Impact of unhealthy childhood and unfavorable parents' characteristics on adiposity in schoolchildren.

BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity is encouraged by low physical activity (PA), time spent using screens (screen time, ST), and by sugar-sweetened beverage consumption (SSBc). It is also influenced by unfavorable parents' characteristics, such as a high body mass index (BMI) and low education level (EL). Our aim was to evaluate the overall and specific influence of these factors on childhood adiposity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Anthropometric parameters including BMI z-score, waist circumference (WC), waist to height ratio (WtHR), and fat mass were measured in a cohort of 1702 schoolchildren (6.0-14.5 years, mean 10.7 ± 1.8) and questionnaires concerning children's PA, ST, and SSBc, and parent's BMI and EL were administered to parents. RESULTS: Overweight/obesity prevalence was higher (P < .0001) in males (57%) than in females (43%). Less physically active children (28.9%) had a higher prevalence of overweight/obesity and higher BMI z-score, WC, WtHR, and fat mass relative to more physically active children (P < .05). PA was negatively associated with the BMI z-score (r = 0.18, P < .0001) and fat mass percentage (r = 0.18, P < .0001). Children with more ST had higher WC and WtHR than non-ST viewers (P < .05) but not BMI. Moreover, SSBc did not influence the anthropometric parameters. At multivariate analysis, male gender, less PA, and parental risk factors (parent's overweight/obesity and low/medium EL) were independently associated with overweight and obesity among childhood with a progressively increasing odds ratio (1.65, 1.40, and 1.80, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Male gender, behavioral risk factors (particularly low PA), and parent's characteristics are important correlates of obesity in children.

Insulin receptor signaling and glucagon-like peptide 1 effects on pancreatic beta cells.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a potent gluco-incretin hormone, which plays a central role on pancreatic beta cell proliferation, survival and insulin secreting activity and whose analogs are used for treating hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Notably, abnormal insulin signaling affects all the above-mentioned aspects on pancreatic beta cells. The aim of our study was to investigate whether the protective effects of GLP1-1 on beta cells are affected by altered insulin receptor signaling. To this end, several effects of GLP-1 were studied in INS-1E rat beta cells transfected either with an inhibitor of insulin receptor function (i.e., the Ectonucleotide Pyrophosphatase Phosphodiesterase 1, ENPP1), or with insulin receptor small interfering RNA, as well as in control cells. Crucial experiments were carried out also in a second cell line, namely the ßTC-1 mouse beta cells. Our data indicate that in insulin secreting beta cells in which either ENPP1 was up-regulated or insulin receptor was down-regulated, GLP-1 positive effects on several pancreatic beta cell activities, including glucose-induced insulin secretion, cell proliferation and cell survival, were strongly reduced. Further studies are needed to understand whether such a scenario occurs also in humans and, if so, if it plays a role of clinical relevance in diabetic patients with poor responsiveness to GLP-1 related treatments.

Cytosolic and Calcium-Independent Phospholipases A2 Activation and Prostaglandins E2 Are Associated with Escherichia coli-Induced Reduction of Insulin Secretion in INS-1E Cells.

It is suspected that microbial infections take part in the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus type 1 (T1DM). Glucose-induced insulin secretion is accompanied by the release of free arachidonic acid (AA) mainly by cytosolic- and calcium independent phospholipases A2 (cPLA2 and iPLA2). Insulinoma cell line (INS-1E) was infected with E. coli isolated from the blood culture of a patient with sepsis. Invasion assay, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy demonstrated the capacity of E. coli to enter cells, which was reduced by PLA2 inhibitors. Glucose-induced insulin secretion was significantly increased after acute infection (8h) but significantly decreased after chronic infection (72h). PLA2 activities, cPLA2, iPLA2, phospho-cPLA2, and COX-2 expressions were increased after acute and, even more, after chronic E. coli infection. The silencing of the two isoforms of PLA2s, with specific cPLA2- or iPLA2-siRNAs, reduced insulin secretion after acute infection and determined a rise in insulin release after chronic infection. Prostaglandins E2 (PGE2) production was significantly elevated in INS-1E after long-term E. coli infection and the restored insulin secretion in presence of L798106, a specific EP3 antagonist, and NS-398, a COX-2 inhibitor, and the reduction of insulin secretion in presence of sulprostone, a specific EP3 agonist, revealed their involvement in the effects triggered by bacterial infection. The results obtained demonstrated that cPLA2 and iPLA2 play a key role in insulin secretion process after E. coli infection. The high concentration of AA released is transformed into PGE2, which could be responsible for the reduced insulin secretion.

Exploring leptin antagonism in ophthalmic cell models.

