Longitudinal study of circulating oxidized LDL and HDL and fatty liver: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study

Oxidative reactions are thought to play a role in the inflammatory condition called fatty liver. It is unclear whether oxidized lipoprotein lipids or proteins are associated with future fatty liver. In the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, we determined the circulating levels of LDL and HDL oxidized lipids and studied their associations with fatty liver assessed by ultrasonography. There were 1286 middle-aged subjects with normal liver and 288 subjects with fatty liver. Analysis of oxidized lipids consisted of conjugated dienes in isolated HDL (oxHDLlipids) and LDL (oxLDLlipids). Oxidized LDL was also measured with a method based on antibodies against oxidized apolipoprotein B (oxLDLprot). After adjustment for age, sex, leisure-time physical activity, body mass index, alcohol intake, smoking, serum LDL and HDL cholesterol as well as particle concentrations, participants with elevated oxLDLlipids (odds ratio for 1-SD change in oxLDLlipids?=?1.27, p?=?0.011) had an increased risk for fatty liver. Similarly, a high oxidation score (oxLDLlipids?+?oxLDLprot) was directly associated with fatty liver (odds ratio=1.34, p?=?0.012). The strongest direct association was seen with a high oxLDLlipids/oxHDLlipids ratio (odds ratio=1.49, p?=?0.001). These data suggest that oxidized lipoprotein lipids are linked with the risk of fatty liver in middle-aged adults.     

Does Future Diabetes Risk Impair Current Quality of Life? A Cross-Sectional Study of Health-Related Quality of Life in Relation to the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC)

Objectives

Present study examines the relationship between the estimated risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We quantify the association between Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) and HRQoL, and examine the potential use of FINDRISC as tool to evaluate HRQoL indirectly.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study comprising 707 Finnish people without a diagnosis of T2D between the ages of 51 and 75 years. The risk of developing T2D was assessed using the validated and widely used FINDRISC (range 0–26 points), and quality of life was measured using two preference-based HRQoL instruments (15D and SF-6D) and one health profile instrument (SF-36). Effects of the individual FINDRISC items and demographic and clinical characteristics, such as co-morbidities, on HRQoL were studied using multivariable Tobit regression models.

Results

Low HRQoL was significantly and directly associated with the estimated risk of developing T2D. An approximate 4–5 point change in FINDRISC score was observed to be associated with clinically noticeable changes in the preference-based instrument HRQoL index scores. The association between HRQoL and the risk of developing T2D was also observed for most dimensions of HRQoL in all applied HRQoL instruments. Overall, old age, lack of physical activity, obesity, and history of high blood glucose were the FINDRISC factors most prominently associated with lower HRQoL.

Conclusions

The findings may help the health care professionals to substantiate the possible improvement in glucose metabolism and HRQoL potentially achieved by lifestyle changes, and better convince people at high risk of T2D to take action towards healthier lifestyle habits. FINDRISC may also provide an accurate proxy for HRQoL, and thus by estimating the risk of T2D with the FINDRISC, information about patients’ HRQoL may also be obtained indirectly, when it is not feasible to use HRQoL instruments.     

Inter- and intraspecific variation in the resistance of winter-dormant birch (Betula spp.) against browsing by the mountain hare

The palatability of saplings of several different species, geographic origins and F₂-families of Betula spp. to the mountain hare was tested in feeding trials with captive and free-ranging animals. Significant variation in the palatability was detected among species and among conspecifics representing different origins and families. The results show that the combination of genetic and environmental factors determines the resistance of individual plants to mammals. Saplings that were stressed by severe competition from surrounding weeds were more resistant than saplings of the same age grown under optimal conditions. One-yr-old seedlings were more resistant than 7-yr-old saplings of the same origin. Some of the exotic species tested were extremely resistant, whereas others were highly palatable. The most resistant species and origins came from Asia and Alaska.     

Virus-Induced Cytoplasmic Membrane Structures Associated with Semliki Forest Virus Infection Studied by the Freeze-Etching Method

Intracellular membrane structures associated with the Semliki Forest virus replication process were studied from freeze-etch replicas. Cleaved membrane structures inside the CPV I type vacuoles lacked the typical membrane particles present on most other fractured membranes. CPV II type vacuoles present in thin sections were obscured in the freeze-etch replicas by the cytoplasmic ground substance.     

Comparison of serum steroid responses to a single injection of hCG in man and rat

The responses of peripheral serum steroids to a single injection of hCG (80 IU/kg b wt) were compared in adult male rats and humans. Before hCG, the quantitatively dominating steroids were dehydroepiandrosterone, testosterone and 17-hydroxypregnenolone in the men, and testosterone and progesterone in the rats. One hour after hCG the concentrations of testosterone and all its precursors measured except for pregnenolone were significantly elevated in the rat serum, whereas a clear rapid response was not observed in the men. Transient blockade of C21 steroid side-chain cleavage was seen in both species at about 24-36 h after hCG, which occurred at the same time as the maximum concentration of estradiol in the men. No changes in rat serum estradiol concentrations were observed. Both species showed a secondary stimulation of testosterone and androstenedione formation at around 3 days. Our findings are compatible with the concept that the main difference in the gonadotropin-stimulated steroidogenesis in man and rat is the magnitude of the rapid steroidogenic response to hCG, which is very small in man and indicates smaller supply or lesser metabolism of mitochondrial cholesterol in human testis.     

