Investigators in the Chicago Healthy Aging Study (CHAS) reexamined 1,395 surviving participants aged 65-84 years (28% women) from the Chicago Heart Association Detection Project in Industry (CHA) 1967-1973 cohort whose cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk profiles were originally ascertained at ages 25-44 years. CHAS investigators reexamined 421 participants who were low-risk ...

OBJECTIVES: To assess the association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and hemoglobin levels in older adults. DESIGN: The Invecchiare in Chianti (InCHIANTI) Study, a cohort study with a 6-year follow-up. SETTING: Tuscany, Italy. PARTICIPANTS: Adults aged 65 and older (N = 1,036). MEASUREMENTS: MetS was diagnosed according to the National Cholesterol Education Program ...

Abnormal lipid metabolism has been linked to age-related macular degeneration (AMD); choroidal neovascularization in late AMD commonly causes blindness. Sene et al. (2013) now demonstrate that in aged macrophages decreased ABCA1 expression, regulated by liver X receptor and miR-33, impairs export of intracellular cholesterol, which promotes neovascular AMD.

Pathologic angiogenesis mediated by abnormally polarized macrophages plays a central role in common age-associated diseases such as atherosclerosis, cancer, and macular degeneration. Here we demonstrate that abnormal polarization in older macrophages is caused by programmatic changes that lead to reduced expression of ATP binding cassette transporter ABCA1. Downregulation of ABCA1 ...

Abstract Purpose: To investigate the possible association between the matrix metalloproteinase 2 (-1306C>T) (rs 243865) and tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinase 2 (-418 G>C) (rs 8179090) polymorphisms and the risk of age-related macular degeneration. Methods: This case-controlled prospective study included 144 age-related macular degeneration patients and 172 control subjects. All ...

Objective To investigate the association of MK2 gene with low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-Α) between different gender in Xinjiang Uygur population. Methods A total of 350 Uygur males and 595 females were recruited randomly from Hetian area. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (44890c/t, rs 45514798) in ...

To examine the relationship between sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) and the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in pre-elderly and elderly men in China. A cross-sectional study was done among 437 men, aged 45 to 94 years old. Early morning fasting sera were assayed for total testosterone (TT), SHBG and other biochemical markers. ...

In many developing countries overweight, obesity and obesity-related morbidity are becoming a problem of increasing importance. Obese individuals are more likely to have elevated total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and decreased high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. To determine the prevalence of obesity using the measure of body ...

BackgroundAccumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in the human body might engender arterial stiffening. We investigated the relationship of plasma AGE concentration with arterial stiffness and wave reflections in a Chinese population.MethodsThe study subjects were recruited from a newly established residential area in the suburb of Shanghai in 2009. ...

Background/objective:The study was carried out to assess the relationship between nut consumption and lipid profile among Iranian adults.Subject/methods:The study was based on data from the Isfahan Healthy Heart Program across three counties in central Iran in 2007. A cross-sectional survey of 9660 randomly selected adults aged 19 years were chosen ...

Glycemic and lipidic profiles might be influenced by several factors. The influence of the age group in the most extensively evaluated lipidic and glycemic parameters is more or less well-accepted. To verify this empirical notion, 996 human subjects aged between 21 and 90 years from different localities were characterized according ...

In clinical practice Body Mass Index is generally used to evaluate overweight status in adults. The present multicenter study examines whether Body Mass Index (BMI), age- and gender-adjusted Body Mass Index Standard Deviation Score, or calculated %body fat is a better predictor for cardiovascular disease risk factors, specifically hypertension and ...

Background/objectives:Body fatness and heart disease risk factors can differ considerably between ethnities for a given body mass index (BMI). Information is lacking on differences between various Caucasian populations within Europe. The aim was to investigate the differences in anthropometrics and risk factors between adults from Iceland, Spain and Ireland.Subject/methods:This was ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Obesity in infancy and adolescence has acquired epidemic dimensions worldwide and is considered a risk factor for a number of disorders that can manifest at an early age, such as Metabolic Syndrome (MS). In this study, we evaluated overweight, obese, and extremely obese adolescents for the presence of ...

Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women worldwide. Little is known about gender-based differences in lipid goal attainment during secondary prevention of coronary artery disease. We conducted this study to analyze gender differences in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol target attainment in secondary prevention after ...

ObjectiveTo determine the role of cardiovascular disease (CVD) markers, lipids and C-reactive protein, in age-related hearing loss over time.Study DesignProspective cohort study.SettingResearch laboratories at an academic medical center.Subjects and MethodsIn total, 837 older adults (mean age 67.5 years) were included. Primary dependent variables were pure-tone thresholds (pure-tone average [PTA]), including ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: High LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) and glucose levels are risk factors for ischemic heart disease (IHD) in middle-aged diabetic individuals; however, the risk among the elderly, especially the very elderly, is not well known. The aim of this study was to identify factors that predict IHD and cerebrovascular attack (CVA) ...

