Exposure To Insecticide May Play Role In Obesity Epidemic Among Some Women

Prenatal exposure to an insecticide commonly used up until the 1970s may play a role in the obesity epidemic in women, according to a new study involving several Michigan State University researchers.



More than 250 mothers who live along and eat fish from Lake Michigan were studied for their exposure to DDE - a breakdown of DDT. The study, published as an editor's choice in this month's edition of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, analyzed DDE levels of the women's offspring.



Compared to the group with the lowest levels, those with intermediate levels gained an average of 13 pounds excess weight, and those with higher levels gained more than 20 pounds of excess weight.



"Prenatal exposure to toxins is increasingly being looked at as a potential cause for the rise in obesity seen worldwide," said Janet Osuch, a professor of surgery and epidemiology at MSU's College of Human Medicine, who was one of the lead authors of the study. "What we have found for the first time is exposure to certain toxins by eating fish from polluted waters may contribute to the obesity epidemic in women."



Though DDT was banned in 1973 after three decades of widespread use, the chemical and its byproducts remain toxic in marine life and fatty fish. The study was funded by a $300,000 grant from the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.



Osuch said the study's findings can have a huge impact on how researchers treat - and seek to prevent - obesity. The research team has been awarded a $1 million grant from the same federal agency, the ATSDR, to assess the impact of pollutants and toxins on a wide variety of disorders by determining the importance of second- and third-generation health effects.



"This line of research can transform how we think about the causes of obesity and potentially help us create prenatal tests to show which offspring are at higher risks," she said.



The mothers who were studied are part of a larger cohort of Michigan fish eaters along Lake Michigan who were recruited in the early 1970s. In 2000, Osuch and research partners approached the cohort and began to identify daughters aged 20 to 50 years old.



"These findings not only apply to the offspring of women in our cohort but to any woman who has been exposed to high levels of DDE when she was growing in her mother's womb," Osuch said. "Mothers with the highest DDE levels are women who have consumed a lot of fish or high-fat meats."



Current recommendations for eating fish call for limiting it to two meals per week; including tuna fish sandwiches. The study also looked at the effects of a second pollutant, PCBs, but found no correlation with weight and body mass index.



Notes:


Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research and outreach for more than 150 years. MSU is known internationally as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Its 17 degree-granting colleges attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.



Source: Jason Cody


Michigan State University

The Molecular Profiling Institute Launches Mammostrat(TM) A Novel, Molecular Targeted, Prognostic Test For Breast Cancer Patients

The Molecular Profiling Institute,
Inc. (Molecular Profiling) announced that they are now providing
Mammostrat, a new molecular-targeted breast prognostic test, to breast
cancer patients, nationwide. The Mammostrat prognostic test utilizes five
immunohistochemical (IHC) biomarkers to classify patients into high,
moderate, or low-risk categories for disease recurrence.


Robert Penny, M.D., Ph.D., the Chairman and CEO of the Molecular
Profiling Institute stated, "Mammostrat will benefit the care of breast
cancer patients nationwide by allowing their cancer to be quickly analyzed
for prognosis by a direct light-microscopic evaluation of the cancer cells
by a pathologist. This new test, which is performed on tissue preserved
according to standard practice, streamlines the process for patients while
providing the accuracy of direct visualization."



The test was developed by Applied Genomics, Inc. who rigorously
translated recent genomic insights in cancer into a novel
immunohistochemistry test. Mammostrat test results have been validated
using over a thousand patient samples in North America from
clinics/organizations such as the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and the
National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project -- generating results
with clear cut conclusions from multiple independent studies supporting the
prognostic value of the test.



"We are excited to have partnered with the Molecular Profiling
Institute, says Doug Ross, MD, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Applied
Genomics. "Their expertise in advanced genomic and proteomic testing will
provide a rigorous reference lab-based introduction of the test and broad
reach in order to offer quality testing to patients nationwide."



Because Mammostrat uses traditional immunohistochemistry technology,
the test is expected to be significantly less expensive than existing
molecular-based, prognostic tests for breast cancer and is typically
covered by insurance. Todd Maney, Ph.D., Vice President of New Product
Development, MPI, stated, "Mammostrat's cost-effective, molecular-targeted
analysis enables MPI to provide the test at a significant discount compared
to our competitors. Moreover, test results will be available quickly -- an
average of seven business days -- versus two weeks for alternative,
comparable tests."



Physicians may order the Mammostrat test direct from the Molecular
Profiling Institute or through their distribution partner AmeriPath by
visiting molecularprofiling.



