Blood-Biomarkers for Glucose Metabolism in Preterm Infants.

This was an exploratory, prospective, longitudinal, cohort study that aimed to establish "healthy" reference levels related to growth parameters and glucose metabolites in preterm infants. This was conducted to further investigate growth and metabolic disturbances potentially related to neonatal illness. The study sample consisted of 108 preterm infants born before 32 weeks in 2018-2019 in the Capital Region of Denmark. Repetitive blood samples were acquired at the neonatal wards, while clinical data were obtained from the regional hospital medical record system. Thirty-four "healthy" preterm infants (31%) were identified. The "ill" infants were divided into four subgroups dependent on gestational age and small for gestational age. Reference levels for the growth parameters and metabolic biomarkers glucose, albumin, and adiponectin, and two glucose control indicators, glycated albumin and fructosamine, were determined for the "healthy" and "ill" subgroups. The "ill" extremely preterm infants had increased glucose levels (mean difference 0.71 mmol/L, 95% CI 0.23; 1.18 mmol/L) and glycated albumin (corrected; %) (mean difference 0.92 mmol/L, 95% CI 0.38 mmol/L;1.47 mmol/L) compared to the "healthy" infants. In "ill" extremely preterm infants and "ill" very preterm infants born small for gestational age, levels of biomarkers containing proteins were decreased. In the "Ill" extremely preterm infants and infants born small for gestational age, postnatal growth was continuously decreased throughout the postconceptional period. The short-term glucose-control indicator, glycated albumin (corrected; %), reflected well the high glucose levels due to its correction for the depleted plasma-protein pool.

Effect of the Arg389Gly ß1-adrenoceptor polymorphism on plasma renin activity and heart rate, and the genotype-dependent response to metoprolol treatment.

1. A gene-drug interaction has been indicated between ß1-adrenoceptor-selective beta-blockers and the Arg389Gly polymorphism (rs1801253) in the adrenergic beta-1 receptor gene (ADRB1). In the present study, we investigated the effect of the ADRB1 Arg389Gly polymorphism on plasma renin activity (PRA) and heart rate (HR), as well as genotype-dependent responses to metoprolol and exercise. 2. Twenty-nine healthy male subjects participated in two treatment periods (placebo and 200 mg/day metoprolol). A 15 min submaximal exercise test was performed after each treatment period and PRA and HR were measured before and after exercise. 3. Before exercise, median PRA was lower in Gly/Gly subjects than in Arg/Arg subjects after both placebo (P = 0.030) and metoprolol (P = 0.020) treatment. After placebo, the exercise-induced increase in PRA was greater in Gly/Gly than Arg/Gly and Arg/Arg subjects (P = 0.033). The linear association between log(PRA) and log(metoprolol concentration) varied significantly between genotypes (P = 0.024). In Gly/Gly subjects, PRA decreased significantly with metoprolol concentration before (P = 0.025) and after exercise (P < 0.001), whereas in Arg/Gly and Arg/Arg subjects metoprolol concentration had no effect on PRA. The effect of metoprolol concentration on PRA in Gly/Gly subjects was enhanced by exercise (P = 0.044). No significant differences in HR were seen between genotype groups. 4. Resting PRA was lower in Gly/Gly than Arg/Arg subjects and the effect of exercise and metoprolol concentration on PRA was stronger in Gly/Gly subjects than with the other two genotypes. Thus, Gly/Gly heart failure patients may require lower doses of metoprolol than other patients to block neurohumoral hyperactivity.

Association of beta-adrenergic receptor polymorphisms and mortality in carvedilol-treated chronic heart-failure patients.

AIM: Pharmacogenetics can be used as a tool for stratified pharmacological therapy in cardiovascular medicine. We investigated whether a predefined combination of the Arg389Gly polymorphism in the adrenergic ß(1) -receptor gene (ADRB1) and the Gln27Glu polymorphism in the adrenergic ß(2) -receptor gene (ADRB2) could predict survival in carvedilol- and metoprolol-treated chronic heart failure (HF) patients. METHODS: Five hundred and eighty-six HF patients (carvedilol n= 82, metoprolol n= 195) were genotyped for ADRB1 Arg389Gly (rs1801253) and ADRB2 Gln27Glu (rs1042714). The end-point was all-cause mortality, and median follow-up time was 6.7 years. Patients were classified into two functional genotype groups: group 1 combination of Arg389-homozygous and Gln27-carrier (46%) and group 2 any other genotype combination (54%). Results were fitted in two multivariate Cox models. RESULTS: There was a significant interaction between functional genotype group and carvedilol treatment (adjusted(1) P= 0.033, adjusted(2) P= 0.040). Patients treated with carvedilol had shorter survival in functional genotype group 1 (P= 0.004; adjusted(1) hazard ratio (HR) 2.67, 95% CI 1.27, 5.59, P= 0.010; adjusted(2) HR 2.05, 95% CI 1.06, 3.95, P= 0.033). There was no interaction between genotype group and metoprolol treatment (P= 0.61), and there was no difference in overall survival between genotype groups (P= 0.69). CONCLUSIONS: A combination of ADRB1 Arg389-homozygous and ADRB2 Gln27-carrier in HF patients treated with carvedilol was associated with a two-fold increase in mortality relative to all other genotype combinations. There was no difference in survival in metoprolol-treated HF patients between genotype groups. Patients in genotype group 1 may benefit more from metoprolol than carvedilol treatment.