Circulating miRNAs in girls with abdominal obesity: miR-221-3p as a biomarker of response to weight loss interventions.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have associated several microRNAs (miRNAs) with childhood obesity and energy homeostasis, suggesting that an individual miRNA profile could be used as an early predictor to estimate the response to weight loss interventions in the design of precision nutrition. OBJECTIVE: To investigate associations between the expression of circulating adiposity-related miRNAs and the response to a weight loss intervention. METHODS: A total of 51 Spanish girls (age 7-16 years) with abdominal obesity underwent 8 weeks of a multidisciplinary intervention for weight loss. Participants were stratified into two groups in accordance with changes in body mass index (BMI) standard deviation score: low-responders (LR) and high-responders (HR). The expression of 39 circulating miRNAs (c-miRNAs) was evaluated in plasma of all subjects before the intervention. RESULTS: Six miRNAs were differentially expressed between LR and HR. However, after adjustment for Tanner stage, the association was maintained only for miR-126-3p and miR-221-3p with a higher expression in HR group compared to LR group. After the intervention, miR-221-3p expression decreased in all subjects with a significant difference in the change within groups. However, changes in miR-126-3p levels were not significant. The expression of miR-221-3p was positively correlated with body weight, BMI and waist circumference, and negatively correlated with quantitative insulin sensitivity check index. CONCLUSIONS: Bioinformatic analysis evidenced that miR-221-3p participates in several obesity-related pathways, and more interestingly, this miRNA targets several candidate genes to childhood obesity according to DisGeNet database. Thus, miR-221-3p could be used for predicting the response to a multidisciplinary intervention for weight loss in young girls.

Dietary Exposure to Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Dioxins and Its Relationship to Telomere Length in Subjects Older Than 55 Years from the SUN Project.

Exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) may influence telomere length (TL), which is considered as a marker of biological age associated with the risk of chronic disease. We hypothesized that dietary exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins could affect TL. Our aim was to evaluate the association of dietary exposure to PCBs and dioxins with TL. In this cross-sectional study of 886 subjects older than 55 y (mean age: 67.7; standard deviation (SD): 6.1; 27% women) from the "Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra" (SUN) project. TL was determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and dietary PCBs and dioxins exposure was collected using a validated 136-item Food Frequency Questionnaire. Multivariable linear regression models were used to control for potential confounding factors. Shorter TL was associated with dietary total PCBs (SD of T/S ratio/(ng/day) = -0.30 × 10-7; 95% CI, -0.55 × 10-7 to -0.06 × 10-7), dioxin-like PCBs (DL-PCBs) (SD of T/S ratio/(pg WHO TEQ (Toxic Equivalents)/day) = -6.17 × 10-7; 95% CI, -11.30 × 10-7 to -1.03 × 10-7), and total TEQ exposure (SD of T/S ratio/(pg WHO TEQ/day) = -5.02 × 10-7; 95% CI, -9.44 × 10-7 to -0.61 × 10-7), but not with dioxins (SD of T/S ratio/(pg WHO TEQ/day) = -13.90 × 10-7; 95% CI, -37.70 × 10-7 to 9.79 × 10-7). In this sample of middle-aged and older Spanish adults, dietary exposure to total PCBs and DL-PCBs alone and together with dioxins was associated with shorter TL. Further longitudinal studies, preferably with POPs measured in biological samples, are needed to confirm this finding.

Association between ideal cardiovascular health and telomere length in participants older than 55 years old from the SUN cohort.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Telomeres are noncoding regions located at the end of chromosomes and their shortening has been associated with risk factors and cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between ideal cardiovascular health (Life's simple 7) and the odds of having short telomeres in a subsample of participants older than 55 years from the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) study. METHODS: We included 886 participants older than 55 years (645 men and 241 women). Telomere length was measured using a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Cardiovascular health score was defined by the American Heart Association as a composite score of 7 key risk factors (smoking status, physical activity, diet, body mass index, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and fasting blood glucose) with 0 to 2 points for each factor. We categorized this score in tertiles as poor (0-9 points), intermediate (10-11 points) and ideal (12-14 points). The odds of having short telomeres was defined as telomere length below the 20th percentile. RESULTS: Individuals with higher ideal cardiovascular health had a lower prevalence of having short telomeres (adjusted OR, 0.60; 95%CI, 0.34-1.05; P trend=.052). This association was statistically significant in men (adjusted OR, 0.37; 95%CI, 0.17-0.83; P trend=.025) but not in women. CONCLUSIONS: An inverse association between cardiovascular health score and short telomeres was found especially for men older than 55 years in the SUN population. The SUN project was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT02669602).

