Cardiovascular risk factors, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and carotid artery intima-media thickness in an adolescent population in southern Italy

The objective of this study was to determine, in an adolescent population, the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and the association of NAFLD and cardiovascular risk factors with carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT), a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis. The authors conducted a population-based study among 642 randomly selected adolescents aged 11-13 years in Reggio Calabria, southern Italy, between November 2007 and October 2008. Prevalences of overweight and obesity were 30.5% and 13.5%, respectively. The overall prevalence of NAFLD was 12.5%, increasing to 23.0% in overweight/obese adolescents. In univariate analysis, increased IMT was positively associated with the presence of NAFLD, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, systolic blood pressure (all P's < 0.001), diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.006), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (P = 0.006), alanine aminotransferase (P = 0.007), and C-reactive protein (P = 0.008) and was inversely associated with high density lipoprotein cholesterol (P < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, NAFLD (P = 0.002), BMI (P = 0.004), waist circumference (P = 0.003), and systolic blood pressure (P = 0.005) retained significant associations. The authors conclude that NAFLD, BMI, waist circumference, and systolic blood pressure are independent markers of increased IMT in a random sample of adolescents

Controllo di qualit nella trascrizione dei dati su computer, in ambiente DBIII Plus, e sua utilit negli studi epidemiologici

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. Biblioteca Centrale / CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle RichercheSIGLEITItal

Progetto SISI. Linea analisi retrospettiva. Base di dati per l'analisi temporale della mortalit accidentale

SIGLEITItal

Impact of large regenerative, low grade and high grade dysplastic nodules in hepatocellular carcinoma development

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The natural outcome of ultrasound-detected macronodules in cirrhosis is still poorly understood. In this study we assessed the incidence and predictors of malignant transformation in a prospective study of 90 consecutive ultrasound-detected macronodules in cirrhosis.METHODS: Macronodules classification was based on recently proposed histological criteria. Extranodular large (LCC) and small cell changes were also evaluated. The follow-up included ultrasound and serum alfa-fetoprotein determination every 3 months. Independent predictors of hepatocellular carcinoma were evaluated by Cox proportional hazards regression analysis.RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 33 months, 28 (31%) nodules transformed into hepatocellular carcinoma. The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma per 100 person-years of follow-up was 11.3%, with a malignant transformation rate of 3.5, 15.5, 31 and 48.5% at 1, 2, 3, and 5 years respectively. High-grade dysplastic nodules (HGDN) (hazard risk=2.4; CI 95%=1.1-5.0) and LCC (hazard risk=3.1; CI 95%=1.2-7.8) were independent predictors of malignant transformation. Eight additional hepatocellular carcinomas developed outside the original lesions raising the overall malignant transformation rate to 40% while 15 macronodules (17%) became undetectable at ultrasound (US).CONCLUSIONS: Macronodules characterize a cirrhotic subpopulation with high risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. HGDN and LCC are strong predictors of malignant transformation; subjects with simultaneous presence of both these two conditions are at highest risk of cancer development. The management of cirrhotics with macronodules should be based on morphologic features detected on liver microsamples

Emerging effects of early environmental factors over genetic background for type 1 diabetes susceptibility: Evidence from a nationwide Italian twin study

Context: The incidence of type 1 diabetes has been increasing over time. Objective: We estimated the genetic and environmental components of type 1 diabetes susceptibility in a twin cohort of recent-onset cases to explore the sources of changing disease epidemiology. Design: We linked the population-based Italian Twin Registry with 14803 type 1 diabetes records from 36 pediatric diabetes care centers throughout Italy, except Sardinia, and identified 173 diabetic twins. Patients were positive for at least one autoantibody to islet cell, glutamate decarboxylase, tyrosine phosphatase, insulin, or zinc transporter 8 and were insulin dependent since their diagnosis. Zygosity was determined by DNA genotyping or by questionnaire. Outcome Measures: We estimated proband-wise concordance, cotwin recurrence risk with Kaplan-Meier method, and genetic and environmental proportions of susceptibility variance by structural equation models. Results: We recruited 104 diabetic twins (53 males) from 88 pairs (34 monozygotic, 54 dizygotic) and one triplet. The mean age at diagnosis was 8.1 yr (range 1.1-20.5 yr), and the median year of diagnosis was 2002. Proband-wise concordances were 45.5 and 16.4% in monozygotic and dizygotic pairs (P = 0.01). Recurrence risks in monozygotic and dizygotic cotwins were 37 and 12% after 10 yr from the proband's diagnosis (P = 0.005). Genetic contribution to type 1 diabetes susceptibility was 40% (95% confidence interval 8-78), and the shared and individual-specific environmental components were 51% (14-77) and 9% (4 -19), respectively. Conclusions: In addition to the moderate genetic effects on type 1 diabetes susceptibility, our results draw attention to the substantial shared environmental effects, suggesting that exposures in fetal or early postnatal life may contribute to the increasing incidence of the disease. Copyright © 2012 by The Endocrine Society