Influence of aging and menopause on postprandial lipoprotein responses in healthy adult women.

AIM: To analyze the influence of menopause and age on postprandial lipoprotein responses in healthy adult women. METHOD: Twenty-seven healthy young and middle-aged pre- and postmenopausal female volunteers aged 21-53 y were enrolled. They ingested OFTT cream(Jomo, Takasaki, Japan). Fasting and postprandial blood samples were obtained for up to 6 h, and serum concentrations of lipoproteins were analyzed. RESULTS: In the postprandial phase, serum triglycerides(TG), remnant-like particle(RLP)-TG(RLP-TG), RLP-cholesterol(RLP-C), and TG-rich lipoprotein-TG(TRL-TG)concentrations in all groups peaked after 2 h. After 4 h, the TG, RLP-C, RLP-TG and TRL-TG concentrations in the young women returned to the fasting concentrations. However, at 6 h, these parameters in the pre- and postmenopausal women had barely returned to the fasting concentrations. CONCLUSION: The present results suggest that:(1)the magnitude of postprandial TG concentrations is dependent on age, but not on menopause;(2)clearance of remnant lipoproteins is delayed with age in pre- and postmenopausal women compared to young women, and(3)menopause is associated with an increase of RLP-C, but may not influence LDL particle size.

Analysis of the factors contributing to serum retinol binding protein and transthyretin levels in Japanese adults.

OBJECTIVE: We examined various factors possibly related to metabolic syndrome, particularly focusing on nutritional assessment proteins such as retinol binding protein (RBP) and transthyretin (TTR), and remnant lipoproteins. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fasting serum lipid was analyzed in 58 Japanese adult volunteers (33 men and 25 women, 42.5 +/- 10.1 years old). RESULTS: The lipid profiles of the subjects were classified by lipoprotein polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic patterns into Types S (n = 10), A (n = 37), and N (n = 11), according to the method described in Internal Medicine 42: 244, 2003. RBP and TTR were significantly higher in Type N than in Types S and A. In multivariate analysis, RBP was accounted for by remnant-like particle-triglyceride (RLP-TG), interleukin 6, body mass index and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol (adjusted R2 = 0.621). TTR was accounted for by lipoprotein(a), adiponectin and RLP-TG (adjusted R2 = 0.415). Malondialdehyde-LDL was significantly accounted for by LDL-cholesterol and RLP-cholesterol (adjusted R2 = 0.601). Lipoprotein(a) and LDL-cholesterol were independent variables for oxidized LDL antigen (adjusted R2 = 0.620). High-sensitivity C-reactive protein was accounted for by interleukin 6, immunoreactive insulin and oxidized LDL antigen (adjusted R2 = 0.361). Uric acid and body mass index were independent variables for adiponectin (adjusted R2 = 0.429). CONCLUSION: RBP and TTR may be useful as convenient and simple clinical markers of overnutrition and possibly of metabolic syndrome.

A nineteen-year cohort study on the relationship of electrocardiographic findings to all cause mortality among subjects in the national survey on circulatory disorders, NIPPON DATA80.

BACKGROUND: Electrocardiogram (ECG) is one of the most popular tools for daily clinics and health checkup, and has been used for the National Survey on Circulatory Disorders to assess the health status in Japanese people. The meaningfulness to predict mortality from all causes among people with ECG abnormality is to be clarified using national samples. METHODS: ECG findings recorded among 9,638 subjects for National Survey on Circulatory Disorders 1980 in Japan, were classified using the Minnesota Codes (mc). Their relationships to all cause mortality over 19 years were examined using Cox proportional hazard models adjusting for sex, age, systolic blood pressure, blood glucose, and smoking habits. RESULTS: Subjects with abnormal Q-QS findings showed significantly high hazard ratios ( 3.71(mc1-1) and 1.57 (mc1-3)) for mortality to the subjects who were free from any major ECG findings. Hazard ratios were 1.37 (mc2-1) to 4.16 (mc2-5) for axis deviation, and 1.34 (mc3-1) to 1.35 (mc3-3) for left high R waves. Those were 1.63 (mc4-3) to 2.59 (mc4-1) for ST depression, and 1.54 (mc5-3) to 2.33 (mc5-1) for T abnormality. The lower the second number of the Minnesota Codes was, the higher hazard ratio was observed in the Q-QS, ST, T codes. The hazard ratios of junction-type ST depression (mc4-4), and low T waves (mc5-4, 5-5) were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: ECG findings defined by the Minnesota Codes were useful to predict the risk for mortality from all causes even after adjusting for the other major risk factors, and the results supported a usefulness of the ECG for health check-ups.

Usefulness of serum total cholesterol/triglyceride ratio for predicting the presence of small, dense LDL.

OBJECTIVE: We examined the usefulness of the serum total cholesterol (TC)/triglyceride (TG) and LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C)/TG ratios for predicting the presence of small, dense LDL, by comparing them with the established indicators of small, dense LDL, such as the LDL-migration index (LDL-MI) and LDL-C/Apolipoprotein B (ApoB) ratio. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fasting serum lipid was analyzed in 99 Japanese hyperlipidemic and normolipidemic subjects (34 males and 65 females, 59.4 +/- 11.9 years old). RESULTS: A good negative correlation was observed between LDL-MI and log (TC/TG) (R(2) = 0.473, p < 0.0001). There was a strong positive correlation between LDL-C/ApoB and log (TC/TG) (R(2) = 0.665, p < 0.0001). Similar results were obtained using LDL-C instead of TC. Using LDL-MI > 0.4 as an indicator of small, dense LDL, the upper limit of TG was estimated to be 140-142 mg/dl. CONCLUSION: TC/TG and LDL-C/TG may offer a convenient and simple clinical tool for predicting the presence of small, dense LDL. Particularly, TC/TG could be an easy-to-use indicator of small, dense LDL for general practitioners.