3 research outputs found
Abdominal fat distribution and its relationship to brain changes: the differential effects of age on cerebellar structure and function: a cross-sectional, exploratory study.
Objectives: To investigate whether the metabolically important visceral adipose tissue (VAT) relates differently to structural and functional brain changes in comparison with body weight measured as body mass index (BMI). Moreover, we aimed to investigate whether these effects change with age.
Design: Cross-sectional, exploratory.
Setting: University Clinic, Integrative Research and Treatment Centre.
Participants: We included 100 (mean BMI=26.0â
kg/mÂČ, 42 women) out of 202 volunteers randomly invited by the city's registration office, subdivided into two age groups: young-to-mid-age (n=51, 20â45â
years of age, mean BMI=24.9, 24 women) versus old (n=49, 65â70â
years of age, mean BMI=27.0, 18 women).
Main outcome measures: VAT, BMI, subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue, brain structure (grey matter density), functional brain architecture (eigenvector centrality, EC).
Results: We discovered a loss of cerebellar structure with increasing VAT in the younger participants, most significantly in regions involved in motor processing. This negative correlation disappeared in the elderly. Investigating functional brain architecture showed again inverse VATâcerebellum correlations, whereas now regions involved in cognitive and emotional processing were significant. Although we detected similar results for EC using BMI, significant age interaction for both brain structure and functional architecture was only found using VAT.
Conclusions: Visceral adiposity is associated with cerebellar changes of both structure and function, whereas the regions involved contribute to motor, cognitive and emotional processes. Furthermore, these associations seem to be age dependent, with younger adultsâ brains being adversely affected
Common variants at 10 genomic loci influence hemoglobin Aâ(C) levels via glycemic and nonglycemic pathways.
Glycated hemoglobin (HbAâ(c)), used to monitor and diagnose diabetes, is influenced by average glycemia over a 2- to 3-month period. Genetic factors affecting expression, turnover, and abnormal glycation of hemoglobin could also be associated with increased levels of HbAâ(c). We aimed to identify such genetic factors and investigate the extent to which they influence diabetes classification based on HbAâ(c) levels
Novel loci for adiponectin levels and their influence on type 2 diabetes and metabolic traits: a multi-ethnic meta-analysis of 45,891 individuals
Circulating levels of adiponectin, a hormone produced predominantly by adipocytes, are highly heritable and are inversely associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) and other metabolic traits. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in 39,883 individuals of European ancestry to identify genes associated with metabolic disease. We identified 8 novel loci associated with adiponectin levels and confirmed 2 previously reported loci (Pâ=â4.5Ă10(-8)-1.2Ă10(-43)). Using a novel method to combine data across ethnicities (Nâ=â4,232 African Americans, Nâ=â1,776 Asians, and Nâ=â29,347 Europeans), we identified two additional novel loci. Expression analyses of 436 human adipocyte samples revealed that mRNA levels of 18 genes at candidate regions were associated with adiponectin concentrations after accounting for multiple testing (p<3Ă10(-4)). We next developed a multi-SNP genotypic risk score to test the association of adiponectin decreasing risk alleles on metabolic traits and diseases using consortia-level meta-analytic data. This risk score was associated with increased risk of T2D (pâ=â4.3Ă10(-3), nâ=â22,044), increased triglycerides (pâ=â2.6Ă10(-14), nâ=â93,440), increased waist-to-hip ratio (pâ=â1.8Ă10(-5), nâ=â77,167), increased glucose two hours post oral glucose tolerance testing (pâ=â4.4Ă10(-3), nâ=â15,234), increased fasting insulin (pâ=â0.015, nâ=â48,238), but with lower in HDL-cholesterol concentrations (pâ=â4.5Ă10(-13), nâ=â96,748) and decreased BMI (pâ=â1.4Ă10(-4), nâ=â121,335). These findings identify novel genetic determinants of adiponectin levels, which, taken together, influence risk of T2D and markers of insulin resistance