Obesity--new threat to Croatian longevity

The aim of this study was to examine the association of weight gain and life expectancy at birth in Croatia. Mean body mass index was based on the data from the Croatian Adult Health Survey 2003. Birth rate and mortality data needed for life expectancy calculation were supplied by the Central Bureau of Statistics. The results suggest that the increase in mean body mass index value (1.31 kg m(-2) for women and 1.41 kg m(-2) for men) will shorten life expectancy at birth for one year. Obesity, if unchecked, might have a negative effect on life expectancy in Croatia. Despite widespread knowledge about how to reduce the severity of the problem, observed trends in obesity in Croatia continue to worsen. These trends threaten to diminish the health and life expectancy of current and future generations.     

Five-year cumulative incidence of obesity in adults in Croatia: the CroHort study

The objective of this paper was to evaluate the 5-year incidence of obesity on a sample of 3229 adults and investigate the potential effect of several sociodemographic and lifestyle habits on weight change and obesity incidence in these individuals. The average annual rate of increase in the prevalence of obese adults between 2003 and 2008 was 10.60% for men and 11.08% for women. Analysis showed that development of obesity in 5-year period in women in Croatia is significantly positively associated with frequent consumption of "hidden" fats of animal origin and significantly negative with each higher education level. No significant predictor of obesity has been found in men. Obesity remains a serious health problem for the Croatian population; the alarming rates of excess body weight continue to increase. Preventive measures should urgently be undertaken.     

Increase in short-chain ceramides correlates with an altered lipid organization and decreased barrier function in atopic eczema patients

A hallmark of atopic eczema (AE) is skin barrier dysfunction. Lipids in the stratum corneum (SC), primarily ceramides, fatty acids, and cholesterol, are crucial for the barrier function, but their role in relation to AE is indistinct. Filaggrin is an epithelial barrier protein with a central role in the pathogenesis of AE. Nevertheless, the precise causes of AE-associated barrier dysfunction are largely unknown. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of ceramide composition and lipid organization in nonlesional SC of AE patients and control subjects was performed by means of mass spectrometry, infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. In addition, the skin barrier and clinical state of the disease were examined. The level of ceramides with an extreme short chain length is drastically increased in SC of AE patients, which leads to an aberrant lipid organization and a decreased skin barrier function. Changes in SC lipid properties correlate with disease severity but are independent of filaggrin mutations. We demonstrate for the first time that changes in ceramide chain length and lipid organization are directly correlated with the skin barrier defects in nonlesional skin of AE patients. We envisage that these insights will provide a new therapeutic entry in therapy and prevention of AE.     

B-type natriuretic peptide predicts new-onset atrial fibrillation in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction treated by primary percutaneous coronary intervention

The predictive value of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) with respect to the occurrence of new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated by primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether BNP has a predictive value for the occurrence of new-onset AF in patients with STEMI treated by primary PCI. In 180 patients with STEMI treated by primary PCI, BNP concentrations were measured 24h after chest pain onset. The Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis was performed to identify the most useful BNP cut-off level for the prediction of AF. The patients were divided into the two groups according to calculated cut-off level: high BNP group (BNP≥720 pg/mL, n=33) and low BNP group (BNP<720 pg/mL, n=147). The incidence of AF was 5.0%, and occurred more frequently in high BNP group (7/33, 21.2%) than in low BNP group (2/147, 1.4%), (p<0.001). Patients with high BNP were older (p=0.017), had more often anterior wall infarction (p=0.015), higher Killip class on admission (p=0.038), higher peak troponin I (p=0.002), lower left ventricular ejection fraction (p=0.029) than patients with low BNP. After multivariate adjustment, BNP was an independent predictor of AF (OR 3.70, 95% CI 1.40-9.77, p=0.008). BNP independently predicts the occurrence of new-onset AF in STEMI patients treated by primary PCI.     

