The barec of "Piani del Monte Avaro" (Bergamo, Italy)

This article outlines some archaeoastronomical results about an Iron Age site gained during the "Practical Archeoastronomy Course" held the 24th and 25th of June 2017 by Prof. Adriano Gaspani. The Iron Age settlement is called "Barec dei Piani del Monte Avaro". On it where found a closed enclosure of stones formed by an elliptical drywall inside which there are some megalithic structures: a monolith on a lithic platform, another monolith on which was placed on purpose a big rock with a perfectly vertical vein of white quartz oriented astronomically in accordance with the megalithic structure. At the top of the barec there is a large erratic monolith that overhangs all the stones of the drywall. The dry stone enclosure was found to be contemporary to monolithic structures. Within the enclosure lie, in the lower area, the remainders of a probable hut bottom. The site was active during the 6th century BC and the people that most likely attended to it was the celtic tribe of the Orobi who belonged, as well as all the tribes spread in the area now known as Lombardy (located between 45 deg and 46 deg North geographical latitude) to the Golasecca Culture. This civilization dates back to the first part of Iron Age and derives from the Canegrate culture of the 13th century BC which in turn is linked to the ancient culture of Halstatt, the oldest Celts lived in Northern Europe. The results of this astronomical survey are the detection of three alignments directed toward important directions, associated with the rising and the setting of the Moon at the southern extreme standstill, that proved this complex to be a Moon Sanctuary

Effect of Oral Sebacic Acid on Postprandial Glycemia, Insulinemia, and Glucose Rate of Appearance in Type 2 Diabetes

Dicarboxylic acids are natural products with the potential of being an alternate dietary source of energy. We aimed to evaluate the effect of sebacic acid (a 10-carbon dicarboxylic acid; C10) ingestion on postprandial glycemia and glucose rate of appearance (Ra) in healthy and type 2 diabetic subjects. Furthermore, the effect of C10 on insulin-mediated glucose uptake and on GLUT4 expression was assessed in L6 muscle cells in vitro

Relationship between fatty liver and glucose metabolism: A cross-sectional study in 571 obese children

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Early onset type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with obesity, insulin resistance and impaired beta-cell function. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) may be an independent risk factor for T2DM. We investigated the relationship between NAFLD and glucose metabolism in a large sample of obese children. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 571 obese children (57% males and 43% females) aged 8-18 years were consecutively studied at a tertiary care centre specialised in paediatric obesity. Liver ultrasonography was used to diagnose NAFLD after exclusion of hepatitis B and C and alcohol consumption. Oral-glucose tolerance testing (OGTT) was performed; insulin sensitivity was evaluated by using the insulin sensitivity index (ISI) and beta-cell function by using the ratio between the incremental areas under the curve (AUC) of insulin and glucose (incAUCins/incAUCglu). A total of 41% of the obese children had NAFLD. Impaired glucose tolerance or T2DM was present in 25% of the children with NAFLD versus 8% of those without it (p<0.001). Children with NAFLD had higher body mass index (BMI), fasting glucose, 120-min OGTT glucose, incAUCins/incAUCglu and lower ISI as compared with children without NAFLD (p</=0.002). At bootstrapped multivariable median regression analysis controlling for gender, age, pubertal status and BMI, NAFLD was an independent predictor of 120-min OGTT glucose and ISI, but not of incAUCins/incAUCglu. Similar findings were obtained using continuous liver steatosis as the predictor, instead of dichotomous NAFLD. CONCLUSION: NAFLD was present in 41% of our obese children and was associated with higher insulin resistance, but not with impaired beta-cell function

Elevated Concentrations of Liver Enzymes and Ferritin Identify a New Phenotype of Insulin Resistance: Effect of Weight Loss After Gastric Banding

BACKGROUND: Several studies have associated elevated liver enzymes (LFTs), obesity, and type 2 diabetes (T2DM), and a link has been established between insulin resistance (IR) and elevated ferritin concentrations. We examined the relationship between LFTs, ferritin, and IR in morbid obese subjects and the effect of weight loss after bariatric surgery. METHODS: We measured liver enzymes, ferritin, insulin resistance, and glucose tolerance (by OGTT) in 159 morbid obese subjects (BMI = 44.4 +/- 0.4 kg/m(2)) at baseline, 6 months and 1 year after laparoscopic-adjustable-gastric banding (LAGB). Subjects were divided in two groups: increased LFTs (ALT > 30; AST/ALT < 1) vs. normal LFTs. RESULTS: A large proportion of morbid obese subjects had increased LFTs (44%) which were associated with increased IR and ferritin, suggesting potential liver disease. A majority of the morbidly obese with increased LFTs, IGT, and T2DM, were male and had almost double ferritin concentrations, strongly correlated with ALT (r = 0.43, p < 0.0001). Both ferritin and ALT correlated with waist circumference and IR. One year after, LAGB glucose tolerance improved, LFTs and IR were reduced; ferritin did not change significantly, but was still correlated with IR. CONCLUSIONS: Ferritin may be an additional useful marker for more severe hepatic IR

Liver Enzymes Are Associated With Hepatic Insulin Resistance, Insulin Secretion, and Glucagon Concentration in Healthy Men and Women

