Obesity in american Indian and mexican american men and women: associations with blood pressure and cardiovascular autonomic control

CR-19-0950: Event-related responses to alcohol-related stimuli in Mexican-American young adults: Relation to age, gender, comorbidity and "dark side" symptoms

BACKGROUND

Electrophysiological variables may represent sensitive biomarkers of vulnerability to or endophenotypes for alcohol use disorders (AUD).

METHODS

Young adults (age 18-30 yrs, n = 580) of Mexican American heritage were assessed with the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism and event-related oscillations (EROs) generated in response to a task that used pictures of objects, food, and alcohol-related and non-alcohol-related drinks as stimuli.

RESULTS

Decreases in energy in the alpha and beta frequencies and higher phase synchrony within cortical brain areas were seen in response to the alcohol-related as compared to the non-alcohol-related stimuli. Differences in ERO energy and synchrony responses to alcohol-related stimuli were also found as a function of age, sex, AUD status and comorbidity. Age-related decreases in energy and increases in synchrony were found. Females had significantly higher energy and lower synchrony values than males. Participants with AUD had higher synchrony values specifically in the beta frequencies, whereas those with a lifetime diagnosis of conduct disorder and/or antisocial personality disorder had lower alpha power and synchrony, and those with any affective disorder had lower ERO energy in the beta frequencies. Those with substance-associated affective "dark-side" symptoms had slower reaction times to the task, lower energy in the beta frequencies, lower local synchrony in the theta frequencies, and higher long-range synchrony in the delta and beta frequencies.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that EROs recorded to alcohol-related stimuli may be biomarkers of comorbid risk factors, symptoms and disorders associated with AUD that also can differentiate those with "dark-side symptoms".

Body mass index interaction with SCN10A effects on cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy risk in a Chinese Han population

Background: The aim of this study was to estimate the extent to which the interaction between SCN10A (rs7375096) and body mass index (BMI) affects susceptibility to cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (AN) in a Chinese Han sample.

Method: We conducted a large-scale, population-based study including 791 overweight patients and 1186 controls to analyze the interaction between SCN10A and BMI with regard to CAN. All participants were genotyped for the presence of SCN10A (rs7375036) polymorphisms. Univariate and multiple linear regression analyses were employed to detect these relationships. The interaction between rs7375036 and BMI with regard to CAN susceptibility on an additive scale was estimated by using the relative excess risk due to interaction, the proportion attributable to interaction, and the synergy index.

Results: Univariate analyses found no significant association between rs7375036 single nucleotide polymorphism and CAN. After controlling for potential confounding factors, the multiple linear regression analysis showed a significant association between BMI and CAN ([Formula: see text], OR = 1.121). In addition, a significant positive interaction effect of BMI and rs7375036 on CAN was detected ([Formula: see text]).

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that BMI and SCN10A (rs7375036) have interaction effects that influence the CAN.

Lifetime history of traumatic events in a young adult Mexican American sample: Relation to substance dependence, affective disorder, acculturation stress, and PTSD

Mexican Americans comprise one of the most rapidly growing populations in the United States, and within this population, trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are associated with physical and mental health problems. Therefore, efforts to delineate factors that may uniquely contribute to increased likelihood of trauma, PTSD, and substance use disorders over the lifetime in Mexican Americans are important to address health disparities and to develop treatment and prevention programs. Six hundred fourteen young adults (age 18-30 yrs) of Mexican American heritage, largely second generation, were recruited from the community and assessed with the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism and an acculturation stress scale. More males (51.2%) reported experiencing traumas than females (41.1%), however, a larger proportion of females received a PTSD diagnosis (15%) than males (8%). Alcohol dependence and affective disorders, but not anxiety disorders, antisocial disorders, nicotine, marijuana, or stimulant dependence, were significantly comorbid with PTSD. Endorsing higher levels of acculturation stress was also significantly associated with both trauma exposure and a diagnosis of PTSD. Logistic regression revealed that female gender, having an affective disorder, alcohol dependence, higher levels of acculturation stress, and lower levels of education were all predictors of PTSD status. Additionally, alcohol dependence generally occurred after the PTSD diagnosis in early adulthood in this high-risk population. These studies suggest that treatment and prevention efforts should particularly focus on young adult second generation Mexican American women with higher levels of acculturation stress, who may be at higher risk for PTSD, affective disorder, and alcohol dependence following trauma exposure.

