Associations between fasting glucose rate-of-change and the missense variant, rs373863828, in an adult Samoan cohort.

Background: The A allele of rs373863828 in CREB3 regulatory factor is associated with high Body Mass Index, but lower odds of type 2 diabetes. These associations have been replicated elsewhere, but to date all studies have been cross-sectional. Our aims were (1) to describe the development of type 2 diabetes and change in fasting glucose between 2010 and 2018 among a longitudinal cohort of adult Samoans without type 2 diabetes or who were not using diabetes medications at baseline, and (2) to examine associations between fasting glucose rate-of-change (mmol/L per year) and the A allele of rs373863828.

Accelerometer-Based Estimates of Physical Activity and Sedentary Time Among Samoan Adults.

Background: The prevalence of obesity-related cardiometabolic disease in Samoa is among the highest globally. While physical activity is a modifiable risk factor for obesity-related disease, little is known about physical activity levels among adult Samoans. Using wrist-worn accelerometer-based devices, this study aimed to characterize physical activity among Samoan adults.

Indication of mixed glucose and fatty acid use by inferred brown adipose tissue activity in Samoans.

Objectives: Despite the growing rates of global obesity and the known positive associations between brown adipose tissue (BAT) and cardiovascular health, little is known about the metabolic effects of BAT activity in Samoans, a population at high risk of obesity and type II diabetes. Here we assessed the potential effects of inferred BAT activity on metabolic health markers in Samoan adults exposed to mild cold.

Methods: Using point-of-care finger prick technology we measured fasting glucose, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels before and after 30 min of cold exposure among 61 individuals (38 females, 23 males, ages 31-54) from 'Upolu Island, Samoa.

When the cold gets under your skin: Evidence for brown adipose tissue activity in Samoan adults.

Objectives: Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a heat-producing organ aiding nonshivering thermogenesis (NST) during cold stress. Due to its potential cold-adaptive role BAT has been predominantly studied in cold and temperate climate populations, but not among warm-climate adults. This work explores if BAT activity can be inferred in Samoans.

Association between age at menarche and cardiometabolic risk among Samoan adults.

Objectives: Recent studies suggest that early menarche may increase cardiometabolic morbidity and mortality. Yet few studies have examined this association in the Pacific Islands, where obesity prevalence is among the highest globally. We sought to examine associations between age at menarche and cardiometabolic risk in Samoa.

Validity of anthropometric equation-based estimators of fat mass in Samoan adults.

Introduction: In 1999, a set of highly accurate Polynesian-specific equations to estimate adult body fat from non-invasive field measures of age, sex, height, and weight (Equation 1), age, sex, height, weight, and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) resistance (Equation 2), and age, sex, height, weight, and the sum of two skinfold thicknesses (Equation 3) were published. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of the equation-based estimators in a sample of Samoan adults recruited 20 years later between 2017 and 2019.

Methods: Age, sex, height, weight, BIA resistance, skinfold thickness, and fat mass as measured using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) were available for 432 Samoan adults (mean age 50.

Cardiovascular risk factors across different levels of urbanization in Brazilian Afro-derived communities (quilombos).

Objectives: The frequency of cardiovascular diseases has increased throughout the world. People of African descent have been disproportionately affected, particularly if they reside in urban settings. In this work, we evaluate risk factors associated with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and other chronic diseases in rural and urban Afro-derived communities (quilombo) in Central Brazil.

The protective effect of rs373863828 on type 2 diabetes does not operate through a body composition pathway in adult Samoans.

Objective: The aim of this study was to understand whether the paradoxical association of missense variant rs373863828 in CREB3 regulatory factor (CREBRF) with higher BMI but lower odds of diabetes is explained by either metabolically favorable body fat distribution or greater fat-free mass.

Methods: This study explored the association of the minor allele with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry-derived body composition in n = 421 Samoans and used path analysis to examine the mediating role of fat and fat-free mass on the relationship between rs373863828 and fasting glucose.

Results: Among females, the rs373863828 minor A allele was associated with greater BMI.

