Relationship of serum leptin with parameters of nutritional status and body composition among patients with stable course of cardiovascular disorders

Background: Blood leptin concentration is related to fat mass, adipose cell and leptin receptor function, and comorbidities. The aim of this study is to determine the relationships between blood leptin concentration and nutritional status assessment among inpatients with stable cardiovascular disorders.   Materials and Methods: Blood leptin concentration and nutritional risk and status assessments using clinical, anthropometric and biochemical parameters, as well bioelectrical impedance (BIA), were determined in 160 consecutive inpatients with mild exacerbation of cardiovascular diseases cardiovascular disorders undergoing non-urgent hospitalization.   Results: Patients with lower values of Minimal Nutritional Assessment score had lower blood leptin concentration and lower value of leptin to CRP ratio. Compared to patients with leptin concentration in the upper quartiles, individuals in the lowest quartile had a lower BMI and fat mass, thinner skinfolds, greater skeletal muscle mass and handgrip strength. In comparison with the values for leptin-to-CRP ratio, albumin, albumin-to-CRP ratio and lymphocyte count, leptin explained a greater part of the variance in the majority of parameters of nutritional status and body composition. Contrasting associations of leptin with ideal (negative) and current (positive) body mass were found.   Conclusions: Leptin was associated with parameters of nutritional status assessments more strongly than other biochemical parameters usually used. However, the use of leptin as a biomarker of nutritional status should be approached carefully and needs further evaluation, especially in the context of its strong association with both current and ideal body mass, the importance of receptors’ resistance to leptin, and leptin’s negative relationships with muscle mass and strength

New perspectives on Neanderthal dispersal and turnover from Stajnia Cave (Poland).

The Micoquian is the broadest and longest enduring cultural facies of the Late Middle Palaeolithic that spread across the periglacial and boreal environments of Europe between Eastern France, Poland, and Northern Caucasus. Here, we present new data from the archaeological record of Stajnia Cave (Poland) and the paleogenetic analysis of a Neanderthal molar S5000, found in a Micoquian context. Our results demonstrate that the mtDNA genome of Stajnia S5000 dates to MIS 5a making the tooth the oldest Neanderthal specimen from Central-Eastern Europe. Furthermore, S5000 mtDNA has the fewest number of differences to mtDNA of Mezmaiskaya 1 Neanderthal from Northern Caucasus, and is more distant from almost contemporaneous Neanderthals of Scladina and Hohlenstein-Stadel. This observation and the technological affinity between Poland and the Northern Caucasus could be the result of increased mobility of Neanderthals that changed their subsistence strategy for coping with the new low biomass environments and the increased foraging radius of gregarious animals. The Prut and Dniester rivers were probably used as the main corridors of dispersal. The persistence of the Micoquian techno-complex in South-Eastern Europe infers that this axis of mobility was also used at the beginning of MIS 3 when a Neanderthal population turnover occurred in the Northern Caucasus

Leptin, adiponectin, tumor necrosis factor α, and irisin concentrations as factors linking obesity with the risk of atrial fibrillation among inpatients with cardiovascular diseases

Background: The endocrine function of adipose tissue and skeletal muscles mediates the risk of cardiovascular complications of obesity. Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the associations of leptin, adiponectin (ADA), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF‑α), and irisin levels with the diagnosis of atrial fibrillation (AF) on admission to the hospital as well as parameters of transthoracic echocardiography among inpatients with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Methods: The study included 80 consecutive patients hospitalized due to paroxysmal or persistent AF and a control group of 165 age- and sex‑matched individuals admitted due to exacerbation of chronic CVD. In all participants, we assessed serum leptin, ADA, TNF‑α, and irisin concentrations, body composition determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis, and transthoracic echocardiographic parameters. Results: Compared with controls, patients with AF had greater fat mass (FM), higher serum leptin levels and lower levels of ADA, TNF‑α, and irisin when indexed to body surface area, FM, and visceral adiposity. Hyperleptinemia slightly increased the risk of AF (odds ratio [OR], 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01–1.03; P < 0.01). The correlation was stronger after indexation to FM (OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.01–1.81; P < 0.05). The coefficients of significant correlations with echocardiographic parameters were stronger for irisin than for adipocytokines: 0.16 to 0.35 and 0.12 to 0.22, respectively. Conclusions: Adipocytokines and irisin exert a significant but weak effect on heart chamber size and affect the risk of AF occurrence. Their blood concentrations do not seem to be related simply to body composition but probably depend on individual variations in adipocytokine and myokine secretion as a result of numerous factors

