Vitamin D Is Associated with Lipid Metabolism: A Sex- and Age-Dependent Analysis of a Large Outpatient Cohort.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble steroid that influences cardiovascular health by affecting lipid metabolism. Since dyslipidemia is a key risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), our study aimed to explore the relationship between vitamin D levels and lipid parameters, considering the effects of age and gender. : In this cross-sectional study of 47,778 outpatients, we analyzed correlations between two forms of vitamin D-25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)D)-and lipid parameters, including low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and total cholesterol (TC).

Exploring the impact of diabetes on aging: insights from TERT and COL1A1 methylation.

Background/aim: Aging, a multifaceted biological process, leads to diminished physical performance, especially in older adults with diabetes, where a mismatch between biological and chronological age is noticeable. Numerous studies have demonstrated that diabetes accelerates aging at the cellular and organ levels. Notable aging markers are telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), related to telomere length, and type 1 chain collagen (COL1A1), a key component of skin collagen.

Target Values for 25-Hydroxy and 1,25-Dihydroxy Vitamin D Based on Their Associations with Inflammation and Calcium-Phosphate Metabolism.

Target values for 25-hydroxy vitamin D and 1,25(OH)D or 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D remain a topic of debate among clinicians. We analysed data collected from December 2012 to April 2020 from two cohorts. Cohort A, comprising 455,062 subjects, was used to investigate the relationship between inflammatory indicators (white blood cell [WBC] count and C-reactive protein [CRP]) and 25(OH)D/1,25(OH)D.

Renoprotective effects of empagliflozin in high-fat diet-induced obesity-related glomerulopathy by regulation of gut-kidney axis.

The increasing prevalence of obesity-related glomerulopathy (ORG) poses a significant threat to public health. Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors effectively reduce body weight and total fat mass in individuals with obesity and halt the progression of ORG. However, the underlying mechanisms of their reno-protective effects in ORG remain unclear.

Periostin Predicts All-Cause Mortality in Male but Not Female End-Stage Renal Disease Patients on Hemodialysis.

Introduction: Periostin is a matricellular protein. Elevated serum concentrations of periostin have been reported in patients with various cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure. Patients with end-stage renal disease have a substantially increased risk for cardiovascular diseases.

Associations of bisphenol A exposure with metabolic syndrome and its components: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Mounting evidence shows that bisphenol A (BPA) is associated with metabolic risk factors. The aim of this study was to review related epidemiologic studies and conduct a meta-analysis to quantitatively estimate the association between BPA and metabolic syndrome. Four electronic databases were systematically searched to identify suitable articles.

Impact of Angiopoietin-2 on Kidney Diseases.

Background: Angiopoietins (Ang) are essential angiogenic factors involved in angiogenesis, vascular maturation, and inflammation. The most studied angiopoietins, angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) and angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2), behave antagonistically to each other in vivo to sustain vascular endothelium homeostasis. While Ang-1 typically acts as the endothelium-protective mediator, its context-dependent antagonist Ang-2 can promote endothelium permeability and vascular destabilization, hence contributing to a poor outcome in vascular diseases via endothelial injury, vascular dysfunction, and microinflammation.

Parental sex-dependent effects of either maternal or paternal eNOS deficiency on the offspring's phenotype without transmission of the parental eNOS deficiency to the offspring.

Preclinical animal studies and clinical studies indicate that both maternal as well as paternal genetic alterations/gene defects might affect the phenotype of the next-generation without transmissions of the affected gene. Currently, the question of whether the same genetic defect present in the mother or father leads to a similar phenotype in the offspring remains insufficiently elucidated. In this head-to-head study, we crossbred female and male mice with heterozygous endothelial eNOS knockout (eNOS+/-) with male and female wild-type (wt) mice, respectively.

AT receptor agonist LP2 restores respiratory function in a rat model of bleomycin-induced lung remodelling.

This study aimed to evaluate the prophylactic and therapeutic potential of angiotensin II type 2 receptor peptide agonist LP2 in bleomycin-induced airway and cardiac remodeling in rats. Male Wistar rats were intratracheally instillated with bleomycin. Animals of a prophylactic arm received LP2 from day 0 at intraperitoneal doses of 1, 3 or 10 μg/kg/d, whereas animals from a therapeutic arm received this LP2 treatment from day 7.

Renoprotective effects of empagliflozin are linked to activation of the tubuloglomerular feedback mechanism and blunting of the complement system.

The mechanisms of nephroprotection in nondiabetic chronic kidney disease (CKD) models by sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are not well defined. Five groups were established: sham-operated rats, placebo-treated rats with 5/6 nephrectomy (5/6Nx), 5/6Nx + telmisartan (5 mg/kg/day), 5/6Nx + empagliflozin (3 mg/kg/day), and 5/6Nx + empagliflozin (15 mg/kg/day). Treatment duration was 95 days.

Association of BMAL1 clock gene polymorphisms with fasting glucose in children.

Background: The brain and muscle Arnt-like protein-1 (BMAL1) gene is an important circadian clock gene and previous studies have found that certain polymorphisms are associated with type 2 diabetes in adults. However, it remains unknown if such polymorphisms can affect fasting glucose in children and if other factors modify the associations.

Methods: A school-based cross-sectional study with 947 Chinese children was conducted.

Empagliflozin reduces kidney fibrosis and improves kidney function by alternative macrophage activation in rats with 5/6-nephrectomy.

