Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 21 has various functions, including glucose and lipid metabolism. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate specific conditions that might influence the functions ...of FGF21. 398 men who underwent a health examination were enrolled in this study. Physical and biochemical parameters and information on several lifestyle behaviors were obtained from all subjects. FGF21 levels correlated with age, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (γ-GTP), uric acid, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and HbA1c. Moreover, FGF21 levels were significantly associated with lifestyle behaviors, including smoking status and breakfast and alcohol consumption frequency. Multivariable regression analysis showed that age, ALT, γ-GTP, smoking status, and breakfast and alcohol consumption frequency were independent variables for FGF21 levels. Assessment among the non-obese and obese groups showed that FGF21 levels correlated with WC, SBP, and TC only in the non-obese group. Thus, serum FGF21 levels were affected by several factors, including lifestyle behaviors, age, and liver function. To assess the functions of FGF21 in individuals, considering these factors would be essential.
Heart failure is a major cause of death with an increasing population of elderly individuals. Several studies have demonstrated the involvement of soluble alpha-Klotho (sαKl) in various diseases. ...However, the correlation between sαKl and heart failure remains to be understood. The aim of this study is to investigate the levels and role of sαKl in patients with heart failure. Twenty-eight consecutive patients with acute heart failure (19 male, 9 female), admitted to the Osaka University Hospital from 2010 to 2018, were enrolled in this study. Mean NYHA score, left ventricular ejection fraction and BNP were 3.3, 17.0% and 588 pg/mL, respectively. SαKl significantly increased in heart failure patients. SαKl on admission were significantly higher in patients with heart failure who showed improvement after intensive treatment than that in patients who did not show improvement after the treatment. SαKl levels decreased significantly in patients who showed improvement. Interestingly, sαKl levels increased in male patients with heart failure, but not in female patients. Our data suggest that soluble αKl may be a novel biomarker for the responsiveness against treatment in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. Our findings may help developing a personalized therapy for different patients with heart failure.
We conducted a cross-sectional survey among SARS-CoV-2-positive persons and negative controls in Sapporo, Japan, to clarify symptoms of long COVID. We collected responses from 8,018 participants, ...3,694 case-patients and 3,672 controls. We calculated symptom prevalence for case-patients at 2-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, and 13-18 months after illness onset. We used logistic regression, adjusted for age and sex, to estimate the odds ratio (OR) for each symptom and control reference. We calculated symptom prevalence by stratifying for disease severity, age, and sex. At 4-18 months from illness onset, ORs for anosmia, ageusia, dyspnea, alopecia, and brain fog were consistently >1, whereas ORs for common cold-like, gastrointestinal, and dermatologic symptoms were <1. Time trend ORs increased for diminished ability to concentrate, brain fog, sleep disturbance, eye symptoms, and tinnitus. Clinicians should focus on systemic, respiratory, and neuropsychiatric symptoms among long COVID patients.
Vocal learning is a central functional constituent of human speech, and recent studies showing that adult male mice emit ultrasonic sound sequences characterized as "songs" have suggested that the ...ultrasonic courtship sounds of mice provide a mammalian model of vocal learning.
We tested whether mouse songs are learned, by examining the relative role of rearing environment in a cross-fostering experiment.
We found that C57BL/6 and BALB/c males emit a clearly different pattern of songs with different frequency and syllable compositions; C57BL/6 males showed a higher peak frequency of syllables, shorter intervals between syllables, and more upward frequency modulations with jumps, whereas BALB/c males produced more "chevron" and "harmonics" syllables. To establish the degree of environmental influences in mouse song development, sons of these two strains were cross-fostered to another strain of parents. Songs were recorded when these cross-fostered pups were fully developed and their songs were compared with those of male mice reared by the genetic parents. The cross-fostered animals sang songs with acoustic characteristics--including syllable interval, peak frequency, and modulation patterns--similar to those of their genetic parents. In addition their song elements retained sequential characteristics similar to those of their genetic parents' songs.
These results do not support the hypothesis that mouse "song" is learned; we found no evidence for vocal learning of any sort under the conditions of this experiment. Our observation that the strain-specific character of the song profile persisted even after changing the developmental auditory environment suggests that the structure of these courtship sound sequences is under strong genetic control. Thus, the usefulness of mouse "song" as a model of mammalian vocal learning is limited, but mouse song has the potential to be an indispensable model to study genetic mechanisms for vocal patterning and behavioral sequences.
Abstract
Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure causes various health problems associated with an unhealthy lifestyle. However, the lifestyles of individuals exposed to SHS have not been characterized ...extensively. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between SHS exposure and lifestyle behaviors. The participants were 2379 healthy male employees at Osaka University who underwent health examinations. Physical and biochemical parameters and lifestyle behavior data were obtained from all the participants. Participants with SHS exposure had significantly higher body mass index, waist circumference, and serum levels of triglycerides and uric acid than that of those without SHS exposure. SHS exposure was significantly correlated with several lifestyle behaviors, including TV time, frequency of breakfast consumption and fried food consumption, vegetable and fruit intake, alcohol consumption frequency and daily alcohol intake, and smoking status. Thus, SHS exposure may be associated with an unhealthy lifestyle. The lifestyle behaviors of the smoke-excluded population were assessed further; however, SHS exposure was still associated with dietary and drinking habits. Since participants with SHS exposure are likely to have an unhealthy life and combined unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, the confounding effect of these factors should be considered when assessing the impact of SHS exposure on health.
