Body composition measures in women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus during and after pregnancy

Background and aim: In Switzerland, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) affects about 11% of pregnant women and is associated with a 7-fold increased diabetes risk. Also, postpartum weight and fat mass (FM) represent essential risk factors for type 2 diabetes. However, because of the important changes that happen during and in the year after pregnancy, it is unknown whether body composition measures in pregnancy correlate or can predict FM and distribution in the postpartum period. The aim of the study was to determine in women with GDM if body composition measures during pregnancy can predict total body FM and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) at 1-year postpartum, assessed by the gold standard dual-X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Associations between skinfold thickness (SF), bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and DXA measures of body composition and their changes, both during pregnancy and in the postpartum period were also investigated. Methods: This study is a substudy of the randomized controlled trial MySweetHeart within a multiethnic cohort of pregnant women with GDM recruited between 2016 and 2020. So far, 194 women with GDM were 1:1 randomized into intervention vs control group (treatment-as- usual). Weight, BMI, SF (biceps, triceps, subscapular and suprailiac) and BIA measures were compared at the baseline visit in all women, and in women from the control group at 6-8 weeks and 1-year postpartum. At 1-year postpartum, body composition by DXA was also performed and its prediction by the means of different measurement methods during pregnancy was assessed. Results: Mean BMI before pregnancy was 25.7 ± 5.30 kg. Of the 97 participants in the control group, 90 completed the 6-8 weeks and 62 the 1-year postpartum visit so far (ongoing follow- up). SF measures (calculated as % fat mass and sum of 4 skinfold thicknesses in mm) correlated only weakly to other body composition methods during pregnancy (r≤0.44), and in the early postpartum (r≤0.52), but better in the late postpartum (r≤0.74). Correlations with weight were much stronger for BIA measures (r = 0.75-0.99 at all 3 time points, all p<0.001). FM assessed by BIA decreased by 5.40 ± 3.80 kg (~17%, p<0.001) between the third trimester of pregnancy and 1 year postpartum. Total FM and VAT at 1-year postpartum as assessed by DXA was not or poorly predicted by different SF measures in pregnancy, while it was moderately to strongly predicted by body weight (r = 0.75-0.91, p<0.001) and BIA measures (r = 0.77-0.94 p<0.001). Conclusion: FM is around 17% higher in the third trimester of pregnancy compared to the late postpartum. Body composition measured by BIA correlates better than SF measures to weight during and after pregnancy. Because of their inaccuracy, SF measures during pregnancy and in the early postpartum should be avoided. Weight and BIA, but not SF, measures in pregnancy can well predict both FM and VAT measured by DXA at 1-year postpartum and could be used for risk stratification

Highlights du congrès 2022 de la Société suisse de médecine interne générale: partie 1 [Highlights of Swiss congress of internal general medicine : part 1]

From June 1 to 3, 2022, Lausanne held the spring congress of the Swiss Society of General Internal Medicine: "Changes and Opportunities". In this article, chief residents in internal medicine from the CHUV summarize presentations they attended. In this overview, we choose to focus on cardiovascular health, as it a central topic in general and internal medicine. Cardiovascular prevention becomes more personalized by using a step-by-step approach. The benefits of statin treatment in persons over 70 years old is still controversial. Ortho-static hypotension in hypertensive patients should not hold back antihypertensive therapy, but it should favor a combined pharmacological and non-pharmacological approach. Finally, screening for fibrosis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in high-risk cardiovascular patients should now part be part of a systematic ambulatory process

Additional Evidence for DDB2 T338M as a Genetic Risk Factor for Ocular Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Horses.

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most common periocular cancer in horses and the second most common tumor of the horse overall. A missense mutation in damage-specific DNA-binding protein 2 (DDB2, c.1012 C>T, p.Thr338Met) was previously found to be strongly associated with ocular SCC in Haflinger and Belgian horses, explaining 76% of cases across both breeds. To determine if this same variant in DDB2 contributes to risk for ocular SCC in the Arabian, Appaloosa, and Percheron breeds and to determine if the variant contributes to risk for oral or urogenital SCC, histologically confirmed SCC cases were genotyped for the DDB2 variant and associations were investigated. Horses with urogenital SCC that were heterozygous for the DDB2 risk allele were identified in the Appaloosa breed, but a significant association between the DDB2 variant and SCC occurring at any location in this breed was not detected. The risk allele was not identified in Arabians, and no Percherons were homozygous for the risk allele. High-throughput sequencing data from six Haflingers were analyzed to ascertain if any other variant from the previously associated 483 kb locus on ECA12 was more concordant with the SCC phenotype than the DDB2 variant. Sixty polymorphisms were prioritized for evaluation, and no other variant from this locus explained the genetic risk better than the DDB2 allele (P = 3.39 × 10-17, n = 118). These data provide further support of the DDB2 variant contributing to risk for ocular SCC, specifically in the Haflinger and Belgian breeds

Elongation factor 1a mediates the specificity of mitochondrial tRNA import in T. brucei

Mitochondrial tRNA import is widespread in eukaryotes. Yet, the mechanism that determines its specificity is unknown. Previous in vivo experiments using the tRNAsMet, tRNAIle and tRNALys have suggested that the T-stem nucleotide pair 51:63 is the main localization determinant of tRNAs in Trypanosoma brucei. In the cytosol-specific initiator tRNAMet, this nucleotide pair is identical to the main antideterminant that prevents interaction with cytosolic elongation factor (eEF1a). Here we show that ablation of cytosolic eEF1a, but not of initiation factor 2, inhibits mitochondrial import of newly synthesized tRNAs well before translation or growth is affected. tRNASec is the only other cytosol-specific tRNA in T. brucei. It has its own elongation factor and does not bind eEF1a. However, a mutant of the tRNASec expected to bind to eEF1a is imported into mitochondria. This import requires eEF1a and aminoacylation of the tRNA. Thus, for a tRNA to be imported into the mitochondrion of T. brucei, it needs to bind eEF1a, and it is this interaction that mediates the import specificity