Optimizing adipogenic transdifferentiation of bovine mesenchymal stem cells: a prominent role of ascorbic acid in induction.

Adipocyte differentiation of bovine adipose-derived stem cells (ASC) was induced by foetal bovine serum (FBS), biotin, pantothenic acid, insulin, rosiglitazone, dexamethasone and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, followed by incubation in different media to test the influence of ascorbic acid (AsA), bovine serum lipids (BSL), FBS, glucose and acetic acid on transdifferentiation into functional adipocytes. Moreover, different culture plate coatings (collagen-A, gelatin-A or poly-L-lysine) were tested. The differentiated ASC were subjected to Nile red staining, DAPI staining, immunocytochemistry and quantitative reverse transcription PCR (for ).

Changes in the antioxidant defence and in selenium concentration in tissues of vanadium exposed rats.

Vanadium is an element whose role as a micronutrient for humans is not yet completely established, but which has been shown to possess hypoglycaemic properties in diabetes. In an earlier study, we showed that in STZ-diabetic rats, exposure to 1 mg V per day has no effect on glycaemia or on antioxidant status. When the exposure was raised to 3 mg V per day there was a hypoglycaemic effect, together with reduced Se in the tissues, which reduced antioxidant defences.

Atherogenic indices and prehypertension in obese and non-obese children.

We evaluate the relationship between different lipoproteins and atherogenic indices with pre-hypertension in 297 obese and 942 non-obese children with Tanner stage 1 enrolled in a multicentre, community-based cross-sectional study. Height, weight, fasting glucose and insulin levels, total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), non-HDL-c, LDL/HDL-c, triglycerides/cholesterol and total cholesterol/HDL-c ratios were measured. Mean age was 8.

Effect of bis(maltolato)oxovanadium (IV) (BMOV) on selenium nutritional status in diabetic streptozotocin rats.

The role of V as a micronutrient, and its hypoglycaemic and toxicological activity, have yet to be completely established. The present study focuses on changes in the bioavailability and tissue distribution of Se in diabetic streptozotocin rats following treatment with V. The following four study groups were examined: control; diabetic (DM); diabetic treated with 1 mg V/d (DMV); diabetic treated with 3 mg V/d (DMVH).

Severe hypomagnesemia and low-grade inflammation in metabolic syndrome.

To evaluate the association between severe hypomagnesemia and the low-grade inflammatory response in subjects with metabolic syndrome (MetS), ninety-eight individuals with new diagnosis of MetS were enrolled in a cross-sectional study. Pregnancy, smoking, alcohol intake, renal damage, hepatic disorders, infectious or chronic inflammatory diseases, malignancy, use of diuretics, statins, calcium antagonist, antioxidants, vitamins, anti-inflammatory drugs, or previous oral magnesium supplementation were exclusion criteria. According serum magnesium levels, participants were assigned to the following groups: 1) severe hypomagnesemia (≤1.