Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Incidence and Remission and Their Predictors During 7 Years of Follow-up Among Finns.

Context: The incidence and remission of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are sparsely studied outside Asia.

Objective: This prospective study aimed to investigate NAFLD incidence and remission, and their predictors among a general Finnish population.

Methods: The applied cohort included 1260 repeatedly studied middle-aged participants with data on liver ultrasound and no excessive alcohol intake.

Metformin versus insulin for gestational diabetes: Adiposity variables and adipocytokines in offspring at age of 9 years.

Aims: To compare body composition, visceral adiposity, adipocytokines, and low-grade inflammation markers in prepubertal offspring of mothers who were treated with metformin or insulin for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Methods: 172 offspring of 311 mothers randomized to receive metformin (n = 82) or insulin (n = 90) for GDMwere studied at 9 years of age (follow-up rate 55%). Measurements included anthropometrics, adipocytokines, markers of the low-grade inflammation, abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetic liver spectrometry (MRS), and whole body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

Long-term tracking and population characteristics of lipoprotein (a) in the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

Background And Aims: Lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)) is a causal risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and its levels are under strict genetic control. Therefore, it is hypothesized that the concentration of Lp(a) remains stable throughout life. Finns have lower Lp(a) levels than central Europeans, but it is unknown whether there are differences within Finland, especially between the eastern and western parts of the country with known genetic duality and persistent differences in cardiovascular disease rates.

Comparison of glucose metabolism and anthropometry in women with previous gestational diabetes treated with metformin vs. insulin: 9-year follow-up of two randomized trials.

Introduction: The main aim was to study whether the long-term incidences of type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes and metabolic syndrome differed between women who were treated with metformin or insulin for gestational diabetes.

Material And Methods: This 9-year follow-up study of two open-label randomized trials compares metformin and insulin treatments of gestational diabetes. In all, 165 women, 88 previously treated with insulin and 77 treated with metformin in the index pregnancy, were included in the analyses.

Congenital Hypothyroidism and Hyperthyroidism Alters Adrenal Gene Expression, Development, and Function.

The human adrenal cortex undergoes several rapid remodeling steps during its lifetime. In rodents, similar remodeling occurs postnatally in the "X-zone" layer through unknown mechanisms. Furthermore, little is known regarding the impact of thyroid hormone (TH) on adrenal glands in humans.

Metformin versus insulin therapy for gestational diabetes: Effects on offspring anthropometrics and metabolism at the age of 9 years: A follow-up study of two open-label, randomized controlled trials.

Aims: To compare anthropometrics, and lipid and glucose metabolism in the 9-year-old offspring of mothers treated with metformin or insulin for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Materials And Methods: This was a Finnish two-centre, 9-year follow-up study of two open-label, randomized controlled trials comparing the effects observed in the offspring of mothers who received metformin and insulin treatment for GDM. Measurements included anthropometrics, blood pressure, lipoproteins, and oral glucose tolerance tests.

Physical inactivity from youth to adulthood and adult cardiometabolic risk profile.

Adults with a low physical activity (PA) level are at increased risk for cardiometabolic diseases, but little is known on the association between physical inactivity since youth and cardiometabolic health in adulthood. We investigated the association of persistent physical inactivity from youth to adulthood with adult cardiometabolic risk factors. Data were drawn from the ongoing Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study with seven follow-ups between 1980 and 2011 (baseline age 3-18 years, n = 1961).

Effects of 20-year infancy-onset dietary counselling on cardiometabolic risk factors in the Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project (STRIP): 6-year post-intervention follow-up.

Background: Primordial and primary prevention is the cornerstone for cardiometabolic health. In the randomised, controlled Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project (STRIP; n=1116), a 20-year dietary counselling intervention was given to children biannually from infancy, and cardiometabolic health benefits had been observed among the participants in the intervention group. Here, we report on the key results of the first follow-up done 6 years after the end of the intervention, at age 26 years.

Whole blood microRNA levels associate with glycemic status and correlate with target mRNAs in pathways important to type 2 diabetes.

