Dysregulation of Angiopoietins Is Associated with Placental Malaria and Low Birth Weight

Background

Placental malaria (PM) is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes including low birth weight (LBW). However, the precise mechanisms by which PM induces LBW are poorly defined. Based on the essential role of angiopoietin (ANG)-1 and -2 in normal placental vascular development, we hypothesized that PM may result in the dysregulation of angiopoietins and thereby contribute to LBW outcomes.

Methods and Findings

In a mouse model of PM, we show that Plasmodium berghei ANKA infection of pregnant mice resulted in dysregulated angiopoietin levels and fetal growth restriction. PM lead to decreased ANG-1, increased ANG-2, and an elevated ratio of ANG-2/ANG-1 in the placenta and the serum. These observations were extended to malaria-exposed pregnant women: In a study of primigravid women prospectively followed over the course of pregnancy, Plasmodium falciparum infection was associated with a decrease in maternal plasma ANG-1 levels (P = 0.031) and an increase in the ANG-2:ANG-1 ratio (P = 0.048). ANG-1 levels recovered with successful treatment of peripheral parasitemia (P = 0.010). In a cross-sectional study of primigravidae at delivery, angiopoietin dysregulation was associated with PM (P = 0.002) and LBW (P = 0.041). Women with PM who delivered LBW infants had increased ANG-2:ANG-1 ratios (P = 0.002) compared to uninfected women delivering normal birth weight infants.

Conclusions

These data support the hypothesis that dysregulation of angiopoietins is associated with PM and LBW outcomes, and suggest that ANG-1 and ANG-2 levels may be clinically informative biomarkers to identify P. falciparum-infected mothers at risk of LBW deliveries.     

Maternal Cadmium Levels during Pregnancy Associated with Lower Birth Weight in Infants in a North Carolina Cohort

Cadmium (Cd) is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant, a known carcinogen, and understudied as a developmental toxicant. In the present study, we examined the relationships between Cd levels during pregnancy and infant birth outcomes in a prospective pregnancy cohort in Durham, North Carolina. The study participants (n = 1027) had a mean Cd level of 0.46 µg/L with a range of <0.08 to 2.52 µg/L. Multivariable models were used to establish relationships between blood Cd tertiles and fetal growth parameters, namely birth weight, low birth weight, birth weight percentile by gestational age, small for gestational age, pre-term birth, length, and head circumference. In multivariable models, high maternal blood Cd levels (≥0.50 µg/L) during pregnancy were inversely associated with birth weight percentile by gestational age (p = 0.007) and associated with increased odds of infants being born small for gestational age (p<0.001). These observed effects were independent of cotinine-defined smoking status. The results from this study provide further evidence of health risks associated with early life exposure to Cd among a large pregnancy cohort.     

Alanine Aminotransferase Is Associated with an Adverse Nocturnal Blood Glucose Profile in Individuals with Normal Glucose Regulation

Objective

Although the association between alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels and risk of type 2 diabetes is well-studied, the effects of slightly increased ALT levels within the normal range on the temporal normal glucose profile remains poorly understood.

Methods

A total of 322 Chinese subjects without impaired glucose tolerance or previous diagnoses of diabetes were recruited for study from 10 hospitals in urban areas across China. All subjects wore a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system for three consecutive days. The diurnal (06∶00–20∶00) and nocturnal (20∶00–06∶00) mean blood glucose (MBG) levels were calculated. Subjects were stratified by ALT quartile level and correlation analyses were performed.

Results

The median ALT level was 17 IU/L, and subjects with ALT ≥17 IU/L had higher nocturnal MBG level than those with ALT <17 IU/L (P<0.05). Nocturnal MBG was positively correlated with ALT levels (Pearson correlation analysis: r = 0.187, P = 0.001), and the correlation remained significant after correction for the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) (r = 0.105, P = 0.041). No correlations were found between diurnal MBG and ALT, and nocturnal or diurnal MBG and aspartate aminotransferase or gamma-glutamyltransferase (all, P>0.05). Multivariate stepwise regression analysis of elevated nocturnal MBG identified increased HOMA-IR, elevated ALT levels, and decreased homeostatic model assessment of ß-cell function as independent factors (all, P<0.05).

Conclusions

Mildly elevated ALT levels, within the normal range, are associated with unfavorable nocturnal glucose profiles in Chinese subjects with normal glucose regulation.     

