Beyond waist circumference in an adult male population of Southern Italy: Is there any role for subscapular skinfold thickness in the relationship between insulin-like growth factor-I system and metabolic parameters?

BACKGROUND: Apart from waist circumference, other adiposity measures, such as subscapular skin fold (SST), arouse growing interest due to their relationship to metabolic complications and cardiovascular risk. The IGF-I system is deregulated in obese subjects in proportion to their degree of visceral adiposity. AIM: To examine the association among IGF-I, IGF-binding protein (BP)-1 and -3 levels and different measures of adiposity in a sample of adult male population in Southern Italy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A complete database for this analysis was available for 229 (age range 50-82 yr) participating at 2002-2004 Olivetti Heart Study follow-up. RESULTS: After adjustment for age, IGF-I was inversely associated with body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (p<0.05). IGFBP-1 was inversely associated with BMI, waist circumference, SST, homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) index, fat mass. HOMA index, age, and SST significantly predicted the IGFBP-1 plasma levels, with 24% of IGFBP-1 variability explained at a linear regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: IGFBP-1 inversely correlated to adiposity and HOMA index. Among adiposity indexes, SST was the best predictor of IGFBP-1 levels. The evaluation of some components of the IGF system, and simple measures of body adiposity, such as SST, may represent a further tool to better evidence phenotype profiles associated to the pathogenetic mechanism of cardiovascular risk factor clustering in male adults.

Possible role for Ca(2+) calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II as an effector of the fertilization Ca(2+) signal in mouse oocyte activation.

The present study shows that Ca(2+) calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM kinase II) is physiologically activated in fertilized mouse oocytes and is involved in the Ca(2+) response pathways that link the fertilization Ca(2+) signal to meiosis resumption and cortical granule (CG) exocytosis. After 10 min of insemination, CaM kinase II activity increased transiently, then peaked at 1 h and remained elevated 30 min later when most of the oocytes had completed the emission of the second polar body. In contrast, in ethanol-activated oocytes the early transient activation of CaM kinase II in response to a monotonic Ca(2+) rise was not followed by any subsequent increase. Inhibition of CaM kinase II by 20 micromol/l myristoylated-AIP (autocamtide-2-related inhibitory peptide) negatively affected MPF (maturing promoting factor) inactivation, cell cycle resumption and CG exocytosis in both fertilized and ethanol-activated oocytes. These results indicate that the activation of CaM kinase II in mouse oocytes is differently modulated by a monotonic or repetitive Ca(2+) rise and that it is essential for triggering regular oocyte activation.

Cytogenetic findings in terminal large cell transformation in a case of Sézary syndrome.

A long-lasting case of Sézary syndrome, whose chromosomal pattern had been repeatedly investigated during a follow-up period of several years, was studied in the terminal transforming phase, which took place more than 5 years after the initial diagnosis. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this appears to be the first instance of cytogenetic studies carried out in a large cell transformation of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. The results clearly indicate that the atypical large cells seen in the transforming phase were clonally derived from the pre-existing cerebriform cells. Newly detected relevant cytogenetic findings were: a) drop of tumor cell ploidy from hypotetraploid to hypotriploid, with striking chromosomal imbalance; b) additional structural aberrations of chromosomes 2 and 7, which had been already preferentially involved in the earlier phases, and involvement of the previously unaffected chromosomes 1, 3, and X; and c) presence in 100% of the abnormal metaphases of a large HSR on the long arm of chromosome 17.

Paracentric inversion of chromosome 15(q15q24): description of three families.

Three unrelated families with paracentric inversion of chromosome 15(q15q24) are reported. An additional pericentric inversion of chromosome 9 with breakpoints in p11.2q13 was also observed in one of the three families. Reproductive problems, such as stillbirths, spontaneous abortions and two live-born children with multiple abnormalities, were present.

Nonrandom chromosome changes in multiple sclerosis.

In order to study the role of genetic factors in multiple sclerosis, cytogenetic analysis was performed on 48 patients with the clinically defined disease. We found a high incidence of subjects (50%) with abnormal chromosomes, showing premature centromere division of the X chromosome and structural aberrations, translocations, or deletions that could suggest preferential breakpoints. Correlation between clinical and cytogenetic data showed that cytogenetic abnormalities were more common in patients with high frequency of relapse or with a progressive form of the disease.

Cytogenetic follow-up in a case of Sézary syndrome.

A cytogenetic follow-up study was performed for a 3-year period on a 70-year-old patient with Sézary syndrome (SS). The results showed formation of hypotetraploid cell clones with 60 to 89 chromosomes and 19 markers, some of which appeared during the period of study and stabilized thereafter. The incidence of these clonal cells increased from 29% to 85% during the follow-up study. The results confirm the presence of hypotetraploid cell clones, especially in the more advanced stages of SS. Moreover, some marker chromosomes in our patient (M2 and M3), derived from chromosome 2, were similar to those observed in SS by other investigators. According to our data and to those in the literature, SS appears to involve preferentially chromosomal regions 2p12-13, 2p21-22, 2q37, 17p13, 13q1, 9q11, 10p13, 14q11, 14q32, 7p1 and, to a lesser extent, 5q and 6q.

Possible genotoxicity of melanin synthesis intermediates: tyrosinase reaction products interact with DNA in vitro.

The actual cellular target of the cytotoxic intermediates of melanin synthesis is not yet known. In the present paper it is shown that eukaryotic DNA binds in vitro to soluble reaction products of tyrosinase (EC 1.14.18.1) and is physically modified, as ascertained by the following criteria: (a) buoyant density in cesium chloride density gradients; (b) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; (c) deoxyribonuclease (EC 3.1.4.5) test; (d) electron microscopy. The results reported here support the view that DNA itself may be a target for the cytotoxic intermediates of melanin synthesis.

Developmental aspects of hexose metabolism in Bufo bufo.

Due to the close correlation between glucose mobilization and utilization within animal tissues, in this paper, the stages of appearance of phosphorylase, glucose-6-phosphatase and hexokinase as well as the levels of some intermediates of glucose metabolism have been investigated during Bufo bufo development. Phosphorylase first appears at stage 13 and is dominant in the neural part of the embryo, but, after this stage, increases relatively more in the nonneural one. Hexokinase appears at stage 17 and glucose-6-phosphatase soon after. Phosphorylase appearance at stage 13 is correlated with an increase of lactate content in the embryo; this may indicate a metabolization of hexoses. On this basis, the subsequent appearance of hexokinase and glucose-6-phosphatase activities also seems coherent with hexose mobilization and utilization within embryo. No direct causative factor for the changes observed was evident.

A study on melanogenesis and catecholamine biosynthesis during Bufo bufo development.

Tyrosinase and L-DOPA decarboxylase activities have been investigated during Bufo bufo development since catecholamines and melanin are formed from common substrates in homologous cells. Catecholamines first appear at stage 13 (neural plate), but tyrosinase, at a very low level, and L-DOPA decarboxylase are present throughout all of prior development. Hence, L-DOPA decarboxylase activity is not likely to be correlated with the control of catecholamine synthesis, although at stage 17 it is mainly localized in the nonneural part of the embryo. The distribution of young melanosomes and L-DOPA decarboxylase suggest a separation between melanogenesis and catecholamine synthesis.

Some properties of Bufo bufo tyrosinase during development.

Tyrosinase expression during Bufo bufo development has been investigated. Until stage 19, only 1 electrophoretic band is detectable, but at a later stage (25) 3 bands appear. The Km for L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa) was also determined.