It also reduced glucose and insulin intolerance and serum and tissue (liver and muscle) triglyceride levels. Additionally, CR reversed inflammation, oxidative stress, and fibrosis in liver. The data support a significant role of CR in the normalization of insulin and lipid metabolism in liver.
Caloric restriction exerts its beneficial metabolic effect by promoting insulin extraction and reducing lipogenesis in liver.
Birth Weight and Childhood Cancer Samuelsen, Sven Ove; Bakketeig, Leiv S; Tretli, Steinar ...
Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.),
2009-July, Letnik:
20, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
BACKGROUND:Leukemia incidence in childhood has been shown to increase with birth weight. The purpose of this paper is to study whether the incidence of other childhood cancers also increases with ...birth weight.
METHODS:The Norwegian Medical Birth Registry was linked to the Norwegian Cancer Registry. The data consisted of 1.65 million children, of whom 3252 had a cancer diagnosis before age 16 years. The diagnoses were divided into 1010 leukemia cases, 870 cancer cases of the central nervous system (CNS), and 1370 remaining cancers.
RESULTS:The increase in hazard rate for all cancers with a 1 kg increase in birth weight was 1.23 (95% confidence interval = 1.14–1.32) after adjustment. For leukemia the increase was 1.29 (1.14–1.47), for CNS cancers 1.07 (0.93–1.23), and for the remaining cancer diagnoses 1.29 (1.16–1.40).
CONCLUSIONS:There seems to be a general relationship between heavier birth weight and cancer incidence in childhood.
Objective. To assess secular trends for birthweight by gestational age in twins in Norway and to develop current national birthweight standards by gestational age for twin and triplet births using ...population‐based data.
Material and methods. The analysis of secular trends for birthweight and gestational age in twins was based on 32,379 twin livebirths (1967–95). Taking into account the observed secular trends in birthweight for 35–40 weeks of gestation, data on twins born during 1987–95 only were included in the calculation of birthweight percentiles for 35–40 weeks, while for lower and upper weeks, data on twins born during 1967–95 were used. The construction of birthweight‐for‐gestation curves for triplets was based on the data on 690 triplets.
Results. Whereas the overall mean birthweight and gestational age decreased in 1987–95 compared with the previous years, the mean birthweights by gestational age for the 35–40 weeks of gestation was significantly higher in 1987–95. Male twins weighed more than female twins throughout the gestation with consistent and significant differences from 27 to 42 weeks of gestation. Smoothed curves for birthweight‐by‐gestational‐age percentiles of male and female twins are plotted. The birthweight‐by‐gestational‐age curves of triplets were almost identical with twin curves before 30 weeks of gestation, starting to diverge from them progressively thereafter. The intrauterine growth of twin births also starts to differ markedly from singletons at approximately 30 weeks of gestation.
Conclusion. This study shows that plurality‐specific birthweight‐by‐gestation standards should be used for assessment of fetal growth in multiple births rather than singleton standards.
This study assessed the role of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics and textile materials in the home in the development of bronchial obstruction during the first 2 years of life.
The study was a ...matched pair case-control study based on a cohort of 3754 newborns in Oslo in 1992 and 1993 who were followed up for 2 years. The case group consisted of 251 children with bronchial obstruction; the control group was matched one-to-one for date of birth.
In conditional logistic regression analysis, the risk of bronchial obstruction was related to the presence of PVC flooring (adjusted odds ratio OR = 1.89; 95% confidence interval CI = 1.14, 3.14) and textile wall materials (adjusted OR = 1.58; 95% CI = 0.98, 2.54). The reference category was wood or parquet flooring and painted walls and ceiling. Further analysis revealed an exposure-response relationship between the assessed amount of PVC and other plasticizer-containing surface materials and the risk of bronchial obstruction.
This study provides new evidence of the role of PVC and textile wall materials in the development of bronchial obstruction in young children.
Clinical and experimental studies demonstrate that exercise training improves aerobic capacity and cardiac function in heart failure, even in patients on optimal treatment with angiotensin inhibitors ...and beta-blockers, but the cellular mechanisms are incompletely understood. Since myocardial dysfunction is frequently associated with impaired energy status, the aim of this study was to assess the effects of exercise training and losartan on myocardial systems for energy production and transfer in heart failure.
Maximal oxygen uptake, cardiac function and energy metabolism were assessed in heart failure after a myocardial infarction induced by coronary artery ligation in female Sprague-Dawley rats. Losartan was initiated one week after infarction and exercise training after four weeks, either as single interventions or combined. Animals were sacrificed 12 weeks after surgery.
Heart failure, confirmed by left ventricular diastolic pressure >15 mmHg and by >20 mmHg drop in peak systolic pressure, was associated with 40% lower aerobic capacity and significant reductions in enzymes involved in energy metabolism. Combined treatment yielded best improvement of aerobic capacity and ventricular pressure characteristics. Exercise training completely restored aerobic capacity and partly or fully restored creatine and adenylate kinases, whereas losartan alone further reduced these enzymes. In contrast, losartan reduced left ventricle diastolic pressure, whereas exercise training had a neutral effect.
