Vitamin D Status During Adolescence and the Impact of Lifestyle Changes: 2 Years' Follow-up From the Fit Futures Study.

Context: Longitudinal data regarding vitamin D status in adolescence is scarce. This study presents population-based data from an Arctic adolescent population (n = 589) at 16 and 18 years.

Objective: The aims of this study were to investigate changes in vitamin D status during 2 years in adolescence, and whether lifestyle changes were associated with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (s-25(OH)D) at follow-up.

Effect of standardised surgical assessment and shared decision-making on morbidity and patient satisfaction after breast conserving therapy: A cross-sectional study.

Background: The role of oncoplastic breast conserving therapy (OPBCT) on physical function, morbidity and patient satisfaction has yet to be defined. Additionally, technique selection should be individualised and incorporate patient preference. The study aim was to investigate differences between "standard" (sBCT) and oncoplastic breast conservation (OPBCT) in patient-reported outcomes (PROs) when patients have been assessed in a standardised manner and technique selection has been reached through shared decision-making (SDM).

100 YEARS OF VITAMIN D: Combined hormonal contraceptives and vitamin D metabolism in adolescent girls.

Objective: Combined hormonal contraceptive (CHC) use has been associated with higher total 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels. Here, we investigate the relation between CHC use and vitamin D metabolism to elucidate its clinical interpretation.

Methods: The cross-sectional Fit Futures 1 included 1038 adolescents.

Early identification of MCI converting to AD: a FDG PET study.

Purpose: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a transitional pathological stage between normal ageing (NA) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although subjects with MCI show a decline at different rates, some individuals remain stable or even show an improvement in their cognitive level after some years. We assessed the accuracy of FDG PET in discriminating MCI patients who converted to AD from those who did not.

High dose vitamin D may improve lower urinary tract symptoms in postmenopausal women.

Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are common in postmenopausal women, and have been reported inversely associated with vitamin D intake and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels. The aim of this study was to investigate if high dose vitamin D supplementation would affect LUTS in comparison to standard dose. In a randomized controlled study including 297 postmenopausal women with low bone mineral density, the participants were allocated to receive capsules of 20 000IU of vitamin D twice a week (high dose group) or similar looking placebo (standard dose group).

Progressive Disintegration of Brain Networking from Normal Aging to Alzheimer Disease: Analysis of Independent Components of F-FDG PET Data.

Brain connectivity has been assessed in several neurodegenerative disorders investigating the mutual correlations between predetermined regions or nodes. Selective breakdown of brain networks during progression from normal aging to Alzheimer disease dementia (AD) has also been observed. We implemented independent-component analysis of F-FDG PET data in 5 groups of subjects with cognitive states ranging from normal aging to AD-including mild cognitive impairment (MCI) not converting or converting to AD-to disclose the spatial distribution of the independent components in each cognitive state and their accuracy in discriminating the groups.

Predicting the transition from normal aging to Alzheimer's disease: A statistical mechanistic evaluation of FDG-PET data.

The assessment of the degree of order of brain metabolism by means of a statistical mechanistic approach applied to FDG-PET, allowed us to characterize healthy subjects as well as patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The intensity signals from 24 volumes of interest were submitted to principal component analysis (PCA) giving rise to a major first principal component whose eigenvalue was a reliable cumulative index of order. This index linearly decreased from 77 to 44% going from normal aging to AD patients with intermediate conditions between these values (r=0.

Metabolic spatial connectivity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis as revealed by independent component analysis.

Objectives: Positron emission tomography (PET) and volume of interest (VOI) analysis have recently shown in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) an accuracy of 93% in differentiating patients from controls. The aim of this study was to disclose by spatial independent component analysis (ICA) the brain networks involved in ALS pathological processes and evaluate their discriminative value in separating patients from controls.

Experimental Design: Two hundred fifty-nine ALS patients and 40 age- and sex-matched control subjects underwent brain 18F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose PET (FDG-PET).

Involvement of Subcortical Brain Structures During Olfactory Stimulation in Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) patients usually react to odour compounds and the majority of neuroimaging studies assessed, especially at the cortical level, many olfactory-related correlates. The purpose of the present study was to depict sub-cortical metabolic changes during a neutral (NC) and pure (OC) olfactory stimulation by using a recently validated (18)F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography/computer tomography procedure in 26 MCS and 11 healthy (HC) resting subjects undergoing a battery of clinical tests. Twelve subcortical volumes of interest were identified by the automated anatomical labeling library and normalized to thalamus FDG uptake.

