Background: Health characteristics associated with uric acid (UA) in the Roma minority remain less well known. The study sought to determine the ethnicity- and sex-specific associations of serum UA with health factors in Eastern Slovakian Roma and non-Roma populations. Methods: Data from the comparative cross-sectional HepaMeta study conducted in Slovakia in 2011 were used. The study enrolled 452 Roma subjects (35.2% men) and 403 non-Roma individuals (45.9% men) aged 18–55 years. Results: All study parameters differed between the sexes in both the Roma and non-Roma participants (p < 0.05). UA was related to sex with odds ratio for female sex 0.873, 95% CI 0.853–0.893 (p < 0.0001) per 10-unit increase of UA. Average level of UA ± standard deviation was lower in Roma than in non-Roma (226.54 ± 79.8 vs. 259.11 ± 84.53 umol/L; p < 0.0001). The Roma population presented with greater levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) (3.07 ± 4 mg/L vs. 1.98 ± 2.83 mg/L; p < 0.0001) and ferritin in Roma males (403.78 ± 391.84 vs. 302.67 ± 236.26 mg/L; p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Serum UA is sex- and ethnicity specific. Elevated levels of hsCRP and ferritin particularly in Roma males can reflect low-grade systemic inflammation and thus serve as a marker of an increased cardiovascular risk.
Among protozoa, Tetrahymena pyriformis is the most commonly ciliated model used for laboratory research. All living organisms need to adapt to ever changing adverse conditions in order to survive. This article focuses on the phenomenon that exposure to toxic doses of the toxicants protects against a normally harmful dose of the same stressor. This first encounter by toxicant provokes the phenomenon of epigenetical imprinting, by which the reaction of the cell is quantitatively modified. This modification is transmitted to the progeny generations. The experiments demonstrate the possibility of epigenetic effects at a unicellular level and call attention to the possibility that the character of unicellular organisms has changed through to the present day due to an enormous amount of non-physiological imprinter substances in their environment. The results point to the validity of epigenetic imprinting effects throughout the animal world. Imprinting in Tetrahymena was likely the first epigenetic phenomenon which was justified at cellular level. It is very useful for the unicellular organisms, as it helps to avoid dangerous molecules more easily or to find useful ones and by this contributes to the permanence of the population’s life.
A szerzők ismertetik a glukóz-és a zsíranyagcsere változásait anyagcserezavarral nem társuló terhességben, valamint gestatiós diabetesben és preeclampsiában. Rámutatnak arra, hogy a terhesség alatti laboratóriumi referenciaadatok hiányosak és nem egyeznek a kóros állapotok diagnózisában alkalmazott határértékekkel sem. A glukóz-és a lipidanyagcsere terhesség alatti változásainak középpontjában az inzulinrezisztencia áll, amely ebben az esetben nem kóros folyamat, hanem a fokozatosan növekvő magzati igényekre bekövetkező kompenzációs válasz. Külön fejezetben tárgyalják az adipokinek szerepét a terhességi anyagcsere-folyamatokban. Feltételezik, hogy a gestatiós diabetes patogenezisét tekintve nem egységes kórkép, és rámutatnak arra is, hogy a preeclampsia patogenezisében is fontos szerepet játszik az inzulinrezisztencia. Az irodalmi áttekintést javaslatok zárják a megválaszolatlan kérdések lehetséges megoldásaira. ■ Kulcsszavak: terhesség, anyagcsere, inzulinrezisztencia, gestatiós diabetes, preeclampsia Glucose-and lipid metabolism during pregnancy Summary: Modifications of glucose and lipid metabolism during pregnancy not accompanied by metabolic disturbances, as well as in gestational diabetes and preclampsy are discussed in the review article. Deficient laboratory reference values in normal pregnancy and alterations from those observed in different pathologic conditions are emphasized by the authors. The insulin resistance which is the key element of metabolic regulation during pregnancy is not a pathological process but a physiological adaptation, a compensatory response of the maternal organism to increasing fetal metabolic needs. The role of different adipokines in normal pregnancy as well as in gestational diabetes is also discussed in detail. From pathogenetic point of view the gestational diabetes is not a unified disease. Possibilities for future investigations to clarify the still open questions and suggestions of the authors are also summarised.
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