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Objective: Thyroid dysfunction is associated with relevant disturbances in glucose metabolism. Moreover, thyroid function undergoes important changes with ageing. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of thyroid function with insulin resistance with particular consideration of possible age-related effect modifications. Design: A sample of 4193 participants from two independent epidemiological studies, the Study of Health in Pomerania-TREND-0 and the Berlin Aging Study II, was included in this cross-sectional analysis. Methods: Insulin resistance was estimated by homeostasis model of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and the insulin sensitivity index (ISI). Associations of thyroid biomarkers (thyroid-stimulating hormone, free thyroxine, and free triiodothyronine (fT3)) with parameters of glucose metabolism were analysed by regression models adjusted for age, sex, smoking status, and study site. Results: A higher fT3 was significantly associated with higher fasting g lucose and higher fasting and 2-h postload insulin levels, a higher HOMA-IR, and lower ISI. A higher fT3 was also associated with a higher risk for impaired fasting glucose (RR 1.09, 95 CI 1.02; 1.18; P = 0.017). Many of these associations between thyroid markers and parameters of glucose metabolism were significant in young and middle-aged participants but not in older individuals. Conclusions: The main finding of this study was a consistent association of fT3 with almost all markers of insulin resistance. However, this effect s eems to be wearing off in higher age highlighting a potential age-related modification of the interaction between thyroid function and glucose metabolism. Further studies are needed to clarify causal relationships.

Abstract The assessment of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is an important tool for prognosis evaluation of cardiovascular events. The gold standard to measure CRF is cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) to determine peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak). However, CPET is not only time consuming but also expensive and is therefore not widely applicable in daily practice. The aim of our study was to analyze, whether and which anthropometric markers derived from a 3D body scanner were related to VO2peak in a general population-based study. We analyzed data (SHIP-START-3) from 3D body scanner and CPET of 1035 subjects (529 women; 51.1%, age range 36–93). A total of 164 anthropometric markers were detected with the 3D body scanner VITUS Smart XXL using the software AnthroScan Professional. Anthropometric measurements were standardized and associated with CRF by sex-stratified linear regression models adjusted for age and height. Anthropometric markers were ranked according to the − log- p values derived from these regression models. In men a greater left and right thigh-knee-ratio, a longer forearm-fingertip length, a greater left thigh circumference and greater left upper arm circumference were most strongly associated with a higher VO2peak. In women a greater left and right thigh circumference, left calf circumference, thigh thickness and right calf circumference were most strongly associated with a higher VO2peak. The detected VO2peak-related anthropometric markers could be helpful in assessing CRF in clinical routine. Commonly used anthropometric markers, e.g. waist and hip circumference, were not among the markers associated with VO2peak.

The associations of thyroid function parameters with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and hepatic iron overload are not entirely clear. We have cross-sectionally investigated these associations among 2734 participants of two population-based cross-sectional studies of the Study of Health in Pomerania. Serum levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free tri-iodothyronine (fT3), and free thyroxine (fT4) levels were measured. Liver fat content (by proton-density fat fraction) as well as hepatic iron content (by transverse relaxation rate; R2*) were assessed by quantitative MRI. Thyroid function parameters were associated with hepatic fat and iron contents by median and logistic regression models adjusted for confounding. There were no associations between serum TSH levels and liver fat content, NAFLD, or hepatic iron overload. Serum fT4 levels were inversely associated with liver fat content, NAFLD, hepatic iron contents, and hepatic iron overload. Serum fT3 levels as well as the fT3 to fT4 ratio were positively associated with hepatic fat, NAFLD, hepatic iron contents, but not with hepatic iron overload. Associations between fT3 levels and liver fat content were strongest in obese individuals, in which we also observed an inverse association between TSH levels and NAF LD. These findings might be the result of a higher conversion of fT4 to the biologically active form fT3. Our results suggest that a subclinical hyperthyroid state may be associated with NAFLD, particularly in obese individuals. Furthermore, thyroid hormone levels seem to be more strongly associated with increased liver fat content compared to hepatic iron content.

In this work, silica-based adsorbents were prepared by a facile and straightforward sol–gel route. The adsorption capacity of the prepared materials was investigated using methylene blue (MB) and metamizole (sodium dipyrone – DIP) as reference pollutants. We observed that the samples prepared here, regardless of the absence of catalyst, templating agent, or heat treatment step during their preparation, are promising materials for adsorption purposes. The adsorption kinetics was investigated based on the pseudo-first and pseudo-second-order kinetic laws of Lagergren. The most promising sample showed an adsorption capacity of 36.9 mg g−1 (removal capacity of 92.3%) for MB and 8.5 mg g−1 (20.5%) for DIP in aqueous media kept at a pH = 7.0. We observed that the adsorption of these species is strongly associated with the electrostatic interaction between the pollutant molecules and the silica surface. Such an interaction was increased when the pH of the solution increased from 3.0 to 4.5, 7.0, or 9.0. The incorporation of amino groups derived from (3-Aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) increased the affinity of silica for MB and DIP. These functional groups were incorporated into silica via post-grafting and co-condensation. Furthermore, it was shown that the silica matrices tested here can be easily regenerated by heat treatment in air at 450 °C for periods as short as 15 min, allowing its reuse in subsequent adsorption cycles.