High cholesterol levels are associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. Understanding the distribution of serum cholesterol levels in each country is valuable index for use in public health planning. This study aimed to construct nomograms of total cholesterol (TC) levels and establish the cut-points specific to ...

Purpose: Although obesity has been associated with imbalances in cardiac autonomic nervous system, it is unclear whether there are differential relationships between adiposity measures and heart rate variability (HRV) measures. We aimed to examine differences in the relationship between adiposity measures and HRV indices in a healthy Korean population. Materials ...

The exclusion of participants with invalid accelerometry data (IAD) may lead to biased results and/or lack of generalizability in large population studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether demographic, behavioral, and biological differences occur between those with IAD and valid accelerometry data (VAD) among adults using a ...

Mutation in SCARB1 gene, exon 8 rs5888, has been associated with altered lipid levels and cardiovascular risk in humans though the results have been inconsistent. We analysed the impact of SCARB1 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs5888 with plasma lipid profile and association with coronary artery disease (CAD) in a Lithuanian ...

Multidisciplinary intervention is an alternative for the treatment of children and adolescent obese. However, the influence of age and menarcheal status in the pattern of metabolic response of obese girls has not been investigated. The following study examined the effects of a 12-week multidisciplinary intervention on metabolic health in overweight ...

Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a measure of arterial stiffness and its increase with ageing has been associated with damage to cerebral microvessels and cognitive impairment. This study examined the relationship between carotid-femoral PWV and specific domains of cognitive function in a non-demented elderly sample. Data were drawn from the ...

PLA2G7 gene product is a secreted enzyme whose activity is associated with coronary heart disease (CHD). The goal of our study is to investigate the contribution of PLA2G7 promoter DNA methylation to the risk of CHD. Using the bisulphite pyrosequencing technology, PLA2G7 methylation was measured among 36 CHD cases and ...

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients present elevated advanced glycation end products (AGEs) blood levels. AGEs promote inflammation through binding to their receptor (RAGE), located on the membrane of mesangial cells, endothelial cells and macrophages. Several genetic polymorphisms influence RAGE transcription, expression and activity, including the substitution of a thymine with ...

BACKGROUND Hypertension (HTN) is associated with coronary artery calcification (CAC). We hypothesized that preexisting CAC is associated with the development of HTN. METHODS This study included 483 normotensive subjects (mean age 54 years, 83% males) who underwent a baseline evaluation of their CAC score with ungated dual-section computed tomography during ...

Background. The prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing and represents a primary health concern. Body composition evaluation is rarely performed in overweight/obese subjects, and the diagnosis is almost always achieved just considering body mass index (BMI). In fact, whereas BMI can be considered an important tool in epidemiological surveys, ...

Background:  The effect of age on hair properties was previously investigated with Caucasian and Japanese women, however, little is known of the age-related characteristic features of hair in Korean women Objectives:  This study aimed to determine the aging features of Korean women's hair by examining physical and biological factors with ...

Abstract The usefulness of urinary hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) as an oxidative stress biomarker was evaluated in 766 healthy Japanese people. The mean level of urinary concentrations of H(2)O(2) was 5.66 ± 8.27 μmol/g creatinine, and was significantly higher in females than that in males. Significant correlations of H(2)O(2) were observed ...

PURPOSE: To compare the prevalence and risk factors for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in 2 Indian populations, 1 living in urban Singapore and 1 in rural central India. DESIGN: Population-based, cross-sectional studies of Indians aged 40+ years. METHODS: Our analysis included 3337 Singapore-residing participants and 3422 India-residing participants. All participants ...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between sex hormones and metabolic syndrome independent of age and BMI in Korean men. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a cross-sectional study with data from a health promotion center during the period from March 2007 to February 2010. 2172 Korean ...

BACKGROUND:Metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) in children and adolescence is increasing worldwide; however, its pattern may be different between Asians and Americans. We compare the prevalence and patterns of MetSyn between American and Korean children and adolescents between roughly 1998 and 2007.METHODS:Data from the American and Korean versions of the NHANES (NHANES ...

This study examined changes in body mass index (BMI), fasting blood sugar (FBS), total cholesterol (TC) and HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels over a 24-year follow-up period in a pediatric cohort. An appropriate starting age for intervention to prevent cardiovascular diseases is still unclear. The subjects were 655 children, aged 10-12. A ...