Objective: To assess the clinical impact of living alone on weight gain in university students. Participants: This retrospective cohort study included 17540 male and 8854 female university students ...admitted to a national university in Japan. Methods: An association between living arrangement and the incidence of weight gain ≥10% and overweight/obesity (body mass index (BMI) ≥25 kg/m
2
) was assessed using multivariable-adjusted Poisson regression models. Results: Weight gain was observed in 1889 (10.8%) male and 1516 (17.1%) female students during 3.0 and 2.9 years of the mean observational period, respectively. Living alone was identified as a significant predictor of weight gain (adjusted incidence rate ratio of living alone vs. living with family: 1.24 1.13-1.36 and 1.76 1.58-1.95 in male and female students, respectively) and was also as a predictor of overweight/obesity. Conclusions: University students living alone were at a significantly higher risk of weight gain and overweight/obesity than those living with family.
Although multiple studies have identified skipping breakfast as a risk factor for weight gain, there is limited evidence on the clinical impact of skipping lunch and dinner on weight gain. This ...retrospective cohort study including 17,573 male and 8860 female university students at a national university in Japan, assessed the association of the frequency of breakfast, lunch, and dinner with the incidence of weight gain (≥10%) and overweight/obesity (body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m
), using annual participant health checkup data. Within the observation period of 3.0 ± 0.9 years, the incidence of ≥10% weight gain was observed in 1896 (10.8%) men and 1518 (17.1%) women, respectively. Skipping dinner was identified as a significant predictor of weight gain in multivariable-adjusted Poisson regression models for both men and women (skipping ≥ occasionally vs. eating every day, adjusted incidence rate ratios, 1.45 (95% confidence interval: 1.04-2.01) and 1.67 (1.33-2.09) in male and female students, respectively), whereas skipping breakfast and lunch were not. Similarly, skipping dinner, not breakfast or lunch, was associated with overweight/obesity (1.74 (1.07-2.84) and 1.68 (1.02-2.78) in men and women, respectively). In conclusion, skipping dinner predicted the incidence of weight gain and overweight/obesity in university students.
Men and women react differently to some disease states, and women are reported to be more sensitive than men to the toxic effects of smoking. We examined the serum concentration of Klotho-related ...molecules, α-Klotho (αKl) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-21, and the influence of smoking on these molecules in both sexes.
Subjects included 90 men and 140 women in good health who underwent a health examination.
Among male subjects, serum concentrations of FGF-21, soluble sαKl, and inflammation-related cytokine interleukin (IL)-6 were significantly higher in smokers than in never-smokers. In females, serum concentrations of FGF-21 and IL-6 were significantly higher in smokers than in never-smokers; however, sαKl concentrations were slightly lower in smokers than in never-smokers. Serum concentrations of sαKl were correlated with smoking status and IL-6 only in male subjects, suggesting an anti-inflammatory effect of sαKl only in men. Serum concentrations of FGF-21 were correlated with the concentrations of total cholesterol, triglycerides, and HbA1c, which are important factors of metabolic disorders in females, suggesting that metabolic disorders in female smokers may be more serious than that in male smokers.
Klotho-related molecules showed a differential association and response to smoking between men and women.
•Klotho-related molecules showed a differential association and response to smoking between men and women.•Soluble α-klotho levels were elevated only in male smokers and were correlated with inflammatory cytokine IL-6 only in men.•Serum levels of FGF-21 were correlated with components of metabolic disorders especially in women.
Purpose
This study aimed to confirm the clinical impact of living arrangements on incidence of frequent alcohol consumption in university students.
Design
A retrospective cohort study.
Setting
A ...national university in Japan.
Subjects
17,774 university students.
Measures
The association between living arrangements on admission and the incidence of frequent alcohol consumption (≥4 days/week) was assessed using multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional-hazards models.
Results
Among 5,685, 692, and 5,151 male students living with family, living in the dormitory, and living alone, 5.0%, 6.2%, and 5.8% reported frequent alcohol consumption during the median observational period of 3.0 years, respectively. Living in the dormitory and living alone were identified as significant predictors of frequent alcohol consumption (multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios: 1.00 reference, 1.39 1.01-1.92, and 1.21 1.03-1.42, respectively). On the contrary, living arrangements were not associated with the incidence of frequent alcohol consumption among of 6,091 female students, partly because of low incidence of frequent alcohol consumption (2.3%, 1.4%, and 2.6%, respectively).
Conclusions
Living arrangements predicted frequent alcohol consumption among male university students, whereas not among female university students.
Smoking causes various health problems. Limited studies have reported a clinical effect of skipping breakfast on smoking initiation among adolescents. This retrospective cohort study aimed to assess ...the dose-dependent association between skipping breakfast and smoking initiation in university students. This study included 17,493 male and 8880 female students aged 18−22 years at a national university in Japan. The association between breakfast frequency (eating every day and skipping occasionally, often, and usually) and smoking initiation was evaluated using Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for clinically relevant factors. Smoking initiation was observed in 2027 (11.6%) male and 197 (2.2%) female students over the median observational period of 3.0 and 3.1 years. Skipping breakfast was significantly associated with smoking initiation in a dose-dependent fashion in male students (the adjusted hazard ratios 95% confidence interval of eating breakfast every day and skipping occasionally, often, and usually: 1.00 reference, 1.30 1.15, 1.46, 1.47 1.21, 1.79, and 1.77 1.40, 2.25, respectively). Female students skipping breakfast occasionally and often were more vulnerable to smoking initiation than those who ate breakfast every day (1.00 reference, 1.86 1.24, 2.78, 2.97 1.66, 5.32, and 1.76 0.55, 5.64, respectively). Breakfast frequency may be useful to identify university students at risk of smoking initiation who need improvement in their health literacy.
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