Abstract Previous studies on the association between thyroid function and body composition are conflicting and showed strong differences across age groups. Our aim was to clarify age-specific associations of serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels with markers of body composition including body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM) and body cell mass (BCM). We used data from two independent population-based cohorts within the framework of the Study of Health in Pomerania. The study population included 5656 individuals aged 20 to 90 years. Markers of body composition were measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Serum TSH levels were significantly positively associated with BMI (β = 0.16; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.06 to 0.27), waist circumference (β = 0.35; 95% CI: 0.08 to 0.62) and FM (β = 0.32; 95% CI: 0.12 to 0.52), but not with FFM and BCM. Interaction analysis revealed positive associations of serum TSH levels with BMI, waist circumference, FM, FFM and BCM in individuals older than 60 years, while no such associations were observed in younger individuals. We demonstrated that lower serum TSH levels were accompanied with lower values of BMI, waist circumference, FM, FFM, and BCM in the elderly, while no such associations were observed in younger individuals.

Introduction and objectives: The EncephalApp Stroop Test was developed to more easily diagnose minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE). A cut-off of >274.9sec (ONtime+OFFtime) reached a 78% sensitivity and 90% specificity in the validation study, but it has been poorly studied in Brazil. We aim to analyze the usefulness of this diagnostic method and to describe a cut-off value to screen MHE in Brazil. Methods: In this cross-sectional and single-center study, three positive psychometric tests defined the diagnosis of MHE as the gold standard. We evaluated gender, age, education, familiarity with smartphones, etiology of cirrhosis, Child-Pugh/MELD scores, and previous hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Healthy controls and patients without HE were compared for the task validation. The Chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests, logistic regression analysis, and ROC curves were used for statistical evaluation. Results: We included 132 patients with cirrhosis (61% male) and 42 controls (62% male) around 51y. Sixty-three were diagnosed with MHE on psychometric tests and 23 had clinical HE. Viral hepatitis (38%) was the major etiology of cirrhosis. The median MELD was 10 and Child-Pugh A was more frequent (70%). There was no significant difference in test results between controls and patients without HE. There was also no influence of gender, age, education, and familiarity with smartphones in the test results. Child-Pugh A was associated with MHE (p=0.0106). A cut-off of >269.8sec (ONtime+OFFtime) had an 87% sensitivity and 77% specificity to detect MHE (p=0.002). Conclusion: This is a valid and reliable tool for screening MHE. However, optimal cut-off values need to be validated locally.

Background Lower cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. However, very little information is available about the association between lower CRF and right ventricular (RV) remodeling. We investigated the relationship between CRF and RV structure and function in a large, aging, and largely sedentary adult population–based cohort. Methods and Results We used cross‐sectional data of 2844 subjects (1486 women; median age, 51 years; interquartile range, 40–62 years) from the population‐based cohort SHIP (Study of Health in Pomerania) with echocardiography, of which 941 also had cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. We analyzed the associations of peak oxygen uptake with RV parameters determined by both imaging techniques using multivariable‐adjusted linear regression models. In echocardiography, a 1 L/min lower peak oxygen uptake was associated with a 1.18 mm (95% CI, 0.66–1.71; P

BackgroundGenome-wide association studies have identified multiple genomic loci associated with coronary artery disease, but most are common variants in non-coding regions that provide limited information on causal genes and etiology of the disease. To overcome the limited scope that common variants provide, we focused our investigation on low-frequency and rare sequence variations primarily residing in coding regions of the genome.Methods and resultsUsing samples of individuals of European ancestry from ten cohorts within the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium, both cross-sectional and prospective analyses were conducted to examine associations between genetic variants and myocardial infarction (MI), coronary heart disease (CHD), and all-cause mortality following these events. For prevalent events, a total of 27,349 participants of European ancestry, including 1831 prevalent MI cases and 2518 prevalent CHD cases were used. For incident cases, a total of 55,736 participants of European ancestry were included (3,031 incident MI cases and 5,425 incident CHD cases). There were 1,860 all-cause deaths among the 3,751 MI and CHD cases from six cohorts that contributed to the analysis of all-cause mortality. Single variant and gene-based analyses were performed separately in each cohort and then meta-analyzed for each outcome. A low-frequency intronic variant (rs988583) in PLCL1 was significantly associated with prevalent MI (OR = 1.80, 95% confidence interval: 1.43, 2.27; P = 7.12 × 10-7). We conducted gene-based burden tests for genes with a cumulative minor allele count (cMAC) ≥ 5 and variants with minor allele frequency (MAF) < 5%. TMPRSS5 and LDLRAD1 were significantly associated with prevalent MI and CHD, respectively, and RC3H2 and ANGPTL4 were significantly associated with incident MI and CHD, respectively. No loci were significantly associated with all-cause mortality following a MI or CHD event.ConclusionThis study identified one known locus (ANGPTL4) and four new loci (PLCL1, RC3H2, TMPRSS5, and LDLRAD1) associated with cardiovascular disease risk that warrant further investigation.