Asthma severity in children and the quality of life of their parents

This study examines the effect of asthma severity of children aged 7–17 years and sociodemographic characteristics on the caregiver's quality of life. For parents of asthmatic children, there was a negative correlation between overall asthma severity and quality-of-life score. Measuring parental quality of life enables the development of effective asthma programs.     

Prevalence and Correlates of Walking and Biking to School Among Adolescents

Increasing the rates that our adolescents walk and bicycle to school, also called active transport to school (ATS), could increase the physical activity (PA) levels of that age group. This type of activity has been identified as a missed opportunity for PA. It is currently estimated that 15% of American youth walk or bicycle to school. These rates of ATS are lower than those of European and Asian youth. Efforts to enhance levels of non-motorized transport to school could aid in reducing obesity rates among American youth, decrease traffic congestion and attenuate emission of greenhouse gasses. The objective was to identify demographic, environmental and psychosocial predictors of ATS. A 30-questionnaire was completed by 2,692 students. Logistic regression was used to identify psychosocial, demographic and environmental predictors of ATS. Only 4.6% of students used ATS. Predictors of ATS were street connectedness (density of street intersections) and gender, (boys had higher ATS rates). Public health officials should be alert for opportunities to select sites for new schools that are in neighborhoods with well connected street systems. Interventions promoting ATS will need to target male and female students and there appears to be an opportunity to increase rates that students bicycle to school.     

Risk and Protective Factors for Arthritis Status and Severity

Objective

To examine how cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, and physical activity are associated with the risk and severity of arthritis among adults living in Delaware.

Introduction

Research has indicated several risk and protective factors for arthritis, including cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, and physical activity (1–4). However, it is not well understood how all these factors interact to increase/decrease the risk of arthritis.

Methods

Data from the 2009 Delaware Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) were analyzed in the current study. Potential risk and protective factors for arthritis status and severity examined in this study included: smoking status, alcohol consumption, weight status, and physical activity level. Weighted percentages were calculated for the risk and protective factors by arthritis status and activity limitation due to arthritis/joint symptoms, and were analyzed using a Rao-Scott χ2 test. A logistic regression analysis was performed to determine an odds ratio (OR) while adjusting for gender, age, race/ethnicity, and education.

Results

Adults living in Delaware self-reporting arthritis were more likely to be former and current smokers than those without self-reported arthritis (p < 0.001, OR = 1.64–1.70). Moderate and heavy alcohol drinking was associated with lower prevalence and severity of arthritis (p < 0.001, OR = 0.45–0.74). There was a significant relationship between obesity and arthritis status or activity limitation due to arthritis/joint symptoms (p < 0.01, OR = 1.62–2.14). Furthermore, people with arthritis having activity limitation due to arthritis/joint symptoms were more likely to not meet the current physical activity recommendations (5) (p = 0.013, OR = 1.49).

Conclusions

Cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, and physical activity are all associated with the prevalence and severity of arthritis. It is possible that smoking and obesity have a negative impact on the risk and severity of arthritis, whereas alcohol consumption and physical activity may reduce its risk and severity. Further research, including prospective cohort studies, is necessary to determine the true absolute risk of developing arthritis, so that we can design the effective prevention strategies.     

Different cellular backgrounds confer a marked advantage to either mutant or wild-type mitochondrial genomes.

After the introduction of mitochondria with a mixture of mutant and wild-type mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) into a human rho degree cell line (143B.206), Yoneda et al. [Yoneda, M., Chomyn, A., Martinuzzi, A., Hurko, O. & Attardi, G. (1992) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89, 11164-11168] observed a shift in the proportion of the two mitochondrial genotypes in a number of cybrid clones. In every case where a shift was observed, there was an increase in the proportion of mutant mtDNA. By using the same cell line (143B.206 rho degree), we also generated cybrids that were either stable in their mitochondrial genotype or showed an increase in the proportion of mutant mtDNA. However, temporal analysis of the same mutant mtDNA type in another rho degree cell line revealed a quite distinct outcome. Those clones that showed a change shifted toward higher levels of wild-type rather than mutant mtDNA. These results indicate that the nuclear genetic background of the recipient (rho degree) cell can influence the segregation of mutant and wild-type mitochondrial genomes in cell cybrids.     