Functional pattern of brain FDG-PET in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Objective: We investigated a large sample of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at rest in order to assess the value of (18)F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose ((18)F-FDG) PET as a biomarker to discriminate patients from controls.

Methods: A total of 195 patients with ALS and 40 controls underwent brain (18)F-FDG-PET, most within 5 months of diagnosis. Spinal and bulbar subgroups of ALS were also investigated.

Cerebellar metabolic involvement and its correlations with clinical parameters in vestibular neuritis.

Although vestibular neuritis (VN) cortical models are described in the literature, there is lack of knowledge regarding the exclusive cerebellar involvement. The aim of the present study was to analyze, by [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET)/computer tomography, regional cerebellar FDG uptake in eight right-handed VN patients (five females; three males; mean age 48 ± 7 years) during the first few days (PET0) and after 1 month (PET1) since symptoms onset. At both phases, patients underwent otoneurological examination and filled in a battery of validated questionnaires.

Vitamin D deficiency and lifestyle risk factors in a Norwegian adolescent population.

Aim: The aim was to study vitamin D status in a healthy adolescent Norwegian population at 69°N.

Methods: The data presented come from The Tromsø Study: Fit Futures, during the school year 2010/2011 (not including the summer months), where 1,038 (92% of those invited) participated. Physical examinations, questionnaires and blood samples were collected, and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) were analyzed using LC-MS/MS.

Towards mapping the brain connectome in depression: functional connectivity by perfusion SPECT.

Several studies have demonstrated altered brain functional connectivity in the resting state in depression. However, no study has investigated interregional networking in patients with persistent depressive disorder (PDD). The aim of this study was to assess differences in brain perfusion distribution and connectivity between large groups of patients and healthy controls.

1H-MRS in spinal cord injury: acute and chronic metabolite alterations in rat brain and lumbar spinal cord.

A variety of tests of sensorimotor function are used to characterize outcome after experimental spinal cord injury (SCI). These tests typically do not provide information about chemical and metabolic processes in the injured CNS. Here, we used (1) H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to monitor long-term and short-term chemical changes in the CNS in vivo following SCI.

High brain lactate is a hallmark of aging and caused by a shift in the lactate dehydrogenase A/B ratio.

At present, there are few means to track symptomatic stages of CNS aging. Thus, although metabolic changes are implicated in mtDNA mutation-driven aging, the manifestations remain unclear. Here, we used normally aging and prematurely aging mtDNA mutator mice to establish a molecular link between mitochondrial dysfunction and abnormal metabolism in the aging process.

Cognitive impairment in the Tg6590 transgenic rat model of Alzheimer's disease.

Recently, interest in the rat as an animal model of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been growing. We have previously described the Tg6590 transgenic rat line expressing the amyloid precursor protein containing the Swedish AD mutation (K670M/N671L) that shows early stages of Abeta deposition, predominantly in cerebrovascular blood vessels, after 15 months of age. Here we show that by the age of 9 months, that is long before the appearance of Abeta deposits, the Tg6590 rats exhibit deficits in the Morris water maze spatial navigation task and altered spontaneous behaviour in the open-field test.

In vivo 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy can detect metabolic changes in APP/PS1 mice after donepezil treatment.

Background: Donepezil improves cognitive functions in AD patients. Effects on the brain metabolites N-acetyl-L-aspartate, choline and myo-inositol levels have been reported in clinical studies using this drug. The APP/PS1 mouse coexpresses the mutated forms of human beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP) and mutated human presenilin 1 (PS1).

Recovery from spinal cord injury differs between rat strains in a major histocompatibility complex-independent manner.

Inflammation is a common characteristic of spinal cord injury. The nature of this response, whether it is beneficial or detrimental, has been the subject of debate. It has been reported that susceptibility to autoimmunity is correlated with increased functional impairment following spinal cord injury.

Age related changes in brain metabolites observed by 1H MRS in APP/PS1 mice.

Translational biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease based on non-invasive in vivo methods are highly warranted. (1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is non-invasive and applicable in vivo in both humans and experimental animals. In vivo(1)H MRS and 3D MRI were performed on brains of double transgenic (tg) mice expressing a double mutant human beta-amyloid precursor protein APP(K670N,M671L) and human mutated presenilin gene PS1M146L, and wild-type (wt) littermates at 2.