The role of obesity, different fat compartments and sleep apnea severity in circulating leptin levels: the Icelandic Sleep Apnea Cohort study.

To access publisher's full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field.To assess whether sleep apnea severity has an independent relationship with leptin levels in blood after adjusting for different measures of obesity and whether the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity and leptin levels differs depending on obesity level.Cross-sectional study of 452 untreated OSA patients (377 males and 75 females), in the Icelandic Sleep Apnea Cohort (ISAC), age 54.3±10.6 (mean±s.d.), body mass index (BMI) 32.7±5.3 kg m(-2) and apnea-hypopnea index 40.2±16.1 events per h. A sleep study and magnetic resonance imaging of abdominal visceral and subcutaneous fat volume were performed, as well as fasting serum morning leptin levels were measured.Leptin levels were more highly correlated with BMI, total abdominal and subcutaneous fat volume than visceral fat volume per se. No relationship was found between sleep apnea severity and leptin levels, assessed within three BMI groups (BMI or =35 kg m(-2)). In a multiple linear regression model, adjusted for gender, BMI explained 38.7% of the variance in leptin levels, gender explained 21.2% but OSA severity did not have a significant role and no interaction was found between OSA severity and BMI on leptin levels. However, hypertension had a significant effect on the interaction between OSA severity and obesity (P=0.04). In post-hoc analysis for nonhypertensive OSA subjects (n=249), the association between leptin levels and OSA severity explained a minor but significant variance (3.2%) in leptin levels. This relationship was greatest for nonobese nonhypertensive subjects (significant interaction with obesity level). No relationship of OSA severity and leptin levels was found for hypertensive subjects (n=199).Obesity and gender are the dominant determinants of leptin levels. OSA severity is not related to leptin levels except to a minor degree in nonhypertensive nonobese OSA subjects.NIH/HL72067/HL94307, Eimskip Fund of the University of Iceland, Landspitali University Hospital Research Fun

CANCER RISK IN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS PATIENTS TAKING CLADRIBINE

J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2014;85(10):A1–A5

Objectively measured physical activity among treatment seeking children and adolescents with severe obesity and normal weight peers

Background: Treatment seeking children and adolescents with severe obesity often experience barriers to physical activity. Studies objectively measuring physical activity in this group and investigating explanatory factors for physical activity levels could inform clinical practice. Objectives: This study aimed to compare objectively measured physical activity levels among treatment seeking children and adolescents with severe obesity and normal weight peers, and to investigate explanatory factors for time spent in moderate physical activity and vigorous physical activity among children and adolescents with severe obesity. Methods: Children with severe obesity (n = 85) were matched 1:1 by age, gender, and the season for accelerometer measurements with normal weight peers (n = 85). Children wore accelerometers for seven consecutive days, yielding measures of physical activity, sleep duration and timing. Parents reported on screen time, parental body mass index and participation in organized sports. Results: Children and adolescents with severe obesity spent significantly less time in moderate physical activity (12 min, p < 0.001) and vigorous physical activity (21 min, p < 0.001) per day compared to normal weight peers. No difference for time spent in sedentary activity was found between groups. For participants with severe obesity, age ≤12 years (p = 0.009) and participation in organized sports (p = 0.023) were related to more moderate physical activity, while age ≤12 years (p = 0.038) and early sleep timing (p = 0.019) were related to more vigorous physical activity. Conclusion: Children and adolescents with severe obesity were less physically active than their normal weight peers. Factors related to more moderate and vigorous physical activity in children with severe obesity were lower age, participation in organized sports and earlier sleep timing.publishedVersio

Cladribine with cyclophosphamide and prednisone in the management of low-grade lymphoproliferative malignancies

The feasibility of combining cladribine with cyclophosphamide and prednisone in the management of indolent lymphoid malignancies was determined. Nineteen patients [nine chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), seven non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and three macroglobulinaemia (M))] received cladribine 0.1 mg kg−1 per day as a subcutaneous bolus injection on days 1–3 (up to 5 injections) with intravenous cyclophosphamide 500 mg m−2 on day 1 and oral prednisone 40 mg m−2 on days 1–5 at 4-weekly intervals up to a maximum of six courses. A total of 80 courses were given. Overall response rate was 88%, with four patients achieving a complete clinical and haematological response and 12 achieving a partial response. Neutropenia WHO grade 4 in two patients and WHO grade 3 infection in one patient were the limiting toxicities on treatment. During the follow-up, WHO grade ≥3 haematological complications occurred in five patients and WHO grade ≥3 non-haematological complications in five patients. There were no treatment-related deaths. This study demonstrates the feasibility of the cladribine/cyclophosphamide/prednisone (CCP) combination that appears highly active and safe in the management of indolent lymphoid malignancies. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

A study on the sharp knee and fine structures of cosmic ray spectra

The paper investigates the overall and detailed features of cosmic ray (CR) spectra in the knee region using the scenario of nuclei-photon interactions around the acceleration sources. Young supernova remnants can be the physical realities of such kind of CR acceleration sites. The results show that the model can well explain the following problems simultaneously with one set of source parameters: the knee of CR spectra and the sharpness of the knee, the detailed irregular structures of CR spectra, the so-called "component B" of Galactic CRs, and the electron/positron excesses reported by recent observations. The coherent explanation serves as evidence that at least a portion of CRs might be accelerated at the sources similar to young supernova remnants, and one set of source parameters indicates that this portion mainly comes from standard sources or from a single source.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in SCIENCE CHINA Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy

Maternal hormonal contraceptive use and offspring overweight or obesity

Experiments in animal models have shown a positive association between in utero exposure to pharmacologic sex hormones and offspring obesity. The developmental effects of such hormones on human obesity are unknown

Three-year follow-up of physical activity in Norwegian youth from two ethnic groups: associations with socio-demographic factors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>More research on factors associated with physical activity and the decline in participation during adolescence is needed. In this paper, we investigate the levels, change, and stability of physical activity during the late teens among ethnic Norwegians and ethnic minorities, and we examine the associations between physical activity and socio-demographic factors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The baseline (T1) of this longitudinal study included 10^thgraders who participated in the youth part of the Oslo Health Study, which was carried out in schools in 2000–2001. The follow-up (T2) in 2003–2004 was conducted partly at school and partly by mail. A total of 2489 (1112 boys and 1377 girls) participated both at baseline and at follow-up. Physical activity level was measured by a question on weekly hours of physical activity outside of school. Socio-demographic variables were collected by questionnaire and from data obtained from Statistics Norway. Analysis of variance was used to study the level of and changes (T1 to T2) in physical activity, and the associations between physical activity and socio-demographic factors. Stability in physical activity was defined as the percentage of students reporting the same physical activity both times.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Boys were more active than girls at age 15 and 18 years, independent of ethnic background. Among girls, ethnic Norwegians were more active than ethnic minorities. Hours per week spent on physical activity declined in all groups during the follow-up period. Few associations were found between physical activity and socio-demographic factors in both cross-sectional and longitudinal data. Among the ethnic minority girls, 65% reported being physically active 0–2 hours per week at baseline, and 82% of these girls reported the same level at follow up.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The association between physical activity and ethnicity at age 15 years remained the same during the follow-up. Few associations were found between physical activity and socio-demographic variables. A large proportion of ethnic minority girls reported a persistently low physical activity level, and this low participation rate may need special attention.</p