A new automated colorimetric method for measuring total oxidant status.

Malondialdehyde and thiobarbituric acid-reactivity as diagnostic indices of lipid peroxidation and peroxidative tissue injury.

ContextExposure to cardiovascular risk factors during childhood and adolescence
may be associated with the development of atherosclerosis later in life.ObjectiveTo study the relationship between cardiovascular risk factors measured
in childhood and adolescence and common carotid artery intima-media thickness
(IMT), a marker of preclinical atherosclerosis, measured in adulthood.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsPopulation-based, prospective cohort study conducted at 5 centers in
Finland among 2229 white adults aged 24 to 39 years who were examined in childhood
and adolescence at ages 3 to 18 years in 1980 and reexamined 21 years later,
between September 2001 and January 2002.Main Outcome MeasuresAssociation between cardiovascular risk variables (levels of low-density
lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-C], high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C],
and triglycerides; LDL-C/HDL-C ratio; systolic and diastolic blood pressure;
body mass index; smoking) measured in childhood and adulthood and common carotid
artery IMT measured in adulthood.ResultsIn multivariable models adjusted for age and sex, IMT in adulthood was
significantly associated with childhood LDL-C levels (P = .001), systolic blood pressure (P<.001),
body mass index (P = .007), and smoking (P = .02), and with adult systolic blood pressure (P<.001), body mass index (P<.001), and
smoking (P = .004). The number of risk factors measured
in 12- to 18-year-old adolescents, including high levels (ie, extreme age-
and sex-specific 80th percentile) of LDL-C, systolic blood pressure, body
mass index, and cigarette smoking, were directly related to carotid IMT measured
in young adults at ages 33 through 39 years (P<.001
for both men and women), and remained significant after adjustment for contemporaneous
risk variables. The number of risk factors measured at ages 3 to 9 years demonstrated
a weak direct relationship with carotid IMT at ages 24 to 30 years in men
(P = .02) but not in women (P =
.63).ConclusionsRisk factor profile assessed in 12- to 18-year-old adolescents predicts
adult common carotid artery IMT independently of contemporaneous risk factors.
These findings suggest that exposure to cardiovascular risk factors early
in life may induce changes in arteries that contribute to the development
of atherosclerosis.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/articlepdf/197575/joc31081_2277_2283.pdf

Cardiovascular risk factors in childhood and carotid artery intima-media thickness in adulthood: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

https://zaguan.unizar.es/record/60998/files/texto_completo.pdf

Worldwide trends in blood pressure from 1975 to 2015: a pooled analysis of 1479 population-based measurement studies with 19·1 million participants

Among people exposed to major psychological stressors in early life, there are elevated rates of morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases of aging. The most compelling data come from studies of children raised in poverty or maltreated by their parents, who show heightened vulnerability to vascular disease, autoimmune disorders, and premature mortality. These findings raise challenging theoretical questions. How does childhood stress get under the skin, at the molecular level, to affect risk for later diseases? And how does it incubate there, giving rise to diseases several decades later? Here we present a biological embedding model, which attempts to address these questions by synthesizing knowledge across several behavioral and biomedical literatures. This model maintains that childhood stress gets “programmed” into macrophages through epigenetic markings, posttranslational modifications, and tissue remodeling. As a consequence these cells are endowed with proinflammatory tendencies, manifest in exaggerated cytokine responses to challenge and decreased sensitivity to inhibitory hormonal signals. The model goes on to propose that over the life course, these proinflammatory tendencies are exacerbated by behavioral proclivities and hormonal dysregulation, themselves the products of exposure to early stress. Behaviorally, the model posits that childhood stress gives rise to excessive threat vigilance, mistrust of others, poor social relationships, impaired self-regulation, and unhealthy lifestyle choices. Hormonally, early stress confers altered patterns of endocrine and autonomic discharge. This milieu amplifies the proinflammatory environment already instantiated by macrophages. Acting in concert with other exposures and genetic liabilities, the resulting inflammation drives forward pathogenic mechanisms that ultimately foster chronic disease.

Psychological Stress in Childhood and Susceptibility to the Chronic Diseases of Aging: Moving toward a Model of Behavioral and Biological Mechanisms.

Background:Low vitamin D status has been suggested as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Although the epidemiologic evidence is scarce, 2 recent studies have suggested an association. The present study investigated the relation of serum vitamin D with type 2 diabetes incidence using pooled data from

Serum vitamin D and subsequent occurrence of type 2 diabetes.

