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Background: Methylation of the Elongation Of Very Long Chain Fatty Acids‐Like 2 (ELOVL2) gene promoter may predict premature ageing and cardiovascular risk. Methods: We studied the cross‐sectional associations between blood ELOVL2‐methylation and cardiovascular risk factors in 350 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage G2–G4 aged between 22 and 90 years. In a follow‐up study for a mean of 3.9 years, we investigated the association between baseline ELOVL2‐methylation and renal or cardiovascular events including death. Results: ELOVL2‐methylation at seven CpG cites increased with age (the correlation coefficients between 0.67 and 0.87, p < 0.001). The ELOVL2‐CpGs methylation was lower in patients with CKD stage G2 versus those in stage G3a, G3b and G4, but the differences were explained by age. ELOVL2‐CpGs methylation showed no correlations with cardiovascular risk factors after adjusting for age. During the follow‐up, 64 patients showed deterioration in renal function or died and 77 showed cardiovascular events or died. The hazard ratio and 95% confidence intervals for renal or cardiovascular events according to baseline ELOVL2‐CpGs methylation were not significant after adjustment for covariates. Conclusions: ELOVL2‐hypermethylation showed a strong association with age, but was not independently associated with cardiovascular risk factors or with future renal or cardiovascular events in patients with CKD. ELOVL2 gene methylation is not likely to be itself a cause for ageing or illnesses, but it could be rather influenced by other upstream processes that deserve investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Objective The adaptor protein p66Shc generates mitochondrial reactive oxygen species and translates oxidative signals into apoptosis. We aimed to analyze potential alterations in total methylation and in p66Shc activation in placental tissues from women delivering intrauterine growth restricted neonates (IUGR) versus appropriate for gestational age (AGA) and small for gestational age (SGA) neonates. Method DNA methylation of the p66Shc promoter and of long interspersed nuclear elements (LINE-1), as a marker for total methylation, was quantified by automatic pyrosequencing in 15 IUGR, 25 AGA and 15 SGA placentas. Placental gene expression of p66Shc was determined by TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results No significant difference was found for LINE-1 methylation between IUGR, AGA and SGA newborns. DNA methylation of the p66Shc promoter was significantly decreased in the IUGR compared with the AGA group ( p < 0.0001) and the SGA group ( p < 0.0001). However, analysis of placental p66Shc gene expression did not show a significant difference between the three groups. Conclusion It remains speculative if the decreased p66Shc promoter methylation might play a role in the pathophysiology of endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular disease after IUGR. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective : Subjects adopting a vegetarian diet are liable to vitamin B12 and iron deficiencies. Co-existing vitamin B12 and iron deficiencies may give an equivocal haematological picture, which may, in turn, delay making an early diagnosis. The current work was undertaken to investigate some haematological parameters in relation to vitamin B12 and iron status in vegetarians. Subjects and methods : Twenty-nine vegans, 64 lacto- and lacto-ovo-vegetarians, in addition to 20 occasional meat eaters, were enrolled for this study. The total group included 49 males and 64 females aged [mean (SD) = 46(15) yr]. Complete blood count, methylmalonic acid (MMA), homocysteine (HCY), ferritin, and transferrin concentrations and percentage transferrin saturation were assayed, using conventional methods. Results : Vegans displayed the highest MMA and HCY levels (median MMA = 708 nmol L -1 ; HCY = 12.8 µmol L -1 ). A lower lymphocyte count and a higher mean corpuscular volume (MCV) were found in vegans compared with lacto- or lacto-ovo-vegetarians (median = 1.51 × 10 9 vs. 1.83 × 10 9 L -1 ; 92 vs. 89 fL, respectively). Vitamin B12-deficient subjects in the higher range of transferrin saturation percentage had higher MCV than vitamin B12-deficient subjects in the lower transferrin saturation range (mean MCV = 92 vs. 89 fL). A lower platelet count was found in the highest quartile of MMA (mean = 211 × 10 9 L -1 ) and in the highest quartile of HCY (mean = 215 × 10 9 L -1 ), compared with the other quartiles. Lower lymphocyte and platelet counts and higher MCV were found in subjects with elevated MMA and HCY, compared to those with normal metabolites. Factors that explained the variations in MCV were red blood cell count, ferritin, transferrin saturation, and methylmalonic acid levels. Conclusion : vitamin B12 and iron status were compromised by a... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]