Intervillous Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor Is Associated with Adverse Birth Outcomes in a Study Population in Central India

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a pluripotent factor produced by a variety of cells. It plays an important biological role in the regulation of pregnancy and has been shown to influence malaria pathogenesis. In this study, the levels of MIF in the peripheral, cord and placental intervillous blood (IVB) plasma collected from women residing in a malaria endemic region of Central India was determined and its association with malaria in pregnancy and birth outcomes was investigated. MIF levels were significantly different in IVB, peripheral, and cord plasma, with IVB plasma having the highest MIF levels and peripheral plasma having the lowest. Placental malaria positive women had significantly higher IVB plasma MIF levels than placental malaria negative women, but this relationship was not seen in peripheral or cord plasma MIF levels. In addition, the odds of stillbirth and low birth weight deliveries for the uppermost placental MIF quartile (irrespective of placental malaria status) was significantly higher than that of the lowest placental MIF quartile, supporting the hypothesis that elevated concentrations of placental MIF may be associated with an increased risk of adverse birth outcome.     

Normal Weight Obesity Is Associated with Metabolic Syndrome and Insulin Resistance in Young Adults from a Middle-Income Country

Objective

This population-based birth cohort study examined whether normal weight obesity is associated with metabolic disorders in young adults in a middle-income country undergoing rapid nutrition transition.

Design and Methods

The sample involved 1,222 males and females from the 1978/79 Ribeirão Preto birth cohort, Brazil, aged 23–25 years. NWO was defined as body mass index (BMI) within the normal range (18.5–24.9 kg/m²) and the sum of subscapular and triceps skinfolds above the sex-specific 90th percentiles of the study sample. It was also defined as normal BMI and % BF (body fat) >23% in men and >30% in women. Insulin resistance (IR), insulin sensitivity and secretion were based on the Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA) model.

Results

In logistic models, after adjusting for age, sex and skin colour, NWO was significantly associated with Metabolic Syndrome (MS) according to the Joint Interim Statement (JIS) definition (Odds Ratio OR = 6.83; 95% Confidence Interval CI 2.84–16.47). NWO was also associated with HOMA2-IR (OR = 3.81; 95%CI 1.57–9.28), low insulin sensitivity (OR = 3.89; 95%CI 2.39–6.33), and high insulin secretion (OR = 2.17; 95%CI 1.24–3.80). Significant associations between NWO and some components of the MS were also detected: high waist circumference (OR = 8.46; 95%CI 5.09–14.04), low High Density Lipoprotein cholesterol (OR = 1.65; 95%CI 1.11–2.47) and high triglyceride levels (OR = 1.93; 95%CI 1.02–3.64). Most estimates changed little after further adjustment for early and adult life variables.

Conclusions

NWO was associated with MS and IR, suggesting that clinical assessment of excess body fat in normal-BMI individuals should begin early in life even in middle-income countries.     

The CFTR Met 470 Allele Is Associated with Lower Birth Rates in Fertile Men from a Population Isolate

Although little is known about the role of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) gene in reproductive physiology, numerous variants in this gene have been implicated in etiology of male infertility due to congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens (CBAVD). Here, we studied the fertility effects of three CBAVD–associated CFTR polymorphisms, the (TG)m and polyT repeat polymorphisms in intron 8 and Met470Val in exon 10, in healthy men of European descent. Homozygosity for the Met470 allele was associated with lower birth rates, defined as the number of births per year of marriage (P = 0.0029). The Met470Val locus explained 4.36% of the phenotypic variance in birth rate, and men homozygous for the Met470 allele had 0.56 fewer children on average compared to Val470 carrier men. The derived Val470 allele occurs at high frequencies in non-African populations (allele frequency  = 0.51 in HapMap CEU), whereas it is very rare in African population (Fst  = 0.43 between HapMap CEU and YRI). In addition, haplotypes bearing Val470 show a lack of genetic diversity and are thus longer than haplotypes bearing Met470 (measured by an integrated haplotype score [iHS] of −1.93 in HapMap CEU). The fraction of SNPs in the HapMap Phase2 data set with more extreme Fst and iHS measures is 0.003, consistent with a selective sweep outside of Africa. The fertility advantage conferred by Val470 relative to Met470 may provide a selective mechanism for these population genetic observations.     

