Menopause transition is a natural process in a woman’s life associated with altered body fat distribution, increased cardiometabolic risk, and the presentation of vasomotor symptoms including hot flashes and night sweats. A 5-year observational, longitudinal study (MONET: Montreal Ottawa New Emerging Team), was performed to document the effect of menopause transition on body composition and cardiometabolic risk factors. Initially, the study included 102 healthy non-obese premenopausal women between the age of 47 and 55 years. By the end of year 5, 91 women completed the study, 4% were still premenopausal, 29% were perimenopausal and 67% became postmenopausal. The major finding of the first study was that the increases in body fat mass and visceral fat in our cohort of non-obese women followed through the menopause transition were independent of the increase in body weight. Furthermore, these changes in body composition and body fat distribution were not associated with cardiometabolic deteriorations. We further examined whether specific factors such as reporting vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes and/or night sweats), exaggerated exercise systolic blood pressure, physical activity levels and cardiorespiratory fitness, may be associated with adiposity, body fat distribution and cardiometabolic profile. Overall, women that experienced vasomotor symptoms (paper 2) or presented an exaggerated exercise systolic blood pressure (paper 3), did not present any alterations in their body composition, body fat distribution and cardiometabolic profile compared to asymptomatic women and participants with normal blood pressure response to exercise, respectively. Furthermore, exaggerated exercise systolic blood pressure was not predictive of future hypertension after a 5-year follow-up throughout menopause transition. On the other hand, total volume of physical activity was not linked with measures of a cardiometabolic profile, cardiorespiratory fitness appeared to have the greatest cardioprotective effect (paper 4). Therefore, in generally healthy physically active non-obese premenopausal women, the menopause transition does not generally alter cardiometabolic risk factors, and suggests that cardiorespiratory fitness may have greater cardiometabolic protective effects in this cohort.

Doctor Scientiae / In utero exposure to teratogens, increasing urbanization, rapid nutritional transition from poverty to affluence, adoption of a Western-style diet and physical inactivity have contributed to the growing obesity epidemic in the low-income countries. To investigate the associations between in utero exposure to alcohol and nicotine on the growth and development of children aged five years from a low-income setting. These effects will be observed in children aged five years as a reduced pancreas and kidney size, higher aorta and carotid intima thickness as well as higher visceral abdominal adiposity measurements.

OBJECTIVE: The key objective of the present investigation was to compare associations between sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD), waist circumference, and BMI to the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), along with fasting glucose, HbA1c, and HOMA-IR, in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. The study also analyzed the effect of multiple covariates on the anthropometric and glucose metabolism associations. METHODS: A cross-sectional design, including 3,582 subjects, was used. SAD was assessed using an abdominal caliper. All other data were collected following strict NHANES protocol. The OGTT was the primary variable used to index glucose metabolism. Fasting glucose, HbA1c, and HOMA-IR were also evaluated. RESULTS: Mean ± SE values were as follows: SAD: 22.3 ± 0.1 cm; waist circumference: 98.0 ± 0.4 cm; BMI: 28.6 ± 0.2 kg/m2; OGTT: 113.9 ± 1.0 mg/dL; fasting glucose: 99.6 ± 0.3 mg/dL; HbA1c: 5.4 ± 0.01%; HOMA-IR: 3.2 ± 0.1. SAD consistently emerged as the best predictor of all the indices of glucose metabolism, before and after adjusting for the covariates, and with the sample stratified by gender, race, or age. SAD was not a better predictor of OGTT among normal weight adults and non-Hispanic black adults. CONCLUSION: Obesity, especially abdominal obesity, is strongly related to glucose metabolism and type 2 diabetes. In the present study, SAD was the best anthropometric predictor of glucose metabolism, notwithstanding the high correlations among SAD, waist circumference, and BMI. Due to the ease of taking a SAD measurement, we recommend that healthcare providers consider the use of this simple and inexpensive method to more precisely predict diabetes risk, especially among overweight and obese adults.

