BACKGROUND: 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) has a long half-life of 5-10 years in human beings as a result of its high lipophilicity, and little or no metabolism. We monitored TCDD, its form, distribution, and elimination in Victor Yushchenko after he presented with severe poisoning. METHODS: In late December, 2004, a patient presented with TCDD poisoning; the levels in his blood serum (108000 pg/g lipid weight) were more than 50 000-fold greater than those in the general population. We identified TCDD and its metabolites, and monitored their levels for 3 years using gas chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry in samples of blood serum, adipose tissue, faeces, skin, urine, and sweat, after they were extracted and cleaned with different organic solvents. FINDINGS: The amount of unmodified TCDD in the samples that were analysed accounted for about 60% of TCDD eliminated from the body during the same period. Two TCDD metabolites-2,3,7-trichloro-8-hydroxydibenzo-p-dioxin and 1,3,7,8-tetrachloro-2-hydroxydibenzo-p-dioxin-were identified in the faeces, blood serum, and urine. The faeces contained the highest concentration of TCDD metabolites, and were the main route of elimination. Altogether, the different routes of elimination of TCDD and its metabolites accounted for 98% of the loss of the toxin from the body. The half-life of TCDD in our patient was 15.4 months. INTERPRETATION: This case of poisoning with TCDD suggests that the design of methods for routine assessment of TCDD metabolites in human beings should be a main aim of TCDD research in the metabolomic era. FUNDING: University of Geneva Dermatology Fund, and Swiss Centre for Applied Human Toxicology.
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Comment In: Lancet. 2009 Oct 3;374(9696):1131-219660808
Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada. Denis.Richard@criucpq.ulaval.ca
Radiologic Sciences and Therapy, Division of the School of Allied Medical Professions and the Department of Radiology at the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
CONTEXT: (18)FDG is used widely to enhance PET and PET-CT images. However, this radiotracer tends to be taken up by brown fat, which can lead to false-positive diagnoses. Purpose To determine which patients, areas of the body and circumstances are more likely to be associated with false-positive diagnoses due to (18)FDG uptake in brown fat. METHOD: A review of the literature was conducted on factors that contribute to false-positive diagnoses caused by (18)FDG uptake in brown fat. RESULTS: Brown fat commonly is found in women and children and can be located in the supraclavicular, mediastinal, paravertebral and perirenal areas of the body. Research has shown that these areas can be sources of a false-positive diagnosis because of (18)FDG uptake. Studies also have indicated that cold climate affects the uptake of (18)FDG, contributing to false-positive results on PET-CT examinations. CONCLUSIONS: This literature review should stimulate continued research into and awareness of the potential for false-positive PET findings in women and children during the winter months and in cold climates. This information is especially applicable to young female patients undergoing PET or PET-CT.
Abdominal adipose tissue distribution, obesity, and risk of cardiovascular disease and death: 13 year follow up of participants in the study of men born in 1913.
In a prospective study of risk factors for ischaemic heart disease 792 54 year old men selected by year of birth (1913) and residence in Gothenburg agreed to attend for questioning and a battery of anthropometric and other measurements in 1967. Thirteen years later these baseline findings were reviewed in relation to the numbers of men who had subsequently suffered a stroke, ischaemic heart disease, or death from all causes. Neither quintiles nor deciles of initial indices of obesity (body mass index, sum of three skinfold thickness measurements, waist or hip circumference) showed a significant correlation with any of the three end points studied. Statistically significant associations were, however, found between the waist to hip circumference ratio and the occurrence of stroke (p = 0.002) and ischaemic heart disease (p = 0.04). When the confounding effect of body mass index or the sum of three skinfold thicknesses was accounted for the waist to hip circumference ratio was significantly associated with all three end points. This ratio, however, was not an independent long term predictor of these end points when smoking, systolic blood pressure, and serum cholesterol concentration were taken into account. These results indicate that in middle aged men the distribution of fat deposits may be a better predictor of cardiovascular disease and death than the degree of adiposity.
The relationships between objectively measured abdominal and gynoid adipose mass with the prospective risk of myocardial infarction (MI) has been scarcely investigated. We aimed to investigate the associations between fat distribution and the risk of MI.
Total and regional fat mass was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in 2336 women and 922 men, of whom 104 subsequently experienced an MI during a mean follow-up time of 7.8 years.
In women, the strongest independent predictor of MI was the ratio of abdominal to gynoid adipose mass (hazard ratio (HR)=2.44, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.79-3.32 per s.d. increase in adipose mass), after adjustment for age and smoking. This ratio also showed a strong association with hypertension, impaired glucose tolerance and hypertriglyceridemia (P
Recent prospective, epidemiological research has demonstrated the power of an increased waist/hip circumference ratio (WHR) to predict both cardiovascular disease (CVD) and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) in men and women. Obesity, defined as an increased total body fat mass, seems to interact synergistically in the development of NIDDM, but not of CVD. Increased WHR with obesity (abdominal obesity) seems to be associated with a cluster of metabolic risk factors, as well as hypertension. This metabolic syndrome is closely linked to visceral fat mass. Increased WHR without obesity may instead be associated with lift style factors such as smoking, alcohol intake, physical inactivity, coagulation abnormalities, psychosocial, psychological and psychiatric factors. Direct observations show, and the risk factor associations further strengthen the assumption, that abdominal (visceral) obesity is more closely associated to NIDDM than CVD, while an increased WHR without obesity may be more closely linked to CVD than NIDDM. It remains to be established to what extent, if any, an increased WHR in lean men, and particularly in lean women, indicates fat distribution. Other components of the WHR measurement might be of more importance in this connection.