Rapid immunochemical assays were developed for the determination of apolipoproteins A-1 and B in serum. The methods are based on the measurement of immunoprecipitation at a wavelength of 340 nm. Both assays are easy to perform, their reproducibilities are good (the coefficients of variation for within-run and between-run imprecisions are below 5%), and their correlations with radial immunodiffusion method are high (r=0.96). The effect of storage on native serum specimens was also studied. Apolipoprotein B is stable at least 4 weeks in a refrigerator but in some specimens the level of apolipoprotein A-1 rises nearly 10% during this time. Repeated freezing and thawing, on the other hand, may have a harmful effect, especially on apolipoprotein B. Therefore, use of fresh serum specimens is recommended for both assays. The present method is well suited for routine measurements because it can be easily adapted to most clinical chemistry analysers.

Immunoturbidimetric determination of apolipoproteins A-1 and B in serum.

.


Objectives. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study is an on-going multicentre study of atherosclerosis precursors in Finnish children and young adults. We have collected risk factor data in the 21-year follow-up performed in 2001. The aims of this analysis were to examine the levels, secular trends and east–west difference in risk factors amongst young adults.



Design.  Population based follow-up study.



Subjects.  A total of 2283 participants aged 24–39 years in 2001 (63.5% of the original cohort).



Main outcome measures.  Levels of serum lipids, apolipoproteins, blood pressure and smoking.



Results.  The mean serum total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in 24–39-year-old adults were 5.16, 3.27, 1.29 and 1.34 mmol L−1, respectively. Total cholesterol (5.21 vs. 5.12 mmol L−1, P = 0.046), HDL cholesterol (1.31 vs. 1.28 mmol L−1, P = 0.027), systolic blood pressure (118 vs. 115 mmHg, P < 0.0001) and diastolic blood pressure (72 vs. 70 mmHg, P < 0.0001) were higher in subjects originating from eastern Finland compared with those from western Finland. Significant secular trends between 1986 and 2001 in 24-year-old subjects (n = 783) included an increase in serum triglycerides and body mass index (BMI), a decrease in blood pressure and HDL cholesterol and a modest 5% decrease in total cholesterol levels.



Conclusions.  During the past 15 years, BMI and triglyceride levels have increased in young adults in Finland. At the same time, the reduction in cholesterol concentration has been slow. Consistent with persistent regional differences in cardiovascular morbidity within Finland, our data demonstrate significant differences in the levels of cardiovascular risk factors between subjects originating from eastern and western Finland.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2796.2004.01308.x

The 21‐year follow‐up of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study: risk factor levels, secular trends and east–west difference

The lipoprotein components were studied in connection with a population study concerning the state of health and living habits of the elderly people in Turku, Finland. Serum levels of total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, apolipoprotein A1 (apo A1) and apolipoprotein B (apo B) of the 347 elderly people (aged 65 years or over) were measured and those of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol were calculated. The levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and apo B were significantly higher in females than in males, and the concentrations decreased with advancing age. The concentrations of HDL cholesterol and apo A1 were significantly higher in females than in males but age had no effect. Serum triglycerides behaved differently in males and females; in females age had a significant increasing effect whereas in males no age effect was observed. The apo A1/apo B ratio did not differ between males and females. Reference values of serum lipids, lipoproteins and apolipoproteins of the elderly are suggested.

Lipids, lipoproteins and apolipoproteins in the elderly.

Objective To study the association of serum calcium, magnesium, copper and zinc concentrations with cardiovascular mortality. Design A nested case-control study within a prospective population study. Subjects and methods 230 men dying from cardiovascular diseases and 298 controls matched for age, place of residence, smoking and follow-up time. Mean follow-up time was 10 years. Serum calcium, magnesium, copper and zinc concentrations were determined from samples kept frozen at -20 degrees C. Results High serum copper and low serum zinc concentrations were significantly associated with an increased mortality from all cardiovascular diseases and from coronary heart disease in particular. The relative risk of coronary heart disease mortality between the highest and lowest tertiles of serum copper and zinc were 2.86 (P = 0.03) and 0.69 (P = 0.04), respectively. Adjustment for social class, serum cholesterol, body mass index, hypertension and known heart disease at baseline examination did not materially alter the results. No significant differences were observed in concentrations of serum calcium and magnesium between cases and controls. Conclusions High serum copper and low serum zinc are associated with increased cardiovascular mortality whereas no association was found with serum calcium and magnesium and mortality risk.

Jukka Marniemi

Papers

Serum vitamin D and subsequent occurrence of type 2 diabetes.

Immunoturbidimetric determination of apolipoproteins A-1 and B in serum.

The 21‐year follow‐up of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study: risk factor levels, secular trends and east–west difference

Lipids, lipoproteins and apolipoproteins in the elderly.

Serum calcium, magnesium, copper and zinc and risk of cardiovascular death