BIA is a good alternative for estimating %BF when subjects are within a normal body fat range. BIA tends to overestimate %BF in lean subjects and underestimate %BF in obese subjects.

Background-Probiotics are extensively used to promote gastrointestinal health, and emerging evidence suggests that their beneficial properties can extend beyond the local environment of the gut. Here, we determined whether oral probiotic administration can alter the progression of postinfarction heart failure. Methods and Results-Rats were subjected to 6 weeks of sustained coronary artery occlusion and administered the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 or placebo in the drinking water ad libitum. Culture and 16s rRNA sequencing showed no evidence of GR-1 colonization or a significant shift in the composition of the cecal microbiome. However, animals administered GR-1 exhibited a significant attenuation of left ventricular hypertrophy based on tissue weight assessment and gene expression of atrial natriuretic peptide. Moreover, these animals demonstrated improved hemodynamic parameters reflecting both improved systolic and diastolic left ventricular function. Serial echocardiography revealed significantly improved left ventricular parameters throughout the 6-week follow-up period including a marked preservation of left ventricular ejection fraction and fractional shortening. Beneficial effects of GR-1 were still evident in those animals in which GR-1 was withdrawn at 4 weeks, suggesting persistence of the GR-1 effects after cessation of therapy. Investigation of mechanisms showed a significant increase in the leptin:adiponectin plasma concentration ratio in rats subjected to coronary ligation, which was abrogated by GR-1. Metabonomic analysis showed differences between sham control and coronary artery ligated hearts particularly with respect to preservation of myocardial taurine levels. Conclusions-The study suggests that probiotics offer promise as a potential therapy for the attenuation of heart failure.(Circ Heart Fail. 2014;7:491-499.)

Alteration of extracellular calcium concentration may be involved in glucose metabolism in a number of pathways. The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between total serum calcium and 1) fasting serum glucose, 2) insulin, 3) insulin resistance, and 4) beta-cell function in 1,182 healthy subjects from the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. All variables were log10 transformed, and confounding factors including age, trunk fat percentage, serum phosphorus, magnesium, 25-OH vitamin D, and parathyroid hormone were adjusted before analyses. Significant positive correlations between glucose and insulin resistance with calcium were found in both sexes, whereas an inverse correlation between beta-cell function and calcium was found only in women. Similar results were found in medication-free women and men, as well as in pre- and postmenopausal women. Subjects with low calcium levels had the lowest concentration of glucose and the least insulin resistance, whereas subjects with high calcium levels had the highest concentration of glucose and insulin resistance in women but not in men. This relationship remained after calcium was adjusted for 25-OH vitamin D and parathyroid hormone. Our results suggest that alteration of serum calcium homeostasis is significantly correlated with the abnormality of glucose level, insulin resistance, and beta-cell function.

ObjectivesTo identify metabolic markers that can classify patients with osteoarthritis (OA) into subgroups.DesignA case-only study design was utilised.ParticipantsPatients were recruited from those who underwent total knee or hip replacement surgery due to primary OA between November 2011 and December 2013 in St. Clare's Mercy Hospital and Health Science Centre General Hospital in St. John's, capital of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), Canada. 38 men and 42 women were included in the study. The mean age was 65.2±8.7 years.Outcome measuresSynovial fluid samples were collected at the time of their joint surgeries. Metabolic profiling was performed on the synovial fluid samples by the targeted metabolomics approach, and various analytic methods were utilised to identify metabolic markers for classifying subgroups of patients with OA. Potential confounders such as age, sex, body mass index (BMI) and comorbidities were considered in the analysis.ResultsTwo distinct patient groups, A and B, were clearly identified in the 80 patients with OA. Patients in group A had a significantly higher concentration on 37 of 39 acylcarnitines, but the free carnitine was significantly lower in their synovial fluids than in those of patients in group B. The latter group was further subdivided into two subgroups, that is, B1 and B2. The corresponding metabolites that contributed to the grouping were 86 metabolites including 75 glycerophospholipids (6 lysophosphatidylcholines, 69 phosphatidylcholines), 9 sphingolipids, 1 biogenic amine and 1 acylcarnitine. The grouping was not associated with any known confounders including age, sex, BMI and comorbidities. The possible biological processes involved in these clusters are carnitine, lipid and collagen metabolism, respectively.ConclusionsThe study demonstrated that OA consists of metabolically distinct subgroups. Identification of these distinct subgroups will help to unravel the pathogenesis and develop targeted therapies for OA.

Arginine is significantly depleted in refractory knee OA patients. Further studies within a longitudinal setting are required to examine whether arginine can predict early OA changes.