About the Molecular Profiling Institute, Inc. -- Molecular Profiling is
a CLIA-certified specialty reference laboratory that helps patients,
worldwide, by applying the discoveries of the Human Genome Project to
personalized medicine. Molecular Profiling provides cutting-edge testing
facilities, products, and resources for genomic and proteomic profiling and
treatment of complex diseases, and pharmaceutical services to identify
populations that may respond to targeted therapies. Molecular Profiling
leverages strategic relationships with a number of organizations, including
AmeriPath, Inc., the International Genomics Consortium (IGC), and the
Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen). Molecular Profiling's Web
site address is molecularprofiling.



About Applied Genomics -- Applied Genomics, Inc. develops targeted
diagnostics to improve treatment for cancer patients. Translating insights
from genomic analyses of cancer, AGI creates antibody-based diagnostic
tests for classifying cancer facilitating rational patient care decisions
and improving quality of life for all patients. AGI has ongoing product
development programs in breast, lung, ovarian, head and neck, and colon
cancer. Additional company information is available at:
applied-genomics.


The Molecular Profiling Institute, Inc.

molecularprofiling

Technology May Improve Success Rates For In Vitro Fertilization Procedures

Auxogyn, Inc., a privately held medical technology company focused on women's reproductive health, has announced that it acquired an exclusive license from Stanford University to develop a set of products that may allow medical practitioners in the field of assisted reproduction to significantly improve the effectiveness of in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures.



The technology licensed from Stanford is described in a publication titled 'Non-invasive imaging of human embryos before embryonic genome activation predicts development to the blastocyst stage,' now appearing in the online edition of Nature Biotechnology. This landmark study demonstrated, for the first time, that human embryo fate is already determined at the four-cell stage of development. The article is authored by Professor Renee Reijo Pera, Dr. Connie Wong, Dr. Kevin Loewke, Dr. Nancy Bossert, Dr. Barry Behr, Dr. Christopher De Jonge and Dr. Thomas Baer and showed that measuring a unique set of non-invasive imaging parameters by day 2 may allow an embryologist to predict the embryos that will reach the blastocyst (day 5) stage of development with a very high degree of accuracy.



"Blastocyst formation is a critical time point in human embryo development and provides more objective criteria for selecting which embryo(s) to transfer," said Lissa Goldenstein, president and chief executive officer of Auxogyn, Inc. "For years, researchers have searched for ways to predict the embryos most likely to reach the blastocyst stage in order to enable earlier transfer and ultimately improve live birth rates for in vitro fertilization procedures."



"Building on the technology licensed from Stanford, we are developing a product that assesses early embryo viability at the 4-cell stage. We believe that generating key clinical data assessments may enable embryologists to improve the effectiveness of in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures while providing women experiencing infertility the highest quality of patient care," continued Ms. Goldenstein.



Source:

Angela Bitting

AB Corporate Communications

Female Condoms Promoted Through Beauty Salon Initiative In Malawi

The United Nations Population Fund and Population Services International have introduced a program to distribute female condoms in Malawian beauty salons in an effort to encourage their use and curb the spread of HIV, VOA News reports. Pamela Msukwa, family planning and HIV technical coordinator for PSI/Malawi, said hair salons were chosen for the program because they "provide a very viable and highly targeted market" due to their popularity with women in Malawi. She added, "That's where they get to talk about issues, and there is always somebody they can discuss issues with." A team of women associated with the organization promote and distribute the condoms, and salon staff members are trained on how to talk about the products with their customers.

Although condom use and other methods of preventing pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted infections have been considered the "domain of males," the beauty salon initiative is attempting to change the situation, VOA News reports. A pilot project eight years ago to encourage female condom use failed in part because of a lack of information about the condoms and stigma associated with their use, according to VOA News. Msukwa said the "main goal" of the program is to reduce the rate of new HIV cases and unplanned pregnancies and "increase the adoption of safer-sex behavior through increased and consistent use of the female condom." She added that the successes of the program so far have lead PSI/Malawi to begin to consider ways of targeting men through barber shops. According to VOA News, fifteen PSI country programs distribute female condoms worldwide and more than seven million have been sold to date (Masina, VOA News, 9/15).


Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

Asian-American Women Born In The US More Likely To Think About, Attempt Suicide

Although Asian-Americans as a group have lower rates of thinking about and attempting suicide than the national average, U.S.-born Asian-American women seem to be particularly at risk for suicidal behavior, according to new University of Washington research.



The study shows 15.93 percent of U.S.-born Asian-American women have contemplated suicide in their lifetime, exceeding national estimates of 13.5 percent for all Americans. The finding comes in a study published in the current issue of the journal Archives of Suicide Research. Lifetime estimates of suicide attempts also were higher among U.S-born Asian-American women than the general population, 6.29 percent vs. 4.6 percent.



