Myostatin as a plausible biomarker for early stage of sarcopenic obesity.

Since sarcopenic obesity (SO) impacts negatively on our health, early detection of SO is essential. However, prevalence of SO in an apparently healthy population has not been well examined. This study aimed to elucidate the prevalence and related factors of SO in middle-aged women, and to investigate useful diagnostic criteria for SO.

Association of Psychological and Physical Stress Response With Weight Gain in University Employees in Japan: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objective: The aim of the study is to clarify the association of job stressor score (A score), psychological and physical stress response score (B score), and social support (C score), with the incidence of ≥10% weight gain.

Methods: This study included 10,036 university employees who completed the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ) and annual health checkups between 2016 and 2021. The incidence of ≥10% weight gain from baseline weight was measured.

Breakfast Frequency and Smoking Initiation in University Students: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

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.

Decreased islet amyloid polypeptide staining in the islets of insulinoma patients.

Islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) is a factor that regulates food intake and is secreted from both pancreatic islets and insulinoma cells. Here, we aimed to evaluate IAPP immunohistochemically in islets or insulinoma cells in association with clinical characteristics. We recruited six insulinoma patients and six body mass index-matched control patients with pancreatic diseases other than insulinoma whose glucose tolerance was confirmed to be normal preoperatively.

Preoperative hemoglobin A1c is associated with postoperative bleeding after vitrectomy for vitreous hemorrhage in patients with diabetic retinopathy.

We previously reported that a high HbA1c level 3 months before vitrectomy for vitreous hemorrhage or a large preoperative decrease in the HbA1c level over 3 months tended to increase the risk of rebleeding in diabetic retinopathy patients evaluated between 2010 and 2014. Here, we aimed to confirm these results with an extended study period and an increased number of operated eyes. This study included 121 diabetic patients who were admitted to Osaka University Hospital between 2010 and 2019 and who underwent vitrectomy for vitreous hemorrhage.

Interrelationships Among Accumulations of Intra- and Periorgan Fats, Visceral Fat, and Subcutaneous Fat.

We aimed to clarify the relationship between intra- and periorgan fats, visceral fat, and subcutaneous fat. We used abdominal computed tomography to evaluate intra- and periorgan fat accumulations in the pancreas, liver, spleen, renal parenchyma, renal sinus, and skeletal muscle. The relationships between these fats, visceral fat, and subcutaneous fat were examined by using partial correlation and covariance analysis, adjusting for BMI.

Short sleep duration and smoking initiation in university students: a retrospective cohort study.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to clarify an association between short sleep duration and smoking initiation.

Methods: Participants eligible for this retrospective cohort study were university students who were admitted to a single national university in Japan between 2007 and 2015. Baseline sleep duration and smoking status were measured using general questionnaires at health checkups at admission.

Effects of liraglutide on intrapancreatic fat deposition in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Background & Aims: Ectopic fat deposition is associated with worsening of glycemic control. This study was conducted to determine whether liraglutide reduces ectopic fat deposition, especially in pancreas, in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Methods: We retrospectively recruited T2D patients who underwent abdominal unenhanced CT scans both before and after administration of liraglutide (N = 13) or glimepiride (N = 29).

Living Arrangements Predict Frequent Alcohol Consumption Among University Students: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

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.

Feasibility pilot study of a Japanese teaching kitchen program.

Background: This pilot study examined the feasibility of a new lifestyle modification program involving a "Teaching Kitchen" in Japan. Our goal was to explore (1) feasibility of the program; (2) acceptability for class frequency (weekly vs. bi-weekly); and (3) changes in biometrics, dietary intakes, and lifestyle factors.

Association of secondhand smoke exposure and health-related lifestyle behaviors among male university employees in Japan.

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.

Relationships between intra-pancreatic fat deposition and lifestyle factors: a cross-sectional study.

Aims: The excess deposition of intra-pancreatic fat deposition (IPFD) has been reported to be associated with type 2 diabetes, chronic pancreatitis, and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. In the current study, we aimed to identify a relationship between lifestyle factors and IPFD.

Materials And Methods: 99 patients admitted to the Osaka University Hospital who had undergone abdominal computed tomography were selected.

Myocardial fat accumulation is associated with cardiac dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes, especially in elderly or female patients: a retrospective observational study.

Background: Ectopic fat is fat that accumulates in or around specific organs or compartments of the body including myocardium. The clinical features of type 2 diabetes patients with high fat accumulation in the myocardium remain unknown. Moreover, little is known about the influence of myocardial fat accumulation in type 2 diabetes on coronary artery disease and cardiac dysfunction.

Expansion of human alpha-cell area is associated with a higher maximum body mass index before the onset of type 2 diabetes.