We analyzed the associations between whole blood microRNA profiles and the indices of glucose metabolism and impaired fasting glucose and examined whether the discovered microRNAs correlate with the expression of their mRNA targets. MicroRNA and gene expression profiling were performed for the Young Finns Study participants (n = 871). Glucose, insulin, and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels were measured, the insulin resistance index (HOMA2-IR) was calculated, and the glycemic status (normoglycemic [n = 534]/impaired fasting glucose [IFG] [n = 252]/type 2 diabetes [T2D] [n = 24]) determined.

Childhood Exposure to Passive Smoking and Bone Health in Adulthood: The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

Context: Passive smoke exposure has been linked to the risk of osteoporosis in adults.

Objective: We examined the independent effects of childhood passive smoke exposure on adult bone health.

Design/setting: Longitudinal, the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

Blood hsa-miR-122-5p and hsa-miR-885-5p levels associate with fatty liver and related lipoprotein metabolism-The Young Finns Study.

MicroRNAs are involved in disease development and may be utilized as biomarkers. We investigated the association of blood miRNA levels and a) fatty liver (FL), b) lipoprotein and lipid pathways involved in liver lipid accumulation and c) levels of predicted mRNA targets in general population based cohort. Blood microRNA profiling (TaqMan OpenArray), genome-wide gene expression arrays and nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomics were performed for Young Finns Study participants aged 34-49 years (n = 871).

Consumption of chokeberry (Aronia mitschurinii) products modestly lowered blood pressure and reduced low-grade inflammation in patients with mildly elevated blood pressure.

Previous studies suggest that consumption of chokeberries may improve cardiovascular disease risk factor profiles. We hypothesized that chokeberries (Aronia mitschurinii) have beneficial effects on blood pressure, low-grade inflammation, serum lipids, serum glucose, and platelet aggregation in patients with untreated mild hypertension. A total of 38 participants were enrolled into a 16-week single blinded crossover trial.

Childhood predictors of adult fatty liver. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

Background & Aims: Fatty liver is a potentially preventable cause of serious liver diseases. This longitudinal study aimed to identify childhood risk factors of fatty liver in adulthood in a population-based group of Finnish adults.

Methods: Study cohort included 2,042 individuals from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study aged 3-18years at baseline in 1980.

Determinants of serum 25(OH)D concentration in young and middle-aged adults. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

Introduction: We studied prevalence of hypovitaminosis D, its determinants, and whether achievement of recommended dietary vitamin D intake (10 μg/d) is associated with absence of hypovitaminosis D in adults.

Methods: The study is part of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. We collected serum samples of 25-hydroxyvitamin D as part of the 27-year follow-up (994 men and 1,210 women aged 30-45 years).

Childhood 25-OH vitamin D levels and carotid intima-media thickness in adulthood: the cardiovascular risk in young Finns study.

Context: Low vitamin D levels in adulthood have been associated with cardiovascular disease.

Objective: To investigate if low vitamin D levels in childhood are related with increased carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) in adulthood.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The analyses included 2148 subjects from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, aged 3-18 years at baseline (in 1980).

Insulin and BMI as predictors of adult type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Background And Objectives: Fasting insulin concentrations are increasingly being used as a surrogate for insulin resistance and risk for type 2 diabetes (T2DM), although associations with adult outcomes are unclear. Our objective was to determine whether fasting insulin concentrations in childhood associate with later T2DM.

Methods: Fasting insulin values were available from 2478 participants in the longitudinal Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study at baseline age 3 to 18 years, along with data on adult T2DM (N = 84, mean age = 39.

Prevalence and determinants of fatty liver in normal-weight and overweight young adults. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

Background And Aims: Fatty liver may have different determinants in normal-weight and in obese individuals. We measured factors associated with fatty liver in 863 normal-weight (BMI < 25) and 1135 overweight/obese (BMI ≥ 25) young and middle-aged adults (45% male, age 34-49 years) in the population-based Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

Methods And Results: The prevalence of fatty liver detected with ultrasound was 29% in overweight/obese and 5% in normal-weight participants.