Cancer survival among Latinos and the Hispanic Paradox

Background  

Cancer survival is a key indicator of the effectiveness and social justice of health services. However, little is known about cancer survival among Hispanics, how it varies by Hispanic subgroup (Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Others), and how their survival patterns relate to the Hispanic Paradox.     

Complex I deficiency is associated with 3243G:C mitochondrial DNA in osteosarcoma cell cybrids

143B.206 rho degrees cells were repopulated with mitochondria from a MELAS patient harbouring a mixture of 3243G:C and 3243A:T mitochondrial DNA. A number of biochemical assays were performed on selected cybrids with various proportions of the two types of mitochondrial DNA. These assays revealed a marked decrease in oxygen consumption with pyruvate, a complex I substrate, in cybrids containing 60% to 90% 3243G:C mitochondrial DNA. Moreover, these cybrids showed decreased synthesis of a number of polypeptides in a mitochondrial in vitro translation assay. A cybrid line with a very high level of 3243G:C mitochondrial DNA (95%) had additional deficiencies in complexes III and IV and there was a marked generalised decrease in mitochondrial translation in this cybrid. The observation of complex I deficiency is consistent with previously reported enzymatic measurements of muscle homogenates from MELAS patients with the 3243G:C mutation.      

Asthma status and severity affects missed school days

Excessive school absence disrupts learning and is a strong predictor of premature school dropout. School-aged children with asthma are absent more often compared to their healthy peers without asthma; yet, the causes are inadequately documented. We sought to determine the difference in mean absence days between children with and without asthma, the relationship between asthma severity and missed days from school, and if incident absences were due to asthma in a predominantly African American urban school district in the Midwestern United States. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted of 9014 students (grades K-12) followed for absenteeism over the 2002-2003 academic year. A subset of 543 students with asthma was assessed for asthma severity and cause of absence. Those with asthma (9.7% of students) were absent (mean = 9.2 days) approximately 1.5 more days compared to those without asthma (mean = 7.9 days) (p = .006). In the analysis comparing asthma severity and absenteeism, after adjusting for demographic variables and enrollment time, mean days absent increased with increasing asthma severity level: mild intermittent (mean = 8.5 days), mild persistent (mean = 11.3 days), moderate persistent (mean = 10.3 days), and severe persistent (mean = 11.6 days) (p = .001). Out of 1537 tracked absences that resulted from illness, 478 (31%) were due specifically to asthma-related symptoms. Children with asthma are absent from school more often compared to their healthy peers and this appears to be driven by the underlying severity of symptoms. (J Sch Health. 2006;76(1):18-24).     

Body weight and leukocyte infiltration after an acute exercise-related muscle injury in ovariectomized mice treated with estrogen and progesterone

In both rats and mice, an acute skeletal muscle injury leads to leukocyte infiltration in which the leukocytes remove dead fibers and cellular debris, induce a secondary injury, and/or promote myofiber regeneration. Short-term exogenous estrogen treatment attenuates this leukocyte infiltration and prevents body weight gain in rat exercise-induced skeletal muscle injury models. But these estrogen effects may not occur in mice because body weight gain does not consistently occur in ovariectomized mice treated with estrogen. Additionally, progesterone may also attenuate this leukocyte infiltration without affecting body weight. The aim of the current study was to compare body weight and leukocyte infiltration in exercise-injured skeletal muscle of ovariectomized mice treated with exogenous estrogen and progesterone for the short period of 17 days with that of ovariectomized-placebo-treated mice and gonadal-intact male and female mice. There was no significant difference in body weight between the ovariectomized-estrogen-treated and the ovariectomized-placebo-treated mice. The amount of intramuscular leukocyte infiltration of ovariectomized mice treated with estrogen or progesterone was not significantly different from that of ovariectomized-placebo-treated mice. However, in the injured muscle, the mean area of the leukocyte antigen, 7/4, of the ovariectomized-estrogen-treated group was 2-3-fold greater than that of the ovariectomized-placebo-treated, ovariectomized-estrogen-progesterone-treated, and intact male groups (p<.05), suggesting that the 7/4-positive leukocytes of the ovariectomized-estrogen-treated group were larger or had more antigen. In conclusion, ovariectomized mice demonstrate a different body weight and leukocyte response to short-term estrogen treatment than that of ovariectomized rats, and short-term estrogen treatment modulates leukocyte phenotype. These data broaden our understanding of estrogen's effects on body weight and leukocyte infiltration, and may aid in increasing our understanding of how males and females differ in response to acute muscle injury.