Ideal cardiovascular health and inflammation in European adolescents: The HELENA study

Background and aims Inflammation plays a key role in atherosclerosis and this process seems to appear in childhood. The ideal cardiovascular health index (ICHI) has been inversely related to atherosclerotic plaque in adults. However, evidence regarding inflammation and ICHI in adolescents is scarce. The aim is to assess the association between ICHI and inflammation in European adolescents. Methods and results As many as 543 adolescents (251 boys and 292 girls) from the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence (HELENA) study, a cross-sectional multi-center study including 9 European countries, were measured. C-reactive protein (CRP), complement factors C3 and C4, leptin and white blood cell counts were used to compute an inflammatory score. Multilevel linear models and multilevel logistic regression were used to assess the association between ICHI and inflammation controlling by covariates. Higher ICHI was associated with a lower inflammatory score, as well as with several individual components, both in boys and girls (p < 0.01). In addition, adolescents with at least 4 ideal components of the ICHI had significantly lower inflammatory score and lower levels of the study biomarkers, except CRP. Finally, the multilevel logistic regression showed that for every unit increase in the ICHI, the probability of having an inflammatory profile decreased by 28.1% in girls. Conclusion Results from this study suggest that a better ICHI is associated with a lower inflammatory profile already in adolescence. Improving these health behaviors, and health factors included in the ICHI, could play an important role in CVD prevention

Kaon Tagging at 0° Scattering Angle for High-Resolution Decay-Pion Spectroscopy

At the Mainz Microtron hypernuclei can be studied by (e,e’K) reactions. By detecting the kaon which is emitted in forward direction, with the KAOS spectrometer placed at 0° scattering angle, reactions involving open strangeness production are tagged. High-resolution magnetic spectrometers are then used to coincidentally detect the monoenergetic decay-pions from mesonic two-body weak decays of light hypernuclei at rest. As a pioneering experiment has confirmed, the KAOS spectrometer is exposed to a large flux of background particles, mostly positrons from bremsstrahlung pair production. In order to increase the effciency of kaon identification the KAOS spectrometer was modified to suppress background particles at the cost of a high momentum resolution, which is less important for this experiment. This was achieved by placing up to 14 cm of lead absorbers in front of the detectors, in which positrons are blocked by forming electromagnetic showers while the effect on kaons is limited. An additional time-of-flight wall and a new threshold Čerenkov detector help to increase the detection effciency of kaons

Attenuation of the effect of the FTO rs9939609 polymorphism on total and central body fat by physical activity in adolescents: the HELENA study

To examine whether physical activity attenuates the effect of the FTO rs9939609 polymorphism on body fat estimates in adolescents

Associations between food portion sizes, insulin resistance, VO2 max and metabolic syndrome in European adolescents : the HELENA study

Background and aims: This study aims to examine the associations of food portion size (PS) with markers of insulin resistance (IR) and clustered of metabolic risk score in European ad-olescents. Methods: A total of 495 adolescents (53.5% females) from the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence (HELENA) study were included. The association between PS from food groups and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index, VO2 max, and metabolic risk score was assessed by multilinear regression analysis adjusting for several con-founders. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to determine the mean differences of food PS from food groups by HOMA-IR cutoff categories by using maternal education as a covariable.Results: Larger PS from vegetables in both gender and milk, yoghurt, and milk beverages in males were associated with higher VO2 max, while larger PS from margarines and vegetable oils were associated with lower VO2 max (p < 0.05). Males who consumed larger PS from fish and fish products; meat substitutes, nuts, and pulses; cakes, pies, and biscuits; and sugar, honey, jams, and chocolate have a higher metabolic risk score (p < 0.05). Males with lower HOMA-IR cutoff values consumed larger PS from vegetables, milk, yoghurt, and milk beverages (p < 0.05). Fe-males with lower HOMA-IR cutoff values consumed larger PS from breakfast cereals, while those with higher HOMA-IR cutoff values consumed larger PS from butter and animal fats (p = 0.018).Conclusion: The results show that larger PS from dairy products, cereals, and high energy dense foods are a significant determinant of IR and VO2 max, and larger PS from food with higher con-tent of sugar were associated with higher metabolic risk score