Physical activity and metabolic syndrome severity among older adults at cardiovascular risk: 1-Year trends.

Background And Aims: Modifiable lifestyle factors, such as physical activity (PA) and Mediterranean diet (MD), decrease metabolic syndrome (MetS). The aim was to assess 1-year changes of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), sedentary behavior, and diet quality according to MetS severity in older population at high cardiovascular risk.

Methods And Results: Prospective analysis of 55-75-year-old 4359 overweight/obese participants with MetS (PREDIMED-Plus trial) categorized in tertiles according to 1-year changes of a validated MetS severity score (MetSSS).

Association between dairy product consumption and hyperuricemia in an elderly population with metabolic syndrome.

Background And Aims: The prevalence of hyperuricemia has increased substantially in recent decades. It has been suggested that it is an independent risk factor for weight gain, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, metabolic syndrome (MetS), and cardiovascular disease. Results from epidemiological studies conducted in different study populations have suggested that high consumption of dairy products is associated with a lower risk of developing hyperuricemia.

Elevated circulating levels of succinate in human obesity are linked to specific gut microbiota.

Gut microbiota-related metabolites are potential clinical biomarkers for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Circulating succinate, a metabolite produced by both microbiota and the host, is increased in hypertension, ischemic heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. We aimed to analyze systemic levels of succinate in obesity, a major risk factor for CVD, and its relationship with gut microbiome.

Molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium spp. in children from Mexico.

Cryptosporidiosis is a parasitic disease caused by Cryptosporidium spp. In immunocompetent individuals, it usually causes an acute and self-limited diarrhea; in infants, infection with Cryptosporidium spp. can cause malnutrition and growth retardation, and declined cognitive ability.

Changes in oxidative stress and insulin resistance in morbidly obese patients after bariatric surgery.

Background: The prevalence of morbid obesity has seen an increase in developed countries over recent years. Bariatric surgery is almost the only effective strategy for treating super morbidly obese patients. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of bariatric surgery on the evolution of the main variables related to diabetes and obesity, especially insulin resistance, parameters of oxidative stress, and inflammatory markers in the early stage after surgery.

Inverse relation between FASN expression in human adipose tissue and the insulin resistance level.

Background: Adipose tissue is a key regulator of energy balance playing an active role in lipid storage and may be a dynamic buffer to control fatty acid flux. Just like PPARgamma, fatty acid synthesis enzymes such as FASN have been implicated in almost all aspects of human metabolic alterations such as obesity, insulin resistance or dyslipemia. The aim of this work is to investigate how FASN and PPARgamma expression in human adipose tissue is related to carbohydrate metabolism dysfunction and obesity.

VEGF gene expression in adult human thymus fat: a correlative study with hypoxic induced factor and cyclooxygenase-2.

Unlabelled: It is well known that the adult human thymus degenerates into fat tissue; however, it has never been considered as a potential source of angiogenic factors. Recently, we have described that this fat (TAT) produces angiogenic factors and induces human endothelial cell proliferation and migration, indicating its potential angiogenic properties.

Design: Adult thymus fat and subcutaneous adipose tissue specimens were obtained from 28 patients undergoing cardiac surgery, making this tissue readily available as a prime source of adipose tissue.

PPARgamma mRNA expression is reduced in peripheral blood mononuclear cells after fat overload in patients with metabolic syndrome.

PPARgamma is a transcriptional regulator of metabolism; its activity can be modulated by direct binding of dietary lipids. The most prevalent human PPARgamma gene variant, Ala12, is associated with postprandial hypertriglyceridemia in patients with metabolic syndrome, although the mechanism whereby this polymorphism affects lipid homeostasis remains to be fully determined. Using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), we studied the effect of the Pro12 and Ala12 polymorphisms on mRNA expression of PPARgamma and nuclear factor kappa B genes before and 3 and 4 h after fat overload.

A rapid ethnographic study of breastfeeding in the North and South of Italy.

Background: The past ten years have witnessed a rising trend in the prevalence and duration of breastfeeding in Italy, but breastfeeding rates increase in an unequal way; they are higher in the North of Italy than in the South. The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences, expectations and beliefs of a sample of mothers, and to identify differences, if any, between the North and the South of Italy.

Methods: The study was conducted in two regions of Italy, Friuli Venezia Giulia in the Northeast and Basilicata in the South.

Activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha and -gamma in auricular tissue from heart failure patients.

Objective: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), key transcriptional regulators of lipid and energy metabolism in cardiomyocytes, have recently been proposed to modulate cardiovascular pathophysiological responses in experimental models. However, there is little information about the functional activity of PPARs in human heart failure.

Aims: To investigate PPAR-alpha and -gamma expression and activity, and the association with ET-1 production and fibrosis, in cardiac biopsies from patients with end-stage heart failure due to ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) in comparison and from non-failing donor hearts.