Serum-cholesterol, serum-triglyceride and ABO blood groups in a population of 50-year-old Danish men and women

Corticomuscular control of walking in older people and people with Parkinson's disease

Changes in human gait resulting from ageing or neurodegenerative diseases are multifactorial. Here we assess the effects of age and Parkinson’s disease (PD) on corticospinal activity recorded during treadmill and overground walking. Electroencephalography (EEG) from 10 electrodes and electromyography (EMG) from bilateral tibialis anterior muscles were acquired from 22 healthy young, 24 healthy older and 20 adults with PD. Event-related power, corticomuscular coherence (CMC) and inter-trial coherence were assessed for EEG from bilateral sensorimotor cortices and EMG during the double-support phase of the gait cycle. CMC and EMG power at low beta frequencies (13–21 Hz) was significantly decreased in older and PD participants compared to young people, but there was no difference between older and PD groups. Older and PD participants spent shorter time in the swing phase than young individuals. These findings indicate age-related changes in the temporal coordination of gait. The decrease in low-beta CMC suggests reduced cortical input to spinal motor neurons in older people during the double-support phase. We also observed multiple changes in electrophysiological measures at low-gamma frequencies during treadmill compared to overground walking, indicating task-dependent differences in corticospinal locomotor control. These findings may be affected by artefacts and should be interpreted with caution.

Biologic roles of the ABH and Lewis histo-blood group antigens part II: thrombosis, cardiovascular disease and metabolism

The ABH and Lewis antigens were among the first of the human red blood cell polymorphisms to be identified and, in the case of the former, play a dominant role in transfusion and transplantation. But these two therapies are largely twentieth-century innovations, and the ABH and related carbohydrate antigens are not only expressed on a very wide range of human tissues, but were present in primates long before modern humans evolved. Although we have learned a great deal about the biochemistry and genetics of these structures, the biological roles that they play in human health and disease are incompletely understood. This review and its companion, which appeared in a previous issue of Vox Sanguinis, will focus on a few of the biologic and pathologic processes which appear to be affected by histo-blood group phenotype. The first of the two reviews explored the interactions of two bacteria with the ABH and Lewis glycoconjugates of their human host cells, and described the possible connections between the immune response of the human host to infection and the development of the AB-isoagglutinins. This second review will describe the relationship between ABO phenotype and thromboembolic disease, cardiovascular disease states, and general metabolism.

Association of blood group A with coronary artery disease in young adults in Taiwan

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to investigate the association between the ABO blood groups and the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) and myocardial infartion (MI) in a young Taiwanese population.

METHODS

We retrospectively recruited 277 consecutive subjects (men younger than 45 years and women younger than 55 years) who underwent coronary angiography (136 with documented CAD and 129 without CAD) at our center, between 2005 and 2008. Their ABO blood groups were determined using standard agglutination techniques.

RESULTS

Patients with CAD showed a significantly different blood group distribution (O, 30.1%; A, 39.7%; B, 26.5%; AB, 3.7%) than that shown by the controls (O, 42.6%; A, 24.0%; B, 27.1%; AB, 6.2%; p=0.032). Patients with blood group A had a greater risk of CAD and MI than those with non-A blood groups (OR=2.08, 95% CI=1.23-3.54; OR=2.21, 95% CI=1.19-4.09, respectively). After adjustment for common cardiovascular risk factors such as age, gender, hypertension, cigarette smoking, diabetes mellitus, body mass index, family history of CAD, and lipid profiles; blood group A remained significantly associated with an increased risk of CAD and MI (OR=2.61, 95% CI 1.11-6.14, p=0.028; OR=3.53, 95% CI=1.21-10.29, p=0.021, respectively).

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that blood group A is an independent risk factor for CAD and MI in young people in Taiwan.

