Lean body mass: reference values for Italian population between 18 to 88 years old.

OBJECTIVE: Body's lean mass compartment is a strong predictor of morbidity and mortality risk in various clinical conditions. This paper proposes a simple and easily applied reference table for lean body mass (LBM) and lean body mass index (LBMI) for the Italian population. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of a database containing anthropometric and DXA body composition measurements obtained from a cross-sectional study conducted between 2002 and 2009 with Italian individuals. Parametric and nonparametric tests were performed using R 3.1.1 and SPSS 22.0 software packages. RESULTS: The 3712 study participants, 37.3% men and 62.7% women, aging from 18 to 88 years. Individuals with normal weight, overweight and obesity were evenly distributed in the sample. LBM and LBMI measures were significantly higher in males. In both genders, there was a significant and progressive decline in these measures associated with aging. Significant differences in LBMI between genders were found in all age groups except for individuals over 75 years. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the participants LBM profile, a reference table for LBM values was proposed. This reference will be useful to detect changes in the LBM compartment of individuals from the South Central Region of Italy, supporting health professionals during the process of diagnosing sarcopenia.

Antiapoptotic activity of bovine herpesvirus type-1 (BHV-1) UL14 protein.

Viruses have evolved different strategies to interfere with apoptotic pathways in order to halt cellular responses to infection. One previous study showed that transient transfection of bovine herpesvirus type-1 (BHV-1) UL14 protein is efficient in protecting Madin Darby kidney (MDBK) and human chronic myelogenous leukemia (K562) cells from sorbitol-induced apoptosis. This protein corresponds to a putative protein of BHV-1, which shares aminoacid sequence with a part of the peptide-binding domain conserved in human heat shock protein (HSP70) family. The pBK-CMV-UL14 plasmid transfected MDBK cells treated with sorbitol did not show caspase-3 and caspase-9 activation with respect to non-transfected MDBK cells (UL14 negative). Furthermore, we report that the expression of the full length sequence of BHV-1 UL14 is evident after 7 h of infection of BHV-1 on MDBK cells which were then treated with sorbitol. These results indicate that UL14 gene product has important implications to enhance cell survival in response to apoptotic stimuli.

Bioelectrical impedance measures in different position and vs dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

BACKGROUND: Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a safe, low-cost, non-invasive, rapid method for the assessment of body composition. It has therefore a great potential to be employed for epidemiological and clinical studies. However, many devices are available to estimate total body water (TBW), fat-free mass (FFM) and fat mass (FM) by bioelectrical impedance measurements. Moreover, bipedal devices allowing measurements in the only standing position are recently developed. They are easy and practical to use without operator, so a large diffusion can be forecasted in fields as sport and diet programs. Comparison of body composition estimation by a bipedal device with bioimpedance devices currently used, using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) as reference method. METHODS: The study was performed on 18 healthy women volunteers, age 32.0+/-10.7 years divided in two groups at different levels of body fatness. A Xitron 4000 impedance analyser, a BIA-101 RJL System, and the bipedal device Tanita were used for comparison. The measurements were performed in standing and supine position for Xitron and RJL devices. DXA measurements were performed with a total body scanner DPX, Lunar. RESULTS: FM and FFM were not statistically different when measured with Xitron and RJL in comparison with DXA, while these variables were significantly different between Tanita and DXA measurements. No significant difference were found between measurements in the supine and standing position with the Xitron and RJL system. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that FM and FFM evaluated by bipedal device Tanita are significantly different from FM and FFM measured by DXA in both normal and obese population.

[Determination of the blood ascorbic acid level after administration of slow-release vitamin C]. / Determinazione del livello di acido ascorbico nel plasma dopo somministrazione di vitamina C a lento rilascio.

PURPOSE: The aim of the present study was to test the effects of a slow releasing form of vitamin C in smokers, because the single high dose previously proposed for smokers gave a transient increase of plasma ascorbate, being rapidly absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and is rapidly excreted with urine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a double-blind placebo-controlled study 18 subjects received both Vitamin C (C-test) and placebo (P-test) in two different periods. During the test-day the subject followed a controlled diet and food Intake was assessed by semiquantitative questionnaire. Peripheral blood sample were collected in fasting conditions, in the morning, before and after 4, 8, 12 and 24 hours from the treatment. Blood sample was collected into EDTA-containing tubes, immediately centrifuged and treated for ascorbate determination, and stored at -70 degrees C until chromatographic analysis. RESULTS: Smokers and nonsmokers were similar for age, height, weight, BMI and for vegetable and fruit consumption. Ascorbic acid level was significantly (p < 0.05) lower than the references level in all subjects, however there were no differences between smokers and non smokers plasma ascorbate concentration increased significantly at T1, T2 and T3 respect to T0 during C test (p < 0.005), whenever remaining higher than T0 was not still significant in T4. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that a slow releasing form of Vitamin C could be useful in clinical pharmacology to increase and to maintain to a constant rate ascorbate level, both in smokers and non smokers with a single daily administration.