Data from the study were drawn from the larger National Latino and Asian-American Study and were based on bilingual interviews with almost 2,100 individuals at least 18 years of age. Two-thirds were immigrants from Asia and women made up 53 percent of the respondents. Participants included 600 Chinese, 520 Vietnamese, 508 Filipinos and 467 other Asians, including Japanese, Koreans and Asian Indians.



"It is unclear why Asian-Americans who were born in the United States have higher rates of thinking about and attempting suicide," said Aileen Duldulao, a UW doctoral student in social work and lead author of the study. "There is the theory of the 'healthy immigrant' that proposes immigrants may be healthier on average than U.S-born Americans, because of the selectivity of migration or the retention of culturally-based behaviors. But it is unclear if this theory is the mechanism at work with regard to our findings."



Evidence supporting this idea was previously found among Mexican-American and Latino American immigrants. However, Duldulao said, the health of immigrants tends to decline with the number of years they spend in the U.S. and start adopting behaviors that are less healthy than those found in their homeland.



The suicide data echo a 2006 study that showed Asian immigrants to the U.S. have significantly lower rates of psychiatric disorders than American-born Asians and other native-born Americans. That study's lead author was David Takeuchi, a UW professor of social work and sociology who is also a co-author of the suicide study. Seunghye Hong, who recently earned her doctorate in social work from the UW, also contributed to the suicide study.



The new research also found that:
The percentage of Asian-Americans who reported thinking about suicide increased the longer they lived in the U.S.


Young Asian-Americans, between 18 and 34, had the highest estimates of thinking about (11.9 percent), planning (4.38 percent) and attempting suicide (3.82 percent) of any age group


Asian-Americans who were never married reported the highest lifetime estimates of thinking about (17.9 percent) planning (7.6 percent) and attempting (5 percent) suicide.


There were few major differences by ethnicity, although Chinese (10.9 percent) and Filipinos (9.76 percent) reported the highest rates of thinking about suicide.

"This study highlights the fact that we may be underserving Asian-American women born in the U.S," said Duldulao. "While there was little evidence of sociodemographic differences in suicidal behaviors among various Asian-American groups, there was some anecdotal data from people working in the community. It is important for service providers, as well as policymakers, to know that U.S.-born Asian-Americans, particularly the second generation, are at high risk for mental health problems and suicidal behavior.



"In most cultures suicide is just as unacceptable as it is here. It is pretty much a taboo. That's why this study is important and why Asian-American communities need to talk more about suicide and mental health," she said.



The researchers used a modified version of a World Health Organization questionnaire to assess whether and at what age people had suicidal thoughts, made suicide plans or attempted suicide.



The research was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research at the National Institutes of Health, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.



Source:
Joel Schwarz


University of Washington

Genetic Variant Linked To Risk Of Preterm Birth

A team of researchers have identified a genetic variant that may account for the higher rates of premature delivery experienced by African-American women compared to European-American women, according to findings to be published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.


The findings may help physicians identify patients who may benefit from therapeutic interventions and preventative measures including lifestyle change or medical therapy to reduce the risk of premature birth.


Jerome F. Strauss III, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, and colleagues found that a change in a single nucleotide in the gene sequence, known as a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), in the SERPINH1 gene may be responsible for the increased risk of preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) in women of African descent. The SERPINH1 gene encodes a heat shock protein known as Hsp47, which is essential for collagen production. Collagen lends strength to the membranes that surround the fetus and amniotic fluid.


The genetic variant identified reduces the amount of Hsp47 made and thus the collagen in the membranes, making them more prone to rupture. Other published research has reported that reduced collagen content has been found in PPROM fetal membranes. PPROM is the leading identifiable cause of preterm birth and occurs more frequently in African-American women.


"Our discovery of an association between a gene variation that is more common in individuals of African descent and a cause of premature birth, can explain in part the disparity in prematurity rates in African-Americans," said Strauss, who led the study.


"More importantly, the genetic signature can help us identify women at risk of early breakage of the "bag of waters" so that appropriate monitoring and therapy can be applied in order to prevent this serious pregnancy complication."


In this study, the researchers compared amnion samples carrying the minor "T" allele to samples carrying the major "C" allele. The minor "T" allele is a genetic variant that occurs with greater frequency among those with African ancestry. A reduction in the promoter activity of the amnion cells in the minor "T" allele compared to the major "C" allele was observed. According to Strauss, as a result, women carrying the minor "T" allele may produce decreased amounts of Hsp47 protein and thus, produce reduced amounts of collagen and a weaker amnion that is more prone to rupture.


