Role of Dietary Components in Modulating Hypertension.

Hypertension is a major health issue, particularly in medically underserved populations that may suffer from poor health literacy, poverty, and limited access to healthcare resources. Management of the disease reduces the risk of adverse outcomes, such as cardiovascular or cerebrovascular events, vision impairment due to retinal damage, and renal failure. In addition to pharmacological therapy, lifestyle modifications such as diet and exercise are effective in managing hypertension. Current diet guidelines include the DASH diet, a low-fat and low-sodium diet that encourages high consumption of fruits and vegetables. While the diet is effective in controlling hypertension, adherence to the diet is poor and there are few applicable dietary alternatives, which is an issue that can arise from poor health literacy in at-risk populations. The purpose of this review is to outline the effect of specific dietary components, both positive and negative, when formulating a dietary approach to hypertension management that ultimately aims to improve patient adherence to the treatment, and achieve better control of hypertension.

Role of Serum Biomarkers in Early Detection of Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis and Fibrosis in West Virginian Children.

BACKGROUND: Obesity, an epidemic among West Virginia children, as well as insulin resistance (IR), is well-established contributors to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Progression of NASH can lead to hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis, making early detection imperative. The standard for diagnosing NASH is histologically via liver biopsy, which is highly invasive and generally contraindicated in children. By studying serum biomarkers associated with NASH, we aim to identify high risk children who can benefit from a less invasive, alternative approach to the early detection of NASH. METHODS: Seventy one children were prospectively recruited and divided into 3 groups: normal weight without IR (control), obese without IR, and obese with IR. Serum samples were drawn for each patient and biomarker levels were assessed via ELISA kits. RESULTS: Obese without IR and obese with IR patients had significantly elevated levels of lipid metabolism and accumulation markers (FGF-21, NEFA, FATP5, ApoB), oxidative stress markers (dysfunctional HDL, 8-Isoprostane), inflammatory markers(dysfunctional HDL, CK-18) and apoptosis markers (CK-18) compared to control patients (p<0.02). Bilirubin (an antioxidant) was significantly decreased in the obese without IR and obese with IR patients compared to control (p<0.02). CONCLUSION: This study showed a correlation between obesity, IR, and biomarkers associated with NASH in pediatrics patients from West Virginia, with obese with IR patients showing the strongest correlation. These findings support the clinical application of these serum biomarkers as a less invasive method for early detection of NASH and hepatic fibrosis.

Sensitive metal ions (II) determination with resonance Raman method.

In this paper, a new proposal for the quantitative evaluation of divalent metal ions (M(2+)) is developed by the use of the competitive resonance Raman (RR)-based method. Upon excitation with light of the appropriate wavelength (532 nm), a strong electric field is generated that couples with the resonance of the complex (zincon-M(2+)), increasing the character signals of these complexes, resulting in sensitive detection. Herein, the RR probe, zincon-M(2+) complex that the RR intensity gets lower with the decreasing of the M(2+) concentration, which leads to the transformation of the Raman information. As a result, by using the proposed RR-based method, we could find the liner calibration curves of Cu(2+) and Ni(2+), which show the potential in quantitative evaluation of an unknown sample. In addition, the abundant fingerprint information shows that RR leads to the successful analysis of a blended solution, which contains two ions: Cu(2+) and Ni(2+).