The purpose of this study was to determine if physical activity, aerobic fitness and isometric strength during adolescence were predictors of cardiovascular risk factor levels in young adulthood. The following measurements were carried out: maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2)max), maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) in four muscle groups, physical activity (questionnaire), blood pressure (BP), total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides, anthropometric variables and body fat % (sum of four skinfolds). The data were collected from the Danish Youth and Sports study, an observational longitudinal study in which two measurements were carried out over an eight-year period. The findings in this study indicated that the relationships between the absolute levels of physical fitness and activity in adolescence and the subsequent level of CVD risk factors are weak. However, the changes in physical fitness and physical activity were related to the absolute levels of CVD risk factors in young adulthood, especially in men. Weak relationships were found between the changes in physical fitness/activity and changes in CVD risk factor levels in both sexes. In conclusion, many subjects changed their levels of physical activity and physical fitness between adolescence and young adulthood and the changes, especially in aerobic fitness, seemed to be the best predictor of CVD risk factor levels in young adulthood.

Rates of incorporation of [4,5-(3)H]leucine into insulin plus proinsulin, designated ;(pro)insulin', and total protein in rat pancreatic islets were measured. Glucose stimulates rates of total protein and (pro)insulin biosynthesis, but (pro)insulin biosynthesis is stimulated preferentially. Mannose and N-acetylglucosamine also stimulate (pro)insulin and total protein biosynthesis; inosine and dihydroxyacetone stimulate (pro)insulin biosynthesis specifically. Fructose does not stimulate (pro)insulin biosynthesis when tested alone, but does so in the presence of low concentrations of glucose, mannose or N-acetylglucosamine. Many glucose analogues do not stimulate (pro)insulin biosynthesis. Mannoheptulose inhibits synthesis of (pro)insulin and total protein stimulated by glucose or mannose but not by dihydroxyacetone, inosine or N-acetylglucosamine; phloretin (9mum) inhibits N-acetylglucosamine-stimulated (pro)insulin biosynthesis preferentially. The data are in agreement with the view that the same glucose-sensor mechanism may control both insulin release and biosynthesis, and ;substrate-site' model is suggested. The threshold for stimulation of biosynthesis of (pro)insulin and total protein is lower than that found for glucose-stimulated insulin release; moreover the biosynthetic response to an elevation of glucose concentration is slower than that found for insulin release. The physiological implication of these findings is discussed. Caffeine and isobutylmethylxanthine, at concentrations known to increase islet 3':5'-cyclic AMP and potentiate glucose-induced insulin release, were without effect on rates of glucose-stimulated (pro)insulin biosynthesis.

IntroductionCardiovascular disease (CVD) is usually caused by high levels of many risk factors simultaneously over many years. Therefore, it is of great interest to study if subjects stay within rank order over time in both the biological risk factors and the behaviour that influences these risk factors. Many studies have described stability (tracking) in single risk factors, especially in children where hard endpoints are lacking, but few have analysed tracking in clustered risk.MethodsTwo examinations were conducted 8 years apart. The first time, 133 males and 172 females were 16–19 years of age. Eight years later, 98 males and 137 females participated. They were each time ranked into quartiles by sex in four CVD risk factors all related to the metabolic syndrome. Risk factors were the ratio between total cholesterol and HDL, triglyceride, systolic BP and body fat. The upper quartile was defined as being at risk, and if a subject had two or more risk factors, he/she was defined as a case (15–20 % of the subjects). Odds ratios (OR) for being a case was calculated between quartiles of fitness in both cross-sectional studies. The stability of combined risk was calculated as the OR between cases and non-cases at the first examination to be a case at the second examination.ResultsORs for having two or more risk factors between quartiles of fitness were 3.1, 3.8 and 4.9 for quartiles two to four, respectively. At the second examination, OR were 0.7, 3.5 and 4.9, respectively. The probability for "a case" at the first examination to be "a case" at the second was 6.0.ConclusionsThe relationship between an exposure like physical fitness and CVD risk factors is much stronger when clustering of risk factors are analysed compared to the relationship to single risk factors. The stability over time in multiple risk factors analysed together is strong. This relationship should be seen in the light of moderate or weak tracking of single risk factors, and is strong evidence for early intervention in children where risk factors cluster.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of increasing the amount of time spent

bWe report two cases of bacteremia with the anaerobic bacterium Ruminococcus gnavus. In both cases, the bacteremia was associated with diverticular disease. Preliminary conventional identification suggested peptostreptococci, and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) analysis did not produce scores high enough for species identification. Finally, the bacteria were identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. CASE REPORTS