Elevated Lipid and Pro-Inflammatory Markers Relate to Future Depression and Anxiety Components: A Cross-Lagged Prospective Network Analysis

Background: Vulnerability theories propose that higher levels of lipid and pro-inflammatory markers precede and relate to future heightened depression and anxiety. Scar models posit the reverse association. However, most studies testing biomarker-psychopathology relations have been cross-sectional, which precludes causal inferences, and did not differentiate biomarker and psychopathology components. We thus used cross-lagged prospective network analysis (CLPN) to investigate this topic. Methods: Community adult women (n = 3,302) completed a self-report (Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale; CES-D) and provided biomarker samples. CLPN identified true relations (edges) among components (nodes) of psychopathology (depressed mood, anxiety severity, somatic symptoms, interpersonal issues), lipid markers (insulin, glucose, triglycerides), inflammation (C-reactive protein, fibrinogen), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL), and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL), within and across five time-points. Results: Contemporaneous CLPN revealed true positive edges for somatic symptoms-inflammation, somatic symptoms-lipid markers, and anxiety severity-lipid markers. Temporal networks showed that higher levels of lipid or pro-inflammatory markers were related to greater future depressed mood, somatic symptoms, anxiety severity, and interpersonal issues. Also, lower HDL level was associated with more future somatic symptoms, interpersonal issues, and depressed mood. Further, somatic symptoms and lipid markers had the strongest effect on future nodes in the network. Conclusions: Overall, the results were consistent with vulnerability (vs. scar) models. Possible mechanistic accounts include long-term dysregulated metabolic, endocrine, and immune systems and social disengagement patterns. Cognitive-behavioral and related lifestyle-based therapies that optimize diet, nutrition, and physical activity may effectively target depression and anxiety at the prevention and treatment stages. Other theoretical and clinical implications were discussed.

Dyslipidemia, Obesity, and Ethnicity in Mexican Children

The aim of this study was to assess lipid disorders in children from five ethnic groups, both urban and indigenous, from northern and central Mexico. We measured the lipid profile to determine the ability of the body mass index (BMI) to discriminate an abnormally high lipid level using receiving operating characteristics (ROC). We analyzed the association and interaction of obesity and ethnicity with lipid disorders using generalized linear models in 977 children. The highest prevalence of lipid disorders (high TG, high TC, high LDL, high APOB, and dyslipidemia) was found in central Mexico-Mexico City and urban northern Mexico. The BMI performed better at predicting low HDL in Seris, a northern indigenous group (0.95, CI: 0.69–0.85), and Mexico City (0.75, CI: 0.69–0.82), and high LDL in Puebla (central Mexico, 0.80, CI: 0.69–0.85). Obesity significantly (p < 0.05) increases lipid disorders by around two times (OR~2) for almost all lipid markers. Obesity and ethnic interaction increase the lipid disorders by more than five times for different lipid markers and ethnic groups (high total cholesterol OR = 5.31; low HDL OR = 5.11, and dyslipidemia OR = 5.68). Lipid disorders are not restricted to children with high BMIs, but obesity exacerbates these. The emerging lipid disorder risk depends on the ethnic group.

The Effects of TRX Suspension Training Combined with Taurine Supplementation on Body Composition, Glycemic and Lipid Markers in Women with Type 2 Diabetes

Background: We aimed to investigate the effects of an 8-week total-body resistance exercise (TRX) suspension training intervention combined with taurine supplementation on body composition, blood glucose, and lipid markers in T2D females. Methods: Forty T2D middle-aged females (age: 53 ± 5 yr, body mass = 84.3 ± 5.1 kg) were randomly assigned to four groups, TRX suspension training + placebo (TP; n = 10), TRX suspension training + taurine supplementation (TT; n = 10), taurine supplementation (T; n = 10), or control (C; n = 10). Body composition (body mass, body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage (BFP)), blood glucose (fasting blood sugar (FBS)), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), Insulin, and Insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and lipid markers (low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), triglyceride (TG), and total cholesterol (TC)) were evaluated prior to and after interventions. Results: All three interventions significantly decreased body mass, BMI, and BFP with no changes between them for body mass and BMI; however, BFP changes in the TT group were significantly greater than all other groups. FBS was significantly reduced in TP and TT. Insulin concentrations’ decrement were significantly greater in all experimental groups compared to C; however, no between group differences were observed between TT, TP, and T. In regards to HOMA-IR, decreases in TT were significantly greater than all other groups TG, HbA1c, and LDL were reduced following all interventions. HDL values significantly increased only in the TT group, while TC significantly decreased in TP and TT groups. Changes in HbA1c, TG, HDL, and TC were significantly greater in the TT compared to all other groups. Conclusions: TRX training improved glycemic and lipid profiles, while taurine supplementation alone failed to show hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic properties. Notably, the synergic effects of TRX training and taurine supplementation were shown in HbA1c, HOMA-IR, TG, TC, HDL, and BFP changes. Our outcomes suggest that TRX training + taurine supplementation may be an effective adjuvant therapy in individuals with T2D.