Pre- and postnatal exposure of children to tobacco smoke during the first four years of life – observations of the authors

[b]Introduction[/b]. Environmental exposure to tobacco smoke is a significant threat for human health, where the higher is its degree, the more immature the human organism is. Therefore, the exposure to Tobacco smoke in foetal life exerts unfavourable effects on developing foetus and may cause early and distant results in children. [b]Material and methods.[/b] The study comprised 318 children in their first four years of life, treated for various medical conditions. The examined children were divided into two groups, Group 1 – children exposed to Tobacco smoke – and Group 2 – a control group with children from non-smoking families. History data were obtained on the basis of a specially designed questionnaire, used by the doctor in an individual conversation with parent. In each third child from the group 1 cotinine concentration in urine was assayed by the method of high performance liquid chromatography-UV-VIS and the cotinine/creatinine ratio was calculated. [b]Results of stud[/b][b]y[/b]. Results demonstrated environmental exposure to tobacco smoke in 173 children (Group 1). Out of them 31.2% were the children whose mothers had smoked also during pregnancy (Subgroup A). The other 119 children from Group 1 were accounted to Subgroup B, i.e., children, where other household members had been smoking cigarettes. A comparative group comprised 143 children from non-smoking families. The results demonstrated then that 17% of all the examined children were those, exposed to tobacco smoke effects already in their foetal life, predisposing them to prematurity and low birth weight. Moreover, it was observed that the young age and lower education level of their parents, together with worse housing conditions, may suggest a predisposing character and role of the mentioned factors

New perspectives on Neanderthal dispersal and turnover from Stajnia Cave (Poland)

The Micoquian is the broadest and longest enduring cultural facies of the Late Middle Palaeolithic that spread across the periglacial and boreal environments of Europe between Eastern France, Poland, and Northern Caucasus. Here, we present new data from the archaeological record of Stajnia Cave (Poland) and the paleogenetic analysis of a Neanderthal molar S5000, found in a Micoquian context. Our results demonstrate that the mtDNA genome of Stajnia S5000 dates to MIS 5a making the tooth the oldest Neanderthal specimen from Central\u2011Eastern Europe. Furthermore, S5000 mtDNA has the fewest number of differences to mtDNA of Mezmaiskaya 1 Neanderthal from Northern Caucasus, and is more distant from almost contemporaneous Neanderthals of Scladina and Hohlenstein-Stadel. This observation and the technological affinity between Poland and the Northern Caucasus could be the result of increased mobility of Neanderthals that changed their subsistence strategy for coping with the new low biomass environments and the increased foraging radius of gregarious animals. The Prut and Dniester rivers were probably used as the main corridors of dispersal. The persistence of the Micoquian techno\u2011complex in South\u2011Eastern Europe infers that this axis of mobility was also used at the beginning of MIS 3 when a Neanderthal population turnover occurred in the Northern Caucasus

A 41,500 year-old decorated ivory pendant from Stajnia Cave (Poland)

Evidence of mobiliary art and body augmentation are associated with the cultural innovations introduced by Homo sapiens at the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic. Here, we report the discovery of the oldest known human-modified punctate ornament, a decorated ivory pendant from the Paleolithic layers at Stajnia Cave in Poland. We describe the features of this unique piece, as well as the stratigraphic context and the details of its chronometric dating. The Stajnia Cave plate is a personal 'jewellery' object that was created 41,500 calendar years ago (directly radiocarbon dated). It is the oldest known of its kind in Eurasia and it establishes a new starting date for a tradition directly connected to the spread of modern Homo sapiens in Europe