Higher adherence to an empirically derived Mediterranean dietary pattern is positively associated with telomere length: the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) project.

Telomere integrity is influenced by oxidative stress. Also, inflammation-related factors, including nutritional factors, could modulate telomere integrity. The relationship between a posteriori-derived dietary patterns and telomere length (TL) has been scarcely investigated. Thus, our objective was to examine the association between empirically derived dietary patterns ascertained through principal component analysis (PCA) and TL in an older adult Spanish population. A total of 886 older adults (>55 years old; 645 males and 241 females) from the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) cohort were included in the study. TL was measured by monochrome multiplex real-time quantitative PCR. Age-adjusted TL was used for all analyses. Dietary patterns were identified by PCA based on thirty predefined candidate food groups collected from a validated 136-food items frequency questionnaire. Generalised linear models were fitted to obtain ß-coefficients and their 95 % CI evaluating differences in TL between each of the four upper quintiles of adherence to dietary patterns and the lowest quintile. Sensitivity analyses by rerunning all multiple linear models under different stratifications were performed to evaluate the robustness of our results. Two major dietary patterns were empirically identified, Western dietary pattern (WDP) and Mediterranean dietary pattern (MDP). After adjustment for potential confounders, longer TL was found among subjects in the highest quintile of MDP (ß = 0·064; 95 % CI 0·004, 0·123). The WDP showed no significant association with TL. In conclusion, higher adherence to a posteriori-derived MDP was independently associated with longer telomeres in an older adult Spanish population of the SUN project.

Ultra-processed food consumption and the risk of short telomeres in an elderly population of the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) Project.

BACKGROUND: Telomere length (TL) is a marker of biological age that may be affected by dietary factors through oxidation and inflammation mechanisms. In addition, ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption has increased worldwide and it has been associated with the risk of developing several diseases. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate the association between UPF consumption and the risk of having short telomeres in an elderly population of the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) Project. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study of 886 participants (645 men and 241 women) aged 57-91 y recruited from the SUN Project (Spain, 1999-2018). TL was measured from saliva samples by real-time qPCR at baseline and UPF consumption was collected using a validated 136-item FFQ and classified according to the NOVA system. We evaluated the association between consumption of energy-adjusted UPF categorized into quartiles (low, medium-low, medium-high, and high consumption) and the risk of having short telomeres (<20th percentile) using logistic regression models. RESULTS: Those participants with the highest UPF consumption had almost twice the odds of having short telomeres compared with those with the lowest consumption (adjusted OR: 1.82; 95% CI: 1.05, 3.22; P-trend = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: A higher consumption of UPF (>3 servings/d) was associated with higher risk of having shorter telomeres in an elderly Spanish population of the SUN Project.This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02669602.

Association between diet quality indexes and the risk of short telomeres in an elderly population of the SUN project.

BACKGROUND: Shorter telomeres are associated with several age-related diseases, and lifestyle factors could influence this relationship. The aim of this study was to examine associations between salivary telomere length (TL) and diet quality using 5 evidence-based dietary indexes in an elderly (>55 years old) Spanish population of the SUN project (n = 886). METHOD: TL was measured using the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Age-adjusted TL variable through residuals methods was used for all analysis. Diet quality was assessed by the Prime Diet Quality Score (PDQS), Fat Quality Index (FQI), Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS), Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) index and the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI-2010). RESULTS: TL did differ according to sex, smoking status, and dyslipidemia in elderly subjects of the SUN study. In addition, subjects with dyslipidemia (compared to absence of dyslipidemia) had a significantly higher risk (27% vs. 18%, p = 0.015) of short telomeres (

Effects of antidepressant and antipsychotic use on weight gain: A systematic review.

Weight gain is an adverse effect of antidepressants and antipsychotics. This side effect can lead to numerous comorbidities and reduces life expectancy. The use of these drugs is increasing worldwide, and the weight gain produced by them represents a common clinical challenge. The goal of this systematic review was to evaluate the potential association of antidepressant and antipsychotic therapy with body weight gain in cohort studies. A search of cohort studies investigating the association between weight gain and the use of antidepressants and antipsychotics in individuals was conducted through the PubMed database from 1 January 2008 to 31 January 2019 following the PRISMA statement. We found 27 independent eligible cohort studies that included children (2-18 years old) and adult (18-103 years old) subjects. Most of the included studies showed a 5% weight gain in individuals using antidepressant therapy. However, Quetiapine, Haloperidol, Trifluoperazine, Risperidone, Aripiprazole, Olanzapine, and Clozapine increased body weight ≥7% from baseline, which is considered a clinically significant result. Weight loss was found in individuals treated with Bupropion. Further cohort studies with higher sample sizes and longer durations of treatment are needed to confirm our observations.