scholarly journals Confounders in Identification and Analysis of Inflammatory Biomarkers in Cardiovascular Diseases

Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1464
Author(s):  
Qurrat Ul Ain ◽  
Mehak Sarfraz ◽  
Gayuk Kalih Prasesti ◽  
Triwedya Indra Dewi ◽  
Neng Fisheri Kurniati

Proinflammatory biomarkers have been increasingly used in epidemiologic and intervention studies over the past decades to evaluate and identify an association of systemic inflammation with cardiovascular diseases. Although there is a strong correlation between the elevated level of inflammatory biomarkers and the pathology of various cardiovascular diseases, the mechanisms of the underlying cause are unclear. Identification of pro-inflammatory biomarkers such as cytokines, chemokines, acute phase proteins, and other soluble immune factors can help in the early diagnosis of disease. The presence of certain confounding factors such as variations in age, sex, socio-economic status, body mass index, medication and other substance use, and medical illness, as well as inconsistencies in methodological practices such as sample collection, assaying, and data cleaning and transformation, may contribute to variations in results. The purpose of the review is to identify and summarize the effect of demographic factors, epidemiological factors, medication use, and analytical and pre-analytical factors with a panel of inflammatory biomarkers CRP, IL-1b, IL-6, TNFa, and the soluble TNF receptors on the concentration of these inflammatory biomarkers in serum.

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 1226-1234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanhong Gong ◽  
Xiaopiao Wen ◽  
Chaoping Guan ◽  
Zhiqing Wang ◽  
Yuan Liang

ABSTRACTBackground: The aim of the current study was to investigate the associations between family characteristics and depressive symptoms, and provide new evidence and recommendations for prevention and intervention in the depressive symptoms of older adults.Methods: The study was a cross-sectional survey conducted door-to-door, utilizing a sample of 1,317 individuals aged 60 years and above in rural China. The five family characteristic variables recorded were: living with spouse, living with descendant, support of family members, self-reported family economic status in the previous year, and family-related negative life events that occurred anytime in the past with a continuous psychological effect during the past 12 months. Gender, age, years of schooling, and self-rated physical health status were taken as potential confounders. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine independent effects on depressive symptoms.Results: In addition to the potential confounders, only family-related negative life events, support of family members, and self-reported family economic status had significant effects on depressive symptoms in older adults. Experiencing a family-related negative life event was the most significant variable (OR = 11.70, 95% CI: 7.72–17.73), the second was support of family members (OR = 6.93, 95% CI: 3.26–14.70), while family economic status was less important than support of family members (OR = 2.38, 95% CI: 1.08–5.25).Conclusion: This study, from the perspective of family characteristics on depressive symptoms in older adults, showed a strong correlation between being exposed to harmful family environments and depressive symptoms among the elderly. Efforts to address family risk factors and strengthen family cohesiveness deserve a higher priority, given the importance of these factors, compared with other efforts such as promoting economic development.


2010 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 1055-1072 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHANNON MCDERMOTT

ABSTRACTOver the past 50 years, self-neglect among older people has been conceptualised in both social policy and the academy as a social problem which is defined in relation to medical illness and requires professional intervention. Few authors, however, have analysed the concept of self-neglect in relation to critical sociological theory. This is problematic because professional judgements, which provide the impetus for intervention, are inherently influenced by the social and cultural context. The purpose of this article is to use critical theory as a framework for interpreting the findings from a qualitative study which explored judgements in relation to older people in situations of self-neglect made by professionals. Two types of data were collected. There were 125 hours of observations at meetings and home assessments conducted by professionals associated with the Community Options Programme in Sydney, Australia, and 18 professionals who worked with self-neglecting older people in the community gave in-depth qualitative interviews. The findings show that professional judgements of self-neglect focus on risk and capacity, and that these perceptions influence when and how interventions occur. The assumptions upon which professional judgements are based are then further analysed in relation to critical theory.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitaigiri Taffreeda Banua ◽  
Jaspreet Kaura ◽  
Vishesh Bhadariya ◽  
Jyoti Singh ◽  
Kartik Sharma

Composite flour is a combination of only either various grains or both various grains and vegetables it is a storehouse of various nutrients like vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and dietary fiber. In the present day, there has been an increased demand for nutritional and health-based variants of food due to changes in lifestyle and socio-economic status. There is no surprise in saying that people are seeing the food being consumed on a day-to-day basis as a status symbol and are striving to get better quality of health through the food they consume and are ready to spend huge amounts of money on the products which are so-called healthy and are being commercially marketed in a smart manner capturing both peoples mind and attention knowing to bring down various lifestyle disorders like Diabetes, Cardiovascular diseases, Hypertension, Cancer, Atherosclerosis, Ischemic stroke, Obesity, Coeliac disease, Alzheimer’s and many other diseases and disorders when consumed frequently in long run. The foods which fall under such category especially are composite flours and ready-to-cook mixes occupying more than 70% of both the food and health industry today being recommended by most of the nutritional experts. This paper is a review-based article collected from various papers focusing on role of consumption of composite flours in management of lifestyle disorders such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer etc.


Author(s):  
Manasvi Shrivastav ◽  
Anuradha Kotnala

Most superstition from the past have been proven by science as unnecessary, ineffective or just plain silly but are still practiced by normal intelligent people today. Around the world, there are many reappearing themes for superstition. Every country has its own localized take on each theme. In this article researcher reviews on previous researches. There is much different kind of researches in the field of superstition and there are different theories related to the origin of superstition. Superstition is influenced by different social and psychological factors. In this article those researches have been discussed which through light on social and psychological factors of superstition. Psychological factors like fear, locus of control, confidence level etc. and social factors such as locale, socio-economic status etc.


