Weekend Roundup, June 15, 2012
As not everyone may have a chance during the week to read every post, here’s a roundup of last week’s posts: There’s a Dad for That! Fish Oil Fails To Prevent Heart Disease Early Use of Basal Insulin Does Not Reduce Cardiovascular Risk First Nations Kids’ Perception of Food And Activity Obesity Drugs at the ADA Have a great Sunday! (or what is left of it) AMS Edmonton, Alberta
Hindsight: Endothelial Cell Specific Molecule-1 in Adipocytes
Back in 2003, laboratories around the world were busy identifying a dizzying array of factors secreted by fat cells. Ever since the discovery of leptin, adipose tissue had become well established as an ‘endocrine organ’ that secreted a range of molecules commonly now referred to as ‘adipokines’. In a paper published in 2003 in Hormone and Metabolic Research, we reported that endothelial cell specific molecule (ESM)-1, originally identified in lung and kidney endothelial cells, where its expression is regulated by cytokines, was also expressed in fat cells. Previous in vitro studies had shown that ESM-1 interferes with the molecular mechanisms of immune cell migration by binding to adhesion molecules. In our study, we explored the expression of ESM-1 in isolated human adipocytes and in rat adipose tissue depots. Human primary adipocytes were cultivated after collagenase digestion and used for in vitro incubation studies. Adipocytes were also isolated from different fat depots of Sprague-Dawley rats. Using gene expression techniques and confocal microscopy, we demonstrated that ESM-1 was expressed in both human and rat adipose tissue and showed that its expression was stimulated by phorbol ester, an activator of protein kinase C, and by retinoic acid, an activator of nuclear receptors. The highest expression was found in subcutaneous rat adipose tissue – two-fold compared to epididymal and six-fold compared to intrascapular brown adipose tissue. Based on the emerging evidence that obesity is related to systemic inflammation, we speculated that the formation of ESM-1 in adipocytes and its activation by protein kinase C may play a role in the regulation of inflammatory processes in fat tissue. Judging by the rather modest 17 citations of this paper, our finding of ESM-1 in fat tissue may not have been quite that important a discovery after all. AMS Edmonton, Alberta
There’s a Dad for That!
This weekend some of my readers will be celebrating Father’s Day – hope you have a great time. In case anyone is wondering about the importance of being a dad, click here for a link to to the Alberta Father Involvement Initiative: abdads.ca Apparently AFII has been around since 2009, when several organizations developed an action plan to promote father Involvement in Alberta in light of the fact that fatherlessness presents a significant challenge in relation to healthy child development and resiliency. AFII is committed to strong, healthy children by affirming and valuing the bond between fathers and their children, The AFII works to provide relevant and well-crafted information for fathers and for individuals, agencies, and programs working with fathers. This initiative encourages the responsible involvement of fathers, grandfathers, uncles, brothers, and any other man who is influencing a child. Fathers play a vital role in the healthy development of children. Amazing things happen to kids, moms, the community, and to dads, when men give their time, attention, and focus to the children they are raising. The The Edmonton Father Involvement Network (EFIN) values and promotes the role of fathers in all families. The Edmonton Father Involvement Network is always looking for new members – for more information contact Roberta Wells – rwells@terracentre.ca or Karen Caine – kcaine@terracentre.ca Or just ‘like’ AIIF on FaceBook. Happy Father’s Day weekend everyone! AMS Edmonton, Canada
First Nations Kids’ Perception of Food And Activity
Yesterday, I presented a talk on the 5As of Obesity Management to home care nurses working with Alberta’s First Nations. It was clear from the discussions that cultural differences and barriers make addressing obesity particularly challenging in this setting. In this context, readers may appreciate an article by (CON Bootcamper) Ashlee-Ann Pigford and colleagues from the University of Alberta, just published in Qualitative Health Research, looking at how First Nations Children’s perceptions of food and activity may help inform a community-based obesity prevention strategies. Fifteen 4th- and 5th-Grade students living in a rural Alberta Plains Cree First Nations reserve community participated in one of three focus group interviews that utilized drawing and pile-sorting activities. Using an ecological lens to structure their findings, the analyses revealed that a variety of interdependent sociocultural factors influenced children’s perceptions. Embedded within a cultural/traditional worldview, children indicated a preference for foods and activities from both contemporary Western and traditional cultures, highlighted family members as their main sources of health information, and described information gaps in their health education. As the researchers note: “A sense of pride and ownership of one’s culture were evident throughout. Children spoke about their First Nations cultural practices, preferred cultural foods, and activities, and considered many cultural foods and activities to be healthy. Children identified with their culture by referring to “us natives,” “we,” and “our culture,” which illustrated a shared understanding of what constituted their cultural identity. Cultural identification also resulted when children clarified what was included as part of their culture….It was common for children to suggest that traditional foods were important for identification purposes;“ Similarly, “…children identified with traditional activities. For example, one participant explained that the reason children like to powwow dance (a variety of cultural dances performed at a gathering) is simply because “It’s part of our culture.”….Many cultural practices mentioned by the children required both traditional foods and activities to form a single event. Children’s descriptions conveyed fluidity between food and activity when they described traditional events; discussions of traditional food led to traditional activities, and vice versa.“ The role of family, both nuclear and extended, for food and activities was highly apparent: “Children mentioned that traditional foods were consumed with family members, such as their kokums, mothers, and uncles, and that they learned to prepare traditional foods from family members. For example, one child mentioned, “Yesterday I helped my mom make bannock.” Participants spent a lot… Read More »
Early Use of Basal Insulin Does Not Reduce Cardiovascular Risk
Yesterday, I posted on the results of an randomised controlled trial of n-3 fatty acids, which failed to show any positive effect on cardiovascular complications or death. In the same trial (ORIGIN), published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the over 12,000 participants with cardiovascular risk factors plus impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance, or type 2 diabetes were also randomised to either insulin glargine (with a target fasting blood glucose level of ≤95 mg per deciliter [5.3 mmol per liter]) or standard care. Over the median follow-up of 6.2 years rates of incident cardiovascular outcomes were similar in the insulin-glargine and standard-care groups with no differences in primary or secondary endpoints. New diabetes was diagnosed approximately 3 months after therapy was stopped among 30% versus 35% of 1456 participants without baseline diabetes, suggesting that there was also minimal impact on diabetes prevention. As may be expected, rates of severe hypoglycemia were about three times higher in the insulin group than in placebo. Also of note, median weight increased by 1.6 kg in the insulin-glargine group and fell by 0.5 kg in the standard-care group. It is also comforting to note that insulin treatment did not increase rates of cancer (an issue that has not been carefully studied before). From these findings the authors conclude: “When used to target normal fasting plasma glucose levels for more than 6 years, insulin glargine had a neutral effect on cardiovascular outcomes and cancers. Although it reduced new-onset diabetes, insulin glargine also increased hypoglycemia and modestly increased weight.” As the authors further point out: “…the findings of the ORIGIN trial do not support changing standard therapies for early dysglycemia.” As readers may be well aware, these therapies do not normally include the use of insulin in such patients. AMS Edmonton, Alberta
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