Background: Sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors originally developed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes are clinically very effective drugs halting chronic kidney disease progression. The underlying mechanisms are, however, not fully understood.

Methods: We generated single-cell transcriptomes of kidneys from rats with 5/6 nephrectomy before and after SGLT2 inhibitors treatment by single-cell RNA sequencing.

25(OH)VitD and human endocrine and functional fertility parameters in women undergoing IVF/ICSI.

Background: Vitamin D plays an important role in reproduction. Evidence shown that free 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)VitD) was more accurate than total 25(OH)VitD in reflecting the status of 25(OH)VitD during pregnancy. However, the relationship between free 25(OH)VitD and female fertility parameters has not been reported yet.

Risk factors associated with preterm birth after IVF/ICSI.

In vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) is associated with an increased risk of preterm (33rd-37th gestational week) and early preterm birth (20th-32nd gestational week). The underlying general and procedure related risk factors are not well understood so far. 4328 infertile women undergoing IVF/ICSI were entered into this study.

Paternal eNOS deficiency in mice affects glucose homeostasis and liver glycogen in male offspring without inheritance of eNOS deficiency itself.

Aims/hypothesis: It was shown that maternal endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) deficiency causes fatty liver disease and numerically lower fasting glucose in female wild-type offspring, suggesting that parental genetic variants may influence the offspring's phenotype via epigenetic modifications in the offspring despite the absence of a primary genetic defect. The aim of the current study was to analyse whether paternal eNOS deficiency may cause the same phenotype as seen with maternal eNOS deficiency.

Methods: Heterozygous (+/-) male eNOS (Nos3) knockout mice or wild-type male mice were bred with female wild-type mice.

Early life exposure to the Chinese Famine of 1959 - 1961 is an independent risk factor of adulthood elevated homocysteine, hyperuricemia, high LDL, and hypertension.

Famine exposure in early life was associated with cardiovascular diseases in later life. Whether biochemical surrogates of cardiovascular diseases, such as homocysteine and uric acid, are also associated with famine exposure is unknown so far. Data were derived from a population-based cross-sectional study in the Hunan Province of China, which was heavily affected by the Famine in 1959 - 1961.

Association between placental global DNA methylation and blood pressure during human pregnancy.

Objective: Gene-specific placental DNA methylation patterns differ between normal pregnancies and pregnancies complicated by hypertension. However, whether global placental DNA methylation is associated with maternal blood pressure remains controversial.

Methods: Using multiple linear regression models, we analysed the association between maternal mean arterial pressure (MAP) at the third trimester of pregnancy and global DNA methylation in the placenta in 922 mothers using LC-ESI-MS/MS.

High-Salt Diet in the Pre- and Postweaning Periods Leads to Amygdala Oxidative Stress and Changes in Locomotion and Anxiety-Like Behaviors of Male Wistar Rats.

High-salt (HS) diets have recently been linked to oxidative stress in the brain, a fact that may be a precursor to behavioral changes, such as those involving anxiety-like behavior. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has evaluated the amygdala redox status after consuming a HS diet in the pre- or postweaning periods. This study aimed to evaluate the amygdala redox status and anxiety-like behaviors in adulthood, after inclusion of HS diet in two periods: preconception, gestation, and lactation (preweaning); and only after weaning (postweaning).

Overweight and obesity in pregnancy: their impact on epigenetics.

Over the last few decades, the prevalence of obesity has risen to epidemic proportions worldwide. Consequently, the number of obesity in pregnancy has risen drastically. Gestational overweight and obesity are associated with impaired outcomes for mother and child.

Being Born Large for Gestational Age is Associated with Increased Global Placental DNA Methylation.

Being born small (SGA) or large for gestational age (LGA) is associated with adverse birth outcomes and metabolic diseases in later life of the offspring. It is known that aberrations in growth during gestation are related to altered placental function. Placental function is regulated by epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation.

Impact of maternal smoking associated lyso-phosphatidylcholine 20:3 on offspring brain development.

Maternal smoking during pregnancy affects fetal neurological development. Metabolomic studies in the general population suggest that smoking is associated with characteristic metabolic alterations. We investigated the association between the maternal smoking status, the fetal metabolome and head circumference at birth, as a surrogate parameter of brain development.

Low birth weight, a risk factor for diseases in later life, is a surrogate of insulin resistance at birth.

: Low birth weight (LBW) is associated with diseases in adulthood. The birthweight attributed risk is independent of confounding such as gestational age, sex of the newborn but also social factors. The birthweight attributed risk for diseases in later life holds for the whole spectrum of birthweight.

Mechanisms of GLP-1 receptor-independent renoprotective effects of the dipeptidyl peptidase type 4 inhibitor linagliptin in GLP-1 receptor knockout mice with 5/6 nephrectomy.

Dipeptidyl peptidase type 4 (DPP-4) inhibitors were reported to have beneficial effects in experimental models of chronic kidney disease. The underlying mechanisms are not completely understood. However, these effects could be mediated via the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1)/GLP-1 receptor (GLP1R) pathway.

Folate treatment of pregnant rat dams abolishes metabolic effects in female offspring induced by a paternal pre-conception unhealthy diet.

Aims/hypothesis: Paternal high-fat diet prior to mating programmes impaired glucose tolerance in female offspring. We examined whether the metabolic consequences in offspring could be abolished by folate treatment of either the male rats before mating or the corresponding female rats during pregnancy.

Methods: Male F0 rats were fed either control diet or high-fat, high-sucrose and high-salt diet (HFSSD), with or without folate, before mating.