Value of Adding Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis to Anthropometric Indices in the Diagnosis of Metabolic Syndrome in 10–16 Years Old Schoolgirls

Association of Glutathione Peroxidase 3 (GPx3) and miR-196a with Carbohydrate Metabolism Disorders in the Elderly

The escalating prevalence of carbohydrate metabolism disorders (CMDs) prompts the need for early diagnosis and effective markers for their prediction. Hyperglycemia, the primary indicator of CMDs including prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), leads to overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress (OxS). This condition, resulting from chronic hyperglycemia and insufficient antioxidant defense, causes damage to biomolecules, triggering diabetes complications. Additionally, aging itself can serve as a source of OxS due to the weakening of antioxidant defense mechanisms. Notably, previous research indicates that miR-196a, by downregulating glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPx3), contributes to insulin resistance (IR). Additionally, a GPx3 decrease is observed in overweight/obese and insulin-resistant individuals and in the elderly population. This study investigates plasma GPx3 levels and miR-196a expression as potential CMD risk indicators. We used ELISA to measure GPx3 and qRT-PCR for miR-196a expression, supplemented by multivariate linear regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Our findings included a significant GPx3 reduction in the CMD patients (n = 126), especially in the T2DM patients (n = 51), and a decreasing trend in the prediabetes group (n = 37). miR-196a expression, although higher in the CMD and T2DM groups than in the controls, was not statistically significant, potentially due to the small sample size. In the individuals with CMD, GPx3 levels exhibited a negative correlation with the mass of adipose tissue, muscle, and total body water, while miR-196a positively correlated with fat mass. In the CMD group, the analysis revealed a weak negative correlation between glucose and GPx3 levels. ROC analysis indicated a 5.2-fold increased CMD risk with GPx3 below 419.501 ng/mL. Logistic regression suggested that each 100 ng/mL GPx3 increase corresponded to a roughly 20% lower CMD risk (OR = 0.998; 95% CI: 0.996-0.999; p = 0.031). These results support the potential of GPx3 as a biomarker for CMD, particularly in T2DM, and the lack of a significant decline in GPx3 levels in prediabetic individuals suggests that it may not serve reliably as an early indicator of CMDs, warranting further large-scale validation.

Analysis of Morphological Parameters and Body Composition in Adolescents with and without Intellectual Disability

Compared to the tremendous volume of studies focusing on children and teenagers without disabilities, research regarding weight and body composition among young populations with an intellectual disability is relatively rare. Their number further decreases when we refer to specific age groups with intellectual deficits, such as children and adolescents younger than 18. In addition, studies are even scarcer when we wish to compare groups of subjects with different degrees of intellectual disability by gender. This study has a constative nature. The research sample comprises 212 subjects-girls and boys with an average age of 17.7 ± 0.2, divided into six groups by gender and type of intellectual disability. The parameters considered within the study include anthropometrical data and body composition determined using a professional device (Tanita MC 580 S). The findings of this study highlight the impact of intellectual disability on body composition in this age category. We hope it will help develop efficient strategies, recommendations, and intervention plans to ensure active participation in physical activities and categorisation within the optimal parameters of body composition indicators.

Comparison of adiposity anthropometric indices and their associations with visceral fat levels determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis among diabetic patients

Visceral fat (VF) and its effect on metabolic disorders have been extensively studied; nevertheless, there is a need for a simple and reliable index to equally assess VF in low-resource settings. This multihospital-based study was designed to compare the five adiposity anthropometric indices and their associations with VF levels determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis as the reference standard among diabetic patients. A pretested questionnaire was used to collect anthropometric, biochemical and hemodynamic data from 473 diabetic patients. Regression analysis was performed to determine the associations between the five adiposity anthropometric indices and VF levels. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to confirm the predictive capacities of the five adiposity anthropometric indices with VF levels. The waist-to-height ratio WHtR showed the greatest ROC value [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.745, p ˂0.001] in identifying diabetic patients with high VF levels compared to body mass index BMI [AUC = 0.584, p = 0.047], waist circumference WC [AUC = 0.723, p ˂0.001], hip circumference HC [AUC = 0.647, p ˂0.001] and waist-to-hip ratio WHR [AUC = 0.711, p ˂0.001]. Likewise, the regression analysis of WHtR and VF levels revealed the strongest association [unadjusted odds ratio (UOR) = 21.49, p < 0.001] compared to BMI [UOR = 6.77, p = 0.008], WC [UOR = 6.37, p < 0.001], HC [UOR = 5.93, p = 0.002] and WHR [UOR = 13.17, p < 0.001]. The optimal cut-off values to identify diabetic patients with high VF levels were > 0.5 for WHtR, > 25.7 kg/m2 for BMI, > 80.5 cm for WC, > 95.5 cm for HC and > 0.82 for WHR. WHtR was shown to have overpowered BMI, HC, WC and WHR in identifying diabetic patients with high VF levels. Therefore, the Ghana Health Service could recommend WHtR as a better diagnostic index for assessing VF levels due to its high predictive capacity.

The Analysis of the Correlations between BMI and Body Composition among Children with and without Intellectual Disability

Background: Compared to the great volume of studies focusing on children and adolescents without intellectual disability, research regarding body mass index among young populations (13−17 years old) with intellectual disability is scarce, mostly when we refer to the comparisons between various degrees of intellectual disability and gender. Methods: The purpose of this study was to assess a series of morphofunctional parameters among children with and without intellectual disability to characterise the morphofunctional normality and its perturbations. Within the study, we included 101 subjects from several educational institutions, distributed on five groups, by their gender and degree of intellectual disability. Results: The average values of body mass index exceed the values recommended by the WHO among all the five groups (boys and girls with and without intellectual disabilities) prone to obesity. Upon analysing the values of BMI by gender and type of intellectual disability, we note that the prevalence of obesity among boys is 28.07% (BMI > 24), while 19.29% are overweight (BMI ranging between 21.5 and 24). Conclusions: The prevalence of excess weight and obesity among persons with intellectual disabilities was similar among the male and female subjects. It shows an increasing trend by age.