Cross-talk between muscle and bone in postmenopausal women with hypovitaminosis D.

OBJECTIVES: Visceral fat is more harmful than subcutaneous fat. Women with high amounts of visceral fat have an increased risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS), insulin resistance and low level of serum vitamin D. METHODS: This was a prospective, randomized and controlled study. Postmenopausal women (n = 101) aged 45-70 years were included. The assessed parameters were: body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) status, serum insulin and HOMA-IR, bone mineral density, total fat mass, fat mass index (FMI) measured by DXA, and muscle strength. RESULTS: Significantly lower values of 25-OHD (35.26 ± 1.61 nmol/l) were found in women with MetS compared to those without MetS (47.52 ± 3.47nmol/l) (t = 3.699; p < 0.000). A significant negative correlation was observed between 25-OHD levels and: WC (rhoWC = -0.94; p < 0.004), BMI (rhoBMI = -0.80; p < 0.002), FMI (rhoFMI = -0.31; p < 0.002) and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) (rhoIFG = -0.23; p < 0.001). The percentage of body fat was statistically significantly higher in the group with insufficient 25-OHD (39.6%) and in the group with a deficit of 25-OHD (48.2%), compared with the maximum permitted percentage body fat of 35% for a female (t = -22.63; p < 0.002). The average hand grip strength of these moderately obese participants was 27.4 ± 4.7 kg. It was significantly lower than the normative grip strength for referent range groups (t = -21.65; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: A low 25-OHD level in postmenopausal women is associated with high body fat, metabolic syndrome, low muscular strength and osteopenia.

Obesity and metabolic syndrome during the menopause transition in Serbian women.

BACKGROUND: Abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome are known to increase in prevalence from premenopause to postmenopause. Both are well recognized predictors of cardiovascular disease and diabetes in women. Aims The primary objective of this study was to assess the presence of obesity and metabolic syndrome during the menopause transition in Serbian women who attended health-care centers. The secondary objective was to evaluate the prevalence of ischemic heart disease, stroke and diabetes in this group. METHODS: Our results present a part of the national epidemiological cross-sectional study assessing prevalence of metabolic syndrome and obesity in Serbia. In all, 1076 women attending 20 health-care centers were assessed. Women were divided into five groups: premenopausal, perimenopausal, early and late postmenopausal and geripausal. Medical history, waist circumference, blood glucose, lipids, and blood pressure were recorded. RESULTS: The mean body mass index of all women was 28.5 ± 4.9 kg/m(2). The mean waist circumference of all women was 92 ± 12.5 cm. Both were significantly lower in premenopausal women than in other women. Metabolic syndrome was present in 72% of women, with a significant difference in prevalence between premenopausal women and other groups. High triglyceride levels and hypertension were the most commonly present components of metabolic syndrome. Ischemic heart disease, stroke and diabetes occurred significantly more often in postmenopausal and geripausal women. CONCLUSION: The majority of Serbian women attending health-care centers have abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome which significantly increase in prevalence in the perimenopausal years. This indicates that preventive measures should be focused on diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the perimenopause.

Human giardiasis in Serbia: asymptomatic vs symptomatic infection.

Despite the public health importance of giardiasis in all of Europe, reliable data on the incidence and prevalence in Western Balkan Countries (Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and FYR Macedonia) are scarce, and the relative contribution of waterborne and food-borne, or person-to-person and/or animal-to-person, transmission of human giardiasis is not yet clear. To provide baseline data for the estimation of the public health risk caused by Giardia, we here review the information available on the epidemiological characteristics of asymptomatic and symptomatic human infection in Serbia. Although asymptomatic cases of Giardia represent a major proportion of the total cases of infection, high rates of Giardia infection were found in both asymptomatic and symptomatic populations. No waterborne outbreaks of giardiasis have been reported, and it thus seems that giardiasis mostly occurs sporadically in our milieu. Under such circumstances, control measures to reduce the high prevalence of giardiasis in Serbia have focused on person-to-person transmission, encouraging proper hygiene, but for more targeted intervention measures, studies to identify other risk factors for asymptomatic and symptomatic infections are needed.

Experimental evidence of low-dimensional chaotic convection dynamics in a toroidal magnetized plasma.

In a toroidal plasma confined by a purely toroidal magnetic field with a weak vertical field superimposed a system of convection cells are generated spontaneously, interacting with a background electron density gradient. The dynamics of this interaction is low-dimensional, chaotic, and consistent with solutions of the Lorenz equations in the diffusionless limit.

Binding of spermine to tRNATyr stabilizes the conformation of the anticodon loop and creates strong binding sites for divalent cations.

Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra of yeast tRNATyr. spin-labelled in the isopentenyladenosine residue adjacent to the anticodon, were measured as a function of temperature at various spermine/tRNA ratios. The critical temperature, at which a change in the activation energy for spin-label motion takes place, changes abruptly by almost 10 degrees C upon the addition of the fifth spermine molecule/tRNATyr molecule, indicating a marked stabilization of the anticodon region. Scatchard plots for Mn2+ binding to tRNATyr in the presence of spermine do not follow theoretically predicted curves for electrostatic type of interaction, assuming that four negative charges on tRNA are neutralized by each spermine molecule. It was estimated that two to three new binding sites for divalent cations are created upon the binding of spermine to tRNATyr.