BACKGROUND: Emerging evidence suggests that angiogenic and pro-inflammatory cytokine leptin might be implicated in ocular neovascularization. However, the potential of inhibiting leptin function in ophthalmic cells has never been explored. Here we assessed mitogenic, angiogenic, and signaling leptin activities in retinal and corneal endothelial cells and examined the capability of a specific leptin receptor (ObR) antagonist, Allo-aca, to inhibit these functions. METHODS AND RESULTS: The experiments were carried out in monkey retinal (RF/6A) and bovine corneal (BCE) endothelial cells. Leptin at 50-250 ng/mL stimulated the growth of both cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. The maximal mitogenic response (35±7 and 27±3% in RF6A and BCE cells, respectively) was noted at 24 h of 250 ng/mL leptin treatments. Leptin-dependent proliferation was reduced to base levels with 10 and 100 nM Allo-aca in BCE and RF6A cells, respectively. In both cell lines, leptin promoted angiogenic responses, with the maximal increase in tube formation (163±10 and 133±8% in RF6A and BCE cultures, respectively) observed under a 250 ng/mL leptin treatment for 3 h. Furthermore, in both cell lines 250 ng/mL leptin modulated the activity or expression of several signaling molecules involved in proliferation, inflammatory activity and angiogenesis, such as STAT3, Akt, and ERK1/2, COX2, and NFκB. In both cell lines, leptin-induced angiogenic and signaling responses were significantly inhibited with 100 nM Allo-aca. We also found that leptin increased its own mRNA and protein expression in both cell lines, and this autocrine effect was abolished by 100-250 nM Allo-aca. CONCLUSIONS: Our data provide new insights into the role of leptin in ocular endothelial cells and represent the first original report on targeting ObR in ophthalmic cell models.

Secular trends in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Sicilian schoolchildren aged 11-13 years during the last decade.

The present study evaluates trends in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in relation to gender and area of residence between two cohorts of students aged 11-13 years in Sicily. The analysis was performed on 1,839 schoolchildren, with 924 and 915 children being studied in 1999-2001 and 2009-2010, respectively. The children who were enrolled during 2009-2010 had significantly higher body mass indexes (BMI), BMI z-scores, and waist circumferences than the children who were studied during 1999-2001 (p<0.0001 for all); these differences was also observed when the cohort was subdivided according to gender or residence area The prevalence of obesity increased significantly from 7.9% in 1999-2001 to 13.7% in 2009-2010 (p<0.0001), whereas thinness decreased significantly from 10.1% to 2.3% (p<0.0001) in the same periods. The increase of trends in the prevalence of obesity was significantly higher in males (9.7% vs. 17.6%, p = 0.0006) than in females (6.3% vs. 9.8%, p = 0.04) and was slightly higher in urban areas (8.8% vs. 14.3%, p = 0.002) than in rural areas (7.8% vs. 13.0%, p = 0.012). The male gender was associated with a higher risk of being overweight or obese (odds ratio: 1.63; 95% confidence intervals: 1.24-2.15; p = 0.0005) in 2009-2010 than in 1999-2001, after adjusting for age and the residence area. In conclusion, this study showed an increasing trend in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Sicilian schoolchildren during the last decade and that this trend was related to gender, age and the area of residence. More specifically, our data indicated that the prevalence of obesity increased by 5.8%, the prevalence of thinness decreased by 7.8% and the prevalence of normal-weight children did not change over the course of a decade. These results suggest a shift in the body weights of Sicilian children toward the upper percentiles.

ENPP1 affects insulin action and secretion: evidences from in vitro studies.

The aim of this study was to deeper investigate the mechanisms through which ENPP1, a negative modulator of insulin receptor (IR) activation, plays a role on insulin signaling, insulin secretion and eventually glucose metabolism. ENPP1 cDNA (carrying either K121 or Q121 variant) was transfected in HepG2 liver-, L6 skeletal muscle- and INS1E beta-cells. Insulin-induced IR-autophosphorylation (HepG2, L6, INS1E), Akt-Ser(473), ERK1/2-Thr(202)/Tyr(204) and GSK3-beta Ser(9) phosphorylation (HepG2, L6), PEPCK mRNA levels (HepG2) and 2-deoxy-D-glucose uptake (L6) was studied. GLUT 4 mRNA (L6), insulin secretion and caspase-3 activation (INS1E) were also investigated. Insulin-induced IR-autophosphorylation was decreased in HepG2-K, L6-K, INS1E-K (20%, 52% and 11% reduction vs. untransfected cells) and twice as much in HepG2-Q, L6-Q, INS1E-Q (44%, 92% and 30%). Similar data were obtained with Akt-Ser(473), ERK1/2-Thr(202)/Tyr(204) and GSK3-beta Ser(9) in HepG2 and L6. Insulin-induced reduction of PEPCK mRNA was progressively lower in untransfected, HepG2-K and HepG2-Q cells (65%, 54%, 23%). Insulin-induced glucose uptake in untransfected L6 (60% increase over basal), was totally abolished in L6-K and L6-Q cells. GLUT 4 mRNA was slightly reduced in L6-K and twice as much in L6-Q (13% and 25% reduction vs. untransfected cells). Glucose-induced insulin secretion was 60% reduced in INS1E-K and almost abolished in INS1E-Q. Serum deficiency activated caspase-3 by two, three and four folds in untransfected INS1E, INS1E-K and INS1E-Q. Glyburide-induced insulin secretion was reduced by 50% in isolated human islets from homozygous QQ donors as compared to those from KK and KQ individuals. Our data clearly indicate that ENPP1, especially when the Q121 variant is operating, affects insulin signaling and glucose metabolism in skeletal muscle- and liver-cells and both function and survival of insulin secreting beta-cells, thus representing a strong pathogenic factor predisposing to insulin resistance, defective insulin secretion and glucose metabolism abnormalities.