The addition of locust bean gum but not water delayed the gastric emptying rate of a nutrient semisolid meal in healthy subjects

BACKGROUND: Most of the previous studies regarding the effects of gel-forming fibres have considered the gastric emptying of liquid or solid meals after the addition of pectin or guar gum. The influence of locust bean gum, on gastric emptying of nutrient semisolid meals in humans has been less well studied, despite its common occurrence in foods. Using a standardised ultrasound method, this study was aimed at investigating if the gastric emptying in healthy subjects could be influenced by adding locust been gum, a widely used thickening agent, or water directly into a nutrient semisolid test meal. METHODS: The viscosity of a basic test meal (300 g rice pudding, 330 kcal) was increased by adding Nestargel (6 g, 2.4 kcal), containing viscous dietary fibres (96.5%) provided as seed flour of locust bean gum, and decreased by adding 100 ml of water. Gastric emptying of these three test meals were evaluated in fifteen healthy non-smoking volunteers, using ultrasound measurements of the gastric antral area to estimate the gastric emptying rate (GER). RESULTS: The median value of GER with the basic test meal (rice pudding) was estimated at 63 %, (range 47 to 84 %), (the first quartile = 61 %, the third quartile = 69 %). Increasing the viscosity of the rice pudding by adding Nestargel, resulted in significantly lower gastric emptying rates (p < 0.01), median GER 54 %, (range 7 to 71 %), (the first quartile = 48 %, the third quartile = 60 %). When the viscosity of the rice pudding was decreased (basic test meal added with water), the difference in median GER 65 %, (range 38 to 79 %), (the first quartile = 56 %, the third quartile = 71 %) was not significantly different (p = 0.28) compared to the GER of the basic test meal. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the addition of locust bean gum to a nutrient semisolid meal has a major impact on gastric emptying by delaying the emptying rate, but that the addition of water to this test meal has no influence on gastric emptying in healthy subjects

Anticoagulation with or without Clopidogrel after Transcatheter Aortic-Valve Implantation

BACKGROUND The roles of anticoagulation alone or with an antiplatelet agent after transcatheter aortic-valve implantation (TAVI) have not been well studied. METHODS We performed a randomized trial of clopidogrel in patients undergoing TAVI who were receiving oral anticoagulation for appropriat

Genome-wide association identifies nine common variants associated with fasting proinsulin levels and provides new insights into the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: Proinsulin is a precursor of mature insulin and C-peptide. Higher circulating proinsulin levels are associated with impaired β-cell function, raised glucose levels, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Studies of the insulin processing pathway could provide new insights about T2D pathophysiology. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We have conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association tests of ∼2.5 million genotyped or imputed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and fasting proinsulin levels in 10,701 nondiabetic adults of European ancestry, with follow-up of 23 loci in up to 16,378 individuals, using additive genetic models adjusted for age, sex, fasting insulin, and study-specific covariates. RESULTS: Nine SNPs at eight loci were associated with proinsulin levels (P < 5 × 10(-8)). Two loci (LARP6 and SGSM2) have not been previously related to metabolic traits, one (MADD) has been associated with fasting glucose, one (PCSK1) has been implicated in obesity, and four (TCF7L2, SLC30A8, VPS13C/C2CD4A/B, and ARAP1, formerly CENTD2) increase T2D risk. The proinsulin-raising allele of ARAP1 was associated with a lower fasting glucose (P = 1.7 × 10(-4)), improved β-cell function (P = 1.1 × 10(-5)), and lower risk of T2D (odds ratio 0.88; P = 7.8 × 10(-6)). Notably, PCSK1 encodes the protein prohormone convertase 1/3, the first enzyme in the insulin processing pathway. A genotype score composed of the nine proinsulin-raising alleles was not associated with coronary disease in two large case-control datasets. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified nine genetic variants associated with fasting proinsulin. Our findings illuminate the biology underlying glucose homeostasis and T2D development in humans and argue against a direct role of proinsulin in coronary artery disease pathogenesis

Comparative performance of serum cystatin-c versus serum creatinine in diabetic subjects.

OBJECTIVE: Serum cystatin-C, a protein with constant production rate, undergoes glomerular filtration. Cystatin-C is a candidate surrogate marker, allegedly superior to serum creatinine, for estimating glomerular filtration rate, due to its high correlation with absolute measurement of the latter. The aim of this study was to assess from intra- and inter-subject variability the performance of cystatin-C in a cohort of diabetic patients spanning a wide range of kidney function and to compare it to that of serum creatinine. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: 98 consecutive diabetic in-patients (45 type 1 and 53 type 2) were included. Mean age was 53 +/- 15 years (1SD). Creatinine clearance was 98 ml/min (median; range: 16-244). We used the discriminant ratio (DR) methodology to compare the performance of serum cystatin-C vs. that of creatinine to segregate subjects according to their glomerular filtration rate. RESULTS: Serum creatinine values on day 1 and 2 were 1.10 +/- 0.76 and 1.07 +/- 0.89 mg/dl and concentrations of cystatin-C were 1.10 +/- 0.60 and 1.06 +/- 0.63 mg/L. A close linear relationship was observed between means of duplicates for creatinine and cystatin-C (Pearson product-moment correlation 0.92). DR was obtained from the ratio of the underlying between-subject to the within-subject standard deviations. DR values were 5.23 for creatinine and 8.82 for cystatin-C (P<0.0001), implying superior discriminating ability for cystatin-C. Once adjusted for attenuation, measured Pearson product-moment correlation rose from 0.92 to 0.97. The DR methodology allowed for deriving an unbiased linear regression equation between methods, with slope and intercept at 0.79 and 0.23, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Serum cystatin-C better discriminates among a population of type 1 and 2 diabetic patients with regard to their estimated glomerular filtration rate when compared with conventional serum creatinine measurement