Ethnic Disparities in Blood Pressure: A Population-based Study

Taiwan's indigenous population exhibits a higher mortality of cardiovascular disease, but current research has not reported any associations among ethnicities on the blood pressure (BP). We randomly selected representative samples in this population-based study. We measured height, weight, hip and waist circumferences, and blood pressure in a screening survey. Systolic BP and diastolic BP were significantly higher in the indigenous population. Among women, prevalence rates of DBP > 90 mmHg among indigenes (32.9 %) were significantly high than those in Han Chinese (17.4 %). Based on multivariate analysis adjusted for covariates, the results showed gender and ethnicity to be significantly correlated with systolic and diastolic BP. Gender was a modifier between ethnicity and BP. Furthermore, we found an additive effect between ethnicity and age on systolic and diastolic BP by gender. Our study showed independent additive effects on systolic BP and diastolic BP between ethnicity and age by gender.

Cardiovascular disease risks in adult Native and Mexican Americans with a history of alcohol use disorders: association with cardiovascular autonomic control

Hypertension and obesity are serious health problems that have been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We recently showed a relationship between hypertension, obesity and cardiovagal control in a sample of Native and Mexican Americans at high risk of alcohol use disorders (AUD). While studies have shown that Native and Mexican Americans exhibit high rates of AUD, the consequences of AUD on CVD risk factors and their relationship with cardiovascular autonomic control is not well understood in these ethnic groups. This study investigated whether an association could be demonstrated between cardiovascular autonomic control and several CVD risk factors in Native and Mexican American men and women (n = 228) who are literate in English and are residing legally in San Diego County. Participants with lifetime history of AUD showed higher rates of systolic and diastolic hypertension and obesity than participants without lifetime AUD. Lifetime AUD was significantly associated with reduced HR response to deep breathing (HRDB) measure of cardiovagal control, higher current drinking quantity, and obesity. Reduced HRDB was also associated with increased systolic pre-hypertension or hypertension (pre-/hypertension) and with higher diastolic blood pressure in a linear regression model that included several diagnostic and demographic variables. HRDB and time- and frequency-domain measures of cardiovagal control were significantly reduced in participants with diastolic pre-/hypertension. These data suggest that lower cardiovagal control may play a role in the prevalence of systolic and diastolic pre-/hypertension in a community sample with a history of alcohol and substance use disorders.

On the evolutionary origins of obesity: a new hypothesis

Obesity is an escalating threat of pandemic proportions, currently affecting billions of people worldwide and exerting a devastating socioeconomic influence in industrialized countries. Despite intensive efforts to curtail obesity, results have proved disappointing. Although it is well recognized that obesity is a result of gene-environment interactions and that predisposition to obesity lies predominantly in our evolutionary past, there is much debate as to the precise nature of how our evolutionary past contributed to obesity. The "thrifty genotype" hypothesis suggests that obesity in industrialized countries is a throwback to our ancestors having undergone positive selection for genes that favored energy storage as a consequence of the cyclical episodes of famine and surplus after the advent of farming 10 000 years ago. Conversely, the "drifty genotype" hypothesis contends that the prevalence of thrifty genes is not a result of positive selection for energy-storage genes but attributable to genetic drift resulting from the removal of predative selection pressures. Both theories, however, assume that selection pressures the ancestors of modern humans living in western societies faced were the same. Moreover, neither theory adequately explains the impact of globalization and changing population demographics on the genetic basis for obesity in developed countries, despite clear evidence for ethnic variation in obesity susceptibility and related metabolic disorders. In this article, we propose that the modern obesity pandemic in industrialized countries is a result of the differential exposure of the ancestors of modern humans to environmental factors that began when modern humans left Africa around 70 000 years ago and migrated through the globe, reaching the Americas around 20 000 years ago. This article serves to elucidate how an understanding of ethnic differences in genetic susceptibility to obesity and the metabolic syndrome, in the context of historic human population redistribution, could be used in the treatment of obesity in industrialized countries.