Fasting serum free glycerol concentration is a potential surrogate marker of visceral obesity and insulin sensitivity in middle-aged Japanese men

Free glycerol causes a positive error in the triacylglycerol value in the total glycerol measurement method for canine and feline blood

Two methods of measuring triacylglycerol (TG) in the blood are used in clinical laboratories. The glycerol-blanked TG analysis method is used primarily in Japan; the total glyceride measurement method is used in most countries, including the United States. The latter method includes free glycerol in the blood, which is known to be slightly higher in humans. However, the extent to which the 2 methods differ in companion animals is unknown. We used cryopreserved blood from dogs and cats that visited a secondary veterinary hospital to investigate the relationship between the data obtained using the 2 TG analysis methods. The median ratio (5th and 95th percentiles) of total glyceride measurement:glycerol-blanked TG measurement ratios was 1.24 (1.08 and 1.77) for dogs and 2.00 (1.44 and 3.66) for cats, with the total glycerol method clearly having higher values. The Passing-Bablok regression equation comparing the total glyceride method (y) and glycerol-blanked method (x) was y = 1.049x + 0.119 for dogs and y = 1.476x + 0.177 for cats. The estimated free glycerol value calculated from the difference between the 2 TG measurements was strongly correlated with the measured free glycerol value (dog, r = 0.7905; cat, r = 0.8708), indicating that free glycerol in the blood was the cause of the TG measurement discrepancy. Therefore, the TG concentrations obtained from total glyceride assays in dogs and cats may contain non-negligible levels of free glycerol.

Correlation Between Abdominal Fat Distribution and Serum Uric Acid in Patients Recently Diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes

Objective

To investigated the link between the distribution of abdominal fat and the concentration of serum uric acid (SUA) in individuals recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Methods

Studied 364 individuals had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes within one month, and evaluated factors such as the distribution of fat in the abdomen, indicators related to glucose and lipid metabolism. The participants' SUA concentrations were divided into a normal control group (CG) and a hyperuricemia group (HG).

Results

The HG group had elevated abdominal subcutaneous fat area (SFA), visceral fat content (VFA), body mass index (BMI), fasting blood glucose (FBG), 2-hour postprandial blood glucose (PBG), glycosylated albumin (GA), serum creatinine (SCr), triacylglycerol (TG), and lower values in glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) when compared to the CG group (P < 0.05). Among the obese individuals, the hyperuricemia subgroup exhibited higher measurements in waistline, hipline, VFA, SFA, BMI, PBG, SCr, TG, and lower HDL-C (P < 0.05) compared to the subgroup with normal uric acid levels. In the non-obese group, the hyperuricemia subgroup showed higher VFA, SCr, and FBG levels, and lower HDL-C (P < 0.05). There was a positive correlation between VFA and serum uric acid (SUA) levels (r = 0.329, P < 0.0001). Logistic regression analysis indicated a 24% increased risk of hyperuricemia with every 10cm2 increase in abdominal VFA. Generate the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that VFA was the most effective predictor of hyperuricemia and insulin resistance (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients exhibit a strong correlation between abdominal visceral fat and SUA concentration, the former is identified as an autonomous risk factor for hyperuricemia and an effective indicator for assessing the presence of hyperuricemia and predicting insulin resistance.

Lipoprotein lipase concentration in umbilical cord blood reflects neonatal birth weight

BACKGROUND

Insulin resistance (IR) is exacerbated during pregnancy via increases in insulin counterregulatory hormones. Maternal lipids are strong determinants of neonatal growth, although triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TGRLs) cannot be transferred directly to the fetus through the placenta. The catabolism of TGRLs under physiological IR and the reduced synthesis of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) are poorly understood. We examined the association of maternal and umbilical cord blood (UCB)-LPL concentrations with maternal metabolic parameters and fetal development.

METHODS

Changes in anthropometric measures and lipid-, glucose-, and insulin-related parameters, including maternal and UCB-LPL concentrations, were examined in 69 women during pregnancy. The relationship between those parameters and neonatal birth weight was assessed.

RESULTS

Parameters reflecting glucose metabolism did not change during pregnancy, whereas those associated with lipid metabolism and IR changed markedly, particularly in the second and third trimesters. In the third trimester, the maternal LPL concentration gradually decreased, by 54%, whereas the UCB-LPL concentration was ∼2-fold higher than the maternal LPL concentration. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that the UCB-LPL concentration was a significant determinant of neonatal birth weight, together with placental birth weight.

CONCLUSION

The LPL concentration in UCB reflects neonatal development under a decreased LPL concentration in maternal serum.

Bittersweet: relevant amounts of the common sweet food additive, glycerol, accelerate the growth of PC3 human prostate cancer xenografts

OBJECTIVE

In a study of potential prostate cancer therapeutics, glycerol was used to increase the density of one solution. Glycerol alone was therefore one of the controls. Tumors of human PC3 castrate-resistant prostate cancer cells were initiated in male nude mice and grown for 12 days. Mice were then sorted such that mean tumor weights were the same in each group, and osmotic minipumps delivering 0.25 µL/h of either saline or glycerol were then implanted subcutaneously.

RESULTS

Contrary to our initial assumption that glycerol would be without effect, tumors grew more rapidly in the glycerol group such that tumors were twice the size of those in the saline group after 4 weeks. Given the dose delivered, analysis of the literature suggests this effect was not via the conversion of glycerol to glucose but possibly via a reduction in oxidative damage in the growing tumor. Our data demonstrate that amounts of glycerol that could reasonably be derived from the diet promote the growth of these tumors. Given the increasing use of glycerol in foods and beverages, we present these data to stimulate interest in an epidemiological study in the human population examining glycerol consumption and the aggressiveness of prostate cancer.