Serum interleukin-18 levels are associated with physical activity in Japanese men

Age- and Gender-Related Serum Level of Interleukin 18 in Iranian Fars Ethnic Group with Metabolic Syndrome

Background: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the age- and gender-related serum level of interleukin 18 (IL18) in male and female Iranian Fars ethnic group with metabolic syndrome components. Methods: The study included 226 native Iranian Fars ethnic groups. One hundred sixteen females and 110 men were selected. There were 60 females and 50 males with metabolic syndrome and 56 females and 60 males without metabolic syndrome. The serum fasting blood glucose (FBS), lipid profiles, and IL18 were measured. The National Cholesterol Education Program Adult treatment Panel III criteria were used to determine metabolic syndrome components. Results: There were significant differences between the males and females [except high-density lipoprotein (HDL)] with and without metabolic syndrome for the mean body mass index, FBS, HDL-cholesterol, waist circumference (WC), triglyceride (TG), and IL18 levels in all age groups. Serum IL18 was the highest in males and females in age groups 61-70 and 41-50 years with metabolic syndrome, respectively. Serum IL18 levels significantly correlated with TG and waist WC in males (and also correlated with HDL) and females with the metabolic syndrome. There were significant correlations between IL18 and TG and WC in males (and also correlated with HDL) in ages 61-70 years and females in ages 41-50 years with the metabolic syndrome. Conclusions: The increased IL18 level in both gender and different ages may have an important role in the alteration of some metabolic syndrome components. These alterations may be made to happen in different related metabolic diseases. IL18 seems to be a useful biomarker for the management of metabolic syndrome components and the risk factors of cardiovascular disease.

Dietary supplementation of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product attenuates exercise-induced stress markers in young horses

Mitigation of exercise-induced stress is of key interest in determining ways to optimize performance horse health. To test the hypothesis that dietary supplementation of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product would decrease markers of exercise-induced stress and inflammation in young horses, Quarter Horse yearlings (mean ± SD; 9 ± 1 mo) were randomly assigned to receive either no supplementation (CON; n = 8) or 21 g/d S. cerevisiae fermentation product (10.5 g/feeding twice daily; SCFP; n = 10) top-dressed on a basal diet of custom-formulated grain as well as ad libitum Coastal bermudagrass hay. After 8 wk of dietary treatments, horses underwent a 2-h submaximal exercise test (SET) on a free-stall mechanical exerciser. Serum was collected before dietary treatment supplementation (week 0), at week 8 pre-SET, and 0, 1, and 6 h post-SET and analyzed for concentrations of cortisol and serum amyloid A (SAA) by commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and for cytokine concentrations by commercial bead-based ELISA. Data were analyzed using linear models with repeated measures in SAS v9.4. From week 0 to 8 (pre-SET), serum cortisol decreased (P = 0.01) and SAA did not change, but neither were affected by diet. Serum concentrations of all cytokines decreased from week 0 to 8 (P ≤ 0.008), but granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, and interleukin-8 (IL-8) decreased to a greater extent in CON than in SCFP horses (P ≤0.003). In response to the week 8 SET, serum cortisol increased in all horses (P < 0.0001) but returned to pre-SET levels by 1 h post-SET in horses receiving SCFP. At 6 h post-SET, cortisol concentrations in CON horses returned to pre-SET concentrations, whereas cortisol declined further in SCFP horses to below pre-SET levels (P = 0.0002) and lower than CON (P = 0.003) at that time point. SAA increased at 6 h post-SET in CON (P < 0.0001) but was unchanged through 6 h in SCFP horses. All cytokines except G-CSF increased in response to the SET (P < 0.0001) but showed differing response patterns. Concentrations of IL-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were lesser (P ≤ 0.05), and concentrations of G-CSF and IL-18 tended to be lesser (P ≤ 0.09) in SCFP compared with CON horses throughout recovery from the SET. In summary, 8 wk of dietary supplementation with 21 g/d of SCFP may mitigate cellular stress following a single, prolonged submaximal exercise bout in young horses.

Sacubitril-valsartan improves conduit vessel function and functional capacity and reduces inflammation in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction

