Genetically Determined Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Is Associated with Total, Trunk, and Arm Fat-Free Mass: A Mendelian Randomization Study.

PURPOSE: Low serum vitamin D status has been associated with reduced muscle mass in observational studies although the relationship is controversial and a causal association cannot be determined from such observations. Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) was applied to assess the association between serum vitamin D (25(OH)D) and total, trunk, arm and leg fat-free mass (FFM). METHODS: MR was implemented using summary-level data from the largest genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on vitamin D (n=73,699) and total, trunk, arm and leg FFM. Inverse variance weighted method (IVW) was used to estimate the causal estimates. Weighted median (WM)-based method, and MR-Egger, leave-one-out were applied as sensitivity analysis. RESULTS: Genetically higher serum 25(OH)D levels had a positive effect on total (IVW = Beta: 0.042, p = 0.038), trunk (IVW = Beta: 0.045, p = 0.023) and arm (right arm IVW = Beta: 0.044, p = 0.002; left arm IVW = Beta: 0.05, p = 0.005) FFM. However, the association with leg FFM was not significant (right leg IVW = Beta: 0.03, p = 0.238; left leg IVW = Beta: 0.039, p = 0.100). The likelihood of heterogeneity and pleiotropy was determined to be low (statistically non-significant), and the observed associations were not driven by single SNPs. Furthermore, MR pleiotropy residual sum and outlier test did not highlight any outliers. CONCLUSIONS: Our results illustrate the potentially causal, positive effect of serum 25(OH)D concentration on total, trunk and upper body appendicular fat-free mass.

Nd:YAG laser hyaloidotomy for valsalva pre-macular haemorrhage.

AIM: To report a case of successful drainage of a large pre-macular haemorrhage using laser photo-disruption of the posterior hyaloid membrane. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A case report. RESULTS: A 47-year-old man presented acutely to our emergency department complaining of a 24-h history of sudden onset, painless and persistent loss of vision in his left eye. Immediately before noticing this loss of vision, he had been vomiting violently from excessive alcohol intake. The left visual acuity was counting fingers. Dilated fundoscopy of the left eye revealed a large pre-macular haemorrhage which was 14 disc diametres in size. Clotting investigations were normal. A diagnosis of valsalva retinopathy was made and the patient elected to receive a prompt neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) laser posterior hyaloidotomy as an outpatient. At 1 week follow-up, the haemorrhage had drained completely into the vitreous space revealing a healthy macula and the visual acuity had improved to 6/12 unaided. At 6-month follow-up the left visual acuity stabilised at 6/9 unaided. CONCLUSION: Nd:YAG laser posterior hyaloidotomy is a useful outpatient procedure for successful clearance of large pre-macular haemorrhages that offers patients rapid recovery of visual acuity and the avoidance of more invasive intraocular surgery.

Superior orbital fissure syndrome in herpes zoster ophthalmicus.

AIM: To report a case of superior orbital fissure syndrome (SOFS) in a patient with herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A case report. RESULTS: A 71-year-old male with HZO presented acutely to accident and emergency complaining of right vision loss, double vision and drowsiness. The right visual acuity was counting fingers. There was no relative afferent pupillary defect. He had interstitial keratitis, ptosis, proptosis and total ophthalmoplaegia. The signs indicated HZO complicated by SOFS. Brain imaging and lumbar puncture confirmed the diagnosis of varicella zoster encephalitis. Systemic acyclovir and prednisolone led to recovery of visual acuity and ocular motility in addition to resolution of his proptosis and ptosis. CONCLUSION: SOFS is a rare complication of herpes zoster infection. With the appropriate treatment and follow-up, patients may be reassured that recovery of their visual acuity and ocular motility will occur.

Cutaneous manifestations of cytomegalovirus disease in renal transplant recipients: a case series.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is an important and well-described opportunistic virus in the immunocompromised host, with infection occurring mainly after the first month in the new renal transplant recipient. CMV can present as primary infection, reinfection, or reactivation of latent disease. It is capable of protean manifestations. Cutaneous manifestations are variable, rare, and diagnosis often delayed. We present 3 cases of cutaneous CMV disease in renal transplant recipients. Manifestations in our patients included ulceration of the tongue and perianal areas, facial petechiae, and nodular lesion involving the ear. This case series serves to highlight the importance of early skin biopsy in the diagnosis and management of cutaneous CMV disease.

Negligible changes in piglet serum clinical indicators or organ weights due to dietary single-cell long-chain polyunsaturated oils.

Single-cell oils are currently included in human infant formula as sources of the long-chain polyunsaturates (LCP) docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (AA) in many countries, but have not yet been approved for use in the USA. We prepared four bovine-milk-based formulas with AA/DHA=0, 34/17, 68/34 and 170/85 (mg per 100 kcal formula) provided by two commercial single-cell oils. These levels correspond approximately to 0, 1, 2 and 5 times the concentrations used in infant formulas and, due to greater consumption of formula per unit body weight, resulted in daily consumption of approximately 0, 3, 6 and 16 times those anticipated for human infants. All other dietary fat (47% of calories) was provided by a vegetable oil blend used in commercial human infant formulas. Domestic piglets were allowed to nurse with the sow for 24 h after parturition, then removed to individual cages and maintained on one of the four diets. At 30 days of age the piglets were sacrificed, and serum collected and organs weighed. With litters treated as a blocked variable, no significant differences among groups were found by analysis of variance for the following serum assays: alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, albumin, glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, and total protein. No significant differences were found for hematocrit or body weight. No significant differences were found among groups for weights of liver, brain, heart, lung, spleen, kidneys or lung, analyzed as absolute weight and as a fraction of body weight. Hematoxylin/eosin liver sections examined by light microscopy showed no abnormalities as evaluated by an independent pathologist. DHA content in liver and heart and AA content in heart showed significant dose-related accumulation (P<0.05) and confirmed enhanced tissue accretion of DHA and AA from both oils. We conclude that single-cell oils in formula consumed for 1 month in amounts up to 16-fold greater than proposed for human infants in the USA did not result in clinical chemistry or histopathologic indications of toxic effects in neonatal pigs.

High levels of docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3)-containing phospholipids in high-frequency contraction muscles of hummingbirds and rattlesnakes.

Phospholipids containing docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3) have been proposed to be required as conformational cofactors for the functional assembly of membrane proteins such as rhodopsin, ion pumps and the various complexes of the mitochondrial electron transport chain (Infante, 1987, Mol. Cell. Biochem. 74, 111-116; Infante and Huszagh, 2000, FEBS Lett. 468, 1-5). This hypothesis predicts that high-frequency contraction muscles, which are endowed with a high content of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase (SERCA) and mitochondrial respiration enzymes, would have higher concentrations of 22:6n-3-containing phospholipids when compared with other muscles in the same species known to have a much lower contraction frequency. We have analyzed the fatty acid composition of ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) pectoral and leg muscles and of rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) shaker and ventral muscles. We have found that hummingbird pectoral muscles, which are high contraction frequency muscles with the highest known respiratory rate among vertebrates, have a 22:6n-3 concentration of 20.8% vs. 4.9% for the low frequency leg muscles. Similarly, rattler muscles in rattlesnakes, also high contraction frequency muscles, have a higher 22:6n-3 concentration than that of their ventral muscles (15.1% vs. 10.6%, respectively). These results are consistent with a specific molecular role for 22:6n-3-containing phospholipids, as proposed.