International audienceOBJECTIVE: The pathophysiological mechanisms to explain the association between risk of type 2 diabetes and elevated concentrations of γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT) and alanineaminotransferase (ALT) remain poorly characterized. We explored the association of liver enzymes with peripheral and hepatic insulin resistance, insulin secretion, insulin clearance, and glucagon concentration. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We studied 1,309 nondiabetic individuals from the Relationship between Insulin Sensitivity and Cardiovascular disease (RISC) study; all had a euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp and an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) with assessment of insulin secretion and hepatic insulin extraction. The hepatic insulin resistance index was calculated in 393 individuals. RESULTS: In both men and women, plasma concentrations of GGT and ALT were inversely related with insulin sensitivity (M/I) (all P < 0.01). Likewise, the hepatic insulin resistance index was positively correlated with both GGT (r = 0.37, P < 0.0001, men; r = 0.36, P < 0.0001, women) and ALT (r = 0.25, P = 0.0005, men; r = 0.18, P = 0.01, women). These associations persisted in multivariable models. Increased GGT and ALT were significantly associated with higher insulin secretion rates and with both reduced endogenous clearance of insulin and hepatic insulin extraction during the OGTT (P = 0.0005 in men; P = 0.003 in women). Plasma fasting glucagon levels increased over ALT quartiles (men, quartile 4 vs. quartile 1 11.2 ± 5.1 vs. 9.3 ± 3.8 pmol/L, respectively, P = 0.0002; women, 9.0 ± 4.3 vs. 7.6 ± 3.1, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In healthy individuals, increased GGT and ALT were biomarkers of both systemic and hepatic insulin resistance with concomitant increased insulin secretion and decreased hepatic insulin clearance. The novel finding of a positive correlation between ALT and fasting glucagon level concentrations warrants confirmation in type 2 diabetes

Long-term effects of bariatric surgery on meal disposal and beta-cell function in diabetic and nondiabetic patients.

Gastric bypass surgery leads to marked improvements in glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in obese type 2 diabetes; the impact on glucose fluxes in response to a physiological stimulus - such as a mixed meal (MTT) - has not been determined. We administered an MTT to 12 obese type 2 diabetic patients (T2D) and 15 obese nondiabetic subjects (ND) before and one year after surgery (10 T2D and 11 ND) using the double-tracer technique and modeling of ß-cell function. In both groups postsurgery, tracer-derived appearance of oral glucose was biphasic, a rapid increase followed by a sharp drop, a pattern that was mirrored by postprandial glucose levels and insulin secretion. In diabetic patients, surgery lowered fasting and postprandial glucose levels; peripheral insulin sensitivity increased in proportion to weight loss (∼30%), ß-cell glucose sensitivity doubled but did not normalize (viz. 21 nonsurgical obese and lean controls). Endogenous glucose production, however, was less suppressed during the MMT as the combined result of a relative hyperglucagonemia and the rapid fall in plasma glucose and insulin levels.We conclude that, in type 2 diabetes bypass surgery changes the postprandial response to a dumping-like pattern, improves glucose tolerance, ß-cell function, and peripheral insulin sensitivity but worsens endogenous glucose output in response to a physiological stimulus

The Pro12Ala polymorphism of PPARγ2 modulates beta cell function and failure to oral glucose-lowering drugs in patients with type 2 diabetes

Background: We evaluate whether the Pro12Ala polymorphism of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ2 (PPARγ2) has a role in the progression of diabetes by modulating the occurrence of treatment failure to glucose-lowering drugs. Methods: We studied 215 patients with type 2 diabetes participating in the Thiazolidinediones Or Sulphonylureas and Cardiovascular Accidents Intervention Trial study. All participants were insufficiently controlled (glycated haemoglobin [HbA1c] 7.0%-9.0%) with metformin 2 g/day and were randomly allocated to add-on pioglitazone or a sulfonylurea. Treatment failure was defined as HbA1c ≥8% on two consecutive visits, 3 months apart. Results: Carriers or non-carriers of the polymorphism had similar age, body mass index, and diabetes duration. Ala carriers had lower fasting plasma insulin, better insulin sensitivity (Homeostasis Model Assessment [HOMA]2-%S), and worse beta cell secretion (HOMA2-%B) than non-carriers. During 24 months of follow-up, 32.5% among the Ala carriers and 8.6% among non-carriers (P < 0.001) developed treatment failure with a cumulative incidence of 18.6 vs 4.6/100 person-years. Those patients who developed treatment failure were older, had a younger age at diabetes diagnosis (48 ± 10 vs 52 ± 7 years; P = 0.032), higher HbA1c (8.1 ± 0.5 vs 7.7 ± 0.5%; P < 0.001), and lower HOMA2-%B (30 ± 12 vs 46 ± 29; P = 0.015) at study entry, as compared to those who did not develop treatment failure. At multivariate analysis, the Pro12Ala polymorphism was significantly associated with treatment failure (hazard ratio [HR] 4.45; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.79-11.1; P < 0.001); HbA1c at study entry was the other independent predictor of failure in this study population. Conclusion: The Pro12Ala polymorphism is associated with a greater insulin sensitivity, reduced beta cell function and a substantially increased risk of treatment failure