Title: The effect of cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption on dental caries and periodontitis in adults and the relationship between alcohol intake and visceral fat in the elderly. Objectives: The aim of my master thesis was to assess the influence of alcoholic beverages and cigarette smoking on the risk of dental caries and periodontitis in adults. Another aim was to assess the relationship between alcohol intake and visceral fat in the elderly. Methods: The thesis is carried out as two independent cross-sectional studies. In the first study, gender differences were tested using the non-parametric Kolmogorov- Smirnov test. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to assess the relationship between the amount of alcohol consumed in kg and cigarettes smoked in pcs and the risk of dental caries or periodontitis. In the second study, body composition analysis was performed using the electrical bioimpedance method. Two-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to test the hypotheses. In addition, a dot plot depicting the relationship between the amount of alcohol and visceral fat was created. Results: A total of 18 respondents took part in the first study, a survey. The results showed a high statistically significant correlation between the consumption of alcoholic beverages and the risk of dental...

Hyperlipidemia caused by a diet high in saturated fat can lead to visceral fat weight gain, obesity, and metabolic syndrome. Being over-weight from visceral fat has been linked to increased risk of developing most age-related diseases and disability, along with a lower income potential and quality of life. However, researchers are just beginning to understand the biological mechanisms that regulate the conversion of excess calories into visceral fat storage rather than glycogen or muscle. Epidemiological studies have repeatedly shown a comorbid association between age-related diseases involving hyperlipemia and circulating levels of uric acid, but not a direct association. This study utilized archival data from 31 healthy, middle-aged adults, who participated in a randomized, double-blind, crossover clinical trial on blood markers of lipidemia and inflammation following a high saturated fat (HSF) verses a "healthy" polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) meal. This primary study was conducted and funded by the National Institute on Aging. A secondary analysis of this data using Pearson's correlation with least squares (2-tailed) regression modeling found that when stratified by gender, baseline uric acid level was an independent and significant predictor of the lipemic response from the HSF, but not the PUFA meal. The linear regression plots indicated that males with uric acid levels above 4.5, and females above 3.0 mg/dL, had a progressively increased lipemic response to the HSF meal. The public health utility of this finding may include the clinical use of the gender-specific linear regression plots of uric acid values to identify and advise individuals at risk for hyperlipidemia from a diet high in saturated fats.

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京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(人間健康科学) / 甲第21304号 / 人健博第60号 / 新制||人健||5(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科人間健康科学系専攻 / (主査)教授 古田 真里枝, 教授 藤井 康友, 教授 横出 正之 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Human Health Sciences / Kyoto University / DGAM

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・論文博士 / 博士(医学) / 乙第13233号 / 論医博第2173号 / 新制||医||1036(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 川村 孝, 教授 横出 正之, 教授 福原 俊一 / 学位規則第4条第2項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

No description available.

Insulin sensitivity has been positively correlated with a healthy and extended lifespan, while insulin resistance, decreased insulin sensitivity, has been linked to aging and is the main indicative of type 2 diabetes. Growth Hormone Receptor/ Binding Protein Knockout mice (GHRKO), although obese, are characterized by high insulin sensitivity and a prolonged lifespan. Due to the absence of growth hormone receptors (GHR), growth hormone (GH) is unable to activate its downstream pathway. Interestingly, the secretory activity of visceral fat in GHRKO mice is altered stimulating insulin sensitivity. In this study, we transplanted normal (N) mice with GHRKO visceral fat pads to determine the role of visceral fat developed with the absence of GH signaling on the insulin-signaling pathway in animals with physiologically normal GH action. We found that the visceral fat transplant (VFT) helped the normal mice gain the beneficial effects of fat developed in the absence of GH and caused improvement of their whole body insulin sensitivity when comparing with sham-operated mice and with mice that received visceral fat from N animals. In presented study, RT-PCR was used to determine the levels of hepatic mRNA expression between three experimental groups including Normal-sham mice (N-S), normal mice transplanted with visceral fat from normal animals (N-N), and normal mice receiving visceral fat from GHRKO mice (N-KO). Additionally, Western Blot and ELISA were used to determine the level of total and phosphorylated proteins. By studying the effect of visceral fat transplant from GHRKO or N mice on the whole body insulin signaling in N male mice, and testing different genes expression and proteins quantification, we can shed light on the mechanism by which white adipose tissue (WAT) regulates whole body insulin sensitivity and longevity as well as understanding the role of WATs in development of diabetes and the process behind insulin resistance.