In this large sample of healthy men from a population-based sample, we found a link between food intake and plasma LPS. Experimental data suggest that fat was more efficient in transporting bacterial LPS from the gut lumen into the bloodstream. The results of this study add to the knowledge of mechanisms responsible for relations between food intake and metabolic diseases.

This study shows that, in a sample of subjects at high risk, the cumulative influence of risk factors, even treated, is an independent determinant of arterial stiffness. These results suggest that PWV may be used as a relevant tool to assess the influence of cardiovascular risk factors on aortic stiffness in high-risk patients.

Cardiovascular diseases remain a major public health problem. The involvement of several occupational factors has recently been discussed, notably the organization of work schedules, e.g. shift work. To analyse the progress of knowledge on the relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and shift work. A review of English-language literature dealing with the link between cardiovascular factors and shift workers (published during 2000-2010) was conducted. Studies published in the past 10 years tend to document an impact of shift work on blood pressure, lipid profile (triglyceride levels), metabolic syndrome and, possibly, body mass index. However, the consequences on glucose metabolism are unclear. These results are not yet firmly established, but are supported by strong hypotheses. Some advice could reasonably be proposed to guide the clinical practitioner.

Abstract-The matrix Gla protein (MGP) is an important inhibitor of vessel and cartilage calcification that is strongly expressed in human calcified, atherosclerotic plaques and could modulate plaque calcification and coronary heart disease risk. Using a genetic approach, we explored this possibility by identifying polymorphisms of the MGP gene and testing their possible association with myocardial infarction (MI) and plaque calcification. Eight polymorphisms were identified in the coding and 5Ј-flanking sequences of the MGP gene. All polymorphisms were investigated in 607 patients with MI and 667 control subjects recruited into the ECTIM Study (Etude Cas-Témoins de l'Infarctus du Myocarde) and in 717 healthy individuals with echographically assessed arterial calcification and atherosclerosis who were participating in the AXA Study. In the ECTIM Study, alleles and genotypes were distributed similarly in patients and controls in the whole study group; in only 1 subgroup of subjects defined as being at low risk for MI were the concordant AϪ7 and Ala 83 alleles more frequent in patients with MI than in controls (PϽ0.003). In the AXA Study among subjects with femoral atherosclerosis, the same alleles were more common in the presence than the absence of plaque calcification (PϽ0.025). The other MGP polymorphisms were not associated with any investigated clinical phenotype. Transient transfection experiments with allelic promoter-reporter gene constructs and DNA-protein interaction assays were carried out to assess possible in vitro functionality of the promoter variants detected at positions Ϫ814, Ϫ138, and Ϫ7 relative to the start of transcription. When compared with the Ϫ138 T allele, the minor Ϫ138 C allele consistently conferred a reduced promoter activity of Ϫ20% (PϽ0.0001) in rat vascular smooth muscle cells and of Ϫ50% (PϽ0.004) in a human fibroblast cell line, whereas the other polymorphisms, including Ϫ7, displayed no evidence of in vitro functionality. We conclude that the AϪ7 or Ala 83 alleles of the MGP gene may confer an increased risk of plaque calcification and MI; however, the observed relationships are weak or limited to subgroups of patients and therefore need confirmation. (Arterioscler Thromb Vasc

OBJECTIVE -To assess the relationship between household income and metabolic syndrome in men and women.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS -A total of 1,695 men and 1,664 women, aged 35-64 years, from three distinct geographical areas of France were investigated. Waist girth, plasma triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, glucose, and systolic blood pressure were used to define metabolic syndrome according to the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP)/ Adult Treatment Panel III (ATPIII) guidelines. Household income, educational level, occupational category, working status, consumption of psychotropic drugs, accommodation status, household composition, physical activity at work and during leisure time, alcohol consumption, and smoking habits were recorded with a standardized questionnaire.RESULTS -There were 390 (23.0%) men and 381 (16.9%) women who satisfied NCEP/ ATPIII criteria for metabolic syndrome. Household income (P Ͻ 0.0001) and consumption of psychotropic drugs (P ϭ 0.0005) were associated with metabolic syndrome in women but not in men. In contrast, educational level, occupational category, working status, and accommodation status were associated with metabolic syndrome in both men and women. After adjustment on lifestyle variables, household income (interaction P Ͻ 0.004) remained inversely associated with metabolic syndrome in women but not in men.CONCLUSIONS -These data suggest that limited household income, which reflects a complex unfavorable social and economic environment, may increase the risk of metabolic syndrome in a sex-specific manner. Diabetes Care 28:409 -415, 2005T he metabolic syndrome is characterized by the clustering of several metabolic disorders (1,2). The latter are influenced by nutritional habits and physical activity (3-6). Several working definitions have been proposed for metabolic syndrome (7), including increased body weight, insulin resistance, elevated plasma triglyceride levels, low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, and altered glucose homeostasis. These factors independently and in combination increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes (8 -11).In the U.S., the prevalence of metabolic syndrome has been estimated to be 22.8 and 22.6% in men and women, respectively (12). The distribution of the syndrome varies among different categories of the population. Increasing evidence (13-21) indicates that social indicators and psychological factors are strongly associated with the risk of insulin resistance, hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension, obesity, and metabolic syndrome. People from the lowest social categories are more likely to develop several metabolic disorders or metabolic syndrome. The mechanisms involved in these associations are not totally elucidated. Social factors, educational level, and economic indicators are strongly interrelated. These factors influence nutritional habits, physical activity, and healthy behaviors possibly affecting the clustering of metabolic disorders (22,23).Very little is known about the influence of household income on the risk of...

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m 2 . In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, the...

To assess the seasonality of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) in a large set of population-based studies

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