Association between overweight and anemia in Moroccan adolescents: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: obesity and anemia remain global public health problems, having major negative effects on human health. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of anemia and investigate its association with overweight/obesity and excess body fat among Moroccan adolescents. Methods: a total of 292 adolescents aged 11-17 years were recruited. Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) were determined using standardized equipment. Body fat mass was measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Hemoglobin concentration was measured by the HemoCue method. Results: the overall prevalence of anemia was 13.7%. Anemia was more common among overweight/obese participants (15.2%) compared to non-overweight participants (12.8%). Overweight/obese boys were more likely to experience anemia than their non-overweight peers (odds ratio (OR): 1.49; 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 0.51-4.41). Similarly, anemia likelihood was higher among individuals having excess body fat than those who do not have excess body fat, particularly among girls (OR: 1.64; 95%CI: 0.69-3.87). Excess body fat was also significantly associated with lower hemoglobin concentration in both the total sample and girls (P=0.014, and P=0.041, respectively). Overall, increased BMI, WC, fat mass, and percent body fat were associated with reduced hemoglobin concentrations. There was a significant negative correlation between hemoglobin concentration and BMI among anemic girls (P=0.023). Conclusion: elevated BMI and body fat level were associated with lower hemoglobin concentrations and anemia. Further studies are needed to delineate the basis of such associations, and if these findings are confirmed, the guidelines for screening for anemia may need to be modified to include overweight/obesity as a risk factor.

Effect of lead on root growth.

Lead (Pb) is one of the most widespread heavy metal contaminant in soils. It is highly toxic to living organisms. Pb has no biological function but can cause morphological, physiological, and biochemical dysfunctions in plants. Plants have developed a wide range of tolerance mechanisms that are activated in response to Pb exposure. Pb affects plants primarily through their root systems. Plant roots rapidly respond either (i) by the synthesis and deposition of callose, creating a barrier that stops Pb entering (ii) through the uptake of large amounts of Pb and its sequestration in the vacuole accompanied by changes in root growth and branching pattern or (iii) by its translocation to the aboveground parts of plant in the case of hyperaccumulators plants. Here we review the interactions of roots with the presence of Pb in the rhizosphere and the effect of Pb on the physiological and biochemical mechanisms of root development.

Lead tolerance and accumulation in Hirschfeldia incana, a Mediterranean Brassicaceae from metalliferous mine spoils.

Lead is a heavy metal of particular concern with respect to environmental quality and health. The lack of plant species that accumulate and tolerate Pb is a limiting factor to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in Pb tolerance. In this study we identified Hirschfeldia incana, a Brassicaceae collected from metalliferous mine spoils in Morocco, as a Pb accumulator plant. H. incana exhibited high Pb accumulation in mine soils and in hydroponic cultures. Major Pb accumulation occurred in the roots and a part of Pb translocated from the roots to the shoots, even to the siliques. These findings demonstrated that H. incana is a Pb accumulator species. The expression of several candidate genes after Pb-exposure was measured by quantitative PCR and two of them, HiHMA4 and HiMT2a, coding respectively for a P1B-type ATPase and a metallothionein, were particularly induced by Pb-exposure in both roots and leaves. The functional characterization of HiHMA4 and HiMT2a was achieved using Arabidopsis T-DNA insertional mutants. Pb content and primary root growth analysis confirmed the role of these two genes in Pb tolerance and accumulation. H. incana could be considered as a good experimental model to identify genes involved in lead tolerance and accumulation in plants.