Early and Menopausal Weight Gain and its Relationship with the Development of Diabetes and Hypertension.

Background: Previous research has revealed a clear relationship between weight gain of persons and their metabolic diseases developing later. These studies have covered only short periods lasting 4-8 years.Our goal was to collect decades' old and often life-long anthropometric data and correlate the figures with the presence of hypertension and diabetes or both. Methods: A retrospective international study was planned and organized to compare self-recorded data of lifelong weight gain among 60-70-year-old patients, analyze their correlation with metabolic diseases they developed, with special attention to women's weight gain around pregnancy, delivery and menopause in primary care settings in Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and the Ukraine. Results: Of the recruited 815 participants, 319 men and 496 women presented all the required data. Diabetics of both genders had the highest baseline weight at 20 years of age. The weight and BMI of the whole study population increased steadily until their seventies, but to a lesser extent after their fifties. Compared to the control group, changes over decades were the greatest among diabetics and also greater among patients with hypertension. Weight increase in the first decades (20-30-year-old men and 30-40-year-old women) was a significant risk factor for the development of diabetes (OR=1.044; p=0.002; 95% CI: 1.01-1.07). Among patients with diabetes and hypertension, both diagnoses were set up earlier than among those with a single morbidity.Among females, weight increase around pregnancy and menopause correlated significantly with higher odds for the diagnoses of diabetes and/or hypertension, irrespective of the number of children. Conclusions: During their decade-long relationship with their patients, family physicians are expected to identify the higher weight gain of their patients, especially among younger generation and intervene, if necessary.

[Effect of beta-receptor block on QT/QS2 behavior during isometric and dynamic exercise]. / Effetti del blocco beta-recettoriale sul comportamento del rapporto QT/QS2 in corso di esercizio isometrico e dinamico.

Our study is aimed to evaluate the change of QT/QS2 ratio in normal subjects during both isometric and dynamic exercise before and after propranolol administration. We studied 10 young volunteers healthy subjects who performed an isometric exercise by squeezing a grip dynamometer at 70% of their maximal voluntary contraction as long as possible. They also performed a dynamic exercise undergoing a submaximal bicycle stress test. Both tests were performed before and after administration of propranolol (0.15 mg/Kg e.v.) QT and QS2 intervals were measured at rest, during exercise and in the recovery period. Heart rate and blood pressure were also determined. Isometric exercise induces a significant shortening of both intervals although minor for QT so that the ratio significantly increases in comparison to baseline (p less than .001). At rest propranolol induces a significant decrease of heart rate and only a slight lengthening of QT and QS2 so that the ratio is unchanged. During exercise propranolol does not influence the increase of heart rate and blood pressure and the shortening of QT interval but prevent exercise-induced QS2 shortening so that the ratio after beta-blockade is significantly reduced at the peak of exercise (p less than .005). During dynamic exercise QT and QS2 behaviour is similar to that of isometric exercise; in fact both intervals are shortened and QS2 decrease is major than QT so that the ratio increases (p less than .001). These results confirm that QT/QS2 ratio can monitor the effects of adrenergic stimulation on the heart during physiological manoeuvres enhancing sympathetic discharge like occurs during both isometric and dynamic exercise.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Influence of the angiocardiographic severity of ischemic heart disease on QTc duration]. / Influenza della severità angiocardiografica della cardiopatia ischemica sulla durata del QTc.

The influence of severity of coronary artery disease (CAD) on the duration of corrected electrical systole (QTc) and the prognostic value to predict sudden death of this index were retrospectively evaluated in 123 non-consecutive patients with history of stable angina who underwent cardiac catheterization. Fifteen patients had no angiographic evidence of CAD (O-V group). The 108 patients with a greater than or equal to 70% luminal diameter narrowing of a major coronary artery were further subdivided: 23 patients had 1-vessel (1-V group), 40 patients had 2-vessel (2-V group) and 45 had 3-vessel (3-V group) coronary artery disease; 26 patients showed normal left ventricular (LV) wall motion (A group), 57 patients showed asynergic contraction of 1 or 2 LV areas (B group) and 25 patients showed 3 or more areas of asynergy and/or aneurysm. Sixty-one patients had a previous myocardial infarction (MI). QT interval, calculated in the lead where it was longer, on 12-lead resting electrocardiograms recorded at a paper speed of 25 mm/sec, was corrected by the formula: QTc = QT/square root R-R. The follow-up was performed by telephone. At the time of angiography there was no significant difference in QTc duration between the different groups according to the severity of CAD (O-V, 1-V, 2-V and 3-V groups). Patients showing three or more areas of abnormal segmental wall motion and/or aneurysm (C group) had a significantly longer QTc (p less than 0.05) than patients with normal LV wall motion (A group).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Influence of cobalt on fermentative methylation.

Streptomyces rishiriensis produces at least five closely related antibiotics. Strain selection yielded a culture producing only the most active component, coumermycin A. Hydrolysis of this antibiotic by barium hydroxide yielded both 5-methyl-pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid and pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid, which could be separated by paper chromatography. Coumermycin A was thus shown to be two fractions, designated A(1) and A(2) depending upon the nature of the pyrrole carboxylic acid portion. The addition of cobalt to the fermentation medium at a level as low as 0.01 mug/ml shifted the fermentation exclusively to the production of coumermycin A(1). Other ions were ineffective, except nickel, whose activity could be explained by the presence of contaminating cobalt.