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Scope: Curcumin exerts biological activities of interest in cardiovascular prevention. However, its vascular protective effect is still poorly investigated in humans. The present study aims to assess vascular effect of an acute intake of curcumin and its nutrigenomic impact in circulating immune cells., Methods and Results: In a randomized, double-blind, crossover design, 18 healthy smokers consume a placebo or a 5-g curcumin. Before and 2 h after the intake, vascular function measurements are performed by using flow-mediated dilation (FMD). In addition, endothelial function in the microcirculation and blood pressure are evaluated. Plasma curcumin concentrations and changes in gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) are analyzed. No significant effect of curcumin on FMD is observed when considering the entire study population, mainly due to a high interindividual variability. A subgroup analysis according to the gender or the cardiovascular-risk score reveals a significant effect of curcumin on FMD in women and in subjects presenting lower cardiovascular risk. No change in gene expression is observed when data are analyzed for all volunteers but changes in expression are observed when analyzed according to gender., Conclusions: This clinical trial highlights that a substantial variability in efficacy of curcumin exists across individuals., (© 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

To understand the complex interactions between hematopoietic stem cells and the bone marrow niche, a human experimental model is needed. Our hypothesis is that hematons are an appropriate ex vivo model of human bone marrow. We analyzed the hierarchical hematopoietic cell content and the tissue organization of single hematons from healthy donors. Most (>90%) hematons contained precursors of all cell lineages, myeloid progenitors, and LTC-ICs without preferential commitment. Approximately, half of the hematons could generate significant levels of lympho-myeloid hematopoiesis after transplantation in an NSG mouse model, despite the low absolute numbers of transplanted CD34 + cells. Mesenchymal STRO-1 + and/or CD271 + cells formed a critical network that preserved hematon cohesion, and STRO-1 + cells colocalized with most hematopoietic CD34 + cells (68%). We observed an influence of age and gender. These structures represent a particularly attractive model for studying the homeostasis of the bone marrow niche and pathological changes that occur during diseases., (© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Objectives: The relationship between vitamin D and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) activity remains controversial. RA is a cardiovascular risk factor. A low level of vitamin D may increase blood pressure (BP) and decrease HDL-cholesterol. We aimed to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in RA patients compared to controls, and also to investigate the relationship between vitamin D and RA activity, and between vitamin D and cardiovascular risk factors., Methods: Patients in the COMEDRA study with established inactive RA (1987 ACR criteria) were matched with subjects from the NUTRINET-SANTE cohort (age, gender, latitude, sampling season). Vitamin D deficiency was defined as <10 ng/mL, and insufficiency as 10 to 29.9 ng/mL., Results: Eight hundred and ninety-four RA patients were analysed, of which 861 were matched with controls. The prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency was lower in RA patients than in controls: 480 (55.8%) vs. 508 (59%) and 31 (3.6%) vs. 45 (5.23%), respectively; p=0.04. There was an inverse correlation between vitamin D levels and RA activity assessed by DAS28-CRP (p=0.01), SDAI (p<0.001) and CDAI (p=0.001), but not DAS28-ESR after adjustment for age, gender, inclusion season, body mass index (BMI), vitamin D supplementation, disease duration, RF or anti-CCP status and RA treatments. Vitamin D levels were inversely correlated with BMI (p<0.001), but not with BP, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol or blood glucose., Conclusions: This study demonstrates that vitamin D is inversely correlated with RA activity and BMI, but not with other cardiovascular risk factors.