Contributions of small dense LDL and oxidized LDL on the formation of neoatherosclerosis in patients under statin treatment

Aim In-stent neoatherosclerosis (NA) has emerged as an important contributing factor to late stent failure and cardiovascular events. The aim of this study was to investigate whether lipid markers are associated with NA using optical coherence tomography (OCT) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with coronary artery disease under well-controlled low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) on statin treatment. Methods We enrolled consecutive 115 patients under statin treatment who underwent PCI with current-generation drug-eluting stent for acute and chronic coronary syndrome. OCT image and various lipid markers were obtained at 1-year for scheduled research assessment. NA was defined as a lipid laden neointima or calcified neointima. Both small dense LDL-c (sd-LDL-c) and remnant lipoprotein cholesterol (RL-c) were measured using direct homogenous assay. Results During an average follow-up of 13 months, NA was observed in 14 (13.6%) patients. Not LDL-c but sd-LDL-c, Malondialdehyde-modified LDL (MDA-LDL) as oxidized LDL and (RL-c) were significantly higher in patients with NA. The optimal threshold values of sd-LDL-c, MDA-LDL and RL-c for predicting NA according to receiver operating characteristics analysis were 32.3 mg/dl, 91.0 U/L, and 3.3 mg/dL, respectively. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, sd-LDL-c (≥32.3 mg/dL) and MDA (≥91.0 U/L) were significantly associated with NA (odds ratio [OR]:13.62, p=0.016, OR: 12.68, p=0.01, respectively). Conclusions In statin-treated patients, sd-LDL-c and MDA-LDL but not LDL-c might be useful biomarkers to identify the formation of NA at 1 years after PCI. Aggressive reduction of these atherogenic LDL may have a potential to prevent the formation of NA. FUNDunding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None.

Lipid Markers of Breast Tissue for the Diagnosis of Regional Metastatic Lesion

The development of minimally invasive, non-traumatic and stable approaches for the diagnosis of metastatic lesions of regional lymph nodes upon breast cancer is of great urgency. Here we recorded lipid profiles of normal breast tissue and malignant tissue to reveal potential lipid markers of metastatic lesions of regional lymph nodes. Lipid identification was done using the Lipid Match package. The search for lipid markers was carried out using the Mann-Whitney test. Lipids for the construction of a diagnostic logistic regression were selected according to the Akaike information criterion. For normal breast tissue, a diagnostic model was obtained with the area under the curve (AUC) of 0.83; for tumor tissue, a model with AUC = 0.86 was obtained. The species PC 14:0_20:4, PE 18:1_20:1, PC P-16:0/20:4, PC P-16:0/20:4, PE P-16:0/22:4, SM d18:1/18 0, SM d18:1/22:0 were determined as markers for normal breast tissue. The species PC 18:2_22:6, PC O-18:0/20:2, SM d16:1/18:1, SM d22:0/20:2, SM d16:0/18:2 were determined as markers for tumor tissue. The high AUC values ​​for the developed diagnostic model indicate the potential significance of the revealed marker species for the diagnosis of breast cancer metastasis and indicate the need for further research in this direction.

Evaluating the impact of a digital nutrition platform on cholesterol levels in users with dyslipidemia: A longitudinal study. (Preprint)

BACKGROUND A strong association exists between consuming a healthy diet and lowering cholesterol levels among individuals with high cholesterol. However, implementation and sustaining a healthy diet in the real world is a major challenge. Digital technologies are at the forefront of changing dietary behavior on a massive scale. There is a lack of evidence that has examined the benefit of a digital nutrition intervention, especially one that incorporates nutrition education, meal planning, and food ordering, on cholesterol levels among individuals with dyslipidemia. OBJECTIVE The aim of this observational, longitudinal study was to characterize users with dyslipidemia and evaluate changes in total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), non-HDL-c, and triglycerides among individuals with dyslipidemia who used Foodsmart, a digital nutrition platform that integrates education, meal planning, and food ordering. METHODS We included 653 adults who used Foodsmart between January 2015 and February 2021 and reported a lipid marker twice. Participants self-reported age, gender, weight, usual dietary intake, and lipid values in a 53-item food frequency questionnaire. Dyslipidemia was defined as total cholesterol ≥ 200 mg/dL, HDL-c ≤ 40 mg/dL, LDL-c ≥ 100 mg/dL, or triglycerides ≥ 150 mg/dL. We retrospectively analyzed distributions of user characteristics and their associations with baseline dyslipidemia. We calculated mean and percent changes in lipid markers and the percent of participants with dyslipidemia at baseline who achieved normal lipid values, by enrollment duration. RESULTS We found that 68% of participants had dyslipidemia at baseline and 60% had dyslipidemia at the end of their program. Participants with dyslipidemia at baseline were more likely to be middle-aged (40-59 years old), be male, have a higher weight and BMI, and have a lower change in healthy diet score compared with participants with normal lipid levels. Participants in the program saw improvements across all six objectives: HDL-c improved by a 38.5% increase, total cholesterol decreased by 6.8%, cholesterol ratio decreased by 20.9%, LDL-c decreased by 5.8%, non-HDL-c decreased by 7.8%, and triglycerides decreased by 10.8%. Overall, 27.0% of participants with dyslipidemia at baseline achieved normal lipid levels at the end of enrollment. The percent of people with dyslipidemia at baseline who achieved normal lipid levels increased with longer enrollment duration. Males, older participants, and participants with obesity class 3 were more likely to have dyslipidemia at baseline. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that usage of the Foodsmart platform is associated with improvements in lipid markers, most likely through improved diet quality, and longer enrollment duration was associated with greater improvements.