HIV ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 189-200
Author(s):  
Arvind Nishtala ◽  
Matthew J. Feinstein

With widespread antiretroviral therapy (ART) accessibility and uptake, HIV has transitioned in many ways to a chronic condition marked by heightened risks of non-communicable diseases. Several clinical and epidemiological studies over the past two decades have demonstrated elevated risks for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) among people with HIV. These risks appear to be particularly elevated among people with histories of long periods of uncontrolled viremia and CD4 lymphopenia, and dovetail with traditional risk factors (such as smoking) that are common among people with HIV. This chapter presents a discussion of the evolving epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and putative mechanisms of CVDs among people with HIV.


Author(s):  
Myriam V. Thoma ◽  
Luca Kleineidam ◽  
Simon Forstmeier ◽  
Andreas Maercker ◽  
Siegfried Weyerer ◽  
...  

AbstractThe heterogeneity in the operationalisation of successful ageing (SA) hinders a straightforward examination of SA associations and correlates, and in turn, the identification of potentially modifiable predictors of SA. It is unclear which SA associations and correlates influence all facets of the SA construct, and whether psychosocial reserve models developed in neuropathological ageing research can also be linked to SA. It was therefore the aim of this study to disentangle the effect of various previously identified SA associations and correlates on (1) a general SA factor, which represents the shared underpinnings of three SA facets, and (2) more confined, specific factors, using bifactor modelling. The associations and correlates of three recently validated SA operationalisations were compared in 2478 participants from the German AgeCoDe study, aged 75 years and above. Based on participants’ main occupation, cognitive reserve (CR) and motivational reserve (MR) models were built. Younger age, male gender, more education, higher socio-economic status, being married or widowed, as well as more physical exercise and cognitive activities in old age were found to correlate positively with the general SA factor, indicating a simultaneous effect on all aspects of SA. Smoking and ApoE-ε4 were related only to the physiological facet of SA. CR models were significantly related to the general SA factor. Among all SA associations and correlates, proxy indicators of lifelong cognitive activity and physical exercise showed the strongest effects on SA. Future intervention studies should assess the influence of the preservation of active lifestyle across the life span on SA.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 1534-1534
Author(s):  
Kripa Rajagopalan ◽  
Samantha Huey ◽  
Sudha Venkatramanan ◽  
Shobha Udipi ◽  
Varsha Thakker ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives To examine and compare the concentration of acute phase proteins, including nutritional and inflammation biomarkers, by morbidity status among children 12–24 months old living in urban slums of Mumbai. Methods 12–24-month-old children were screened for participation in a randomized controlled trial involving feeding of iron- and zinc-biofortified pearl millet complementary foods. Information on acute illness including fever, respiratory symptoms, and diarrhea on the day of screening, in the past 7 days, and the last 4 weeks was collected along with blood samples for analysis of concentrations of nutritional (ferritin, retinol) and inflammation biomarkers (C-reactive protein, alpha-1-glycoprotein) involved in the acute phase response. Difference in medians were compared by the Kruskal-Wallis Test. Results The mean age of children was 14.9 months; 51% were males. More than half the children (54%) had at least one or more symptoms such as fever, cough, or diarrhea at any timepoint in the 4 weeks prior to the interview. Among those with symptoms, fever and respiratory symptoms, either alone or in combination, were most common (44.8%), while diarrhea (alone or in combination with fever or respiratory symptoms) was present in only 11% of the population. More than a quarter had some illness in the 7 days before the interview (25.8%) with 2.5% having illness (fever and/or respiratory symptoms) on the day of the interview. Among those reporting no morbidity, 7% had elevated CRP. Among those reporting acute illness on the day of interview or in the past 7 days, 13% had elevated CRP. When compared across different kinds of acute illness and having no symptoms, there was no significant difference in the median concentrations of CRP, ferritin, and retinol. Similar results were observed on comparing the concentration of these acute phase reactants across children with no, one, two, or more symptoms. Conclusions Among this pediatric population, we did not observe any significant difference in the concentration of acute phase reactants by illness type or number of concurrent illnesses compared with apparently healthy children. Funding Sources HarvestPlus.


Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Kessler ◽  
Silke Hornemann ◽  
Natalia Rudovich ◽  
Daniela Weber ◽  
Tilman Grune ◽  
...  

Meal timing affects metabolic regulation in humans. Most studies use blood samples for their investigations. Saliva, although easily available and non-invasive, seems to be rarely used for chrononutritional studies. In this pilot study, we tested if saliva samples could be used to study the effect of timing of carbohydrate and fat intake on metabolic rhythms. In this cross-over trial, 29 nonobese men were randomized to two isocaloric 4-week diets: (1) carbohydrate-rich meals until 13:30 and high-fat meals between 16:30 and 22:00 or (2) the inverse order of meals. Stimulated saliva samples were collected every 4 h for 24 h at the end of each intervention, and levels of hormones and inflammatory biomarkers were assessed in saliva and blood. Cortisol, melatonin, resistin, adiponectin, interleukin-6 and MCP-1 demonstrated distinct diurnal variations, mirroring daytime reports in blood and showing significant correlations with blood levels. The rhythm patterns were similar for both diets, indicating that timing of carbohydrate and fat intake has a minimal effect on metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers in saliva. Our study revealed that saliva is a promising tool for the non-invasive assessment of metabolic rhythms in chrononutritional studies, but standardisation of sample collection is needed in out-of-lab studies.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document