Theta oscillations are sensitive to both early and late conflict processing stages: effects of alcohol intoxication

Prior neuroimaging evidence indicates that decision conflict activates medial and lateral prefrontal and parietal cortices. Theoretical accounts of cognitive control highlight anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) as a central node in this network. However, a better understanding of the relative primacy and functional contributions of these areas to decision conflict requires insight into the neural dynamics of successive processing stages including conflict detection, response selection and execution. Moderate alcohol intoxication impairs cognitive control as it interferes with the ability to inhibit dominant, prepotent responses when they are no longer correct. To examine the effects of moderate intoxication on successive processing stages during cognitive control, spatio-temporal changes in total event-related theta power were measured during Stroop-induced conflict. Healthy social drinkers served as their own controls by participating in both alcohol (0.6 g/kg ethanol for men, 0.55 g/kg women) and placebo conditions in a counterbalanced design. Anatomically-constrained magnetoencephalography (aMEG) approach was applied to complex power spectra for theta (4-7 Hz) frequencies. The principal generator of event-related theta power to conflict was estimated to ACC, with contributions from fronto-parietal areas. The ACC was uniquely sensitive to conflict during both early conflict detection, and later response selection and execution stages. Alcohol attenuated theta power to conflict across successive processing stages, suggesting that alcohol-induced deficits in cognitive control may result from theta suppression in the executive network. Slower RTs were associated with attenuated theta power estimated to ACC, indicating that alcohol impairs motor preparation and execution subserved by the ACC. In addition to their relevance for the currently prevailing accounts of cognitive control, our results suggest that alcohol-induced impairment of top-down strategic processing underlies poor self-control and inability to refrain from drinking.     

Trade-Offs in Relative Limb Length among Peruvian Children: Extending the Thrifty Phenotype Hypothesis to Limb Proportions

Background and Methods

Both the concept of ‘brain-sparing’ growth and associations between relative lower limb length, childhood environment and adult disease risk are well established. Furthermore, tibia length is suggested to be particularly plastic under conditions of environmental stress. The mechanisms responsible are uncertain, but three hypotheses may be relevant. The ‘thrifty phenotype’ assumes that some components of growth are selectively sacrificed to preserve more critical outcomes, like the brain. The ‘distal blood flow’ hypothesis assumes that blood nutrients decline with distance from the heart, and hence may affect limbs in relation to basic body geometry. Temperature adaptation predicts a gradient of decreased size along the limbs reflecting decreasing tissue temperature/blood flow. We examined these questions by comparing the size of body segments among Peruvian children born and raised in differentially stressful environments. In a cross-sectional sample of children aged 6 months to 14 years (n = 447) we measured head circumference, head-trunk height, total upper and lower limb lengths, and zeugopod (ulna and tibia) and autopod (hand and foot) lengths.

Results

Highland children (exposed to greater stress) had significantly shorter limbs and zeugopod and autopod elements than lowland children, while differences in head-trunk height were smaller. Zeugopod elements appeared most sensitive to environmental conditions, as they were relatively shorter among highland children than their respective autopod elements.

Discussion

The results suggest that functional traits (hand, foot, and head) may be partially protected at the expense of the tibia and ulna. The results do not fit the predictions of the distal blood flow and temperature adaptation models as explanations for relative limb segment growth under stress conditions. Rather, our data support the extension of the thrifty phenotype hypothesis to limb growth, and suggest that certain elements of limb growth may be sacrificed under tough conditions to buffer more functional traits.     

The application of the 5-choice serial reaction time task for the assessment of visual attentional processes and impulse control in rats

One popular way of measuring visual attentional processes in the rat is using 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT). This paradigm requires subjects to detect brief flashes of light presented in a pseudorandom order in one of five spatial locations over a large number of trials. For this task, the animals are trained for approximately 30-40 daily sessions during which they gradually learn to respond in the appropriate aperture within a certain amount of time. If they fail to respond, respond in the wrong hole or at an inappropriate time, a short period of darkness (time-out) is presented as punishment and no reward is delivered. The 5-CSRTT provides the possibility to test the effects of various neural, pharmacological and behavioral manipulations on discrete and somewhat independent measures of behavioral control, including accuracy of discrimination, impulsivity, perseverative responses and response latencies.