Cascades of diabetes and hypertension care in Samoa: Identifying gaps in the diagnosis, treatment, and control continuum - a cross-sectional study.

Background: Samoa is a Pacific Island country facing one of the highest burdens of non-communicable disease globally.

Methods: In this study, we apply a cascade-of-care approach to understand gaps in the awareness, treatment, and control cascade of diabetes and hypertension in a cross-sectional, convenience sample of 703 young, high-risk Samoan adults (29.5-50.

Persistence of anaemia among Samoan preschool age children: a longitudinal study.

Objective: To characterise the prevalence and persistence of anaemia among Samoan children over a 2-3-year period.

Design: Data were from two consecutive waves (2015 and 2017-2018) of the Ola Tuputupua'e 'Growing up' study. Anaemia (Hb < 11·0 or 11·5 g/dl for 2-4 and ≥ 5 years old, respectively) was considered 'transient' when it occurred at only one wave or 'persistent' if it was present at two consecutive waves.

Improving services for chronic non-communicable diseases in Samoa: an implementation research study using the care cascade framework.

Objective: Samoa needs to intensify the response to the growing non-communicable disease burden. This study aimed to assess bottlenecks in the care continuum and identify possible solutions.

Methods: The mixed-methods study used the cascade framework as an analysis tool and hypertension as a tracer condition for chronic non-communicable diseases.

C-reactive protein in adult Samoans: Population variation and physiological correlates.

Objectives: C-reactive protein (CRP) has been associated with adiposity and cardiometabolic disease risk in many populations but remains remarkably understudied in Pacific Islander populations. Here, we provide the first examination of correlates of CRP in adult Samoans (n = 108, ages 35-55 years) to test the hypotheses that CRP exhibits sex-dependent associations with measures of BMI, adiposity, and cardiometabolic disease risks.

Methods: We analyzed associations between measures of adiposity (total fat mass, visceral fat mass, percent total body fat), body mass index (BMI), cardiometabolic risks, behaviors, demographics, and CRP.

Assessing the impact of high blood pressure referrals on hypertension awareness and management, BMI, and blood pressure values in adult Samoans 2010-2019.

The Samoan population has experienced rapid increases in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and NCD risk factors over the last 30 years. However, understanding how increased awareness and treatment of these conditions in reducing disease burden remains understudied. Using data from a longitudinal study (2010-2019) of cardiometabolic health among Samoan adults, we assess the impact of a referral for elevated blood pressure (BP) on changes in BP, physician's diagnoses of hypertension and medication use, body mass index (BMI), and other risk factors for elevated BP.

Exploring the Paradoxical Relationship of a Creb 3 Regulatory Factor Missense Variant With Body Mass Index and Diabetes Among Samoans: Protocol for the Soifua Manuia (Good Health) Observational Cohort Study.

Background: The prevalence of obesity and diabetes in Samoa, like many other Pacific Island nations, has reached epidemic proportions. Although the etiology of these conditions can be largely attributed to the rapidly changing economic and nutritional environment, a recently identified genetic variant, rs373863828 (CREB 3 regulatory factor, CREBRF: c.1370G>A p.

Early maturity, shortened stature, and hardship: Can life-history trade-offs indicate social stratification and income inequality in the United States?

Objective: Life-history strategies promote reproductive fitness and survival. Limited energy availability and competing energetic demands between life-history decisions may result in organismal trade-offs leading to selection for "optimal" traits that facilitate fitness and survival in present environmental conditions. Few life-history analyses have been conducted in food abundant/high resource human populations.

Pregnancy and immune stimulation: re-imagining the fetus as parasite to understand age-related immune system changes in US women.

Objectives: Pregnancy can increase production of Immunoglobulin E (IgE), an immune response more often directed towards parasite infections. An absence of parasitism makes the US population ideal to test the hypothesis that the maternal immune system recognizes a fetus as a parasite. We predict that total IgE levels are positively associated with a history of pregnancy across all ages of adult women, mirroring patterns of IgE in parasitized populations.