Association between dynamic change patterns of body mass or fat mass and incident stroke: results from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS).

Objective: To assess the association between dynamic patterns of change in body mass or fat mass and stroke. Methods: A population-based cohort of participants was selected from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Body mass and fat mass were measured using obesity-related indices, including weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), lipid accumulation product (LAP), and visceral adiposity index (VAI). Five changed patterns were defined: low-stable, decreasing, moderate, increasing, and persistent-high. Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between obesity-related indices and stroke. Results: A total of 5,834 participants were included, and the median age was 58.0 years. During a 7-years follow-up period, 354 (6.1%) participants developed stroke. The baseline levels of obesity-related indices were significantly associated with incident stroke. Regarding the dynamic change patterns, the low-stable pattern carried the lowest odds for stroke and the persistent-high pattern had the highest odds for stroke, with odds ratios of all the indices ranging from 1.73 to 3.37 (all P < 0.05). The increasing pattern was also associated with a higher odds of stroke, whereas the moderate pattern of weight, BMI, and WHtR was comparable to the low-stable pattern in terms of stroke. Conclusion: Current status and dynamic changes in body mass and fat mass were significantly associated with incident stroke. Maintaining the low-stable pattern of body mass and fat mass as measured by weight, WC, BMI, WHtR, LAP, and VAI may be an alternative strategy for primary stroke prevention.

Doxycycline in Extremely Low Dose Improves Glycemic Control and Islet Morphology in Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet.

PURPOSE: Chronic low-grade inflammation is detected in obese and diabetic individuals. Tetracyclines, used as antibiotics for years, have been demonstrated to have diverse non-bactericidal effects, including anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory activities. This study aimed to investigate whether doxycycline at sub-antimicrobial concentrations could improve glycemic control in mice fed a high-fat diet, through its anti-inflammatory activities. METHODS: C57BL/6J mice were fed with a high-fat diet to induce diabetic and obese conditions. Three sub-antimicrobial dosages of doxycycline (200, 20, and 2 µg/mL) were added to drinking water for 23 weeks during the housing phase. RESULTS: Doxycycline at 200 µg/mL tended to increase body weight, islet mass, and the percentage of large islets (diameter >350 µm). At 20 µg/mL, doxycycline significantly improved glucose tolerance and decreased fasting blood glucose. At 2 µg/mL, doxycycline increased the percentage of small islets (diameter <80 µm). Serum C-reactive protein and lipopolysaccharide levels significantly decreased while the beta-cell ratio increased in all doxycycline-administered mice. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that doxycycline, even at an extremely low dose, could improve glycemic control and islet morphology via its anti-inflammatory activities.