Increased circulating ANG II and TNF-α represents important risk factors in obese Saudi adults with hypertension irrespective of diabetic status and BMI

Central adiposity is a significant determinant of obesity-related hypertension risk, which may arise due to the pathogenic inflammatory nature of the abdominal fat depot. However, the influence of pro-inflammatory adipokines on blood pressure in the obese hypertensive phenotype has not been well established in Saudi subjects. As such, our study investigated whether inflammatory factors may represent useful biomarkers to delineate hypertension risk in a Saudi cohort with and without hypertension and/or diabetes mellitus type 2 (DMT2). Subjects were subdivided into four groups: healthy lean controls (age: 47.9±5.1 yr; BMI: 22.9±2.1 Kg/m2), non-hypertensive obese (age: 46.1±5.0 yr; BMI: 33.7±4.2 Kg/m2), hypertensive obese (age: 48.6±6.1 yr; BMI: 36.5±7.7 Kg/m2) and hypertensive obese with DMT2 (age: 50.8±6.0 yr; BMI: 35.3±6.7 Kg/m2). Anthropometric data were collected from all subjects and fasting blood samples were utilized for biochemical analysis. Serum angiotensin II (ANG II) levels were elevated in hypertensive obese (p<0.05) and hypertensive obese with DMT2 (p<0.001) compared with normotensive controls. Systolic blood pressure was positively associated with BMI (p<0.001), glucose (p<0.001), insulin (p<0.05), HOMA-IR (p<0.001), leptin (p<0.01), TNF-α (p<0.001) and ANG II (p<0.05). Associations between ANG II and TNF-α with systolic blood pressure remained significant after controlling for BMI. Additionally CRP (p<0.05), leptin (p<0.001) and leptin/adiponectin ratio (p<0.001) were also significantly associated with the hypertension phenotype. In conclusion our data suggests that circulating pro-inflammatory adipokines, particularly ANG II and, TNF-α, represent important factors associated with a hypertension phenotype and may directly contribute to predicting and exacerbating hypertension risk

Genome-wide screening of broad-spectrum resistance to leaf rust (Puccinia triticina Eriks) in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Wheat leaf rust (LR) causes significant yield losses worldwide. In Egypt, resistant cultivars began to lose their efficiency in leaf rust resistance. Therefore, a diverse spring wheat panel was evaluated at the seedling stage to identify new sources of broad-spectrum seedling resistance against the Egyptian Puccinia triticina (Pt) races. In three different experiments, seedling evaluation was done using Pt spores collected from different fields and growing seasons. Highly significant differences were found among experiments confirming the presence of different races population in each experiment. Highly significant differences were found among the tested genotypes confirming the ability to select superior genotypes. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted for each experiment and a set of 87 markers located within 48 gene models were identified. The identified gene models were associated with disease resistance in wheat. Five gene models were identified to resist all Pt races in at least two experiments and could be identified as stable genes under Egyptian conditions. Ten genotypes from five different countries were stable against all the tested Pt races but showed different degrees of resistance

Retinol Binding Protein-4 Is Associated with TNF-α and Not Insulin Resistance in Subjects with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Coronary Heart Disease

We studied the association between RBP4 and various markers related to insulin resistance and diabetic complications as well as inflammatory markers in Saudi population suffering from type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease. Patients with type 2 diabetes were divided into 3 groups according to the type of treatment and involvement of coronary artery disease. Serum RBP4, TNF-α, insulin, CRP, resistin, leptin and adiponectin were analysed in all samples. RBP4 levels increased significantly in the group of diabetic subjects treated with oral hypoglycemic agents and diabetic patients with coronary heart disease (30.2 ± 11.8; 33.4 ± 13.6 respectively), while there was no significant change in the other group for diabetic subjects on low-carbohydrate diet (25.1 ± 10.9) compared to control group (22.6 ± 9.5). RPB4 levels were positively correlated with TNF-α in the group of diabetic subjects on oral hypoglycemic agents and diabetic patients with coronary heart disease (r = 0.52, P < 0.05; r = 0.58, P < 0.05 respectively). No correlations were found between RBP4 levels and insulin resistance in all studied groups. Our findings suggest that serum RBP4 levels is associated with pro-inflammatory cytokine (TNF-α) and is not associated with insulin resistance among patients with type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease

Association of body mass index, sagittal abdominal diameter and waist-hip ratio with cardiometabolic risk factors and adipocytokines in Arab children and adolescents

Background: Sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) is a novel anthropometric measure hypothesized to be a surrogate measure of visceral abdominal obesity in adults. This study aims to determine whether SAD is superior to other anthropometric measures such as body mass index (BMI) and waist to hip ratio (WHR) in terms of association to cardiometabolic risk and circulating adipocytokine concentrations in a cohort of Saudi children and adolescents. Methods: A total of 948 (495 boys and 453 girls) apparently healthy children with varying BMI, aged 10-17 years, were included in this cross sectional study. Fasting glucose, lipid profile, leptin, adiponectin, resistin, insulin, TNF-alpha and aPAI-1 were measured in serum and HOMA-IR was calculated. MetS components were defined according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. Results: BMI was superior to SAD as well as WHR, and had the highest number of significant associations to MetS components and adipocytokines even after adjustment for age and gender, including blood pressure, lipids, glucose and leptin. Conclusion: In conclusion, while SAD is significantly associated with components of MetS among children and adolescents, it is not superior to BMI. The use of SAD therefore may not be practical for use in the pediatric clinical setting. Follow-up studies are needed to determine whether SAD has clinical significance in terms of harder outcomes such as predicting diabetes mellitus or cardiovascular diseases

Vitamin D Receptor Gene Polymorphisms Are Associated with Obesity and Inflammosome Activity

<div><p>To explore the mechanisms underlying the suggested role of the vitamin D/vitamin D receptor (VDR) complex in the pathogenesis of obesity we performed genetic and immunologic analyses in obese and non-obese Saudi individuals without other concomitant chronic diseases. Genomic DNA was genotyped for gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of VDR by allelic discrimination in 402 obese (body mass index –BMI≥30 kg/m2) and 489 non-obese (BMI<30 kg/m2) Saudis. Q-PCR analyses were performed using an ABI Prism 7000 Sequence Detection System. The inflammosome pathway was analysed by PCR, cytokines and plasma lipopolysaccaride (LPS) concentrations with ELISA assays. Results showed that the VDR SNPs rs731236 (G) (TaqI) and rs1544410 (T) (Bsm-I) minor allele polymorphisms are significantly more frequent in obese individuals (p = 0.009, β = 0.086 and p = 0.028, β = 0.072, respectively). VDR haplotypes identified are positively (GTA) (p = 0.008, β = 1.560); or negatively (ACC) (p = 0.044, β = 0.766) associated with obesity and higher BMI scores. The GTA "risk" haplotype was characterized by an up-regulation of inflammosome components, a higher production of proinflammatory cytokines (p<0.05) and a lower VDR expression. Plasma LPS concentration was also increased in GTA obese individuals (p<0.05), suggesting an alteration of gut permeability leading to microbial translocation. Data herein indicate that polymorphisms affecting the vitamin D/VDR axis play a role in obesity that is associated with an ongoing degree of inflammation, possibly resulting from alterations of gut permeability and microbial translocation. These results could help the definition of VDR fingerprints that predict an increased risk of developing obesity and might contribute to the identification of novel therapeutic strategies for this metabolic condition.</p></div

Correlation between ANG II and TNF-α (r = 0.32, p<0.001) in the entire group studied.

<p>Correlation between ANG II and TNF-α (r = 0.32, p<0.001) in the entire group studied.</p

Spearman's Correlation Using Systolic BP, Diastolic BP, TNF-α and Angiotensin II as Dependent Variables.

<p>Spearman's correlation coefficient with corresponding p-value (p<0.05 is significant).</p