Metabolomics Reveals Dynamic Metabolic Changes Associated with Age in Early Childhood

Objectives

A detailed understanding of the metabolic processes governing rapid growth in early life is still lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate the age-related metabolic changes in healthy children throughout early childhood.

Methods

Healthy children from a birth cohort were enrolled in this study from birth through 4 years of age. Urinary metabolites were assessed at 6 months, and 1, 2, 3, and 4 yr of age by using ¹H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy coupled with multivariate statistical analysis including principal components analysis (PCA) and partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Metabolic pathway analysis was performed using the MetPA web tool.

Results

A total of 105 urine samples from 30 healthy children were collected and analyzed. Metabolites contributing to the discrimination between age groups were identified by using supervised PLS-DA (Q² = 0.60; R² = 0.66). A significantly higher urinary trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) and betaine level was found in children aged 6 months. Urinary glycine and glutamine levels declined significantly after 6 months of age and there was a concomitant compensatory increase in urinary creatine and creatinine. Metabolic pathway analysis using MetPA revealed similar nitrogen metabolism associated energy production across all ages assessed. Pathways associated with amino acid metabolism were significantly different between infants aged 6 months and 1 year, whereas pathways associated with carbohydrate metabolism were significantly different between children at ages 2 and 3 years.

Conclusions

Urine metabolomics ideally represents dynamic metabolic changes across age. Urinary metabolic profiles change significantly within the first year of life, which can potentially provide crucial information about infant nutrition and growth.     

Increasing Maternal Age Is Associated with Taller Stature and Reduced Abdominal Fat in Their Children

Background

Maternal age at childbirth continues to increase worldwide. We aimed to assess whether increasing maternal age is associated with changes in childhood height, body composition, and metabolism.

Methods

277 healthy pre-pubertal children, born 37–41 weeks gestation were studied. Assessments included: height and weight corrected for parental measurements, DEXA-derived body composition, fasting lipids, glucose, insulin, and hormonal profiles. Subjects were separated according to maternal age at childbirth: <30, 30–35, and >35 years.

Results

Our cohort consisted of 126 girls and 151 boys, aged 7.4±2.2 years (range 3–10); maternal age at childbirth was 33.3±4.7 years (range 19–44). Children of mothers aged >35 and 30–35 years at childbirth were taller than children of mothers aged <30 years by 0.26 (p = 0.002) and 0.23 (p = 0.042) SDS, respectively. There was a reduction in childhood BMISDS with increasing maternal age at childbirth, and children of mothers aged >35 years at childbirth were 0.61 SDS slimmer than those of mothers <30 years (p = 0.049). Children of mothers aged 30–35 (p = 0.022) and >35 (p = 0.036) years at childbirth had abdominal adiposity reduced by 10% and 13%, respectively, compared to those in the <30 group. Children of mothers aged 30–35 years at childbirth displayed a 19% increase in IGF-I concentrations compared to offspring in <30 group (p = 0.042). Conversely, IGF-II concentrations were lower among the children born to mothers aged 30–35 (6.5%; p = 0.004) and >35 (8.1%; p = 0.005) compared to those of mothers aged <30 years. Girls of mothers aged 30–35 years at childbirth also displayed improved HOMA-IR insulin sensitivity (p = 0.010) compared to girls born to mothers aged <30 years.

Conclusions

Increasing maternal age at childbirth is associated with a more favourable phenotype (taller stature and reduced abdominal fat) in their children, as well as improved insulin sensitivity in girls.     

Obesity Is Associated with Lower Coronary Microvascular Density

Background

Obesity is associated with diastolic dysfunction, lower maximal myocardial blood flow, impaired myocardial metabolism and increased risk of heart failure. We examined the association between obesity, left ventricular filling pressure and myocardial structure.

Methods

We performed histological analysis of non-ischemic myocardium from 57 patients (46 men and 11 women) undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery who did not have previous cardiac surgery, myocardial infarction, heart failure, atrial fibrillation or loop diuretic therapy.