Longitudinal study of the association between ABO phenotype and total serum cholesterol level in a Japanese cohort

The relationship between ABO blood phenotype and total serum cholesterol (TC) level was examined in a Japanese population to determine whether an elevated TC level is associated with phenotype A, as has been demonstrated in many West European populations. Such studies in nonwhite populations are scarce, and findings generally failed to demonstrate the relationship. Inconsistent results from cross-sectional studies of various racial groups with widely varying ages raised an age effect as a possible explanatory factor. It was also suggested that the ABO-TC association may not be apparent in populations with low fat intake or low mean cholesterol level. These hypotheses are addressed by examining long-term TC data collected serially from the unexposed controls of the atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki who were participants of the Adult Health Study program at the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission-Radiation Effects Research Foundation between 1958 and 1986. The statistical method of growth curve analysis, through the mixed effect model of Laird and Ware [1982], was used to model age-dependent changes in cholesterol levels within individuals. The effects of the ABO polymorphism in modifying the resultant growth curve are examined. We demonstrate that TC levels are elevated on average by about 4 mg/dl in phenotype A compared to non-A in the Japanese (P < 0.00001), and that this relationship is maintained from early to late adulthood, independent of sex, body mass index, cohort status, or city of residence. Thus, phenotype A individuals may be more predisposed to cardiovascular disease through one of its major risk factors. This is the first study of the ABO-cholesterol association in the Japanese, and the first based on a cohort with longitudinally collected TC data.

Apparent influence of marker genotypes on variation in serum cholesterol in monozygotic twins

Ninety-seven monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs were grouped by marker system genotypes, and mean intrapair differences in serum total cholesterol level were compared between groups. Significant differences were found when the MNs and the Kidd blood group systems were considered. The results appear to suggest a restrictive effect of certain normal marker genes on environmentally caused variation in serum cholesterol level.

A search for association between gene markers and serum cholesterol, triglyceride, urate and blood pressure

This study was carried out to search for possible association between some polymorphic systems including ABO, MNSs, Rh, Duffy, Kell, Kidd, haptoglobin (Hp) and red cell acid phosphatase (PHs), and the variables serum cholesterol, triglyceride, urate, haemoglobin and blood pressure, in two separate samples of the Australian white population. Allele frequencies of each of the gene marker systems were comparable to those obtained by other workers for Australian whites. There were significant departures from Hardy-Weinberg proportions for red cell acid phosphatase and MNSs systems in one of the samples, and a possible cause for this is discussed. No associations were found between levels of cholesterol, triglyceride, urate and haemoglobin and most of the gene markers in either of the samples. However, a relationship was demonstrated between systolic blood pressure and two polymorphic systems, MNSs and Hp in both populations, and between diastolic blood pressure and red cell acid phosphatase in one of the samples.

ABO blood group and cardiovacular disease: the Framingham study

Following determination of ABO blood type at the sixth biennial examination, the Framingham Heart Study cohort was followed for the occurrence of cardiovascular events for a period of 10 years. A significant association was found between blood type and intermittent claudication, with blood group O showing the lowest rates. Slight but non-significant excesses for certain other CHD events were also found in non-O individuals. Serum cholesterol showed marginally significant but consistent elevations in non-O subjects but the increased risk in non-O individuals was found to occur independently of the known intermittent claudication risk factors. Since the observed relationship between blood type and intermittent claudication occurs independently of the usual atherosclerotic risk factors, blood type, possibily through an effect on clotting, should be considered in the pathogenesis of intermittent claudication.

Serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations of Finns and Finnish Lapps. II. Interpopulation comparisons and occurrence of hyperlipidemia

Only small differences in serum cholesterol means and somewhat larger, but still modest differences in log(TG) means were observed, when seven Finnish population groups were compared. Semiurban and industrial groups had the highest triglyceride levels. Cholesterol levels tended to be lower in South Finland than in East or North Finland and lowest in semiurban population groups. Between 15-59 years of age, rural Finns of both sexes had higher and after this age lower cholesterol means than the Finns in the other population groups. The highest cholesterol levels below the age of 60 were observed in a rural population group in East Finland. The Finnish Lapps and the rural Finns had nearly identical serum lipid levels in spite of the differences in genetic background and way of life. The serum lipid concentration means were quite similar to those reported from the other Nordic countries, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The differences between the populations of the Nordic countries are no larger than those observed between the Finnish population groups. However, no population in Scandinavia or elsewhere can confidently be said to have higher serum lipid levels than the Finns. The similarity of the lipid levels observed in different areas in Finland and in the larger Nordic area is remarkable in view of the large differences in the incidence of coronary heart disease and in mortality rates. It is conceivable that part of the variations in disease rates is attributable to differences in the prevalence of hyperlipidemias, although the present study does not prove this hypothesis. Such differences could occur in spite of similarities in the lipid concentration means. Prevalences of hyperlipidemias in Finland are given.