Chronic Stress-Related Neural Activity Associates With Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease in a Community-Based Cohort: Data From the Washington, D.C. Cardiovascular Health and Needs Assessment.

Psychosocial stress correlates with cardiovascular (CV) events; however, associations between physiologic measures of stressors and CVD remain incompletely understood, especially in racial/ethnic minority populations in resource-limited neighborhoods. We examined associations between chronic stress-related neural activity, measured by amygdalar Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake, and aortic vascular FDG uptake (arterial inflammation measure) in a community-based cohort. Forty participants from the Washington, DC CV Health and Needs Assessment (DC-CHNA), a study of a predominantly African-American population in resource-limited urban areas and 25 healthy volunteers underwent detailed phenotyping, including FDG PET/CT for assessing amygdalar activity (AmygA), vascular FDG uptake, and hematopoietic (leukopoietic) tissue activity.

Regulation of Hepatic UGT2B15 by Methylation in Adults of Asian Descent.

The hepatic uridine 5'-diphosphate-glucuronosyl transferases (UGTs) are critical for detoxifying endo- and xenobiotics. Since UGTs are also dynamically responsive to endogenous and exogenous stimuli, we examined whether epigenetic DNA methylation can regulate hepatic UGT expression and differential effects of ethnicity, obesity, and sex. The methylation status of UGT isoforms was determined with Illumina Methylation 450 BeadChip arrays, with genotyping confirmed by sequencing and gene expression confirmed with quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (q-RT-PCR).

The Effects of Obesity on Drug Metabolism in Children.

Obesity in children is a significant clinical concern. There are many anecdotes and case studies regarding specific reactions of obese children to medications including therapeutic failure, adverse drug reactions and/or requirements for higher weight-adjusted dosing. There isis, however, a lack of basic and clinical data dissecting the mechanisms of these effects on pharmaceutical efficacy and safety.

Health disparities in the Native Hawaiian homeless.

While it is well accepted that Native Hawaiians have poor health statistics compared to other ethnic groups in Hawaii, it is not well documented if these disparities persist when comparing Native Hawaiian homeless individuals to the general homeless population. This paper examines the Native Hawaiian homeless population living in three shelters on the island of Oahu, to determine if there are significant differences in the frequency of diseases between the Native Hawaiian and non-Native Hawaiian homeless. A retrospective data collection was performed using records from the Hawaii Homeless Outreach and Medical Education (H.