Results

Non-obese (body mass index, BMI, ≤30 kg/m², n=33) and obese patients (BMI >30 kg/m², n=24) did not differ with respect to myocardial total, interstitial or perivascular fibrosis, arteriolar dimensions, or cardiomyocyte width. Obese patients had lower capillary length density (1145±239, mean±SD, vs. 1371±333 mm/mm³, P=0.007) and higher diffusion radius (16.9±1.5 vs. 15.6±2.0 μm, P=0.012), in comparison with non-obese patients. However, the diffusion radius/cardiomyocyte width ratio of obese patients (0.73±0.11 μm/μm) was not significantly different from that of non-obese patients (0.71±0.11 μm/μm), suggesting that differences in cardiomyocyte width explained in part the differences in capillary length density and diffusion radius between non-obese and obese patients. Increased BMI was associated with increased pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP, P<0.0001), and lower capillary length density was associated with both increased BMI (P=0.043) and increased PCWP (P=0.016).

Conclusions

Obesity and its accompanying increase in left ventricular filling pressure were associated with lower coronary microvascular density, which may contribute to the lower maximal myocardial blood flow, impaired myocardial metabolism, diastolic dysfunction and higher risk of heart failure in obese individuals.     

Body Size at Birth Is Associated with Food and Nutrient Intake in Adulthood

Background

Small body size at birth is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Dietary habits are tightly linked with these disorders, but the association between body size at birth and adult diet has been little studied. We examined the association between body size at birth and intake of foods and macronutrients in adulthood.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We studied 1797 participants, aged 56 to 70, of the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study, whose birth weight and length were recorded. Preterm births were excluded. During a clinical study, diet was assessed with a validated food-frequency questionnaire. A linear regression model adjusted for potential confounders was used to assess the associations. Intake of fruits and berries was 13.26 g (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.56, 25.96) higher per 1 kg/m³ increase in ponderal index (PI) at birth, and 83.16 g (95% CI: 17.76, 148.56) higher per 1 kg higher birth weight. One unit higher PI at birth was associated with 0.14% of energy (E%) lower intake of fat (95% CI: -0.26, -0.03) and 0.18 E% higher intake of carbohydrates (95% CI: 0.04, 0.32) as well as 0.08 E% higher sucrose (95% CI: 0.00, 0.15), 0.05 E% higher fructose (95% CI: 0.01, 0.09), and 0.18 g higher fiber (95% CI: 0.02, 0.34) intake in adulthood. Similar associations were observed between birth weight and macronutrient intake.

Conclusions

Prenatal growth may modify later life food and macronutrient intake. Altered dietary habits could potentially explain an increased risk of chronic disease in individuals born with small body size.     

Low Birth Weight Is Strongly Associated with the Risk of Deep Infiltrating Endometriosis: Results of a 743 Case-Control Study

The influence of intrauterine environment on the risk of endometriosis is still controversial. Whether birth weight modifies the risk of endometriosis in adulthood remains an open question. For this purpose, we designed a case-control study involving 743 women operated on for benign gynecological indications from January 2004 to December 2011. Study group included 368 patients with histologically proven endometriosis: 54 superficial endometriosis (SUP), 79 endometriomas (OMA) and 235 deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE). Control group included 375 patients without endometriosis as surgically checked. Mean birth weights were compared between patients and controls, according to endometriosis groups and rAFS stages. Mean birth weight was significantly lower for patients with endometriosis as compared to controls (3,119g ± 614 and 3,251g ± 557 respectively; p = 0.002). When compared to controls, patients with DIE had the lowest birth weight with a highly significant difference (3,103g ± 620, p = 0.002). In univariate analysis, patients with low birth weight (LBW), defined as a BW < 2,500g, had a higher risk of endometriosis, especially DIE, as compared to the reference group (OR = 1.5, 95%CI: 1.0-2.3 and OR = 1.7, 95%CI: 1.0-2.7, respectively). Multivariate analysis, adjusted on ethnicity and smoking status, showed the persistence of a significant association between endometriosis and LBW with a slight increase in the magnitude of the association (aOR = 1.7, 95%CI: 1.0-2.6 for endometriosis, aOR = 1.8; 95%CI: 1.1-2.9 for DIE). In conclusion, LBW is independently associated with the risk of endometriosis in our population. Among patients with LBW, the risk is almost two-times higher to develop DIE. This association could reflect common signaling pathways between endometriosis and fetal growth regulation. There is also the possibility of a role played by placental insufficiency on the development of the neonate’s pelvis and the occurrence of neonatal uterine bleeding that could have consequences on the risk of severe endometriosis.     

