Lycopene and Myocardial Infarction Risk in the EURAMIC Study

A multicenter case-control study was conducted to evaluate the relations between antioxidant status assessed by biomarkers and acute myocardial infarction. Incidence cases and frequency matched controls were recruited from 10 European countries to maximize the variance in exposure within the study. Adipose tissue needle aspiration biopsies were taken shortly after the infarction and analyzed for levels of carotenoids and tocopherols. An examination of colinearity including all covariates and the three carotenoids, α-carotene, β-carotene, and lycopene, showed that the variables were sufficiently independent to model simultaneously. When examined singularly, each of the carotenoids appeared to be protective. Upon simultaneous analyses of the carotenoids, however, using conditional logistic regression models that controlled for age, body mass index, socioeconomic status, smoking, hypertension, and maternal and paternal history of disease, lycopene remained independently protective, with an odds ratio of 0.52 for the contrast of the 10th and 90th percentiles (95% confidence interval 0.33-0.82, p= 0.005). The associations for α- and β-carotene were largely eliminated. We conclude that lycopene, or some substance highly correlated which is in a common food source, may contribute to the protective effect of vegetable consumption on myocardial infarction ris

Association Between Toenail Selenium and Risk of Acute Myocardial Infarction in European Men: The EURAMIC Study

The association between selenium status and risk of acute myocardial infarction was examined in a multicenter case-control study in 10 centers from Europe and Israel in 1991-1992. Selenium in toenails was assessed for 683 nonfatal male cases with first acute myocardial infarction and 729 controls less than 70 years of age. Median toenail selenium content was 0.553 μg/g for cases and 0.590 μg/g for controls. After adjustment for age, center, and smoking, the odds ratio for myocardial infarction in the highest quintile of selenium as compared with the lowest was 0.63 . The observed inverse trend was somewhat stronger when the authors adjusted for vitamin E status (p = 0.05). Analysis stratified for smoking habits showed an inverse association in former smokers (odds ratio for the 75th-25th percentile contrast = 0.63 (95 percent confidence interval 0.43-0.94)), but not in current smokers (odds ratio = 0.97 ( 0.71-1.32)) or in those who had never smoked (odds ratio = 1.55 (0.87-2.76)). Analysis stratified by center showed a significant inverse association between selenium levels and risk of myocardial infarction for Germany (Berlin) only (75th to 25th percentile odds ratio = 0.62 (95 percent confidence interval 0.42-0.91)), which was the center with the lowest selenium levels. It appears that the increased risk of acute myocardial infarction at low levels of selenium intake is largely explained by cigarette smoking; selenium status does not appear to be an important determinant of risk of myocardial infarction at the levels observed in a large part of Europe. Am J Epidemiol 1997; 145: 373-

Molecular analysis and epidemiological typing of Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus outbreak strains

publishedVersio

70 pasienter med covid-19 innlagt ved Sykehuset Østfold

BAKGRUNN Det er fortsatt behov for mer kunnskap om covid-19 i Norge. Formålet vårt var å beskrive pasienter med covid-19 innlagt ved vårt lokalsykehus våren 2020. MATERIALE OG METODE Dataene er innhentet retrospektivt fra vårt lokale kvalitetsregister for covid-19 og inkluderer samtlige pasienter innlagt ved Sykehuset Østfold i perioden 10.3.2020–31.5.2020. RESULTATER Totalt 70 pasienter var innlagt, og 47 (67 %) av disse var menn. Gjennomsnittsalderen var 59 år (min.–maks. 18–95). De vanligste komorbide tilstandene var adipositas (n = 22, 31 %), kronisk hjertesykdom (n = 21, 30 %) og diabetes (n = 17, 24 %). 13 pasienter (19 %) hadde ingen komorbiditet. De vanligste symptomene var hoste (n = 56, 80 %), dyspné (n = 51, 73 %) og feber (n = 48, 69 %). De hyppigste komplikasjonene var kardiell affeksjon (n = 18, 26 %), akutt lungesviktsyndrom (n = 14, 20 %) og akutt nyreskade (n = 9, 13 %). 4 (6 %) pasienter utviklet venøs tromboembolisme. 20 pasienter (29 %) utviklet kritisk sykdom. 13 pasienter (19 %) ble behandlet på intensivavdelingen, og 7 pasienter (10 %) døde under oppholdet. FORTOLKNING De fleste pasientene som var innlagt, var middelaldrende menn. Mange hadde ingen komorbiditet. De hyppigste ikke-respiratoriske komplikasjonene var hjerteaffeksjon og nyreskade. En stor andel utviklet kritisk sykdom sekundært til akutt lungesviktsyndrom

Association between beta-carotene and acute myocardial infarction depends on polyunsaturated fatty acid status. The EURAMIC Study. European Study on Antioxidants, Myocardial Infarction, and Cancer of the Breast

Because antioxidants may play a role in the prevention of coronary heart disease by inhibiting the peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), the combined association of diet-derived antioxidants and PUFAs with acute myocardial infarction (MI) was investigated. This multicenter case-control study included 674 patients and 725 control subjects in eight European countries and Israel. Fatty acid composition and alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene levels were determined in adipose tissue; selenium level was determined in toenails. For alpha-tocopherol no association with MI was observed at any PUFA level. The overall multivariate odds ratio (OR) for low (10th percentile) versus high (90th percentile) beta-carotene was 1.98 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.39 to 2.82). The strength of this inverse association with MI was dependent on PUFA levels (in tertiles): for low PUFA, the OR for low versus high beta-carotene was 1.79 (95% CI, 0.98 to 3.25), for medium PUFA the OR was 1.76 (95% CI, 1.00 to 3.11), and for high PUFA 3.47 (95% CI, 1.93 to 6.24). For selenium increased risk was observed only at the lowest PUFA tertile (OR, 2.49; 95% CI, 1.22 to 5.09). This interaction between selenium and PUFAs was not significant and may at least partly be explained by a higher proportion of smokers at the low PUFA level. These findings support the hypothesis that beta-carotene plays a role in the protection of PUFAs against oxidation and subsequently in the protection against MI. No evidence was found that alpha-tocopherol or selenium may protect against MI at any level of PUFA intake