Increased total fat mass (FM) and visceral fat (VF) may account in part for age-associated decrease in hepatic insulin action. This study determined whether preventing the changes in body fat distribution abolished this defect throughout aging. We studied the F(1) hybrid of Brown Norway-Fischer 344 rats (n = 29), which we assigned to caloric restriction (CR) or fed ad libitum (AL). CR (55% of the calories consumed by AL) was initiated and used at 2 mo to prevent age-dependent increases in FM and VF. AL rats were studied at 2, 8, and 20 mo; CR rats were studied at 8 and 20 mo. VF and FM remained unchanged throughout aging in CR rats. AL-fed rats at 8 and 20 mo had over fourfold higher FM and VF compared with both CR groups. Insulin clamp studies (3 mU. kg(-1). min(-1) with somatostatin) were performed to assess hepatic insulin sensitivity. Prevention of fat accretion resulted in a marked improvement in insulin action in the suppression of hepatic glucose production (HGP) (6.3 +/- 0.3 and 7.2 +/- 1.2 mg. kg(-1). min(-1) in 8- and 20-mo CR rats vs. 8.3 +/- 0.5 and 10.8 +/- 0.9 mg. kg(-1). min(-1) in 8- and 20-mo AL rats, respectively). The rate of gluconeogenesis (by enrichment of hepatic uridine diphosphate glucose and phosphoenolpyruvate pools by [(14)C]lactate) was unchanged in all groups. The improvement in hepatic insulin action in the CR group was mostly due to effective suppression of glycogenolysis (4.4 +/- 0.3 and 4.9 +/- 0.3 mg. kg(-1). min(-1) in 8- and 20-mo CR rats vs. 5.8 +/- 0.6 and 8.2 +/- 1.0 mg. kg(-1). min(-1) in 8- and 20-mo AL rats, respectively). The results demonstrated the preservation of hepatic insulin action in aging CR rats. Therefore, body fat and its distribution are major determinants of age-associated hepatic insulin resistance.
To assess the association between the common missense variant, Y64R, in the gene encoding the beta 3-adrenergic receptor, ADRB3, and intermediate phenotypes related to obesity and NIDDM in Canadian Oji-Cree.
We determined genotypes of the ADRB3 Y64R polymorphism in 508 clinically and biochemically well-characterized adult Oji-Cree, of whom 115 had NIDDM. We tested for associations with multivariate analysis of variance.
We found the ADRB3 R64 allele frequency to be 0.40 in this population, which is the highest yet observed in a human population. Furthermore, 15% of subjects were R64/R64 homozygotes, compared with a virtual absence of homozygotes in European study samples. However, we found no statistically significant associations of the ADRB3 Y64R genotype either with the presence of NIDDM, with indexes of obesity, or with intermediate quantitative biochemical traits related to NIDDM.
Despite the very high frequency of the ADRB3 R64 allele in this sample of aboriginal people, it was not associated with any metabolic phenotype. This suggests that the ADRB3 R64 allele is probably not a major determinant of obesity or NIDDM in these aboriginal Canadians.
This study investigated the accumulation features and temporal trends of PCDD/Fs, dioxin-like PCBs (DL-PCBs) and non-dioxin-like PCBs (NDL-PCBs) in the blubber of Baikal seals collected in 1992 and 2005. DL-PCBs (480-3600ng/g) and NDL-PCBs (980-35,000ng/g) were dominant contaminants. Concentrations of PCDDs and PCBs in males were significantly higher than in females. In males, age-dependent accumulation was observed for PCDDs, mono-ortho PCBs and NDL-PCBs. PCDFs and non-ortho PCBs showed no such trends, implying that exposure of seals to these contaminants has been decreasing in recent years. No decreasing temporal trend was observed for PCDDs, mono-ortho PCBs and NDL-PCBs, suggesting that Baikal seals are still exposed to PCDDs and PCBs. TEQs of PCDDs and mono-ortho PCBs in seals collected in 2005 accounted for 62-77% of total TEQs. The TEQ levels in 40% of the specimens exceeded the threshold level for immunosuppression observed in harbor seals (209pg/g).
Acute and chronic effects of biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch surgery on plasma visfatin and apelin levels in patients with severe obesity.
Visfatin is an adipokine linked to obesity and inflammation, and it has insulin-mimetic properties. Apelin is an adipokine with positive cardiac inotropic effects, and it may be related to inflammatory molecules. Variations in plasma visfatin and apelin levels following bariatric surgery remain controversial.
In this study, patients who underwent a biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch (BPD-DS) were compared to a severely obese group (control group). Anthropometric measures and blood samples were taken before surgery, on days 1 and 5, as well as at 6 and 12 months after surgery in the BDP-DS group. For the control group, the tests were performed at baseline and at 6 and 12 months.
Seventy subjects in the BPD-DS group and 28 in the control group were included. The expected reduction in body weight at 1 year after a BPD-DS was observed (85.9?±?18.5 vs. 136.6?±?27.7 kg at baseline; p?
