Blood pressure control, glycemic control, and dyslipidemia among healthy adults in the Cape Coast metropolis, Ghana.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization recommends the implementation of interventions focused on the early detection of clinical risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) as effective strategies for the control of CVD in low resource settings. However, due to health system resource constraints, surveillance capacity for the identification of high-risk populations for non-communicable diseases, including CVD have been inadequate. The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of CVD clinical risk factors among healthy adults residing in the Cape Coast metropolis of Ghana. The clinical risk factors assessed included glycemic control, insulin sensitivity, lipid control and blood pressure. METHODS: The study participants included 70 healthy adults without a previous diagnosis of CVD from Cape Coast metropolis. Blood samples, blood pressure and anthropometric measurement were obtained for each participant. Serum glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), insulin, glucose, triglycerides, and cholesterol levels were measured. RESULTS: Approximately four out of ten participants were either overweight or obese. Almost three-quarters of the sample were considered prehypertensive or hypertensive. About three in ten were clinically prediabetic. About a third of the participants had high non-HDL cholesterol levels. Triglyceride concentration levels were found to be high in almost 10 percent of the study sample. Approximately six percent were identified as having metabolic syndrome. CONCLUSION: A significant proportion of the study participants were identified to be at risk for CVD. There is the need for adaptive and less resource-intensive CVD risk-factor screening interventions to allow for the timely detection and management of CVD risk factors in low-resource settings.

Short-Term Effects of Titanium Dioxide Nanofiber on the Renal Function of Male Sprague Dawley Rats.

Titanium dioxide nanofiber (TDNF) is widely used in the manufacture of various household products, including cosmetics. As a result, the possibility exists for TDNFs to affect human health. Because the kidneys are responsible for filtering out waste from the blood, the goal of the present study was to investigate the short-term effects of TDNF on kidney function of male Sprague Dawley rats. To achieve study objectives, 6- to 7-wk-old male rats were exposed via oral gavage to a total of 0, 40, and 60 parts per million of TDNF for 2 wk. The TDNF was fabricated by electrospinning and then dissolved in water. We measured serum concentration of lactate dehydrogenase, renal histopathology, identification of TDNF in kidney tissue via scanning electron microscopy, and quantitative amounts of titanium-47 in kidney tissue. We also measured specific gene-expression analysis of transcripts involved in apoptosis, inflammation, cell-division regulation, cell structure, and motility. Results showed a slight dose-dependent reduction in renal weight. In contrast, a concentration-dependent elevation in titanium-47 amounts was noted in kidney tissue. We found no significant differences in histopathological patterns. Gnat3 and Hepacam3 were up-regulated in TDNF-treated groups. Up-regulation of NF-κB likely indicated the involvement of renal-tissue inflammation via an independent mechanism. Similarly, Gadd45-α was significantly overexpressed in kidney tissues. This transcript was previously increased following stressful growth-arrest conditions and treatment with DNA-damaging agents. Our overall results suggest marginal renal toxicity in Sprague Dawley rats after ingesting TDNF.

Time-Dependent Regulation of Apoptosis by AEN and BAX in Response to 2-Aminoanthracene Dietary Consumption.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The modulation of the toxic effects of 2-aminoanthracene (2AA) on the liver by apoptosis was investigated. Fisher-344 (F344) rats were exposed to various concentrations of 2AA for 14 and 28 days. The arylamine 2AA is an aromatic hydrocarbon employed in manufacturing chemicals, dyes, inks, and it is also a curing agent in epoxy resins and polyurethanes. 2AA has been detected in tobacco smoke and cooked foods. METHODS: Analysis of total messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) extracts from liver for apoptosis-related gene expression changes in apoptosis enhancing nuclease (AEN), Bcl2-associated X protein (BAX), CASP3, Jun proto-oncogene (JUN), murine double minute-2 p53 binding protein homolog (MDM2), tumor protein p53 (p53), and GAPDH genes by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was coupled with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) and caspase-3 (Casp3) activity assays. RESULTS: Specific apoptosis staining result does not seem to show significant difference between control and treated animals. This may be due to freeze-thaw artifacts observed in the liver samples. However, there appears to be a greater level of apoptosis in medium- and high-dose (MD and HD) 2AA treated animals. Analyses of apoptosis-related genes seem to show AEN and BAX as the main targets in the induction of apoptosis in response to 2AA exposure, though p53, MDM2, and JUN may play supporting roles. CONCLUSION: Dose-dependent increases in mRNA expression were observed in all genes except Casp3. BAX was very highly expressed in the HD rats belonging to the 2-week exposure group. This trend was not observed in the animals treated for 4 weeks. Instead, AEN was rather very highly expressed in the liver of the MD animals that were treated with 2AA for 28 days.