Search

Background: The intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (FABP2) is involved in the intracellular transport and metabolism of fatty acids and may affect insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism. Objective: The objective was to study the effect of interaction between the Ala54Thr polymorphism of the FABP2 gene (FABP2) and the type of dietary cooking oil used on peripheral insulin sensitivity in a population from southern Spain. Design: The study was cross-sectional. Anthropometric measurements were obtained for 1226 persons aged 18-65 y selected randomly from the municipal census of Pizarra, Spain. An oral-glucosetolerance test was given to 1020 of these persons. Insulin resistance was measured by homeostasis model assessment. Samples of the cooking oil being used were taken from the kitchens of a random subset of 538 persons. Results: Persons who consumed sunflower oil and who also had the Thr54 variant had higher insulin resistance than did those who consumed olive oil (P = 0.01). We detected an interaction between the Ala54Thr polymorphism and the type of oil consumed that accounted for the variance in insulin resistance (P = 0.02). Conclusions: The effect of dietary fatty acids on the populational pattern of insulin resistance is not independent of the Ala54Thr polymorphism of FABP2. An interaction existed between this polymorphism and the intake of dietary fats in a population with a high intake of monounsaturated fatty acids. KEY WORDS Cross-sectional study, general population, dietary fatty acid, insulin resistance, FABP2, Ala54Thr polymorphism

Background: The family kitchen resembles an uncontrolled laboratory experiment, and some discrepancies in the relation between the risk of hypertension and dietary fat may be partly due to the manipulation to which the fats were subjected. Objective: We investigated whether deterioration in the quality of the cooking oils in the family household contributes to the risk of high blood pressure. Design: The study was cross-sectional. Anthropometric measurements were obtained for 1226 persons aged 18-65 y who were selected randomly from the municipal census of Pizarra, Spain. An oral-glucose-tolerance test was given to 1020 of these persons. Samples of the cooking oil being used were taken from the kitchens of a random subset of 538 persons. The concentrations of polar compounds and polymers were used as markers of the deterioration of the oils. The strength of association between variables was measured by calculating the odds ratio from logistic models. Results: Hypertension was strongly associated with obesity and was influenced by sex, diabetes, and age. The presence of excess polar compounds in the cooking oil and the use of sunflower oil were related to the risk of hypertension, whereas the concentration of monounsaturated fatty acids in the serum phospholipids was negatively related to this risk. These associations remained after inclusion in the models of age, sex, obesity, and the presence of carbohydrate metabolism disorder. Conclusions: The risk of hypertension is positively and independently associated with the intake of cooking oil polar compounds and inversely related to blood concentrations of monounsaturated fatty acids. KEY WORDS Cross-sectional study, general population, hypertension, cooking oils, frying oils, oil polar compounds, monounsaturated fatty acids

The aim of this study was to undertake a prospective study of the changes in certain risk factors for cardiovascular disease occurring during menopause.

Most studies of antibodies to oxidized LDL have been undertaken in patients with different diseases and cardiovascular risk factors. However, very few studies have researched the distribution and determining factors of antibodies to oxidized LDL in the general population. A total of 1,354 persons (817 females and 537 males) aged 5–65 years were included in this study. They were selected randomly from the population census of Málaga, in southern Spain. The females had lower levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides and higher levels of HDL-cholesterol and a very significant increase (P< 0.0001) in levels of anti-oxidized LDL [low density lipoprotein modified by malondialdehyde (MDA-LDL)] antibodies but no difference in levels of immune complexes consisting of LDL and IgG antibodies (anti-LDL immune complex). Younger persons (16–35 years) had higher levels of anti-oxidized LDL (MDA-LDL) antibodies than persons older than 35 years (P= 0.05). Levels of immune complexes were significantly higher (P= 0.05) in persons aged 5–15 years than in persons older than 40 years. A very weak association was found between levels of anti-oxidized LDL (MDA-LDL) antibodies and anti-LDL immune complexes.

For more than a decade the pedicled island neurovascular flap of the glans penis has been the standard procedure for clitoroplasty in intersex anomalies and in male-to-female genital sex reassignment surgery. Most authors focusing on genitoperineal reconstructions have used the island neurovascular flap of the dorsal shaft of the penis, including a variable-sized dorsal chip of the glans penis as the distal and functional portion of the flap. Although this dorsal glans clitoroplasty technique for neoclitoral reconstruction is well known, it nevertheless deserves scientific revision, with a view to improving several neglected aesthetic and functional points. The authors describe a new method for reconstruction of the neoclitoris in male-to-female transsexuals, the corona glans clitoroplasty. It is based on a modification of the original pedicled island neurovascular flap of the glans penis. The main difference compared with the dorsal glans clitoroplasty is that, distally, this method includes a bifid dorsolateral coronal flap designed in the shape of an open lotus flower or a bull’s horns. Furthermore, a semicircular preputial flap is retained, attached to the bifid coronal flap of the glans, to improve the cosmetic appearance of the vestibulum and avoid growth of hair around the neoclitoris. Finally, a small dorsal flap of the spongiomucosa urethra designed in the shape of a pencil tip is added to improve the cosmetic appearance of the vestibulum between the neoclitoris and the urethral neomeatus. Since October of 1999, the authors have performed more than 30 genital sex reassignment surgeries in male-to-female transsexuals, of whom 16 underwent their technique of corona glans clitoroplasty. The authors describe and discuss the anatomic basis and clinical implications of this technique and its cosmetic and potential functional advantages. They also consider the anatomic differences among four distal designs of the pedicled island neurovascular flap of the glans penis: dorsal, lateral, ventral, and corona glans clitoroplasty in male-to-female transsexuals.

We undertook a systematic evaluation of the lipid, protein, calorie, and fatty acid composition in 35 species of fish, shellfish and molluscs commonly consumed throughout the four seasons of the year in Andalusia, Spain. Using a portion of muscle tissue the following were measured in each study unit: total lipids (extraction using Folch's method and gravimetry), protein concentration (Kjehldal's method), total calories (direct calorimetry), and composition of fatty acids (gas chromatography). The lipid, protein, and different fatty acid concentrations found are presented in table form. There was a high degree of inter-species variability in the concentration of lipids and the various fatty acids. There was also a high degree of intra-species seasonal variability in some cases. The relative proportion of fatty acids was not independent of the total concentration of lipids, independently of the season studied. This systematic study of a large group of species shows that the cataloguing of fish as ‘white’ or ‘blue’ depends especially on the time of year they are captured. For example, in spring the mackerel (Scomber scombrus), a fish considered traditionally to be ‘blue’ (fatty), has the same lipid concentration as the dover sole (Solea vulgaris), commonly considered to be ‘white’ (little fat), and the sea pike (Merluccius merluccius) has a higher lipid concentration in autumn than the jack mackerel (Trachurus trachurus). Even greater differences existed when the fish were classified according to their richness in n-3 fatty acids. These differences in the total lipid concentration and the composition of fatty acids, as well as the inter-relations between them, may, under certain circumstances, be important for the calculation of dietary calories and nutritional values, and may explain the differences found between the various tables of food composition, as well as the divergent results in epidemiological studies on the association between fish in diets and various diseases, such as diabetes or ischaemic cardiopathy.