Food-Related Brain Activation Measured by fMRI in Adults with Prader-Willi Syndrome.

(1) Background: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is characterized by hyperphagia, resulting in morbid obesity if not controlled. The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether PWS patients show altered activation of brain areas involved in hunger. As a secondary objective, we assessed whether there is an association between these brain areas and several endocrine and metabolic factors in the fasting state.

The relationship between serum IGF-1, handgrip strength, physical performance and falls in elderly men and women.

Objective: Human aging is accompanied by a decrease in growth hormone secretion and serum insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 levels. Also, loss of muscle mass and strength and impairment of physical performance, ending in a state of frailty, are seen in elderly. We aimed to investigate whether handgrip strength, physical performance and recurrent falls are related to serum IGF-1 levels in community-dwelling elderly.

Body composition, adipokines, bone mineral density and bone remodeling markers in relation to IGF-1 levels in adults with Prader-Willi syndrome.

Background: In patients with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) body composition is abnormal and alterations in appetite regulating factors, bone mineral density and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels have been described. Studies in PWS adults are limited. In this study, we investigated body composition, appetite regulating peptides, bone mineral density and markers of bone remodeling in an adult PWS population.

Acute and short-term effects of caloric restriction on metabolic profile and brain activation in obese, postmenopausal women.

Objective: Early anthropometric and metabolic changes during a caloric-restricted diet in obese postmenopausal women and correlations between these factors with activity in brain areas involved in processing of visual food related stimuli were investigated.

Subjects And Methods: An 8-week prospective intervention study of 18 healthy postmenopausal women, with a body mass index of 30-35 kg m. The first 2 weeks subjects were on an isocaloric diet and 4 weeks on a 1000 kcal restricted diet followed by 2 weeks on an isocaloric diet.

Does growth hormone replacement therapy reduce mortality in adults with growth hormone deficiency? Data from the Dutch National Registry of Growth Hormone Treatment in adults.

Context: Adults with GH deficiency (GHD) have a decreased life expectancy. The effect of GH treatment on mortality remains to be established.

Objective: This nationwide cohort study investigates the effect of GH treatment on all-cause and cause-specific mortality and analyzes patient characteristics influencing mortality in GHD adults.

Physical health problems in adults with Prader-Willi syndrome.

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic disorder which is characterized by severe hypotonia and feeding problems in early infancy. In later childhood and adolescence, this is followed by hyperphagia and extreme obesity if the diet is not strictly controlled. Data on physical health problems in adults with PWS are scarce.

The GH/IGF-I axis and pituitary function and size in adults with Prader-Willi syndrome.

Background: In adults with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), limited information is available about pituitary function, more specifically the prevalence of growth hormone deficiency (GHD). The aim of this study was to gain more insight into endocrine function in PWS adults, with emphasis on GH secretion.

Methods: 15 randomly selected adult PWS individuals were included and 14 healthy brothers and sisters served as a control group.

The relationship between IGF-I concentration, cognitive function and quality of life in adults with Prader-Willi syndrome.

Mental retardation is one of the clinical characteristics of Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and in part of the patients growth hormone deficiency is demonstrable. Cognitive function seems to be influenced by insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I); however, little is known about cognitive function in relation to IGF-I levels in PWS adults. The aim of the present study was to evaluate cognitive function in adult PWS patients in comparison to healthy siblings and to investigate whether there is a correlation between cognitive function and IGF-I levels.

Dutch National Registry of GH Treatment in Adults: patient characteristics and diagnostic test procedures.

Objective: The Dutch National Registry of GH Treatment in Adults was established in 1998 as an initiative of the Ministry of Health. The main goals were to gain more insight into long-term efficacy, safety, and costs of GH therapy (GHT) in adult GH-deficient (GHD) patients in The Netherlands.

Methods: Baseline patient characteristics and diagnostic test procedures were evaluated.

The association of serum insulin-like growth factor-I with mortality, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in the elderly: a population-based study.

Context: Numerous studies have investigated the effect of serum IGF-I concentration on aging and different aging-related diseases, e.g. cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer.

Serum insulin-like growth factor-I and body composition in community dwelling older people.

Objectives: The decline in the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-I (GH/IGF-I) axis during normal aging might be involved in the changes in body composition associated with increasing age. We conducted a study to investigate serum IGF-I levels across different age categories and a possible association between serum IGF-I and measurements of body composition in older people.

Design: A cross-sectional analysis of community dwelling older people, which participated in a large longitudinal cohort study (Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam).

Cognition in the adult with childhood-onset GH deficiency.

The GH/IGF1 axis may play an important role in cognitive function. This theory is supported by the finding that both GH and IGF1 receptors are located in several brain areas such as the hippocampus, a brain area that is known to play an essential role in cognitive processes, especially memory and learning. However, the exact mechanism by which the GH/IGF1 axis influences the cognitive functions is still unknown.

Effects of the noradrenergic agonist clonidine on temporal and spatial attention.

Rationale: Recent theories posit an important role for the noradrenergic system in attentional selection in the temporal domain. In contrast, the spatially diffuse topographical projections of the noradrenergic system are inconsistent with a direct role in spatial selection.

Objectives: To test the hypotheses that pharmacological attenuation of central noradrenergic activity should (1) impair performance on the attentional blink task, a task requiring the selection of targets in a rapid serial visual stream of stimuli; and (2) leave intact the efficiency of the search for a target in a two-dimensional visuospatial stimulus array.