Influence of Cigarette Smoking on Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) in Japanese Male Workers

The link between changes in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and cigarette smoking was evaluated in Japanese male workers with a 5-year follow-up. We examined the data of 456 Japanese male workers, aged 22-70 years, who were taking no medications, and from this group, 286 men (43.5±8.2 years) were followed for 5-years. Habits of cigarette smoking were obtained during interviews by well-trained staff. The influence of cigarette smoking on eGFR was evaluated. In the first analysis, there was no significant difference in eGFR between subjects with and without cigarette smoking. In the second analysis, eGFR was significantly reduced after 5 years in all subjects. Changes in eGFR in subjects with cigarette smoking (－1.90±12.31ml/min/1.73m2) were significantly smaller than those in subjects without cigarette smoking (－4.97±12.05ml/min/1.73m2). At follow-up, we found that eGFR was weakly and negatively correlated with the number of cigarettes smoked (/day). The present study indicated that cigarette smoking may be an important modifiable factor for eGFR in Japanese male workers who are not taking any medications

Comparison of serum ferritin and oxidative stress biomarkers between Japanese workers with and without metabolic syndrome

Objective Metabolic syndrome (MS) is closely associated to life-style and is characterized by central obesity causing severe diseases such as diabetes mellitus (DM) or atherosclerosis. This study investigates the role of oxidative stress and inflammation in MS. Subjects Total of 685 workers stratified by gender (293 men and 392 women) with a mean age of 41.2 ± 10.4 in different offices in a city in Japan. Methods Fasting blood and urine tests for MS, oxidative and/or inflammatory biomarker analysis and blood pressure (BP) measurement were performed. MS was defined on the basis of the Japanese criterion. Results Serum ferritin and urinary hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) levels were significantly higher in subjects with MS than those without. Ferritin was positively correlated with 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) in all subjects and it was negatively correlated with 8-isoprostane and H2O2 in men. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between ferritin and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-R) in men. By using multiple regression analysis, ferritin was closely correlated with HOMA-R, γ-GT, 8-OHdG, smoking value and amount of alcohol ingestion in men, and it was correlated with 8-OHdG, γ-GT, HOMA-R in women under 50 years old. Conclusions Ferritin is a useful marker of MS including insulin resistance, reflecting the importance of oxidative stress as a cause of MS, especially in men

Relationship between peak oxygen uptake and regional body composition in Japanese subjects

AbstractPurposeTo investigate the link between peak oxygen uptake and regional body composition by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in Japanese subjects.MethodsA total of 93 men (42.2 ± 12.3 years old) and 106 women (43.5 ± 12.3 years old) were enrolled in this cross-sectional investigation study. Peak oxygen uptake was measured by the breath-by-breath method. Regional body composition i.e., body fat mass, lean body mass, and body fat percentage was evaluated using DEXA. In addition, metabolic risk parameters were also evaluated.ResultsPeak oxygen uptake was 37.6 ± 8.7 mL/kg/min in men and 31.1 ± 6.4 mL/kg/min in women, and decreased with age in both genders. Peak oxygen uptake was significantly correlated with total body fat percentage (men: r = −0.684, p < 0.0001; women: r = −0.681, p < 0.0001). These associations remained even after adjusting for age and total lean body mass. However, peak work rate was positively and significantly correlated with leg lean body mass.ConclusionPeak oxygen uptake was closely correlated with total body fat percentage in both genders. Aerobic exercise as well as leg resistance training might be useful for improving peak oxygen uptake in Japanese subjects

Effects of mask fitness and worker education on the prevention of occupational dust exposure