This work was supported in part by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the March of Dimes Foundation.


Strauss collaborated with Hongyan Wang, Samuel Parry, and George Macones, with the Center for Research on Reproduction & Women's Health at the University of Pennsylvania; Mary D. Sammel, with the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatics at the University of Pennsylvania; Helena Kuivaniemi and Gerard Tromp, with the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics at Wayne State University Medical Center; George Argyropoulos with the Pennington Center for Biomedical Research; Indrani Halder and Mark D. Shriver with the Department of Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University; and Roberto Romero with the Perinatology Research Branch, NICHD, at Hutzel Hospital.


About VCU and the VCU Medical Center: Located on two downtown campuses in Richmond, Va., Virginia Commonwealth University ranks among the top 100 universities in the country in sponsored research and enrolls 30,000 students in more than 180 certificate, undergraduate, graduate, professional and doctoral programs in the arts, sciences and humanities in 15 schools and one college. Sixty of the university's programs are unique in Virginia, and 20 graduate and professional programs have been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as among the best of their kind. MCV Hospitals, clinics and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University compose the VCU Medical Center, one of the leading academic medical centers in the country. For more, see vcu.edu.


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Association Betgween Vitamin D Deficiency In Younger Women And Increased Risk Of High Blood Pressure In Mid-Life

Vitamin D deficiency in premenopausal women may increase the risk of developing systolic hypertension 15 years later, according to research reported at the American Heart Association's 63rd High Blood Pressure Research Conference.



Researchers examined women enrolled in the Michigan Bone Health and Metabolism Study and analyzed data from 559 Caucasian women living in Tecumseh, Mich. The ongoing study began in 1992 when the women were 24 to 44 years old with an average age of 38 years.



Researchers took blood pressure readings annually throughout the study. They measured vitamin D blood levels once in 1993, and then compared their systolic blood pressure measurements taken in 2007.



Premenopausal women who had vitamin D deficiency in 1993 had three times the risk of developing systolic hypertension 15 years later compared to those who had normal levels of vitamin D, researchers said.



"This study differs from others because we are looking over the course of 15 years, a longer follow-up than many studies," said Flojaune C. Griffin, M.P.H., co-investigator of the study and a doctoral candidate in epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor, Mich. "Our results indicate that early vitamin D deficiency may increase the long-term risk of high blood pressure in women at mid-life."



At the study onset, 2 percent of women had been diagnosed or were being treated for hypertension and an additional 4 percent of the women had undiagnosed systolic hypertension, defined as 140 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or more. But 15 years later, 19 percent of the women had been diagnosed or were being treated for hypertension and an additional 6 percent had undiagnosed systolic hypertension, a significant difference.



Researchers controlled for age, fat mass, anti-hypertensive medication use, and smoking.



Systolic pressure is the pressure of blood in the vessels when the heart beats.



Researchers determined vitamin D status by measuring blood concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in 1993. 25(OH)D is a prehormone in blood that is produced in the liver from the metabolism of vitamin D3 cholecalciferol. Serum 25(OH)D is the primary form that is tested when examining vitamin D deficiency because it represents vitamin D storage in the body. This assessment in the blood reflects vitamin D obtained from ultraviolet B rays through sun exposure, vitamin D from foods such as fatty fish or fortified milk products and dietary supplements. The researchers did not examine the impact of these different sources of vitamin D.



Vitamin D deficiency was defined as less than 80 nanomoles per liter (nmol/L), while normal levels were considered more than 80 nmol/L. Experts in the medical community generally agree that vitamin D deficiency among women is widespread. Some researchers report many women don't get enough sunlight exposure to help keep vitamin D levels near to normal, nor do they have diets or practice supplementation that support normal levels of vitamin D, Griffin said. Vitamin D is either synthesized in the skin through exposure to ultraviolet B rays in sunlight or ingested as dietary vitamin D.



However, Griffin said there's no general agreement about the optimal intake of vitamin D. Some researchers said the current recommended intake of 400 international units (IU) to 600 IU daily is inadequate and suggest a much higher daily intake, from 1,000 IU to 5000 IU.



Vitamin D has a well-established role in bone health. Other recent research indicates vitamin D deficiency in women may increase the risk of some cancers and have a negative impact on immune function and inflammatory diseases, she said.



"Our study highlights the importance of vitamin D in the risk of high blood pressure later in life, a major health problem in the United States," Griffin said.



Co-authors are MaryFran R. Sowers, Ph.D., who directs the Health Study, and Crystal A. Gadegbeku, M.D. Author disclosures are on the abstract P253.



The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases funded the study.



Source:
Karen Astle


American Heart Association