Vitamin
low in Kashmiri women
The first study of vitamin D status in a group of Kashmiri women and
their babies has revealed across-the-board deficiency of the nutrient,
which increases the risk of rickets, osteoporosis, other bone disorders
and muscle weakness in this population.
Results
of the investigation, conducted by endocrine researchers at UB and two
institutions in Srinagar, India, were presented at the annual meeting
of The Endocrine Society, held earlier this month in San Francisco.
"This
finding brings to light a serious public health problem," said Paresh
Dandona, UB professor of medicine, director of the Diabetes-Endocrinology
Center of Western New York, and senior author on the study.
"Kashmir
has very long winters and many women remain completely covered even
in summer, so we expected to see vitamin D deficiency, but we found
much more than we expected."
Vitamin
D is produced by the skin in the presence of sufficient sunlight. Ten
to 15 minutes of sunshine three times weekly is considered adequate
to produce the body's requirement of vitamin D.
Colleagues
at the LD Hospital in Srinagar, India, collected blood samples from
43 pregnant women during labor, cord blood from their 43 newborns and
samples from 15 female medical students who were to serve as controls.
Researchers expected the medical students to have normal vitamin D levels
because they are better educated than the general female population.
However, analysis of the blood samples showed moderate to severe vitamin
D deficiency in all three groups, with the medical students having the
lowest concentrations.
Vitamin
D deficiency can be remedied by drinking fortified milk or other fortified
foods, exposure to sunlight or by taking vitamins.
Vitamins
E, C nullify response
In a series of studies designed to define the role of dietary macronutrients
in the initiation of arterial inflammation that predisposes a person
to atherosclerosis, UB researchers have found that a high intake of
glucose, or eating a high-fat, high-calorie fast-food meal causes an
increase in the blood's inflammatory components.
However,
they also have shown that the antioxidant vitamins E and C can nullify
this inflammatory response.
Results
of the research were presented at the annual meeting of the American
Diabetes Association, held earlier this month in San Francisco.
"A
meal high in calories and fat caused an increase in inflammatory markers
that lasted three to four hours," said Paresh Dandona, professor of
medicine, head of the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences' Division
of Endocrinology, and senior author on the studies.
"We
think the influx of macronutrients may alter cell behavior and that
genes are activated to produce more powerful enzymes and mediators that
are potentially more damaging to the lining of blood vessels. Obese
persons may have an ongoing abnormality of the white blood cells and
the lining of blood vessels." (Calories, fat, protein, carbohydrates
and water, the major components of any food, are considered macronutrients.)
"On
the other hand, we found that one way to render an 'unsafe' meal 'safe'
is to include antioxidant vitamins," Dandona said. "The proinflammatory
effect of glucose is stopped if right at the outset you give vitamins
E and C."
Drug
may prevent heart disease
A drug used widely as an insulin sensitizer appears also to have a significant
anti-inflammatory effect in diabetics, a property that could make it
useful in helping to prevent heart disease in these patients, a study
by UB endocrinologists has found.
Results
of the research, involving the drug rosiglitazone, were presented at
the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association. Rosiglitazone
is sold under the brand name Avandia®.
UB
endocrinologists, led by Paresh Dandona, professor of medicine and head
of the Division of Endocrinology in the School of Medicine and Biomedical
Sciences, have been studying the anti-inflammatory properties of insulin
and insulin sensitizers and their potential use in treatment and prevention
of atherosclerosis, one of the leading causes of heart attacks.
Atherosclerosis,
or hardening of the arteries, begins as an inflammation of the blood-vessel
wall. Persons with diabetes are at increased risk of developing atherosclerosis
and heart disease.
The
current study involved 11 obese patients with Type 2 diabetes. In this
disease, also referred to as adult-onset diabetes, the body produces
adequate amounts of insulin, but cells don't respond to its action.
Rosiglitazone is prescribed to break down this resistance to insulin.
Researchers
collected blood samples from the diabetic volunteers and started them
on a six-week course of daily rosiglitazone. They repeated the blood
sampling four times during the six weeks of treatment and again at 12
weeks, and analyzed the samples for concentration of three inflammatory
markers and for the presence of oxygen free radicals.
Results
showed that the drug exerted a "profound" suppressive effect on free
radicals and on other mediators of inflammation in the blood.
"The
ability to reduce inflammation is crucial for preventing atherosclerosis
and cardiovascular disease, " said Dandona. "Previous data demonstrated
rosiglitazone's effectiveness in reducing key markers of cardiovascular
disease in patients at risk for diabetes. This study in people with
diabetes further underscores rosiglitazone's potential to have a cardio-protective
effect."