Nutrition
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It has been suggested that birth weight may determine metabolic abnormalities later in life. The aim of the current study was to assess the association between birth weight and future risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and pregravid obesity in a homogenous sample of Caucasian Polish women. ⋯ Among Caucasian Polish women, the risk of GDM is associated with low birth weight, and pregravid obesity is associated with high birth weight. Traditional risk factors for GDM, including maternal (but not paternal) history of diabetes, are also risk factors for pregravid obesity.
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We assessed the alterations in mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle that were elicited by short-term high-fat feeding in sedentary rats. ⋯ Acute isocaloric high-fat feeding is able to induce increased phosphorylation efficiency in skeletal muscle subsarcolemmal and intermyofibrillar mitochondria. This modification implies a reduced oxidation of energy substrates that may contribute to the early onset of obesity.
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Microglia activation and neuroinflammation have been associated with the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and nuclear factor (NF)-κB-mediated signal pathways exert key modulating roles in the inflammatory processes. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether genistein (Gen) has a neuroprotective effect against inflammatory damage induced by β-amyloid peptide25-35 (Aβ25-35) through the TLR4 and NF-κB-mediated signal pathways. ⋯ These results indicated that Gen could alleviate the inflammation caused by Aβ25-35 treatment, which might be associated with the regulation of the TLR4/NF-κB signal pathway.
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Copper (Cu) is widely used in industry for the manufacture of a vast range of goods including Cu-intrauterine devices (IUDs), electronic products, agrochemicals, and many others. It is also one of the trace elements essential to human health in the right measure and is used as a parenteral supplement in patients unable to ingest food. Elevated Cu levels have been found in the plasma of women using Cu-IUDs and in farmers working with Cu-based pesticides. However, possible alterations due to Cu overload in the brain have been poorly studied. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Cu administration on rat brain in Cu-sufficient and Cu-deficient animals fed on semi-synthetic diets with different doses of Cu (7 or 35 ppm). ⋯ The findings of this study could be important in evaluating the role of Cu in brain metabolism and neuronal survival.