The Prospective comparison of ARNI with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor to Determine Impact on Global Mortality and morbidity in Heart Failure trial identified a marked reduction in the risk of death and hospitalization for heart failure in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) treated with sacubitril-valsartan (trade name Entresto), but the physiological processes underpinning these improvements are unclear. We tested the hypothesis that treatment with sacubitril-valsartan improves peripheral vascular function, functional capacity, and inflammation in patients with HFrEF. We prospectively studied patients with HFrEF (n = 11, 10 M/1 F, left ventricular ejection fraction = 27 ± 8%) on optimal, guideline-directed medical treatment who were subsequently prescribed sacubitril-valsartan (open-label, uncontrolled, and unblinded). Peripheral vascular function [brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD, conduit vessel function) and reactive hyperemia (RH, microvascular function)], functional capacity [six-minute walk test (6MWT) distance], and the proinflammatory biomarkers tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) were obtained at baseline and at 1, 2, and 3 mo of treatment. %FMD improved after 1 mo of treatment, and this favorable response persisted for months 2 and 3 (baseline: 3.25 ± 1.75%; 1 mo: 5.23 ± 2.36%; 2 mo: 5.81 ± 1.79%; 3 mo: 6.35 ± 2.77%), whereas RH remained unchanged. 6MWT distance increased at months 2 and 3 (baseline: 420 ± 92 m; 1 mo: 436 ± 98 m; 2 mo: 465 ± 115 m; 3 mo: 460 ± 110 m), and there was a sustained reduction in TNF-α (baseline: 2.38 ± 1.35 pg/mL; 1 mo: 2.06 ± 1.52 pg/mL; 2 mo: 1.95 ± 1.34 pg/mL; 3 mo: 1.92 ± 1.37 pg/mL) and a reduction in IL-18 at month 3 (baseline: 654 ± 150 pg/mL; 1 mo: 595 ± 140 pg/mL; 2 mo: 601 ± 176 pg/mL; 3 mo: 571 ± 127 pg/mL). This study provides new evidence for the potential of this new drug class to improve conduit vessel function, functional capacity, and inflammation in patients with HFrEF.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We observed an approximately twofold improvement in conduit vessel function (brachial artery FMD), increased functional capacity (6MWT distance), and a reduction in inflammation (TNF-α and IL-18) following 3 mo of sacubitril-valsartan therapy. These findings provide important new information concerning the physiological mechanisms by which this new drug class provokes favorable changes in HFrEF pathophysiology.

Detraining-induced alterations in adipokines and cardiometabolic risk factors after nonlinear periodized resistance and aerobic interval training in obese men

This study compared the effects of nonlinear resistance training (NRT), aerobic interval training (AIT), and detraining on adipokines and cardiometabolic risk factors in middle-aged obese men. Thirty-three obese men were randomly allocated to NRT (n = 12), AIT (n = 10), and control (CON, n = 11) groups. Subjects in experimental groups performed exercise protocols 3 days per week for 12 weeks followed by a 4-week detraining period. The NRT involved 55 min of weight training with flexible periodization. The AIT consisted of running on a treadmill (4 × 4-min intervals at 90% of maximal heart rate, with each interval separated by 3 min at 65%). Peak oxygen consumption increased significantly after training compared with CON (P < 0.01), but it increased more in the AIT group than in the NRT group (P = 0.004). After detraining, peak oxygen consumption decreased significantly in both training groups (P < 0.001); however, the value in the AIT group was still higher than that in the CON group (P = 0.003). No significant changes were observed in serum levels of omentin-1 and interleukin (IL)-18 after training (P > 0.05), but omentin-1 decreased significantly in both training groups and IL-18 increased significantly in the NRT group after detraining (P < 0.05). High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) increased significantly after training in the AIT group compared with the CON group (P < 0.05) and returned to the pre-training level after detraining. Conversely, apelin-13 increased significantly in response to training, compared with baseline (P < 0.05), and remained unchanged after detraining. Both training regimens had similar effects on most markers; however, AIT seems to have stronger anti-coronary disease effects (as indicated by HDL-C and peak oxygen consumption) than NRT.

Genetic variant of Interleukin-18 gene is associated with the Frailty Index in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Background: the term frailty refers to a condition of increased vulnerability to stressors among older people, leading to a decline in homeostatic reserve. Frailty often leads to falls, hospitalisation and mortality, hence its importance for the delivery of health care to older adults. The pathophysiological mechanisms behind frailty are not well understood, but the decreased steroid-hormone production and elevated chronic systemic inflammation of older people appear to be major contributors.

Method: we used a sample of 3,160 individuals aged 50 or older from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and assessed their frailty status according to a Frailty Index. We selected 620 single nucleotide polymorphisms in genes involved in the steroid hormone or inflammatory pathways. We performed linear association analysis. The outcome variable was the square root transformation of the Frailty Index, with age and sex entered as covariates.

Results: the strongest signal was detected in the pro-inflammatory Interleukin-18 gene (rs360722, P = 0.0021, β = −0.015). Further significant signals were observed in the Interleukin-12 (rs4679868, P = 0.0062, β = −0.008 and rs9852519, P = 0.0077, β = −0.008), low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (rs1799986, P = 0.0065, β = 0.011) and Selectin-P (rs6131, P = 0.0097, β = −0.01) genes. None of these associations remain significant after Bonferroni correction.

Conclusions: we show potential associations between genetic variants of four genes and the frailty index. These genes are involved in the cholesterol transport and inflammatory pathway and, as such, our results provide further support for the involvement of the immunological processes in frailty of the elderly.