A Toll-Like Receptor 1/2 Agonist Augments Contractility in Rat Corpus Cavernosum.

Introduction: Activation of the innate immune Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) initiates inflammation and has been implicated in vascular dysfunction. Increased contraction and decreased relaxation responses in the penile vasculature lead to erectile dysfunction, a condition associated with inflammation. However, whether TLR2 activation plays a role in penile vascular function has not been established.

Emerging molecular targets for treatment of erectile dysfunction: vascular and regenerative therapies on the horizon.

Introduction: Erectile dysfunction (ED) has reached epidemic proportions not expected to abate because of population aging and chronic diseases that accompany advanced age. Vasculopathy is a main cause, but damage to penile innervation also underlies many cases of ED. Phosphodiesterase inhibitor therapies do not help all men with ED, making the search for novel therapeutic drug and treatment targets of utmost importance.

Relations of diet and physical activity to bone mass and height in black and white adolescents.

Because the development of healthy bodies during the years of growth has life-long health consequences, it is important to understand the early influences of diet and physical activity (PA). One way to generate hypotheses concerning such influences is to conduct cross-sectional studies of how diet and PA are related to different components of body composition. The subjects were 660 black and white adolescents.

Adiponectin moderates the relationship between adiposity and leptin in adolescents regardless of gender or race.

Objectives: To determine gender or race differences in associations between adiposity and leptin, and whether adiponectin moderates these relationships.

Methods: Subjects were 441 adolescents, 14-18 years old (44% black, 56% white; 50% female, 50% male). Percent body fat (%BF) was measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.

Vitamin D3 supplementation for 16 weeks improves flow-mediated dilation in overweight African-American adults.

Background: A growing body of evidence has linked vitamin D deficiency to increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Vitamin D deficiency is also more common in African Americans for whom an increased cardiovascular disease risk exists. This study sought to test the hypothesis that 16 weeks of 60,000 IU monthly supplementation of oral vitamin D(3) would improve flow-mediated dilation (FMD) in African Americans, whereas no change would be observed in the placebo group.

Lifestyle and socioeconomic-status modify the effects of ADRB2 and NOS3 on adiposity in European-American and African-American adolescents.

The aim of the study is to investigate the influence of and interaction between lifestyle behaviors (diet and physical activity (PA)) and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in obesity-candidate genes (ADRB2, APOB and NOS3) on general and central adiposity. Six-hundred-and-twenty-one European-American (EA) and African-American (AA) youths aged 13-19 years were classified by ethnicity (49% AA), gender (45% male), and socioeconomic status (SES). PA and dietary intake with up to seven 24-h recalls were reported for all subjects.

Leukocyte telomere length in healthy Caucasian and African-American adolescents: relationships with race, sex, adiposity, adipokines, and physical activity.

Objective: To examine the relationships of race, sex, adiposity, adipokines, and physical activity to telomere length in adolescents.

Study Design: Leukocyte telomere length (T/S ratio) was assessed cross-sectionally in 667 adolescents (aged 14-18 years; 48% African-Americans; 51% girls) using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction method. Generalized estimating equations analyses were performed.

A 16-week randomized clinical trial of 2000 international units daily vitamin D3 supplementation in black youth: 25-hydroxyvitamin D, adiposity, and arterial stiffness.

Context: Vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency is commonly observed in black youth.

Objective: The aim was to determine 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in response to 2000 IU vitamin D supplementation over time; to evaluate the relation between 25(OH)D concentrations and total body fat mass by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry; and to determine whether vitamin D supplementation improves arterial stiffness measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV).

Design: We conducted a randomized, blinded, controlled clinical trial.

Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in adolescents: race, season, adiposity, physical activity, and fitness.

Objectives: The objectives were to characterize the vitamin D status of black and white adolescents residing in the southeastern United States (latitude: approximately 33 degrees N) and to investigate relationships with adiposity.

Methods: Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were measured with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy for 559 adolescents 14 to 18 years of age (45% black and 49% female). Fat tissues, physical activity, and cardiovascular fitness also were measured.

FTO variant rs9939609 is associated with body mass index and waist circumference, but not with energy intake or physical activity in European- and African-American youth.

Background: Genome-wide association studies found common variants in the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene associated with adiposity in Caucasians and Asians but the association was not confirmed in African populations. Association of FTO variants with insulin resistance and energy intake showed inconsistent results in previous studies. This study aimed to assess the influence of FTO variant rs9939609 on adiposity, insulin resistance, energy intake and physical activity in European - (EA) and African-American (AA) youth.

Sex dimorphisms in inflammatory markers and adiposity in African-American youth.

Objective: There are demonstrated sex differences in the association between adiposity and inflammation in adults. Our aim was to determine sex differences in inflammatory markers and in the association between adiposity and inflammation in a sample of African-American adolescents.

Methods: Adiposity variables including body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, weight, total fat, trunk fat, and inflammatory markers including interleukin-6 (IL-6), leptin, monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP1), C-reactive Protein (CRP), adiponectin were examined in 166 (53% female) African-American adolescents, aged 14-19 years.

Urinary prostasin: a possible biomarker for renal pressure natriuresis in black adolescents.

Prostasin is a membrane-bound/secretive serine protease interacting with aldosterone and the epithelial sodium channel in the kidney. We and others have previously proposed the concept of stress-induced pressure natriuresis (SIPN) where increased urinary sodium excretion (UNaV) is coupled with elevated blood pressure (BP) in response to behavioral stress in normotensive adolescents. This study thus aimed to test the relationship between prostasin and pressure natriuresis using the SIPN model.