Connection between Telomerase Activity in PBMC and Markers of Inflammation and Endothelial Dysfunction in Patients with Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a constellation of metabolic derangements associated with vascular endothelial dysfunction and oxidative stress and is widely regarded as an inflammatory condition, accompanied by an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. The present study tried to investigate the implications of telomerase activity with inflammation and impaired endothelial function in patients with metabolic syndrome. Telomerase activity in circulating peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), TNF-α, IL-6 and ADMA were monitored in 39 patients with MS and 20 age and sex-matched healthy volunteers. Telomerase activity in PBMC, TNF-α, IL-6 and ADMA were all significantly elevated in patients with MS compared to healthy volunteers. PBMC telomerase was negatively correlated with HDL and positively correlated with ADMA, while no association between TNF-α and IL-6 was observed. IL-6 was increasing with increasing systolic pressure both in the patients with MS and in the healthy volunteers, while smoking and diabetes were positively correlated with IL-6 only in the patients' group. In conclusion, in patients with MS characterised by a strong dyslipidemic profile and low diabetes prevalence, significant telomerase activity was detected in circulating PBMC, along with elevated markers of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. These findings suggest a prolonged activity of inflammatory cells in the studied state of this metabolic disorder that could represent a contributory pathway in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis

The influence of reported ADHD and substance abuse on suicidal ideation in a non-clinical sample of young men

This study intended to determine whether former and current ADHD symptomatology is associated with suicidal ideation in a non-clinical sample of 18 year old males. We performed a cross sectional descriptive study of 3280 men during the examination for military service. The investigation included a screening for substance abuse, past (WURS) and current (ADHD symptom checklist) ADHD symptomatology and an interview about suicidal ideations. We found a correlation of suicidal ideations with a history of ADHD symptomatology. ADHD symptoms were strongly consistent over time. These results indicate that a history of (diagnosed or undiagnosed) ADHD could be a predictor for suicidal ideations. Surveying a history of ADHD in primary care might help identify subjects at risk for suicidal tendencies.(VLID)348261

Reflexive attention in touch: an investigation of event related potentials and behavioural responses

Exogenous attention has been extensively studied in vision but little is known about its behavioural and neural correlates in touch. To investigate this, non-informative tactile cues were followed after 800 ms by tactile targets and participants either detected targets or discriminated their location. Responses were slowed for targets at cued compared to uncued locations (i.e. inhibition of return (IOR)) only in the detection task. Concurrently recorded ERPs showed enhanced negativity for targets at uncued compared to cued locations at the N80 component and this modulation overlapped with the P100 component but only for the detection task indicating IOR may, if anything, be linked to attentional modulations at the P100. Further, cue-target interval analysis showed an enhanced anterior negativity contralateral to the cue side in both tasks, analogous to the anterior directed attention negativity (ADAN) previously only reported during endogenous orienting