We examined whether maximum body mass index (BMI) before the onset of diabetes (MBBO) affects histological findings of islet cells. We divided patients into two groups according to an MBBO cutoff of 25 kg/m or BMI cutoff of 21 kg/m. We compared immunohistochemical parameters between the MBBO groups or BMI groups.

Lipid droplet accumulation in β cells in patients with type 2 diabetes is associated with insulin resistance, hyperglycemia and β cell dysfunction involving decreased insulin granules.

Background And Objective: Pancreatic fat is a form of ectopic fat. Lipid droplets (LDs) are also observed in β cells; however, the pathophysiological significance, especially for β cell function, has not been elucidated. Our aim was to assess LD accumulation in β cells in various stages of glucose intolerance and to clarify its relationship with clinical and histological parameters.

Consumption of two meals per day is associated with increased intrapancreatic fat deposition in patients with type 2 diabetes: a retrospective study.

Introduction: This study aimed to identify the associations between lifestyle factors and intrapancreatic fat deposition in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: The participants were 185 patients with type 2 diabetes who were hospitalized at Osaka University Hospital between 2008 and 2020 and underwent abdominal CT during hospitalization. Information regarding lifestyle factors, including the number of meals consumed per day, snacking habits, exercise habits, exercise at work, smoking habits, alcohol intake, insomnia, sleep apnea syndrome, and night-shift working, was acquired from self-administered questionnaires or medical records.

Soluble angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 association with lipid metabolism.

Increased expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is one of the likely explanations for disease severity in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this study, we aimed to test whether soluble ACE2 (sACE2) levels are correlated to known risk factors of severe COVID-19 including biochemical parameters, body mass index and smoking habits. We cross-sectionally evaluated serum sACE2 levels in obese or tobacco-smoking populations and compared them to those in non-obese and non-smoking healthy participants.

Skipping Breakfast and Incidence of Frequent Alcohol Drinking in University Students in Japan: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Frequency of alcohol drinking is a potential predictor of binge drinking of alcohol, a serious social problem for university students. Although previous studies have identified skipping breakfast as a predictor of various health-compromising behaviors and cardiometabolic diseases, few studies have assessed the association between skipping breakfast and the incidence of frequent alcohol drinking. This retrospective cohort study included 17,380 male and 8799 female university students aged 18-22 years admitted to Osaka universities between 2004 and 2015.

Motivation for Treatment Correlating Most Strongly with an Increase in Satisfaction with Type 2 Diabetes Treatment.

Introduction: We previously reported several factors that cross-sectionally correlate with treatment satisfaction in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes visiting diabetes clinics. The aim of this study is to identify factors associated with longitudinal changes in treatment satisfaction in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: The study included 649 patients with type 2 diabetes treated with oral glucose-lowering agents who completed the first questionnaire in 2016.

Serum FGF21 levels are altered by various factors including lifestyle behaviors in male subjects.

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.

Islet inflammation is associated with pancreatic fatty infiltration and hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes.

Introduction: Chronic inflammation is observed in type 2 diabetes islets, and fat deposition in the pancreas affects insulin secretion and glucose tolerance. However, the relationship between this inflammation and pancreatic fat deposition has not been elucidated.

Research Design And Methods: We examined pancreatic sections from 60 Japanese patients obtained by pancreatectomy.

Pancreatic fat is related to the longitudinal decrease in the increment of C-peptide in glucagon stimulation test in type 2 diabetes patients.

Aims/introduction: The relationship between pancreatic fatty infiltration and diabetes is widely known, whereas the causal relationship is not clear. Furthermore, it is uncertain whether pathogenesis of pancreatic fat is similar to that of liver fat. We aimed to clarify the contribution of this type of fat to glucose metabolism in type 2 diabetes patients by cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.

Factors associated with treatment satisfaction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus using oral glucose-lowering agents: a cross-sectional study in urban districts in Japan.

Various oral glucose-lowering agents are available in Japan. Although the objective characteristics of these drugs are well described, little is known about treatment satisfaction by patients using these agents. The aim of this study was to assess treatment satisfaction of diabetic patients visiting diabetes clinics using the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ) and to determine the association of the DTSQ scores with various factors including oral glucose-lowering agents.

Decreased Serum Adiponectin Level during Catecholamine Crisis in an Obese Patient with Pheochromocytoma.

We herein report the case of a 37-year-old man with both pheochromocytoma and visceral fat accumulation and describe the sequential changes in his adiponectin levels throughout the clinical course from catecholamine crisis until the follow-up for adrenalectomy. His adiponectin level decreased during catecholamine crisis and increased after adrenalectomy. However, his adiponectin level decreased again at two years postoperatively when his visceral fat area greatly increased.