Cardiovascular risk factors in American and Japanese executives. Telecom Health Research Group

Blood Metabolite Signatures of Metabolic Syndrome in Two Cross-Cultural Older Adult Cohorts

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) affects an increasing number of older adults worldwide. Cross-cultural comparisons can provide insight into how factors, including genetic, environmental, and lifestyle, may influence MetS prevalence. Metabolomics, which measures the biochemical products of cell processes, can be used to enhance a mechanistic understanding of how biological factors influence metabolic outcomes. In this study we examined associations between serum metabolite concentrations, representing a range of biochemical pathways and metabolic syndrome in two older adult cohorts: The Tsuruoka Metabolomics Cohort Study (TMCS) from Japan (n = 104) and the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) from the United States (n = 146). We used logistic regression to model associations between MetS and metabolite concentrations. We found that metabolites from the phosphatidylcholines-acyl-alkyl, sphingomyelin, and hexose classes were significantly associated with MetS and risk factor outcomes in both cohorts. In BLSA, metabolites across all classes were uniquely associated with all outcomes. In TMCS, metabolites from the amino acid, biogenic amines, and free fatty acid classes were uniquely associated with MetS, and metabolites from the sphingomyelin class were uniquely associated with elevated triglycerides. The metabolites and metabolite classes we identified may be relevant for future studies exploring disease mechanisms and identifying novel precision therapy targets for individualized medicine.

Body mass, fat distribution and cardiovascular risk factors in a lean population of south China

The associations of body mass index and abdominal adiposity, represented by an elevated waist/hip circumference ratio, with cardiovascular risk factors were examined in men and women, aged 28-69 years, from urban and rural areas of Guangzhou, China. Mean body mass index ranged from 20.1 to 21.9 kg/m2 across the four sex- and area-groups. Mean waist/hip ratio was 0.84 in men and 0.80 in women. After accounting for age and body mass index, waist/hip ratio was associated negatively (p < 0.05) with fasting serum HDL cholesterol (both sexes), and positively with serum triglycerides (both sexes), total and LDL cholesterol (men only), uric acid (both sexes), glucose (women only), and mean systolic blood pressure (women only). Body mass index was associated in a similar direction with most of these risk factors. These data confirm that abdominal adiposity is independently associated with cardiovascular disease risk factors, even in a lean Asian population.

Failure to reduce cholesterol as explanation for the limited efficacy of antihypertensive treatment in the reduction of CHD. Examination of the evidence from six hypertension intervention trials

Over the past 6 years, major hypertension intervention studies in Europe, Australia, and the USA have shown disappointing results in the prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD) in spite of adequate treatment and good compliance. Recently, it has become increasingly clear that hypertensives with or without treatment display higher cholesterol levels than normotensive persons. The present review examines cholesterol levels in six intervention studies, none of which offered dietary or drug therapy for hypercholesterolemic patients. The Oslo study and the British MRC Trial reported very high average cholesterol levels and both showed no protection from CHD through intensive therapy in comparison to control patients. The Australian and the American MRFIT studies produced evidence for reduced coronary mortality among hypertensives with low in contrast to those with high cholesterol levels. The European Working Party showed indirectly that patients with marked reduction in blood pressure and cholesterol had a significantly lower cardiac mortality compared to placebo-treated patients. The IPPPSH study found that increasing cholesterol levels in hypertensives under beta blocker or diuretic therapy increased the risk of myocardial infarction. Failure to reduce cholesterol in hypertensive patients apparently is a major reason for the limited efficacy of antihypertensive treatment in the reduction of CHD.