Cardiovascular risk factors in 2011 and secular trends since 2007: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

Aims: Cardiovascular risk factor levels in 2011 and 4-year changes between 2007 and 2011 were examined using data collected in follow-ups of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

Methods: The study population comprised 2063 Finnish adults aged 34-49 years (45% male). Lipid and blood pressure levels, glucose and anthropometry were measured and life style risk factors examined with questionnaires.

Blood microRNA profile associates with the levels of serum lipids and metabolites associated with glucose metabolism and insulin resistance and pinpoints pathways underlying metabolic syndrome: the cardiovascular risk in Young Finns Study.

Since metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a collection of cardiovascular risk factors involving multiple signaling systems, we related the metabolic abnormalities associated with MetS with circulating microRNA profiles to pinpoint the affected signaling pathways. The blood microRNA profile, genome wide gene expression and serum NMR metabolomics were analyzed from 71 participants of the Young Finns Study. We found nine microRNAs that associated significantly with metabolites connected to MetS.

Associations of the Baltic Sea diet with obesity-related markers of inflammation.

Introduction: Inflammation is an important contributor to the development of chronic diseases. We examined whether a healthy Nordic diet, also called the Baltic Sea diet, associates with lower concentrations of inflammatory markers.

Methods: We used two independent cross-sectional studies: the DILGOM study including Finnish participants aged 25-74 years (n = 4579), and the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study including individuals born at Helsinki University Central Hospital between 1934 and 1944 and who participated in a clinical examination in 2001-2004 (n = 1911).

Infancy-onset dietary counseling of low-saturated-fat diet improves insulin sensitivity in healthy adolescents 15-20 years of age: the Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project (STRIP) study.

Objective: We reported previously that low-saturated-fat dietary counseling started in infancy improves insulin sensitivity in healthy children 9 years of age. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of lifelong dietary counseling on insulin sensitivity in healthy adolescents between 15 and 20 years of age. In addition, we examined dietary fiber intake and the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)+monounsaturated (MUFA)-to-saturated fatty acid (SFA) ratio in the intervention and control adolescents and the association of these dietary factors with homeostasis model of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR).

Computationally estimated apolipoproteins B and A1 in predicting cardiovascular risk.

Objective: Apolipoproteins B (apoB) and A1 (apoA1) may be better markers of atherosclerosis than serum lipids. We used computational methods to estimate apoB and apoA1 from serum total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides and tested their clinical value in comparison to measured apoB and apoA1 values.

Methods: ApoB and apoA1 were measured with standard methods and estimated based on neural network regression models in 2166 young adult with data on carotid artery intima-media thickness (cIMT).

Plasminogen activator inhitor-1 associates with cardiovascular risk factors in healthy young adults in the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

Aims: Hypofibrinolysis displayed by elevated serum plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) level has been associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors such as obesity and insulin resistance. However, no studies have examined associations between PAI-1 and CVD risk factors in healthy subjects. We examined associations between serum PAI-1, ultrasound markers of atherosclerosis and CVD risk factors and whether PAI-1 improves prediction of atherosclerosis over known risk factors in a cohort of asymptomatic adults.

Associations between serum uric acid and markers of subclinical atherosclerosis in young adults. The cardiovascular risk in Young Finns study.

Background And Methods: Serum uric acid (SUA) is a suggested biomarker for established coronary artery disease, but the role of SUA in early phases of atherosclerosis is controversial. The relations of SUA with vascular markers of subclinical atherosclerosis, including carotid artery intima-media thickness (cIMT), carotid plaque, carotid distensibility (Cdist) and brachial flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) were examined in 1985 young adults aged 30-45 years. In addition to ordinary regression, we used Mendelian randomization techniques to infer causal associations.

Novel loci for adiponectin levels and their influence on type 2 diabetes and metabolic traits: a multi-ethnic meta-analysis of 45,891 individuals.

Circulating levels of adiponectin, a hormone produced predominantly by adipocytes, are highly heritable and are inversely associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) and other metabolic traits. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in 39,883 individuals of European ancestry to identify genes associated with metabolic disease. We identified 8 novel loci associated with adiponectin levels and confirmed 2 previously reported loci (P = 4.