Ceramide Remodeling and Risk of Cardiovascular Events and Mortality.

Background: Recent studies suggest that circulating concentrations of specific ceramide species may be associated with coronary risk and mortality. We sought to determine the relations between the most abundant plasma ceramide species of differing acyl chain lengths and the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and mortality in community-based samples.

Methods And Results: We developed a liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry assay to quantify plasma C24:0, C22:0, and C16:0 ceramides and ratios of these very-long-chain/long-chain ceramides in 2642 FHS (Framingham Heart Study) participants and in 3134 SHIP (Study of Health in Pomerania) participants.

Psychosocial working conditions and diabetes self-management at work: A qualitative study.

Aims: We conducted a qualitative study to expand our current understanding of the potential link between psychosocial working conditions and diabetes self-management at work.

Methods: Thirty employed adults with diabetes mellitus living in Germany (n = 19 with type 1, n = 11 with type 2, 57% female, aged 24-64 years) were recruited. Using a topic guide, we carried out in-depth interviews in face-to-face contact or by telephone.

Metabolic control of type 1 diabetes in youth with autism spectrum disorder: A multicenter Diabetes-Patienten-Verlaufsdokumentation analysis based on 61 749 patients up to 20 years of age.

Background: A paucity of reports in the literature exists concerning the co-existence between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Objective: To compare clinical characteristics, diabetes management and metabolic control in youth with T1D and ASD (T1D-ASD) with youth without ASD (T1D-non ASD).

Methods: Using the German/Austrian diabetes patient follow-up registry, this study analyzed aggregated data from the last available year of observation for each patient with T1D, ages 1-20 with consistent data on insulin regimen and glycated hemoglobin (A1C), between January, 2005 and March, 2017.

Prevalence of renal cysts and association with risk factors in a general population: an MRI-based study.

Purpose: To assess the prevalence and size of renal cysts and to analyze associated risk factors in a general population using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods: Data of 2063 participants (1052 women) of the Study of Health in Pomerania who underwent whole-body MRI were included. Renal cyst prevalence was calculated separately for men and women and for 10-year age groups.

Comprehensive Metabolic Profiling Reveals a Lipid-Rich Fingerprint of Free Thyroxine Far Beyond Classic Parameters.

Objective: Thyroid hormones are ubiquitously involved in human metabolism. However, the precise molecular patterns associated with alterations in thyroid hormones levels remain to be explored in detail. A number of recent studies took great advantage of metabolomics profiling to outline the metabolic actions of thyroid hormones in humans.

Safety of intranasal human insulin: A review.

Aims: To conduct a review in order to assess the safety of intranasal human insulin in clinical studies as well as the temporal stability of nasal insulin sprays.

Material And Methods: An electronic search was performed using MEDLINE. We selected original research on intranasal human insulin without further additives in humans.

Development and Validation of an Ultrasensitive Procalcitonin Sandwich Immunoassay.

Procalcitonin (PCT) is well established as a highly specific biomarker for the detection of bacterial infections and sepsis. However, the currently available diagnostic tests are not able to detect very low or very early increases of PCT or even baseline levels in healthy individuals or patients with non-bacterial infections. In order to be able to detect these very low concentrations of PCT, a sandwich immunoassay was developed using high sensitivity Single Molecule Array technology (Simoa).

Prevalence and correlates of depressive disorders in people with Type 2 diabetes: results from the International Prevalence and Treatment of Diabetes and Depression (INTERPRET-DD) study, a collaborative study carried out in 14 countries.

Aims: To assess the prevalence and management of depressive disorders in people with Type 2 diabetes in different countries.

Methods: People with diabetes aged 18-65 years and treated in outpatient settings were recruited in 14 countries and underwent a psychiatric interview. Participants completed the Patient Health Questionnaire and the Problem Areas in Diabetes scale.

Impact of long-term air pollution exposure on metabolic control in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes: results from the DPV registry.

Aims/hypothesis: Studies on the association between air pollution and metabolic control in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes are rare and findings are inconsistent. We examined the relationship between air pollution variables (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <10 μm [PM], NO and accumulated ozone exposure [O-AOT]) and metabolic variables (HbA and daily insulin dose [U/kg body weight]) in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Methods: We investigated 37,372 individuals with type 1 diabetes aged <21 years, documented between 2009 and 2014 in 344 German centres of the prospective diabetes follow-up registry (Diabetes-Patienten-Verlaufsdokumentation [DPV]).

Pharmacokinetics of metformin in patients with gastrointestinal intolerance.

Aims: To assess potential causes of metformin intolerance, including altered metformin uptake from the intestine, increased anaerobic glucose utilization and subsequent lactate production, altered serotonin uptake, and altered bile acid pool.

Methods: For this pharmacokinetic study, we recruited 10 severely intolerant and 10 tolerant individuals, matched for age, sex and body mass index. A single 500-mg dose of metformin was administered, with blood sampling at 12 time points over 24 hours.

