Pathways in Skeletal Muscle: Protein Signaling and Insulin Sensitivity after Exercise Training and Weight Loss Interventions in Middle-Aged and Older Adults.

Aging and obesity contribute to insulin resistance with skeletal muscle being critically important for maintaining whole-body glucose homeostasis. Both exercise and weight loss are lifestyle interventions that can affect glucose metabolism. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a six-month trial of aerobic exercise training or weight loss on signaling pathways in skeletal muscle in the basal condition and during hyperinsulinemia during a glucose clamp in middle-aged and older adults.

Risk of Potentially Inappropriate Medications in Adults With CKD: Findings From the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) Study.

Rationale & Objective: Adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD) may be at increased risk of adverse effects from use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs). Our objective was to assess whether PIM exposure has an independent association with CKD progression, hospitalizations, mortality, or falls.

Study Design: Retrospective observational study.

Effects of exercise training with weight loss on skeletal muscle expression of angiogenic factors in overweight and obese older men.

Low skeletal muscle capillarization is associated with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT); however, aerobic exercise training with weight loss (AEX + WL) increases skeletal muscle capillarization and improves glucose tolerance in adults with IGT. Given that the expression of angiogenic growth factors mediates skeletal muscle capillarization, we sought to determine whether angiogenic growth factor levels are associated with low capillarization in those with IGT versus normal glucose tolerance (NGT) or to the benefits of AEX + WL in both groups. Sixteen overweight or obese men 50-75 yr of age completed 6 mo of AEX + WL with oral glucose tolerance tests and vastus lateralis muscle biopsies for measurement of muscle vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), placental growth factor (PlGF), soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase receptor-1 (sFlt-1), and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF).

Circulating microparticle concentrations across acute and chronic cardiovascular disease conditions.

Unlabelled: Concentrations of different circulating microparticles (MPs) may have clinical and physiological relevance to cardiovascular disease pathologies.

Purpose: To quantify plasma concentrations of CD31+/CD42b-, CD62E+, and CD34+ MPs across healthy individuals and those with coronary artery disease (CAD) or acute cardiovascular events (non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI)). Fasted blood was obtained from CAD patients (n = 10), NSTEMI patients (n = 13), and healthy older men (n = 15) 60-75 years old.

Text preprocessing for improving hypoglycemia detection from clinical notes - A case study of patients with diabetes.

Background And Objective: Hypoglycemia is a common safety event when attempting to optimize glycemic control in diabetes (DM). While electronic medical records provide a natural ground for detecting and analyzing hypoglycemia, ICD codes used in the databases may be invalid, insensitive or non-specific in detecting new hypoglycemic events. We developed text preprocessing methods to improve automatic detection of hypoglycemia from analysis of clinical encounter text notes.

Serum IL-6 and sIL-6R in type 2 diabetes contribute to impaired capillary-like network formation.

We hypothesized that the serum from individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) would reduce in vitro capillary-like network formation compared with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) serum and that this would occur along with higher serum concentrations of inflammatory cytokines and lower concentrations of angiogenic growth factors. Subjects were sedentary, older (55-65 yr) adults with NGT, IGT, or T2DM ( = 10/group) matched for body mass index. Human retroviral telomerized endothelial cells (HRVT-ECs) or coronary artery endothelial cells (CECs) were used in a capillary-like network formation assay using endothelial basal medium supplemented with 7.

Type 2 diabetes and older age contribute to elevated plasma microparticle concentrations independent of chronic stroke.

New Findings: What is the central question of this study? What is the effect of chronic stroke on circulating microparticle populations, accounting for potential effects of age and type 2 diabetes? What is the main finding and its importance? Elevated concentrations of CD31 /CD42b and CD62E microparticles appear to be driven by type 2 diabetes but not chronic stroke and are associated with fasting glucose and triglyceride levels. Older age results in elevations in CD62E and CD34 microparticle concentrations. These microparticles have been proposed as potential targets for diagnosing, treating and identifying the clinical progression and complications of type 2 diabetes.

Cognitive Impairment in Non-Dialysis-Dependent CKD and the Transition to Dialysis: Findings From the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) Study.

Background: Advanced chronic kidney disease is associated with elevated risk for cognitive impairment. However, it is not known whether and how cognitive impairment is associated with planning and preparation for end-stage renal disease.

Study Design: Retrospective observational study.

Patterns of NSAIDs Use and Their Association with Other Analgesic Use in CKD.

Background And Objectives: Avoiding nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is important for safe CKD care. This study examined nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use patterns and their association with other analgesic use in CKD.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: The Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study is an observational cohort study that enrolled 3939 adults ages 21-74 years old with CKD between 2003 and 2008 using age-based eGFR inclusion criteria.

Effects of Exercise Training and Weight Loss on Plasma Fetuin-A Levels and Insulin Sensitivity in Overweight Older Men.

Aerobic exercise training and weight loss (AEX+WL) improves insulin sensitivity in overweight adults; however, the underlying pathways are incompletely understood. Fetuin-A, a hepatokine that inhibits insulin signaling, may be involved in the salutary effects of AEX+WL. Therefore, we examined the effects of 6-month AEX+WL on plasma fetuin-A levels (36-48 hours after the last bout of exercise), aerobic capacity (VO), body composition, glucose tolerance, and insulin sensitivity (M) in 16 sedentary, overweight-obese older men (age = 60 ± 2 years, BMI = 31 ± 1 kg/m) with no history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes.

Effects of Weight Loss with and without Exercise on Regional Body Fat Distribution in Postmenopausal Women.

Background/aims: The purpose was to determine whether lifestyle interventions have different effects on regional fat in women with normal glucose tolerance vs. impaired glucose tolerance (NGT vs. IGT).

