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Metabolic syndrome has become a major health hazard of the modern world. Studies investigating the effects of traditional fermented foods on metabolic syndrome are limited. We hypothesized that regular kefir consumption could improve the anthropometrical measurements, glycemic control, lipid profile, blood pressure, and inflammatory status in patients with metabolic syndrome. Sixty-two participants were randomly assigned to receive either 180 mL/d probiotic kefir or unfermented milk for 12 weeks. Dietary intake, anthropometrical measurements, biochemical status, and blood pressure were assessed at baseline and the end of weeks 4, 8, and 12. Serum apolipoprotein A1 concentration increased by 3.4% in the kefir group, whereas it decreased by 2.4% in the milk group in 12 weeks (P = .03). A subgroup analysis for participants with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels >130 mg/dL showed that serum LDL-C and apolipoprotein B concentrations (7.6% and 5.4%, respectively) significantly decreased with kefir consumption compared with the baseline values at the 12th week (P < .05), but not compared with milk consumption (P > .05). Both milk and kefir consumption was associated with lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared with the baseline (P < .05). The 12-weeks of kefir administration also decreased serum tumor necrosis factor-?, interleukin 6, interleukin 10, interferon-gamma, and homocysteine concentrations significantly (P < .05). In conclusion, regular dairy consumption as part of a well-balanced diet can provide favorable effects in the management of metabolic syndrome, and probiotic kefir may deserve a special interest among dairy products. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03966846). © 2022, This work was supported by the Teaching Staff Training Program of the Turkish Council of Higher Education .

Neurotrophins have been proposed to be involved in biological mechanisms which might underlie different clinical outcomes in schizophrenia. The aims of the present study were to examine the BDNF/NGF plasma levels in a cohort of first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients in remission as potential biological predictors of relapse; to study the associations between these neurotrophins and the symptomatology severity through different stages after a FES in two independent cohorts. 2EPs-Cohort: 69 first-episode in clinical remission were included. BDNF/NGF plasma levelsand symptom severity were measured at enrollment and at 3-year or at the time of the second episode/relapse. FLAMM-PEPs-Cohort: 65 first-episodes were also included. BDNF/NGF and symptom severity were obtained at enrollment and 2-year follow-up. Symptomatology was assessed with the Marder-PANSS-Factor scores. Plasma neurotrophins did not differ significantly over time and neither BDNF/NGF were predictors of relapse. Besides, in remission stages, baseline BDNF levels showed significant correlations with both positive and negative symptoms (p

Objective: Children born small for gestational age (SGA) are at risk of future obesity and associated comorbidities. Therefore the identification of risk factors and novel biomarkers which are associated with this risk are needed for early detection and to improve preventive strategies. Spexin (SPX), a novel neuropeptide that is involved in the regulation of obesity and fat metabolism, is a candidate biomarker for predicting obesity and related comorbidities at an early age. The aim of this study was to investigate serum levels of SPX in term infants born small, appropriate, and large for gestational age (LGA) and its association with newborn anthropometric measurements. Methods: One hundred and twenty term newborn babies classified as SGA, appropriate for gestational age (AGA), or LGA and their mothers were included. SPX, leptin and visfatin were measured in cord blood and maternal serum by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Fifty-six (46.7%) neonates were girls and 64 (53.3%) were boys. The mean birth weight was 3170.70±663 g, birth length was 48.9±2.79 cm, and head circumference was 34.5±1.67 cm. Birth weights, lengths, and head circumferences of the neonates in the SGA, AGA, and LGA groups were significantly different. Cord blood SPX and leptin levels in the SGA groups were significantly lower than those of both the LGA and AGA groups. Cord blood visfatin levels were significantly lower in the AGA group than the LGA and SGA groups. Maternal SPX levels of SGA babies were significantly lower than those of the mothers in both the LGA and AGA groups, but no significant difference was observed between the SGA and LGA groups. Maternal visfatin levels of the AGA babies were significantly higher than the maternal levels of SGA and LGA groups. There was no difference in terms of maternal leptin levels. Cord blood SPX and leptin levels were positively correlated with birth weight, length and head circumference. Birth weight increased significantly in line with maternal pregestational body mass index. Conclusion: The lowest SPX levels were found in the SGA babies and cord SPX level was significantly correlated with newborn length, weight, and head circumference. © 2022 by Turkish Society for Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes The Journal of Clinical Research in Pediatric Endocrinology published by Galenos Publishing House.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between calciferol (vitamin D), cobalamin (vitamin-B12), and Stromelysin-1 (MMP-3) circulating levels in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), patients with DM type 2 (T2DM) without neuropathy, and healthy control groups. Study Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Internal Medicine, Namik Kemal University of Medicine, Tekirdag, Turkey, between November 2020 and February 2022. Methodology: Healthy, age, and gender matched volunteers who were admitted to the hospital for a check-up with no health problem constituted the control group (n=30). Cases diagnosed with T2DM (n=30) and those with DPN (n=30) comprised the experimental group. Stromelysin-1, calciferol, and cobalamin levels were analysed from blood samples from all groups using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with a commercial kit. Tukey's Honest Significant Difference (HSD) test was performed after one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for intergroup comparisons. Alpha significance level was accepted as