To decrease the incidence of pneumoconiosis, we examined dust protective mask performance and its relation to pulmonary function as well as the effects of worker education on the proper wearing of masks. One hundred and seventy-eight workers from 15 factories subject to dust exposure participated in this study. All participants were interviewed to obtain relevant personal information and underwent both a mask leakage and a pulmonary function test. The mask leakage was expressed as a percentage, with under 10% leakage indicating that the dust protective mask worked efficiently. In addition, 23 workers from 2 factories were educated on how to wear masks properly. The average mask leakage was 24.3%, and 58% of workers wore ineffective masks. Though pulmonary function was almost normal, the percent vital capacity (%VC) tended to be lower depending on the mask leakage. Mask education, which was very easy and took only a short time, dramatically decreased average mask leakage from 32.1% to 10.5% (p0.001). Educating workers to wear masks properly might prevent the worsening of pulmonary function in response to dust exposure. Appropriate mask fitness by education could be useful in preventing the development of pneumoconiosis.</p

Trial of Sportswear Type ECG Sensor Device for Cardiac Safety Management during Marathon Running

Cardiac arrest has been reported during participation in several sports. Of these sports, marathon running is a particularly popular sport but imposes high cardiac load. Indeed, its popularity has been growing worldwide. Risk of cardiac arrest during marathon races is also expected to increase. Several studies have recorded electrocardiographic (ECG) information during marathon races to protect athletes from cardiac arrest. Although evaluable ECG data have been obtained and analyzed, cost-effectiveness of the system, data quality, and clinical significance remain inadequate. This report is the first to describe an economical electrocardiograph built into a T-shirt for use during marathon race. Twenty healthy runners aged 20 to 59 years (mean 36 years) wore the ECG device while running. The ECG data were monitored and analyzed to assess the observed frequencies of specified arrhythmias and the sections of the marathon in which the arrhythmias occurred. Of the ECG data obtained from 14 runners who completed the full marathon, six ECG datasets were evaluable. In some runners, there was inadequate contact between the electrode and body surface or poor Bluetooth connection between the ECG wireless transmitter and smartphone. Regarding arrhythmia analysis, all evaluable data that were analyzed showed some rhythm fluctuations. In conclusion, this economical T-shirt type ECG sensor provided evaluable ECG data during marathon races, although the evaluable rate was not high. The data were used to analyze specified arrhythmias, but some difficulties were encountered. The ECG sensor did not function properly because of a system error. The ECG sensor was not adequately moistened to record ECGs accurately. Moreover, some runners chose an unsuitable shirt size, which impaired the stability and strength of the electrode–skin contact. These shortcomings produced noise in the ECG data, which made it difficult to analyze arrhythmias. The next step will be to solve these problems and acquire data from a large number of runners

Relationship between ceruloplasmin and oxidative biomarkers including ferritin among healthy Japanese

Serum ceruloplasmin (CP), a marker relevant to copper metabolism, is one of famous inflammation markers with a reduction in Wilson's disease, whereas serum ferritin is a marker relevant to iron metabolism. Recently, ferritin is pointed out to be related with oxidative stress. However, there is still no population research which showed the relation of CP and ferritin. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between CP and ferritin including oxidative stress biomarkers among healthy Japanese (n = 389). We measured serum CP, ferritin, Fe, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and urinary oxidative stress biomarkers [H2O2, 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), 8-isoprostane] and so on. Subjects showed that age; 41.7 ± 10.0 (year), CP; 31.9 ± 6.8 (mg/dl), ferritin; 123.5 ± 121.0 (ng/ml), hs-CRP; 0.89 ± 2.53 (mg/l), 8-OHdG; 10.2 ± 4.4 [ng/mg creatinine (Cre)] and H2O2; 6.5 ± 10.9 (µM/g Cre), (All data mentioned above were expressed as mean ± SD). CP was significantly and positively correlated with hs-CRP and inversely correlated with ferritin, Fe and 8-OHdG. By a multiple logistic regression analysis, odds ratio of CP according to quartiles of hs-CRP was 4.86, and according to quartiles of 8-OHdG was 0.39 after adjusting for age and other confounding factors. In conclusion, our findings suggest that CP was an antioxidative biomarker which controls oxidative stress, whereas ferritin was a marker which may participate in the generation of oxidative stress