Myelination Is Associated with Processing Speed in Early Childhood: Preliminary Insights

Processing speed is an important contributor to working memory performance and fluid intelligence in young children. Myelinated white matter plays a central role in brain messaging, and likely mediates processing speed, but little is known about the relationship between myelination and processing speed in young children. In the present study, processing speed was measured through inspection times, and myelin volume fraction (VF_M) was quantified using a multicomponent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) approach in 2- to 5-years of age. Both inspection times and VF_M were found to increase with age. Greater VF_M in the right and left occipital lobes, the body of the corpus callosum, and the right cerebellum was significantly associated with shorter inspection times, after controlling for age. A hierarchical regression showed that VF_M in the left occipital lobe predicted inspection times over and beyond the effects of age and the VF_M in the other brain regions. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that myelin supports processing speed in early childhood.     

Metabolic Syndrome Is Associated with Increased Oxo-Nitrative Stress and Asthma-Like Changes in Lungs

Epidemiological studies have shown an increased obesity-related risk of asthma. In support, obese mice develop airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR). However, it remains unclear whether the increased risk is a consequence of obesity, adipogenic diet, or the metabolic syndrome (MetS). Altered L-arginine and nitric oxide (NO) metabolism is a common feature between asthma and metabolic syndrome that appears independent of body mass. Increased asthma risk resulting from such metabolic changes would have important consequences in global health. Since high-sugar diets can induce MetS, without necessarily causing obesity, studies of their effect on arginine/NO metabolism and airway function could clarify this aspect. We investigated whether normal-weight mice with MetS, due to high-fructose diet, had dysfunctional arginine/NO metabolism and features of asthma. Mice were fed chow-diet, high-fat-diet, or high-fructose-diet for 18 weeks. Only the high-fat-diet group developed obesity or adiposity. Hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycaemia, and hyperlipidaemia were common to both high-fat-diet and high-fructose-diet groups and the high-fructose-diet group additionally developed hypertension. At 18 weeks, airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) could be seen in obese high-fat-diet mice as well as non-obese high-fructose-diet mice, when compared to standard chow-diet mice. No inflammatory cell infiltrate or goblet cell metaplasia was seen in either high-fat-diet or high-fructose-diet mice. Exhaled NO was reduced in both these groups. This reduction in exhaled NO correlated with reduced arginine bioavailability in lungs. In summary, mice with normal weight but metabolic obesity show reduced arginine bioavailability, reduced NO production, and asthma-like features. Reduced NO related bronchodilation and increased oxo-nitrosative stress may contribute to the pathogenesis.     

Whole Blood Gene Expression Profile Associated with Spontaneous Preterm Birth in Women with Threatened Preterm Labor

Threatened preterm labor (TPTL) is defined as persistent premature uterine contractions between 20 and 37 weeks of gestation and is the most common condition that requires hospitalization during pregnancy. Most of these TPTL women continue their pregnancies to term while only an estimated 5% will deliver a premature baby within ten days. The aim of this work was to study differential whole blood gene expression associated with spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) within 48 hours of hospital admission. Peripheral blood was collected at point of hospital admission from 154 women with TPTL before any medical treatment. Microarrays were utilized to investigate differential whole blood gene expression between TPTL women who did (n = 48) or did not have a sPTB (n = 106) within 48 hours of admission. Total leukocyte and neutrophil counts were significantly higher (35% and 41% respectively) in women who had sPTB than women who did not deliver within 48 hours (p<0.001). Fetal fibronectin (fFN) test was performed on 62 women. There was no difference in the urine, vaginal and placental microbiology and histopathology reports between the two groups of women. There were 469 significant differentially expressed genes (FDR<0.05); 28 differentially expressed genes were chosen for microarray validation using qRT-PCR and 20 out of 28 genes were successfully validated (p<0.05). An optimal random forest classifier model to predict sPTB was achieved using the top nine differentially expressed genes coupled with peripheral clinical blood data (sensitivity 70.8%, specificity 75.5%). These differentially expressed genes may further elucidate the underlying mechanisms of sPTB and pave the way for future systems biology studies to predict sPTB.     

