Cholesterol and breast cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies

The objective of the present study was to conduct the first systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies investigating the associations between total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) and LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and the risk of breast cancer. Relevant studies were identified in PubMed (up to January 2014). Inclusion criteria were original peer-reviewed publications with a prospective design. Random-effects models were used to estimate summary hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % CI. Distinction was made between studies that did or did not exclude cancer cases diagnosed during the first years of follow-up, thereby eliminating potential preclinical bias. Overall, the summary HR for the association between TC and breast cancer risk was 0·97 (95 % CI 0·94, 1·00; dose–response per 1 mmol/l increment, thirteen studies), and that between HDL-C and breast cancer risk was 0·86 (95 % CI 0·69, 1·09; dose–response per 1 mmol/l increment, six studies), with high heterogeneity (I 2= 67 and 47 %, respectively). For studies that eliminated preclinical bias, an inverse association was observed between the risk of breast cancer and TC (dose–response HR 0·94 (95 % CI 0·89, 0·99), seven studies, I 2= 78 %; highest v. lowest HR 0·82 (95 % CI 0·66, 1·02), nine studies, I 2= 81 %) and HDL-C (dose–response HR 0·81 (95 % CI 0·65, 1·02), five studies, I 2= 30 %; highest v. lowest HR 0·82 (95 % CI 0·69, 0·98), five studies, I 2= 0 %). There was no association observed between LDL-C and the risk of breast cancer (four studies). The present meta-analysis confirms the evidence of a modest but statistically significant inverse association between TC and more specifically HDL-C and the risk of breast cancer, supported by mechanistic plausibility from experimental studies. Further large prospective studies that adequately control for preclinical bias are needed to confirm the results on the role of cholesterol level and its fractions in the aetiology of breast cancer

Short- and mid-term effects on performance, health and qualitative behavioural assessment of Romane lambs in different milk feeding conditions

The common practice of artificially rearing lambs from prolific meat breeds of sheep constitutes a welfare issue due to increased mortality rates and negative health issues. In this multidisciplinary study, we investigated the possible short- and mid-term advantages of artificially feeding fresh ewe's milk instead of commercial milk replacer on lambs' growth, health and welfare. Romane lambs were either separated from their mothers on D3 and fed with Lacaune ewes' milk (LAC, n?=?13) or milk replacer (REP, n?=?15), or they were reared by their mothers (MOT, n =?15). On D45, they were weaned, gathered in single-sex groups until the end of the study on D150. Lamb performance and biomarkers of overall health were assessed by measuring: growth, dirtiness of the perianal area, enteric pathogens in the faeces, total antioxidant status and redox status assessed by plasma reduced glutathione/oxidised glutathione ratio, and immune response after vaccination against chlamydiosis. As an exploratory approach, blood cell transcriptomic profiles were also investigated. Last, qualitative behaviour assessment (QBA) was performed as an integrated welfare criterion. Lacaune ewes' milk and REP never differed in their average daily gain but grew less than MOT lambs in the early suckling period and just after weaning. No effect was detected afterwards. On D30, LAC and REP lambs had lower total antioxidant and higher redox status than MOT lambs but did not differ among themselves. Lacaune ewes' milk and MOT had a cleaner perianal area than REP lambs on D21, while faecal pathogen infection did not vary between the treatment groups. After vaccination, LAC also had a stronger immune response on D90 compared to REP lambs. Transcriptome analysis performed on D150 showed differential gene expression, mainly in relation to inflammatory, immune and cell cycle response, between male lambs of the LAC group and those of the MOT and REP groups. Based on QBA, LAC lambs never differed from MOT lambs in their general activity and varied from REP only on D21; REP lambs were always more agitated than MOT lambs. In conclusion, artificial milk feeding impaired early growth rate, health and emotional state mainly during the milk feeding period and at weaning. Feeding artificially reared lambs with fresh ewe's milk partly mitigated some of the negative effects induced by milk replacer but without achieving the full benefit of being reared by the mother

Do bone mineral content and density determine fracture in children? A possible threshold for physical activity

BackgroundRelations between bone parameters, physical exertion, and childhood fractures are complex. We aimed to estimate the associations between fracture history and bone mineral content (BMC) and areal bone mineral density (aBMD) at 7 years of age, by levels of physical activity, as a proxy for trauma frequency.MethodsWe used data collected from 2,261 children of the Generation XXI birth cohort, assembled in 2005/6 in Porto, Portugal. At the age of 7 years (2012/4), fracture history, time spent per week in active play, and sports practice were reported by parents. Subtotal and lumbar spine (LS) BMC and aBMD were measured using whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.ResultsBoys and girls in the highest categories of time spent in sports practice or active play generally had higher BMC and aBMD. Among girls, BMC and aBMD were protective of fracture only in the highest quarter of active play (>660 min/week)-odds ratios (OR; 95% confidence interval (95% CI)) for subtotal BMC=0.27 (0.11-0.67), subtotal aBMD=0.18 (0.06-0.49), and LS aBMD=0.41 (0.22-0.75). For boys in the highest quarter of sports practice (>240 min/week), subtotal and LS BMC were protective of fracture-OR=0.39 (0.16-0.98) and 0.51 (0.27-0.96), respectively.ConclusionIn prepubertal children, BMC and aBMD predicted fracture history only in the highest levels of physical activity.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio