A New Approach Using BMI and FMI as Predictors of Cardio-Vascular Risk Factors among Mexican Young Adults.

The study aimed to identify accurate cut-off points for waist circumference (WC), body fat percentage (BF%), body mass index (BMI), fat mass index (FMI), and fat-free mass index (FFMI), and to determine their effective accuracy to predict cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) among Mexican young adults. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1730 Mexican young adults. Adiposity measures and CVRFs were assessed under fasting conditions. The optimal cut-off points were assessed using the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC). Age-adjusted odds ratios (OR) were used to assess the associations between anthropometric measurements and CVRFs. The cut-off values found, in females and males, respectively, for high WC (≥72.3 and ≥84.9), high BF% (≥30 and ≥22.6), high BMI (≥23.7 and ≥24.4), high FMI (≥7.1 and ≥5.5), and low FFMI (≤16 and ≤18.9) differ from those set by current guidelines. High BMI in women, and high FMI in men, assessed by the 50th percentile, had the best discriminatory power in detecting CVRFs, especially high triglycerides (OR: 3.07, CI: 2.21-4.27 and OR: 3.05, CI: 2.28-4.08, respectively). Therefore, these results suggest that BMI and FMI measures should be used to improve the screening of CVRFs in Mexican young adults.

Perceived Stress Is Directly Associated with Major Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages among Public University Students.

Stress is a condition that has been related to the development of risk behaviors for health such as sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) consumption. The aim of this study was to examine the link between SSBs consumption and perceived stress level in university students. This was an observational, cross-sectional and single-time-point study where the subjects were recruited as a non-probabilistic sample of first-year university students. The students reported their SSBs consumption through a validated questionnaire, as well as their perceived stress level, evaluated through the Cohen scale. Comparisons were made between the means of all variables. Factorial analysis of variance was conducted to explore the effect of the variables' interaction on the stress level. One-way analysis of variance was performed to assess differences between the sexes. Men consumed more SSBs (6101.17 ± 3772.50 mL/week) compared to women (4294.06 ± 3093.8 mL/week). However, women had higher scores of perceived stress and showed a strong association of stress with the SSBs consumption pattern (r and p-value). This study shows for the first time the association that exists between stress and SSBs consumption and indicates that it is related to sex in the young population.

Identification and Association of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms of the FTO Gene with Indicators of Overweight and Obesity in a Young Mexican Population.

(1) Background: obesity is a global public health problem; various factors have been associated with this disease, and genetic factors play a very important role. Previous studies in multiple populations have associated a gene with fat mass and obesity (FTO). Thus, the present work aims to identify and determine associations between genetic variants of FTO with indicators of overweight and obesity in the Mexican population. (2) Methods: a total of 638 subjects were evaluated to compile data on body mass index (BMI), the percentage of body fat (%BF), the waist circumference (WC), the serum levels of triglycerides (TG), and food consumption. A total of 175 genetic variants in the FTO gene were sampled by a microarray in the evaluated population, followed by association statistical analyses and comparisons of means. (3) Results: a total of 34 genetic variants were associated with any of the 6 indicators of overweight and obesity, but only 15 showed mean differences using the recessive model after the Bonferroni correction. The present study shows a wide evaluation of FTO genetic variants associated with a classic indicator of overweight and obesity, which highlights the importance of genetic analyses in the study of obesity.

Association between SNPs in Leptin Pathway Genes and Anthropometric, Biochemical, and Dietary Markers Related to Obesity.

Obesity is one of the main public health problems in Mexico and the world and one from which a large number of pathologies derive. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of various genes have been studied and proven to contribute to the development of multiple diseases. SNPs of the leptin pathway have been associated with the control of hunger and energy expenditure as well as with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Therefore, the present work focused on determining the association between anthropometric markers and biochemical and dietary factors related to obesity and SNPs of leptin pathway genes, such as the leptin gene (LEP), the leptin receptor (LEPR), proopiomelanocortin (POMC), prohormone convertase 1 (PCSK1), and the melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R). A population of 574 young Mexican adults of both sexes, aged 19 years old on average and without metabolic disorders previously diagnosed, underwent a complete medical and nutritional evaluation, biochemical determination, and DNA extraction from the blood; DNA samples were subsequently genotyped. Association analyses between anthropometric, biochemical, and dietary variables with SNPs were performed using binary logistic regressions (p-value = 0.05). Although the sampled population did not have previously diagnosed diseases, the evaluation results showed that 33% were overweight or obese according to BMI and 64% had non-clinically elevated levels of body fat. From the 74 SNP markers analyzed from the five previously mentioned genes, 62 showed polymorphisms within the sampled population, and only 35 of these had significant associations with clinical variables. The risk associations (OR > 1) occurred between clinical markers with elevated values for waist circumference, waist−height index, BMI, body fat percentage, glucose levels, insulin levels, HOMA-IR, triglyceride levels, cholesterol levels, LDL-c, low HDL-c, carbohydrate intake, and protein intake and SNPs of the LEP, LEPR, PCSK1, and MC4R genes. On the other hand, the protective associations (OR < 1) were associated with markers including elevated values for insulin, HOMA-IR, cholesterol, c-LDL, energy intake > 2440 Kcal/day, and lipid intake and SNPs of the LEP and LEPR genes and POMC. The present study describes associations between SNPs in leptin pathway genes, revealing positive and negative interactions between reported SNPs and the clinical markers related to obesity in a sampled Mexican population. Hence, our results open the door for the further study of new genetic variants and their influence on obesity.

