Inflammatory markers in prepubertal children and their associations with abdominal fat.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between inflammatory markers and abdominal fat assessed by ultrasound in prepubertal children with and without excess weight. METHODS: A cross-sectional study involving 241 prepubertal children, 156 with obesity, 37 with overweight, and 48 with normal weight, aged five to ten years, who were followed at a research unit on Childhood Obesity from a teaching hospital belonging to a public health system. The concentration of interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α and C-reactive protein were assessed and regression analyses, considering outcome variables such as abdominal wall and intra-abdominal fat thickness measured by ultrasound, were performed. RESULTS: The findings highlighted an association between abdominal fat and inflammatory markers, even in children at this young age group. Subcutaneous fat showed a stronger association with inflammatory biomarkers compared to intra-abdominal fat when performing logistic regression, with a positive association between tumor necrosis factor-α and abdominal wall thickness equal to or greater than the 75th percentile in adjusted logistic regression (OR: 18.12; CI 95 %: 1.57: 209.55). CONCLUSIONS: Abdominal wall fat, in contrast to what is often observed in adults, appears to have a greater impact on chronic inflammation related to excessive weight in very young children.

Hot flashes: emerging cardiovascular risk factors in recent and late postmenopause and their association with higher blood pressure.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to compare the endothelial function of symptomatic (self-reported hot flashes >3 on a scale of 0-10) versus asymptomatic (≤3) women in different postmenopause stages, and to examine if the association between hot flashes and endothelial function was independent of classical cardiovascular risk factors observed during the analysis. METHODS: Noninvasive venous occlusion plethysmography within two groups: recent (recent postmenopause [RPM], <10 y, n = 63) and late (late postmenopause [LPM], ≥10 y, n = 67) postmenopause. RESULTS: Symptomatic women showed lower forearm blood flow and lower percentage increment of it during the reactive hyperemia response; higher systolic (P < 0.0001 in RPM and P = 0.0008 in LPM) and diastolic (P = 0.0005 in RPM and P = 0.0219 in LPM) blood pressure; highest score for perimenopausal hot flashes (P = 0.0007 in RPM and P < 0.0001 in LPM), longer duration of prior oral contraceptive use (P = 0.009 in RPM and P = 0.0253 in LPM), and higher current sleep disorders (P < 0.0001 in RPM and P = 0.0281 in LPM) compared with asymptomatic ones. In the LPM group, symptomatic women also had higher prevalence of previous hypertension diagnosis (P = 0.0092). During multivariate analysis, blood flow during the reactive hyperemia response was associated with hot flashes after adjusting for age, body mass index, and systolic blood pressure (odds ratio 0.55 [0.36-0.84] in RPM and odds ratio 0.7 [0.5-0.97] in LPM). CONCLUSIONS: In both phases, recent and late post menopause, hot flashes were associated with endothelial dysfunction and higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure, but the relationship between hot flashes and endothelial dysfunction was independent of blood pressure.