Elevated Plasma Aβ42 in Cognitively Impaired Individuals Taking ACE Inhibitor Antihypertensives.

Background/rationale: Accumulating evidence suggests that the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-I) medication protects against cognitive decline in the elderly patients. We investigated whether ACE-I use was associated with higher plasma levels of amyloid-β (Aβ), possibly indicating improved Aβ clearance from brain to blood.

Methods: We measured and compared plasma concentrations of Aβ42, Aβ40, and creatinine in cognitively impaired individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment, probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia, and mixed probable AD/vascular dementia.

Dementia Evaluation, Management, and Outreach.

The Dementia Evaluation, Management, and Outreach (DEMO) program improves access and satisfaction for rural patients with cognitive deficits.

Patient-Reported Safety Events in Chronic Kidney Disease Recorded With an Interactive Voice-Inquiry Dial-Response System: Monthly Report Analysis.

Background: Monitoring patient-reported outcomes (PROs) may improve safety of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients.

Objective: Evaluate the performance of an interactive voice-inquiry dial-response system (IVRDS) in detecting CKD-pertinent adverse safety events outside of the clinical environment and compare the incidence of events using the IVDRS to that detected by paper diary.

Methods: This was a 6-month study of Stage III-V CKD patients in the Safe Kidney Care (SKC) study.

Sarcopenia Is Associated With Lower Skeletal Muscle Capillarization and Exercise Capacity in Older Adults.

Background: Skeletal muscle capillary rarefaction limits the transcapillary transport of nutrients and oxygen to muscle and may contribute to sarcopenia and functional impairment in older adults. We tested the hypothesis that skeletal muscle capillarization and exercise capacity (VO2max) are lower in sarcopenic than in nonsarcopenic older adults and that the degree of sarcopenia is related to lower skeletal muscle capillarization.

Methods: Body composition, VO2max, and vastus lateralis capillarization were determined in 76 middle-aged and older men and women (age = 61±1 years, body mass index [BMI] = 30.

Increased Skeletal Muscle Capillarization Independently Enhances Insulin Sensitivity in Older Adults After Exercise Training and Detraining.

Intramuscular signaling and glucose transport mechanisms contribute to improvements in insulin sensitivity after aerobic exercise training. This study tested the hypothesis that increases in skeletal muscle capillary density (CD) also contribute to exercise-induced improvements in whole-body insulin sensitivity (insulin-stimulated glucose uptake per unit plasma insulin [M/I]) independent of other mechanisms. The study design included a 6-month aerobic exercise training period followed by a 2-week detraining period to eliminate short-term effects of exercise on intramuscular signaling and glucose transport.

Cell-based therapy approaches: the hope for incurable diseases.

Cell therapies aim to repair the mechanisms underlying disease initiation and progression, achieved through trophic effect or by cell replacement. Multiple cell types can be utilized in such therapies, including stem, progenitor or primary cells. This review covers the current state of cell therapies designed for the prominent disorders, including cardiovascular, neurological (Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, stroke, spinal cord injury), autoimmune (Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease), ophthalmologic, renal, liver and skeletal (osteoarthritis) diseases.

Aerobic exercise and weight loss reduce vascular markers of inflammation and improve insulin sensitivity in obese women.

Objectives: To examine the relationships between plasma and tissue markers of systemic and vascular inflammation and obesity and insulin resistance and determine the effects of aerobic exercise training plus weight loss (AEX+WL) and weight loss (WL) alone on these biomarkers.

Design: Prospective controlled study.

Setting: Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University research setting.

Increased skeletal muscle capillarization after aerobic exercise training and weight loss improves insulin sensitivity in adults with IGT.

Objective: Transcapillary transport of insulin is one determinant of glucose uptake by skeletal muscle; thus, a reduction in capillary density (CD) may worsen insulin sensitivity. Skeletal muscle CD is lower in older adults with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) compared with those with normal glucose tolerance and may be modifiable through aerobic exercise training and weight loss (AEX+WL). We tested the hypothesis that 6-month AEX+WL would increase CD to improve insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance in older adults with IGT.

Decrease of circulating SAA is correlated with reduction of abdominal SAA secretion during weight loss.

Objective: The study goal was to determine the effect of weight loss (WL) alone and with aerobic exercise (WL + AEX) on serum amyloid A (SAA) levels and adipose SAA secretion from gluteal and abdominal depots.

Methods: Ninety-six overweight or obese postmenopausal women undertook a 6-month WL alone (n = 47) or with AEX training (n = 49) (6 months WL and WL + AEX are considered WL when groups were combined). Their serum SAA levels, body weight, and adipose SAA secretion ex vivo from gluteal and abdominal depot were measured before and after WL interventions.

LifeMap Discovery™: the embryonic development, stem cells, and regenerative medicine research portal.

LifeMap Discovery™ provides investigators with an integrated database of embryonic development, stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. The hand-curated reconstruction of cell ontology with stem cell biology; including molecular, cellular, anatomical and disease-related information, provides efficient and easy-to-use, searchable research tools. The database collates in vivo and in vitro gene expression and guides translation from in vitro data to the clinical utility, and thus can be utilized as a powerful tool for research and discovery in stem cell biology, developmental biology, disease mechanisms and therapeutic discovery.

Olfactory bulb-derived cells seeded on 3D scaffolds exhibit neurotrophic factor expression and pro-angiogenic properties.

Olfactory bulb (OB)-derived cells include fibroblasts, astrocytes, and olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs). OECs are a distinctive type of glia that secrete neurotrophic factors and form myelin sheaths around axons projecting from the olfactory mucosa into the OB of the central nervous system. Their unique properties make them candidates for cell therapy of spinal cord injury (SCI).