11 research outputs found
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Metabolic and Endocrine correlates of cognitive function in healthy young women
Obesity has been associated with cognitive decline in longitudinal studies of older individuals. We hypothesized that the cognitive sequelae of obesity may be detectable in the reproductive years. In addition, we explored the hypothesis that these associations may be mediated by the hormonal milieu. In this study of 49 young healthy lean and overweight women aged 20–45, we investigated the association between performance on a battery of cognitive tests, body composition parameters (BMI, total fat, abdominal (visceral, subcutaneous and total) adipose tissue, and muscle), and hormone levels (insulin, adiponectin, leptin, IGF-1, estrogen, testosterone, and vitamin D). We found a significant negative association between both visceral adiposity and muscle, and performance in the domain of verbal learning and memory, after controlling for age and education. Other body composition parameters showed similar trends (0.05<p<0.10). Additionally, the degree of insulin resistance was negatively associated with executive function domain. None of the associations between the other hormones examined (adipokines, IGF-1, gonadal hormones and vitamin D) and cognitive function were significant. These preliminary findings suggest a possible association between obesity and cognitive function in healthy young women of reproductive age. More research is warranted into the potential modulatory effect of insulin resistance on this association
Association between Vitamin D Levels and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Potential Confounding Variables
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), historically considered to be the hepatic component of the metabolic syndrome, is a spectrum of fat-associated liver conditions, in the absence of secondary causes, that may progress to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis, and cirrhosis. Disease progression is closely associated with body weight or fatness, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, oxidative stress, and inflammation. Recently, vitamin D deficiency has been linked to the pathogenesis and severity of NAFLD because of vitamin D "pleiotropic" functions, with roles in immune modulation, cell differentiation and proliferation, and regulation of inflammation. Indeed, several studies have reported an association between vitamin D and NAFLD/NASH. However, other studies have failed to find an association. Therefore, we sought to critically review the current evidence on the association between vitamin D deficiency and NAFLD/NASH, and to analyze and discuss some key variables that may interfere with this evaluation, such as host-, environment-, and heritability-related factors regulating vitamin D synthesis and metabolism; definitions of deficient or optimal vitamin D status with respect to skeletal and nonskeletal outcomes including NAFLD/NASH; methods of measuring 25(OH)D; and methods of diagnosing NAFLD as well as quantifying adiposity, the cardinal link between vitamin D deficiency and NAFLD