Subclinical changes in MRI-determined right ventricular volumes and function in subjects with prediabetes and diabetes.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess subclinical changes in right ventricular volumes and function in subjects with prediabetes and diabetes and controls without a history of cardiovascular disease.

Methods: Data from 400 participants in the KORA FF4 study without self-reported cardiovascular disease who underwent 3-T whole-body MRI were obtained. The right ventricle was evaluated using the short axis and a four-chamber view.

Neuroprotective Mechanisms of Glucagon-like Peptide-1-based Therapies in Ischaemic Stroke: A Systematic Review based on Pre-Clinical Studies.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1)-based therapies, GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4Is) are widely used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Increasing evidence suggests that they may provide neuroprotection. The aim of this MiniReview was to systematically evaluate the proposed mechanism of action for GLP-1-based therapies in ischaemic brain damage in animals.

Oral contraception in adolescents with type 1 diabetes and its association with cardiovascular risk factors. A multicenter DPV study on 24 011 patients from Germany, Austria or Luxembourg.

Objective: To investigate differences in cardiovascular risk factors and metabolic control in girls with type 1 diabetes with or without use of oral contraceptives (OC) from the multicenter "diabetes prospective follow-up" (DPV) registry.

Methods: Twenty-four thousand eleven adolescent girls (13 to < 18 years of age) from Germany, Austria or Luxembourg with type 1 diabetes from the DPV registry were included in this cross-sectional study. Multivariable regression models were applied to compare clinical characteristics (hemoglobin A1c [HbA1 ], blood pressure, serum lipids, body mass index) and lifestyle factors (smoking, physical inactivity, alcohol consumption) between girls with or without OC use.

Intensive lifestyle modifications with or without liraglutide 3mg vs. sleeve gastrectomy: A three-arm non-randomised, controlled, pilot study.

Background/objectives: As only 1% of clinically eligible subjects choose to undergo surgical treatment for obesity, other options should be investigated. This study aimed to assess the effects of intensive lifestyle modification (ILM) with or without 3-mg liraglutide daily vs. sleeve gastrectomy (SG) on BMI after 1 year.

Modeling Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia and Testing Interventions for Adrenal Insufficiency Using Donor-Specific Reprogrammed Cells.

Adrenal insufficiency is managed by hormone replacement therapy, which is far from optimal; the ability to generate functional steroidogenic cells would offer a unique opportunity for a curative approach to restoring the complex feedback regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Here, we generated human induced steroidogenic cells (hiSCs) from fibroblasts, blood-, and urine-derived cells through forced expression of steroidogenic factor-1 and activation of the PKA and LHRH pathways. hiSCs had ultrastructural features resembling steroid-secreting cells, expressed steroidogenic enzymes, and secreted steroid hormones in response to stimuli.

The association of self-reported diabetes with impaired social functioning in low-, middle- and high-income countries: findings from the World Health Survey.

Aim: Epidemiological studies from high-income countries show that diabetes is associated with impaired social functioning. As healthcare systems in middle- and low-income countries offer fewer resources to curtail the potential social impact of diabetes, we performed a comparative study on the diabetes-social impairment link in low-, middle- and high-income countries.

Methods: We use data from the cross-sectional World Health Survey (n = 235 428 from 10 low-income, 29 middle-income and 9 high-income countries).

Integrative network analysis highlights biological processes underlying GLP-1 stimulated insulin secretion: A DIRECT study.

Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) stimulated insulin secretion has a considerable heritable component as estimated from twin studies, yet few genetic variants influencing this phenotype have been identified. We performed the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) of GLP-1 stimulated insulin secretion in non-diabetic individuals from the Netherlands Twin register (n = 126). This GWAS was enhanced using a tissue-specific protein-protein interaction network approach.

High visceral fat percentage is associated with poor outcome in endometrial cancer.

Despite evidence of increased endometrial cancer (EC) risk in obese women, the impact of obesity on clinical and histological phenotype is poorly understood. This study explored abdominal fat volumes and fat distribution quantified by computed tomography (CT), in relation to tumor characteristics and outcome. 227 EC patients with preoperative abdominal CT scans were included.

Life satisfaction is a protective factor against the onset of Type 2 diabetes in men but not in women: findings from the MONICA/KORA cohort study.

Aims: To investigate the association of high life satisfaction with incident Type 2 diabetes separately in men and women.

Methods: A longitudinal analysis was conducted among the 7107 participants (3664 men, 51.5%; 3443 women, 48.

Does periodontitis affect diabetes incidence and haemoglobin A1c change? An 11-year follow-up study.

Aim: As periodontitis may contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetes, the effects of periodontitis on diabetes incidence and HbA1c change was quantified in a prospective cohort.

Methods: Data from an 11-year follow-up of the Study of Health in Pomerania were analyzed to evaluate the effects of periodontitis on incident diabetes and long-term HbA1c changes in 2047 subjects aged 20-81years. Diabetes was based on self-reported physician diagnoses, antidiabetic medication use, or HbA1c≥6.