Journal of Endocrinological Investigation最新文献

Purpose: Risk of vertebral fractures is increased in primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT). Bone qualities affected by PHPT are not necessarily reflected in bone mineral density (BMD), requiring imaging modalities with capability to capture bone microstructure and geometry. Digital tomosynthesis (DTS) imaging is a method with such capability. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine (i) vertebral bone quality differences between women who have established PHPT and normal controls using DTS, and (ii) the extent to which DTS discriminates patients with PHPT from those without.

Methods: 50 postmenopausal women with established PHPT and 54 control women without PHPT (nPHPT) were DXA imaged to measure spine BMD and trabecular bone score (TBS). They were then DTS imaged to measure vertebral width and area as well as the textural properties of vertebral bone: Degree of anisotropy (DA), fractal dimension (FD), lacunarity (λ), scale-dependent lacunarity (S_λ) and line fraction deviation (LFD).

Results: FD was significantly higher while λ and LFD were significantly lower in the PHPT group than in the nPHPT group. λ was a significant predictor of PHPT status, independently from race, BMD and TBS, raising the overall AUC to 0.805. We observed a dichotomy between the races; larger vertebral area in White patients, but smaller vertebral area in Black patients, was associated with PHPT independently from BMD or TBS.

Conclusion: DTS derived vertebral size and textural properties differ between PHPT and nPHPT, discriminate PHPT status independently from DXA, and therefore may be useful in the assessment of bone quality in PHPT.

Background: Serum uric acid (sUA) plays a complex role in cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, its utility as an early cardiometabolic risk marker in adolescents remains underexplored.

Purpose: To examine the relationship between sUA levels and CVD risk factors, and to assess its potential in identifying metabolically unhealthy adolescents across different weight categories.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis with 4,390 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years from four Brazilian cities. sUA was categorized into quartiles. Linear regression, adjusted for confounders, assessed associations between sUA quartiles and cardiometabolic variables. Adjusted Poisson regression with robust variance estimated prevalence ratios (PR) of metabolic syndrome components across sUA quartiles, as well as the PR of a metabolically unhealthy profile, stratified by weight categories.

Results: The sample was predominantly female (61.5%). The mean (SD) age was 14.8 (1.5) years, and median (IQR) sUA was 4.5 (3.8, 5.4) mg/dL. Higher sUA quartiles were associated with increased waist circumference, BMI Z-score, elevated blood pressure, higher triglycerides, and higher total and LDL cholesterol. There was also a negative association with HDL cholesterol and adiponectin. An inverse sUA-fasting plasma glucose association was also observed. Adolescents in the highest sUA quartile showed substantially higher PR for metabolic syndrome and its components (high waist circumference, high blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides). The PR of metabolically unhealthy profile progressively increased across sUA quartiles, in both normal-weight individuals (PR 1.29, 95% CI 1.14-1.45, in the fourth sUA quartile) and, even more substantially, in those with overweight/obesity (PR 1.87, 95% CI 1.67-2.08, in the fourth sUA quartile).

Conclusion: Higher sUA levels were strongly associated with a worse cardiometabolic profile and an increased prevalence of metabolic unhealthiness, thereby reinforcing the role of sUA as an early risk marker in adolescence.

Objectives: The relationship between the patterns of WC trajectory and fragility fracture in the Chinese population remains unclear. This prospective study investigated the effect of long-term WC trajectory on fragility fracture based on community-based cohort.

Methods: This prospective study was conducted based on the Kailuan Study and included a total of 47,288 participants (mean age, 56.7 years) free of fragility fracture and with repeated measurements of WC from 2006 to 2014. The WC trajectories (2006-2014) were modeled by group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM), and three trajectories were identified: low-stable group (n = 12,546), medium-stable group (n = 28,532), and high-stable group (n = 6,210). The association between WC trajectories and incident fragility fractures was assessed using Cox proportional hazards models, with stratified analyses and interaction tests conducted by sex (male/female) and age (≤ 65 years / > 65 years).

Results: During an average follow-up of 8.31 years, 663 participants developed fragility fractures. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, compared with those in the low-stable group, the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for incident fragility fracture in the medium-stable group and high-stable group were 1.25 (1.01-1.54) and 1.55 (1.12-2.14), respectively. In Individuals aged ≤ 65 years, the medium group and high-stable group had a 35% (HR = 1.35, 95% CI: 1.03-1.77) and 98% (HR = 1.98, 95% CI: 1.32-2.97) higher fracture risk, respectively.

Conclusions: WC trajectories were significantly associated with the risk of fragility fracture, and the association was more evident in aged ≤ 65 years population.

Purpose: Aging is accompanied by a chronic low-grade systemic inflammatory state known as "inflammaging", driven by the accumulation of pro-inflammatory and immunosenescent cells, oxidative stress, and dysregulation of apoptosis and autophagy. Experimental evidence suggests that caloric restriction (CR) can slow down inflammaging, although its impact on spermatogenesis remains controversial. This study aimed to investigate the effects of CR on age-related testicular inflammation and any effects on germ cells.

Methods: Fourteen 18-month-old Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into two groups and sacrificed after 6 months: 7 rats on a normal ad libitum diet (ND) and 7 rats on CR (40% reduction in caloric intake). Western blot (WB) and immunohistochemical (IHC) analyses were performed to assess the expression of key markers of inflammation, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and autophagy, alongside morphological evaluations.

Results: IHC analysis reveals that CR disrupts germinative epithelium and somatic cells, and reduces the expression of Ob-R, GLP-1R, GPX4, NOX4, and SIRT1. WB analysis showed that CR lowered COX2 expression, through downregulation of the NFκB/MAPK pathway, decreased the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome, Caspase-1, and pro-inflammatory cytokine IL1-β, and restored redox homeostasis. Consistently, IHC highlighted a marked reduction in proinflammatory immune cell infiltration in the testis of CR rats. Moreover, as a consequence of the germ cells number reduction CR-induced, we observed a decreased expression of p75NTR and its pro-apoptotic signaling components (pJNK, p53, and BAX), while concurrently downregulating p62/SQSTM1 expression.

Conclusions: Our findings highlight the dual impact of CR on testicular aging, on the one hand the significant attenuation of oxi-inflammation, on the other hand the impairment of germinal epithelial physiology. These results underscore the need for further studies to define optimal timing and duration of dietary interventions aimed at mitigating age-related decline in male reproductive function.