Exercise training markedly improves aerobic capacity and cardiac function after myocardial infarction, either alone or in combination with angiotensin inhibition. The two interventions appear to act by complementary mechanisms; whereas exercise training restores cardiac energy metabolism, mainly at the level of energy transfer, losartan unloads the heart by lowering filling pressure and afterload.
Blood lead levels (BLL) in women of child-bearing age have been decreasing in recent decades, but still remains a concern for long-term effects of child psychomotor development. The aim of the study ...was to characterize lead exposure among Polish pregnant women and assess the relationship between BLL and selected socio-demographic, economic and lifestyle factors. The study population consisted of 594 pregnant women who had been the subjects of the prospective Polish Mother and Child Cohort Study (REPRO_PL). The women were interviewed three times during pregnancy (once in each trimester. Lead concentration in the blood collected during the second trimester of pregnancy was analyzed using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF-AAS), or inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Active and passive smoking was analyzed by the cotinine level in saliva using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The lead level in the blood ranged from 0.3 – 5.7 μg/dL, with a geometric mean (GM) of 1.1 μg/dL (GSD }0.2 μg/dL). Statistically significant associations were found between BLL and factors such as maternal age (β=0.01; p=0.02), education (β=0.08; p=0.04) and prepregnancy BMI (β=0.1; p=0.001). Additionally, BLL increased with increasing cotinine level in saliva (β=0.02; p=0.06) and decreased with the increasing distance from the copper smelter (β=-0.1; p=0.009). Public health interventions, especially in regions with a higher level of exposure to lead, among women with lower SES and among smokers, are still reasonable.
Preterm delivery (PTD) is the leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Epidemiologic studies indicate recurrence of PTD is maternally inherited, creating a strong possibility that ...mitochondrial variants contribute to its etiology. This study examines the association between mitochondrial genotypes and PTD and related outcomes.
This study combined, through meta-analysis, two case-control, genome-wide association studies: one from the Danish National Birth Cohort Study and one from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. The outcomes of PTD (≤36 wk), very PTD (≤32 wk), and preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM) were examined. A total of 135 individual single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) associations were tested using the combined genome from mothers and neonates (case vs. control) in each population and then pooled via meta-analysis.
After meta-analysis, there were four SNPs for the outcome of PTD below P ≤ 0.10 and two below P ≤ 0.05. For the additional outcomes of very PTD and PPROM, there were three and four SNPs, respectively, below P ≤ 0.10.
Given the number of tests, no single SNP reached study-wide significance (P = 0.0006). Our study does not support the hypothesis that mitochondrial genetics contributes to the maternal transmission of PTD and related outcomes.
Effects of inlet design and vegetation type on tracer dynamics and hydraulic performance were investigated using lithium chloride in 18 experimental free water surface wetlands. The wetlands received ...similar water flow but had different vegetation types: 6 emergent vegetation wetlands (EVWs), 6 submerged vegetation wetlands (SVWs) and 6 free development wetlands (FDWs). Two types of inlet designs were applied: half of each wetland vegetation type had a barrier near the inlet to help distribute incoming tracer solution, while the rest had no barrier. Residence time distribution (RTD) functions were calculated from tracer data using two techniques: method of moments and a novel Gauss modelling approach. RTD functions were used to quantify hydraulic parameters: active wetland volume ( e -value), water dispersion ( N -value) and hydraulic efficiency ( λ -value).
For wetlands without barrier, significantly lower tracer mass recoveries were found from EVWs compared to FDWs and SVWs, signifying a risk of tracer methodological problems in small densely vegetated wetlands. These problems were minimized in wetlands with an inflow construction promoting distribution of incoming tracer solution.
Compared to the method of moments, Gauss modelling seemed to produce more reliable λ -values but less reliable N -values. Data for precise hydraulic quantification were lost by Gauss modelling, as indicated by overall lower variance in these data sets and lower mass recoveries. However, Gauss modelling may minimize uncertainties associated with lithium immobilization/mobilization. Parameters were significantly affected by the RTD data analysis method, showing that the choice of method could affect evaluation of wetland hydraulics.
The experimental wetlands in this study exhibited relatively high e -values and low N -values. This was probably caused by the small size of the wetlands and low water flow velocities, emphasizing that hydraulic parameter values obtained in small experimental wetlands may not be applicable to hydraulics in larger wetlands.
The method of moments revealed lower e -values from EVWs compared to SVWs and FDWs. It was indicated that lower e -values were mainly caused by vegetation volumes. This highlighted a need for regular maintenance to secure efficient treatment volume in wetlands with dense vegetation.
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