Recent studies have shown that increased circulating concentrations of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) are associated with obesity, metabolic disorder, and atherosclerosis. However the relationship between FGF21 and coronary artery disease (CAD) is controversial This study was planned to investigate the role of FGF21 in CAD development and CAD severity.Seventy-eight patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP) (lesion positive) and 40 control patients (lesion negative) with similar cardiovascular risk factors were included in the study. Serum FGF21 levels were measured by ELISA method. CAD severity was evaluated by using SYNTAX and GENSINI risk scores.FGF21 concentrations were found significantly higher in the SAP group than in the control group. [101.18 ± 141.62 vs. 47.93 ± 58.74 pg/mL; p = 0.03], no correlation was found between the SYNTAX (r = 0.146 and p = 0.134) and GENSINI (r = 0.211 and p = 0.084) scores with serum FGF21 levels. There was a negative relationship between serum FGF21 and serum HDL-C levels in correlation analysis (r = - 0.272; p = 0.026).The serum FGF21 levels are different between SAP and control patients. FGF21 is a marker for CAD diagnosis, but not for the evaluation of CAD severity.Poslednja istraživanja su pokazala da je pove}anje koncentracija u cirkulaciji fibroblastnog faktora rasta 21 (FGF21) praćeno sa gojaznošću, metaboličkim poremećajem i aterosklerzom. Međutim, odnos između FGF21 i koro narnog arterijskog oboljenja (KAO) je kontraverzan. U ovom izučavanju je planirano da se ispita uloga FGF21 u razvoju KAO kao i težina samog oboljenja.U izučavanje je uključeno sedamdeset osam pacijenata sa stabilnom anginom pektoris (SAP) (pozitivna lezija) i 40 kontrolnih pacijenata (lezija negativna) sa sličnim faktorima rizika. Nivoi serumskog FGF21 mereni su ELISA me todom. Težina KAO procenjivana je SYNTAX i GENSI faktorima rizika.Koncentracije FGF21 bile su značajno vi{e u grupi sa SAP nego u kontrolnoj grupi. [101,18 ± 141,62 vs. 47,93 ± 58,74 pg/mL; p = 0,03]. Nije utvrđena korelacija između SYNTAX (r = 0,146 i p = 0,134) i GENSI (r = 0,211 i p = 9,084) skorova sa nivoima serumskog FGF21. Nađen je negativan odnos između serumskog FGF21 i nivoa HDL-C u serumu primenom korelacione analize (r = - 0,272; p = 0,026).Nivoi FGF21 u serumu su različiti kod SAP i kontrolnih pacijenata. FGF21 je marker za dijagnostikovanje KAO, ali ne i za procenu težine KAO.

Pharmacotherapy has made massive advances: what began with herbs and fungi led to synthetic pills that interfered ever more precisely with receptors and metabolic pathways. Finally, antibodies against specific proteins became part of our therapeutic armamentarium. But none of these measures get to the heart of the matter: The latest revolutionary chapter in pharmacotherapy uses organ-specific nucleotides, short RNAsequences that intervene in pathogenic metabolic pathways even before proteins are formed and sometimes exert a very targeted effect over surprisingly long periods of time. In cardiovascular medicine, this pharmacotherapy of the future is mainly used in the treatment of lipometabolic disorders. RNAinterference technology involving the modified small interfering RNAtherapeutic inclisiran against the messenger RNAof proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) couples the therapeutic RNAwith N-acetylgalactosamine in order to achieve liver-specific silencing of the protein formation of PCSK9 by binding to the asialoglycoprotein receptors on the surface of hepatocytes. Thus, a marked and consistent reduction of PCSK9 and LDLcholesterol levels in plasma can be achieved over more than 6 months. Other developments use antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) against angiopoietin-like protein 3 (ANGPTL3) or apolipoprotein C-III(apoC-III) to specifically lower triglyceride levels, and the ISIS-APO(a) Rx ASO, massively reduces (>70%) the formation of lipoprotein (a). These new RNA-targeted therapeutics have key advantages, such as a long duration of action, which relates to patient compliance, the specificity of their action in certain cells or organs and metabolic pathways, and they allow for the first time an effective treatment of hypertriglyceridaemia and the mostly genetically determined elevated levels of lipoprotein (a). Large randomised clinical trials testing the effect of these new nucleic acids on cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction and death are currently underway, including in Switzerland, and will further determine the efficacy and safety of these new drugs. This will certainly herald a new era in the treatment of various cardiovascular diseases.