OBJECTIVE: As little is known about relationship between acylation stimulating protein (ASP) and oxidative stress, whether there is any link between ASP and oxidative stress in young obese males were investigated. DESIGN AND METHODS: Forty-five obese (median body mass index (BMI) = 36.99 (IQR = 3.65) kg m(-2) ) male ...

BACKGROUND: Lipid standards in Italy are lacking in children and adolescents whereas those for blood pressure (BP) were derived from US surveys. METHODS: In a 14-town community in Southern Italy 1657 (64%) of 2594 children aged 6-14years were enrolled and anthropometric, BP, lipid and glucose serum levels were obtained. RESULTS: ...

BACKGROUND: Over the past two decades, China has experienced a dramatic increase in methamphetamine (MA) abuse. This study examined gender-specific socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of MA use among Han Chinese, which has previously received little systematic study. METHODS: This analysis described MA-related socio-demographic and clinical characteristics in a broad cross-sectional ...

The SORT1 locus was originally identified by genome-wide association studies of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in adults. Although the effect sizes of this locus are relatively small, we hypothesized that a younger population would show a greater genetic effect because of fewer confounding variables. As such, we investigated the association ...

Canadians currently experience elevated rates of chronic conditions compared with past populations, and ethnic differences in the experience of select chronic conditions have previously been identified. This investigation examined the prevalence of select chronic conditions among an ethnically diverse convenience sample of British Columbian adults. A sample of adults (≥18 ...

The aim of this study was to examine sex-specific relationships between insulin resistance (IR) and bone mineral content (BMC) according to age group and weight status. A population-based sample of 618 Korean adolescents (315 male and 303 female), aged 10-19 years from the Fourth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, ...

The role of apolipoprotein E (apoE) polymorphisms in regulating blood pressure (BP) is still not clear. The aim of this study was to examine longitudinal changes in BP levels by apoE genotypes in a population-based prospective cohort of elderly subjects, and explore interactions with plasma lipids and uric acid. Subjects ...

Oxidized LDLs (ox.LDLs) uptake by macrophages inside the arterial wall is a crucial step in atherosclerotic disease, and some studies suggest that high ox.LDLs plasma levels might be associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, whether high ox.LDLs continue to be a CVD risk factors in older persons is unknown. We ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Global demographic changes have stimulated marked interest in the process of ageing. There has been, and will continue to be, an unrelenting rise in the number of the oldest old ( >85 years of age). Together with an ageing population there comes an increase in the prevalence of ...

Background: Conflicting data are reported on the association between mild thyroid failure and lipid profile, primarily regarding serum triglyceride values and patients with slightly elevated thyrotropin (TSH, <10 mIU/L). In this study, we assessed the possible influence of gender and age on this relationship. Methods: The study included 2308 consecutive patients ...

BACKGROUND: Premature atrial contractions (PACs) are independent predictors of atrial fibrillation, stroke and death. However, little is known about PAC frequency in the general population and its association with other cardiovascular risk factors. METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed a cross-sectional analysis among participants of the population-based Swiss cohort Study on ...

Paediatric reference intervals based on samples from healthy children are difficult to establish and consequently data are often from hospitalized children. Furthermore, biases may present in published data due to differences in the analytical methods employed. Blood samples from 1429 healthy Danish children were collected for establishing reference intervals for ...

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Since using LDL level alone is insufficient as a method to identify individuals with incident coronary artery disease (CAD), other factors may be implicated in the pathogenesis of CAD. Additionally, controversy still remains regarding whether there is an age-related increase in circulating cytokines in healthy individuals. We ...

The objective of this study was to use a nationwide epidemiological survey to investigate the factors that affect within-visit blood pressure (BP) variability. We analyzed the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHNES) data for 2005 (n=5488). We examined three within-visit BP variability parameters that include the following: the ...

A total of 32 slender lorises (Loris tardigradus) kept in captivity were investigated postmortem. In five adult lorises (4 females, 1 male), the gallbladder contained either one gallstone or multiple gallstones. Except for one 5-yr-old female, the affected individuals were between 11 and 13 yr of age. All of the ...

Objectives. To investigate the possible long-term effects of metformin exposure on growth and development of the offspring born to mothers with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The drug passes through the placenta and can potentially influence the fetus. Patients and methods. This is a follow-up study of a randomized, controlled trial ...

OBJECTIVE: Hyperinsulinaemia is an important determinant of the polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). In addition to lifestyle measures, therapeutic strategies include use of estrogen-progesterone combination pills (EP), and insulin sensitizers such as metformin, either alone or in combination. Data are limited regarding the impact of metformin alone versus metformin with EP ...