No abstract

Longitudinally elevated SUA independently predicts the risk of new-onset CKD.

Epidemiological observations suggest that insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), a potent mitogenic and anti-apoptotic peptide, plays a role in the etiology of breast cancer. Estrogen, which is crucial in breast carcinogenesis, both regulates and is influenced by IGF-I family. A case-control study was conducted to assess the role of IGF-I as a biomarker for breast cancer and to evaluate the potential joint effect of circulating IGF-I and critical period of estrogen exposure, as estimated by the interval between age at menarche and age at first full-term pregnancy on the risk of breast cancer. Questionnaire information and blood samples were taken before treatment from 297 incident cases with breast cancer and 593 controls admitted for health examination at the Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei between 2004 and 2006. Plasma levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 were measured by immunoradiometric assay. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Our case-control data indicate that breast cancer risk related to IGF-I differs according to menopausal status. High circulating levels of IGF-I increased risk of pre-but not postmenopausal breast cancer (top vs. bottom tertile, adjusted OR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.01-3.44). Furthermore, elevated IGF-I concentrations in conjunction with prolonged interval of critical period of estrogen exposure were associated with significantly increased risk of breast cancer, particularly among estrogen-positive cases (adjusted OR, 2.42, 95% CI, 1.33-4.38). These results suggest that the joint effect of IGF-I and estrogens may provide novel methods of breast cancer risk reduction among women.Obesity is a well-established risk factor for several cancers including breast carcinoma. 1 One of the potential molecular pathways involved in the connection between obesity and cancer is driven by the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) family. 2,3 Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) is a multifunctional peptide with potent mitogenic and anti-apoptotic properties involved in the regulation of cell proliferation in renewing epithelial cell populations of organs including breast. 2,4 Most of the IGF-I in the circulation is produced by the liver and is bound to IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs); at least 75% of circulating IGF-I is bound to IGFBP-3. 5 IGFBP-3 has been found not only to regulate IGF-I action, but also exert independent effects on the growth control of malignant cells as part of comprehensive regulation system of cell survival and death. 6 Recently, systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the relationship between IGF-I and IGFBP-3 concentrations in blood and breast cancer concluded that circulating levels of IGF-I have not been associated with breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women, while a positive association was observed in premenopausal women. 4,[7][8][9][10] For circulating IGFBP-3, epidemiological studies have shown heterogenous relationships with the risk of breast cancer. 4,7,9,10 Exposure to ovarian hormones, principally e...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the apolipoprotein B/apolipoprotein A-I (apoB/apoA-I) ratio is a promising risk predictor of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and to determine the optimal cut-off value of this ratio in detecting subjects with MetS in a Chinese population. A prospective study was conducted using a representative sample of non-institutionized people in Taiwan. A total of 3,343 participants with mean age (±SD) of 39.86 (±15.61) years old were followed up from 2002 to 2007. The primary outcome was the incidence of MetS. The MetS was defined according to a unified criterion established by several major organizations. There were 462 cases of incident MetS during a mean follow-up period of 5.26 years. A significantly stepwise increase in the incidence of MetS across quartiles of the apoB/apoA-I ratio was noted in both sexes after adjustment for potential confounders (p for trend <0.001). Compared with the lowest quartile of apoB/apoA-I ratio, participants in the highest quartile had a significantly higher risk of MetS in both men [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 6.29, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 2.79-9.13] and women (adjusted HR = 3.82, 95 % CI = 1.06-6.63). Comparisons of receiver operating characteristics curves indicated that the predictive ability of apoB/apoA-I ratio to detect MetS was better than conventional lipid ratio measurements. Furthermore, the optimal cut-off value of apoB/apoA-I ratio for MetS diagnosis was 0.71 in men and 0.56 in women. These results suggest that an elevated apoB/apoA-I ratio might constitute a potentially crucial measure linked to the risk of developing MetS.