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The long-term benefits conferred by cardiac rehabilitation (CR) in those with coronary artery disease (CAD) are strongly linked with an improvement in cardiopulmonary fitness. This study aimed to determine the association between peripheral sphingolipids and cardiopulmonary fitness in CAD subjects undertaking CR. Patients with CAD (n = 100, mean age = 64 ± 6 years, 85% male, mean years of education = 17 ± 3 years) underwent 6 months of CR with blood collected at baseline, 3 and 6 months. Cardiopulmonary fitness was assessed by measuring peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) at all time points. High performance liquid chromatography coupled electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry was used to quantify plasma sphingolipid concentrations. Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between sphingolipids and VO2peak were assessed using linear regressions and mixed models, respectively. Higher concentrations of sphingomyelin C18:1 (β = −0.26, p = .01), ceramides C16:0 (β = −0.24, p = .02), C18:0 (β = −0.29, p = .002), C20:0 (β = −0.24, p = .02) and C24:1 (β = −0.24, p = .01) and monohexylceramide C18:0 (β = −0.23, p = .02) were associated with poorer VO2peak at baseline. An improvement in VO2peak was associated with a decrease in sphingomyelin C18:1 (b = −10.09, p = .006), ceramides C16:0 (b = −9.25, p = .0003), C18:0 (b = −5.44, p = .0003) and C24:1 (b = −2.46, p = .006) and monohexylceramide C18:0 (b = −5.37, p = .005). Specific long chain sphingolipids may be useful markers of fitness and response to exercise in CAD.

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Introduction:As several lines of evidence point to irregular biological rhythms in bipolar disorder, and its disruption may lead to new illness episodes, having an instrument that measures biological rhythms is critical. This report describes the validation of a new instrument, the Biological Rhythms Interview of Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (BRIAN), designed to assess biological rhythms in the clinical setting.Methods:Eighty-one outpatients with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and 79 control subjects matched for type of health service used, sex, age and educational level were consecutively recruited. After a pilot study, 18 items evaluating sleep, activities, social rhythm and eating pattern were probed for discriminant, content and construct validity, concurrent validity with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), internal consistency and test-retest reliability.Results:A three-factor solution, termed sleep/ social rhythm factor, activity factor and feeding factor, provided the best theoretical and most parsimonious account of the data; items essentially loaded in factors as theoretically intended, with the exception of the sleep and social scales, which formed a single factor. Test-retest reliability and internal consistency were excellent. Highly significant differences between the two groups were found for the whole scale and for each BRIAN factor. Total BRIAN scores were highly correlated with the global PSQI score.Discussion:The BRIAN scale presents a consistent profile of validity and reliability. Its use may help clinicians to better assess their patients and researchers to improve the evaluation of the impact of novel therapies targeting biological rhythm pathways.

Cannabis is now legal in many countries and while numerous studies have reported on its impact on cognition and appetite regulation, none have examined fatty acid metabolism in young cannabis users. We conducted an exploratory analysis to evaluate cannabis impact on fatty acid metabolism in cannabis users (n = 21) and non‐cannabis users (n = 16). Serum levels of some saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, including palmitic, palmitoleic, and oleic acids were higher in cannabis users compared to nonusers. As palmitic acid can be derived from diet or lipogenesis from sugars, we evaluated lipogenesis using a de novo lipogenesis index (palmitate/linoleic acid) and carbon‐specific isotope analysis, which allows for the determination of fatty acid 13C signature. The significantly higher de novo lipogenesis index in the cannabis users group along with a more enriched 13C signature of palmitic acid suggested an increase in lipogenesis. In addition, while serum glucose concentration did not differ between groups, pyruvate and lactate were lower in the cannabis user group, with pyruvate negatively correlating with palmitic acid. Furthermore, the endocannabinoid 2‐arachidonoylglycerol was elevated in cannabis users and could contribute to lipogenesis by activating the cannabinoid receptor 1. Because palmitic acid has been suggested to increase inflammation, we measured peripheral cytokines and observed no changes in inflammatory cytokines. Finally, an anti‐inflammatory metabolite of palmitic acid, palmitoylethanolamide was elevated in cannabis users. Our results suggest that lipogenic activity is increased in cannabis users; however, future studies, including prospective studies that control dietary intake are required.