Association of Dietary Fat and Carbohydrate Consumption and Predicted Ten-year Risk for Developing Coronary Heart Disease in a General Japanese Population

We examined the relationships between dietary carbohydrate, protein, fat, and the ratio of n6/n3 fatty acid intakes with the predicted 10-year coronary heart disease (CHD) risk in a general Japanese population. We used the Framingham risk score to determine the 10-year CHD risk of the subjects, who were employees of 6 companies in a single prefecture in Japan. After excluding the subjects who reported any history of angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, diabetes, or cancer, and those with missing data resulting in the inability of estimation of 10-year CHD risk and food intakes, the final data analysis was carried out for 809 subjects. The logistic regression models revealed a significantly increased odds ratio of 10-year CHD risk in the subjects with the highest tertile of carbohydrate intake (% energy) (odds ratio 3.64, 95% CI, 2.07-6.40);after adjustment for other variables, the odds ratio for the 10-year CHD risk was also higher in the subjects with the highest tertile of carbohydrate intake (odds ratio 1.72, 95% CI, 0.70-4.25). We also found that fat intake and the ratio of n6/n3 fatty acids were inversely associated with the predicted 10-year CHD risk (p for trend＜0.01). The present findings added evidence of a positive association of dietary carbohydrate and inverse associations of total fat and n6/n3 fatty acid ratio with the predicted 10-year CHD risk in a general Japanese population

Associations of Serum Retinol, alpha-Tocopherol, and gamma-Tocopherol with Biomarkers among Healthy Japanese Men

Retinol, alpha-tocopherol, and gamma-tocopherol are fat-soluble vitamins acting as antioxidants via the prevention of lipid oxidation. Little is known about circulatory levels in healthy individuals. The present cross-sectional study aimed at elucidating the relationship between these antioxidants and clinical biomarkers in 206 male (median age 41 years, range 23-67) employees from companies located in the Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Subjects younger than 40 years (n = 94) showed a positive association of the frequency of alcohol consumption with the circulating retinol (beta = 0.344, p = 0.001) and gamma-tocopherol levels (beta = 0.219, p = 0.041), and an inverse association of fast insulin with serum retinol (beta = -0.301, p = 0.009). In participants older than 40 years (n = 112) we found that an inverse association of HOMA-R with serum retinol (beta = -0.262, p = 0.021), a-tocopherol (beta = -0.236, p = 0.035), and gamma-tocopherol levels (beta = -0.224, p = 0.052); and cigarette smoking was inversely associated with the levels of serum a-tocopherol (beta = -0.286, p = 0.008) and gamma-tocopherol (beta = -0.229, p = 0.040). We further found negative relationships between serum ferritin and the retinol (beta = -0.211, p = 0.032) and a-tocopherol levels (beta = -0.223, p = 0.022) in men over 40 years of age. The present study suggests that the circulatory levels of antioxidant vitamins may modulate the action of insulin and that higher levels of iron might decrease the levels of antioxidant vitamins in the blood

The New School Absentees Reporting System for Pandemic Influenza A/H1N1 2009 Infection in Japan

Objective: To evaluate the new Japanese School Absentees Reporting System for Infectious Disease (SARSID) for pandemic influenza A/H1N1 2009 infection in comparison with the National epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Disease (NESID). Methods:We used data of 53,223 students (97.7%) in Takamatsu city Japan. Data regarding school absentees in SARSID was compared with that in NESID from Oct 13, 2009 to Jan 12, 2010. Results: Similar trends were observed both in SARSID and NESID. However, the epidemic trend for influenza in SARSID was thought to be more sensitive than that in NESID. Conclusion: The epidemic trend for influenza among school-aged children could be easily and rapidly assessed by SARSID compared to NESID. SARSID might be useful for detecting the epidemic trend of influenza