Stachydrine Ameliorates High-Glucose Induced Endothelial Cell Senescence and SIRT1 Downregulation.

Stachydrine ameliorates high-glucose induced endothelial cell senescence and SIRT1 downregulation.

J Cell Biochem. 2013 Jun 6;
Servillo L, D’Onofrio N, Longobardi L, Sirangelo I, Giovane A, Cautela D, Castaldo D, Giordano A, Balestrieri ML

Hyperglycaemia, a characteristic feature of diabetes mellitus, induces endothelial dysfunction and vascular complications by accelerating endothelial cell (EC) senescence and limiting the proliferative potential of these cells. Here we aimed to investigate the effect of stachydrine, a proline betaine present in considerable quantities in juices from fruits of the Citrus genus, on EC under high-glucose stimulation, and its underlying mechanism. The senescence model of EC was set up by treating cells with high-glucose (30?mM) for different times. Dose-dependent (0.001-1mM) evaluation of cell viability revealed that stachydrine does not affect cell proliferation with a similar trend up to 72?h. Noticeable, stachydrine (0.1?mM) significantly attenuated the high-glucose induced EC growth arrest and senescence. Indeed, co-treatment with high-glucose and stachydrine for 48?h kept the percentage of EC in the G0 /G1 cell cycle phase near to control values and significantly reduced cell senescence. Western blot analysis and confocal-laser scanning microscopy revealed that stachydrine also blocked the high-glucose induced upregulation of p16(INK4A) and downregulation of SIRT1 expression and enzyme activity. Taken together, results here presented are the first evidence that stachydrine, a naturally occurring compound abundant in citrus fruit juices, inhibits the deleterious effect of high-glucose on EC and acts through the modulation of SIRT1 pathway. These results may open new prospective in the identification of stachydrine as an important component of healthier eating patterns in prevention of cardiovascular diseases. J. Cell. Biochem. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. HubMed – eating

The risk of adolescent suicide across patterns of drug use: a nationally representative study of high school students in the United States from 1999 to 2009.

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2013 Jun 7;
Wong SS, Zhou B, Goebert D, Hishinuma ES

OBJECTIVE: Substance use is associated with suicidal ideation, planning and attempts among adolescents, but it is unclear how this association varies across different types and number of substances. This study examined the association between patterns of substance use and suicidality among a nationally representative sample of high school students in the United States during the last decade. METHOD: Data from the 2001 to 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey including 73,183 high school students were analyzed. Logistic regression analyses examined the association between lifetime use of ten common substances of abuse (alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy, hallucinogens, heroin, inhalants, marijuana, methamphetamines, steroids, and tobacco) and four measures of suicidality over the last year (suicidal ideation, suicide plan, suicide attempt, and severe suicide attempt requiring medical attention), controlling for potential confounders (socio-demographic variables, interpersonal violence, sexual intercourse, and symptoms of depression and eating disorder). RESULTS: Among the ten substances, univariate analysis demonstrates that adolescents reporting a history of heroin use have the strongest association with suicidal ideation, suicide plan, suicide attempts and severe suicide attempts in the last year (odds ratio = 5.0, 5.9, 12.0, and 23.6 compared to non-users), followed by users of methamphetamines (OR = 4.3-13.1) and steroids (OR = 3.7-11.8). Cocaine, ecstasy, hallucinogens and inhalants had a moderate association with suicidality (OR = 3.1-10.8). Users of marijuana, alcohol and tobacco also had an increased odds ratio of suicidality (OR = 1.9-5.2). The association between each of ten substances and the four measures of suicidality remained significant with multivariate analysis controlling for multiple confounders (p < 0.05), except for the association between alcohol use and severe suicide attempts. The seven illicit substances had a stronger association with severe suicide attempts as compared to all other confounding risk factors except depression. The number of substances used had a graded relationship to suicidality. CONCLUSIONS: Substance abuse is a strong risk factor for suicidal thoughts and behaviors among American high school students, with the strength of this relationship dramatically increasing with particular illicit drugs and a higher number of substances. The findings reinforce the importance of routine screening for substance abuse in the assessment of adolescent suicide risk. HubMed – eating

A two-stage epidemiologic study on prevalence of eating disorders in female university students in Wuhan, China.

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2013 Jun 7;
Tong J, Miao S, Wang J, Yang F, Lai H, Zhang C, Zhang Y, Hsu LK

BACKGROUND: The community prevalence of eating disorders among Chinese young women may now be similar to their western counterparts. AIM: To investigate the prevalence of eating disorders (ED) in female university students in Wuhan, China, using a two-stage design. METHOD: In stage one, 99.1 % (N = 8,444) of eligible students (N = 8,521) completed the eating disorder inventory-1 (EDI-1) and a survey of relevant anthropomorphic data. A total of 421 women scored above the cut-off for EDE-1, as defined by a set of criteria similar to those of Keski-Rahkonen (Int J Eat Disord 39:754-762, 2006). 257 (61 %) of these case-positive women and a random sample of case-negative women (312 out of 8,023, 4 %) whose scores did not exceed the defined cut-off were interviewed using the eating disorder examination (EDE) and the structured clinical interview for DSM-IV axis I disorders (SCID-I). RESULTS: On interview with the SCID-I, 79 women were diagnosed with an ED. Among them, 10 had anorexia nervosa (AN), 21 bulimia nervosa (BN), and 48 binge eating disorder (BED) The results showed a prevalence rate of 1.05 % (95 % CI = 0.02-2.08) for AN, 2.98 % (95 % CI = 1.21-4.74) for BN, and 3.53 % (95 % CI = 1.75-5.30) for BED. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of ED among female university students in China is now similar to that of their western counterparts, and BED is the most common ED followed by BN and AN similarly. HubMed – eating

Characteristics and rates of mental health problems among Indian and White adolescents in two English cities.

Br J Psychiatry. 2013 Jun 6;
Dogra N, Svirydzenka N, Dugard P, Singh SP, Vostanis P

BACKGROUND: Sampling techniques for national surveys have constrained the statistical power in estimating prevalence rates of child mental health problems in minority ethnic groups. AIMS: To establish the prevalence rates of mental health problems in ethnic Indian adolescents in England and compare these with matched White adolescents living in the same areas. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey with oversampling of Indian adolescents aged 13-15 years of age. RESULTS: The sample size was 2900 (71% response rate) with 1087 (37%) Indian and 414 (14%) White adolescents. Ethnically Indian adolescents had lower rates of all types of mental health problems (5% v. 13% and 21% v. 30% for abnormal Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire scores, respectively) and substance misuse (18% v. 57%, 5% v. 15% and 6% v. 9% for regular alcohol, smoking and drug use, respectively), with the exception of eating disorders, compared with their White counterparts. The odds of an abnormal score on the mental health questionnaires were worse for White compared with Indian children irrespective of sociodemographic variables. CONCLUSIONS: Factors relating to how Indian adolescents are parented or their social support networks may be influencing their mental health and may warrant further investigation. HubMed – eating