Widespread occurrence of calicin, a basic cytoskeletal protein of sperm cells, in diverse mammalian species

A novel cytoskeletal element consisting of dense webs of thin (3-14 nm) filaments surrounding the nucleus of the sperm head has recently been isolated and shown to be associated with certain major basic proteins. Using antibodies specific for calicin, a prominent Mr-60,000 cytoskeletal protein of the posterior calyx of bull sperm heads detected in immunoblotting on gel electrophoretically separated polypeptides as well as in immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy, we show that the same--or an immunologically related--polypeptide occurs in sperm heads of other species with greatly different morphology, including human, boar, guinea pig, hamster, rat and mouse. The calicin localization in the various species is described and discussed in relation to the specific sperm morphology.     

Assessing Phytoplankton and Bacterioplankton Production During Early Spring in Lake Erken, Sweden

The spring development of both phytoplankton and bacterioplankton was investigated between 18 April and 7 May 1983 in mesotrophic Lake Erken, Sweden. By using the lake as a batch culture, our aim was to estimate, via different methods, the production of phytoplankton and bacterioplankton in the lake and to compare these production estimates with the actual increase in phytoplankton and bacterioplankton biomass. The average water temperature was 3.5°C. Of the phytoplankton biomass, >90% was the diatom Stephanodiscus hantzchii var. pusillus, by the peak of the bloom. The ¹⁴C and O₂ methods of estimating primary production gave equivalent results (r = 0.999) with a photosynthetic quotient of 1.63. The theoretical photosynthetic quotient predicted from the C/NO₃ N assimilation ratio was 1.57. The total integrated incorporation of [¹⁴C]bicarbonate into particulate material (>1 μm) was similar to the increase in phytoplankton carbon determined from cell counts. Bacterioplankton increased from 0.5 × 10⁹ to 1.52 × 10⁹ cells liter⁻¹ (~0.5 μg of C liter⁻¹ day⁻¹). Estimates of bacterioplankton production from rates of [³H]thymidine incorporation were ca. 1.2 to 1.7 μg of C liter⁻¹ day⁻¹. Bacterial respiration, measured by a high-precision Winkler technique, was estimated as 4.8 μg of C liter⁻¹ day⁻¹, indicating a bacterial growth yield of 25%. The bulk of the bacterioplankton production was accounted for by algal extracellular products. Gross bacterioplankton production (production plus respiration) was 20% of gross primary production, per square meter of surface area. We found no indication that bacterioplankton production was underestimated by the [³H]thymidine incorporation method.     

Unemployment and mortality among Finnish men, 1981-5.

OBJECTIVE--To ascertain whether, after controlling for several relevant background variables simultaneously, unemployment is related to mortality and to assess whether this relation is causal or whether unhealthy people are more likely to become unemployed. DESIGN--Prospective study of mortality in Finland during 1981-5 based on 1980 census data on 30-54 year old wage earner men and with particular attention to unemployment in the year before the census. SETTING--Research project at the University of Helsinki. SUBJECTS--All wage earner men in Finland aged 30-54 at the 1980 census. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Causes of death during 1981-5 and duration of unemployment in the year before the census. Background variables controlled for were age, socioeconomic state, marital state, and health. The data were analysed by log linear regression models. RESULTS--During the study period 1981-5, which covered almost 2.7 million person years, there were 9810 deaths. After controlling for all background variables relative total mortality among unemployed versus employed men was 1.93 (95% confidence interval 1.82 to 2.05). The excess mortality was highest in accidental and violent causes of death (relative mortality 2.51; 95% confidence interval 2.28 to 2.76). For circulatory diseases the relative death rate was 1.54 (95% confidence interval 1.40 to 1.70), but among neoplasms only lung cancer was associated with excess mortality. Selection for unemployment based on age, socioeconomic state, and marital state was evident but no such selection was detected based on health. Effects of unemployment on mortality were more pronounced with increasing duration of unemployment. CONCLUSIONS--The relative excess mortality of unemployed men in Finland cannot fully be explained by demographic, social, and health variables preceding unemployment. Unemployment therefore seems to have an independent causal effect on male mortality. Further studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms between unemployment and mortality.     

Epithelio-mesenchymal interface and fibronectin in the differentiation of the rat mesonephric and paramesonephric ducts

Abstract. The distribution of fibronectin and the morphological differentiation of the genital ducts was studied in rat fetuses at ages from 15 to 21 days. Fibronectin was localized with the peroxidase-antiperoxidase and avidin-biotin method at the electron- and light-microscope level. In 15-day-old male and female fetuses, fibronectin was localized as a continuous lamella around the mesonephric duct and as a discontinuous lamella around the paramesonephric duct. During the differentiation of the female paramesonephric duct, the fibronectin layer became continuous and remained so after the age of 16 days. The fibronectin layer of the male mesonephric duct remained continuous at all ages. The accumulation of mesenchymal cells on the outer surface of the female mesonephric duct and the concomitant detachment of the fibronectin layer around the duct suggests that mesenchymal regulation plays a role in the regression of the mesonephric duct. In the regressing male paramesonephric duct fibronectin was simultaneously lost in the condensed periductal mesenchyme, the places of epithelio-mesenchymal contact, and the epithelial cytoplasmic protrusions towards the mesenchyme. Ultrastructurally, fibronectin was localized in the basal laminae, on the cell membrane in contact with the extracellular material, and on the surface of the fibrillar and flocculent extracellular material. In addition to auto- and heterophagy, epithelio-mesenchymal interactions seem to play an important role in the regression of the genital ducts, although in different ways in males and females. The present results give additional support to the theory of the possible migration of epithelial cells into the surrounding mesenchyme during the regression of the paramesonephric duct.