Adherent Use of Digital Health Trackers Is Associated with Weight Loss

We study the association between weight fluctuation and activity tracking in an on-line population of thousands of individuals using digital health trackers (1,749 ≤ N ≤ 14,411, depending on the activity tracker considered) with millions of recorded activities (119,292 ≤ N ≤ 2,221,382) over the years 2013–2015. In a first between-subject analysis, we found a positive association between activity tracking frequency and weight loss. Users who log food with moderate frequency lost an additional 0.63% (CI [0.55, 0.72]; p < .001) of their body weight per month relative to low frequency loggers. Frequent workout loggers lost an additional 0.38% (CI [0.20, 0.56]; p < .001) and frequent weight loggers lost an additional 0.40% (CI [0.33, 0.47]; p < .001) as compared to infrequent loggers. In a subsequent within-subject analysis on a subset of the population (799 ≤ N ≤ 6,052) with sufficient longitudinal data, we used fixed effect models to explore the temporal relationship between a change in tracking adherence and weight change. We found that for the same individual, weight loss is significantly higher during periods of high adherence to tracking vs. periods of low adherence: +2.74% of body weight lost per month (CI [2.68, 2.81]; p < .001) during adherent weight tracking, +1.35% per month (CI [1.26, 1.43]; p < .001) during adherent food tracking, and +0.60% per month (CI [0.44, 0.76]; p < .001) during adherent workout tracking. The findings suggest that adherence to activity tracking can be utilized as a convenient real-time predictor of weight fluctuations, enabling large-scale, personalized intervention strategies.     

Cigarette Smoking Is Associated with a Lower Prevalence of Newly Diagnosed Diabetes Screened by OGTT than Non-Smoking in Chinese Men with Normal Weight

Different studies have produced conflicting results regarding the association between smoking and diabetes mellitus, and detailed analysis of this issue in Chinese males based on nationwide samples is lacking. We explored the association between cigarette smoking and newly-diagnosed diabetes mellitus (NDM) in Chinese males using a population-based case-control analysis; 16,286 male participants without previously diagnosed diabetes were included. Prediabetes and NDM were diagnosed using the oral glucose tolerance test. The cohort included 6,913 non-smokers (42.4%), 1,479 ex-smokers (9.1%) and 7,894 current smokers (48.5%). Age-adjusted glucose concentrations (mmol/L) were significantly lower at fasting and 120 min in current smokers than non-smokers (5.25 vs. 5.30, 6.46 vs. 6.55, respectively, both P < 0.01). After adjustment for demographic and behavioral variables (age, region, alcohol consumption status, physical activity, education, and family history of diabetes), logistic regression revealed significant negative associations between smoking and NDM in males of a normal weight (BMI < 25 kg/m²: adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.75, P = 0.007; waist circumference < 90 cm: AOR = 0.71, P = 0.001) and males living in southern China (AOR = 0.75, P = 0.009), but not in males who were overweight/obese, males with central obesity, or males living in northern China. Compared to non-smokers, current smokers were less likely to be centrally obese or have elevated BP (AOR: 0.82 and 0.74, both P < 0.05), and heavy smokers (≥ 20 pack-years) were less likely to have elevated TG (AOR = 0.84, P = 0.012) among males of a normal weight. There were no significant associations between quitting smoking and metabolic disorders either among males of a normal weight or males who were overweight/obese. In conclusion, smokers have a lower likelihood of NDM than non-smokers among Chinese males with a lower BMI/smaller waist.     

Perceived Stress at Work Is Associated with Lower Levels of DHEA-S

Background

It is known that long-term psychosocial stress may cause or contribute to different diseases and symptoms and accelerate aging. One of the consequences of prolonged psychosocial stress may be a negative effect on the levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulphated metabolite dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-S). The aim of this study is to investigate whether levels of DHEA and DHEA-S differ in individuals who report perceived stress at work compared to individuals who report no perceived stress at work.

Methods

Morning fasting DHEA-S and DHEA levels were measured in serum in a non-stressed group (n = 40) and a stressed group (n = 41). DHEA and DHEA-S levels were compared between the groups using ANCOVA, controlling for age.

Results

The mean DHEA-S levels were 23% lower in the subjects who reported stress at work compared to the non-stressed group. Statistical analysis (ANCOVA) showed a significant difference in DHEA-S levels between the groups (p = 0.010). There was no difference in DHEA level between the groups.

Conclusions

This study indicates that stressed individual have markedly lower levels of DHEA-S. Given the important and beneficial functions of DHEA and DHEA-S, lower levels of DHEA-S may constitute one link between psychosocial stress, ill health and accelerated ageing.