"Evening chronotype associates with increased triglyceride levels in young adults in two independent populations".

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Evening chronotype has been linked with obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in middle-aged and older adults. However, few studies have analyzed this association in young adults. The aim of this study was to assess potential associations between individual chronotype and cardiometabolic outcomes in young adults of two independent populations from Europe and America. METHODS: Total population comprised 2 223 young adults (18-29 years old), 525 from Spain (Europe) and 1 698 from Mexico (America). Anthropometric, body composition and biochemical analyses were performed. Circadian preference was determined using the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ). RESULTS: In these two young adult populations, a higher metabolic risk was found in those individuals with evening chronotypes, whereas those with neither or morning chronotypes showed lower cardiometabolic risk. Evening chronotypes showed lipid alterations with increased levels of triglycerides in both populations, VLDL-c in Spaniards and total cholesterol and LDL-c in Mexicans. Among the Mexican population, evening chronotypes showed higher MetS risk and more obesity traits than the other two chronotypes; no significant differences for the same comparison were found among the equivalent Spanish chronotypes. Evening chronotypes showed lower carbohydrates and higher fat intake in Spaniards, while they had lower fiber intake in Mexicans. The associations between MEQ score and cardiometabolic risk were independent of the dietary characteristics. Lifestyle factors differed among chronotypes with more smokers and habitual drinkers among evening chronotypes than in neither or morning chronotypes (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study performed in two American and European independent populations shows that even in apparently healthy young adults, evening chronotypes have increased cardiometabolic risk and lipid alterations as compared to neither or morning chronotypes.

Influence of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms of ELOVL on Biomarkers of Metabolic Alterations in the Mexican Population.

The elongation of very long chain fatty acids (ELOVL) is a family of seven enzymes that have specific functions in the synthesis of fatty acids. Some have been shown to be related to insulin secretion (ELOVL2), and in the lipid profile (ELOVL6) and patients with various pathologies. The present work focused on the study of ELOVL polymorphs with clinical markers of non-communicable chronic diseases in the Mexican population. A sample of 1075 participants was obtained, who underwent clinical, biochemical, and nutritional evaluation, and a genetic evaluation of 91 genetic variants of ELOVL was considered (2-7). The results indicate a 33.16% prevalence of obesity by body mass index, 13.84% prevalence of insulin resistance by homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) index, 7.85% prevalence of high cholesterol, and 20.37% prevalence of hypercholesterolemia. The deprived alleles showed that there is no association between them and clinical disease risk markers, and the notable finding of the association studies is that the ELOVL2 variants are exclusive in men and ELVOL7 in women. There is also a strong association of ELOVL6 with various markers. The present study shows, for the first time, the association between the different ELOVLs and clinical markers of chronic non-communicable diseases.

The myostatin rs1805086 variant is associated with obesity in Mexican adults, independently of metabolic risk factors.

AIM: To determine whether rs1805086 is associated with obesity and metabolic disturbances in a Mexican adult population. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We genotyped rs1805086 in 1024 men and women aged 18-58 years. Anthropometric and body fat data were used to estimate obesity. Biochemical parameters were measured and DNA was used to determine the rs1805086 genotype. RESULTS: rs1805086 heterozygous AG frequency was 5.4%, and the homozygous for the risk allele GG was absent. Heterozygous had higher levels of body mass index (BMI) and waist/height ratio (WHtR). Heterozygous subjects showed a greater total and central obesity compared to the homozygous for ancestral allele AA (OR BMI > 30 kg/m2 = 2.35, 95% CI 1.29-4.29; OR WHtR > 0.5 = 2.03, 95% CI 1.19-3.45; OR elevated fat mass (EFM) %= 1.72, 95% CI 1.01-2.92; OR fat mass index (FMI)>p85 = 1.96, 95% CI 1.05-3.68). rs1805086 was not associated with metabolic alterations. CONCLUSION: Heterozygosity for rs1805086 showed a predisposition to having elevated overall and central obesity parameters. This association with adiposity seems to be independent of metabolic risk.