Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to B J Boucher.
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BACKGROUND: Vitamin D insufficiency is common in women of childbearing age and increasing evidence suggests that the risk of osteoporotic fracture in adulthood could be determined partly by environmental factors during intrauterine and early postnatal life. We investigated the effect of maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy on childhood skeletal growth. METHODS: In a longitudinal study, we studied 198 children born in 1991-92 in a hospital in Southampton, UK; the body build, nutrition, and vitamin D status of their mothers had been characterised during pregnancy. The children were followed up at age 9 years to relate these maternal characteristics to their body size and bone mass. FINDINGS: 49 (31%) mothers had insufficient and 28 (18%) had deficient circulating concentrations of 25(OH)-vitamin D during late pregnancy. Reduced concentration of 25(OH)-vitamin D in mothers during late pregnancy was associated with reduced whole-body (r=0.21, p=0.0088) and lumbar-spine (r=0.17, p=0.03) bone-mineral content in children at age 9 years. Both the estimated exposure to ultraviolet B radiation during late pregnancy and the maternal use of vitamin D supplements predicted maternal 25(OH)-vitamin D concentration (p<0.0001 and p=0.0110, respectively) and childhood bone mass (p=0.0267). Reduced concentration of umbilical-venous calcium also predicted reduced childhood bone mass (p=0.0286). INTERPRETATION: Maternal vitamin D insufficiency is common during pregnancy and is associated with reduced bone-mineral accrual in the offspring during childhood; this association is mediated partly through the concentration of umbilical venous calcium. Vitamin D supplementation of pregnant women, especially during winter months, could lead to longlasting reductions in the risk of osteoporotic fracture in their offspring.
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AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to assess whether the diabetogenicity of areca nut (Areca catechu or 'betel-nut'), which has previously been demonstrated experimentally in mice, independently contributes to the risk of hyperglycaemia or type 2 diabetes in men in Taiwan, where the habit has become established relatively recently. METHODS: We used data from a population-based cross-sectional survey and a multiple-disease-screening programme that tested for hyperglycaemia, type 2 diabetes and risk factors related to type 2 diabetes. Data on habitual areca nut chewing were available for 14,816 men. Multiple logistic regression models were used to determine whether areca nut chewing was an independent risk factor for type 2 diabetes. RESULTS: Compared with non-chewers, areca nut chewers had higher age-adjusted prevalence rates for hyperglycaemia (11.4% vs 8.7%) and type 2 diabetes (10.3% vs 7.8%). Areca nut chewing independently increased the risk of hyperglycaemia (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.19, 95% CI 0.97-1.45) and type 2 diabetes (adjusted OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.04-1.60). The independent effects of duration of chewing were dose-dependent for type 2 diabetes (adjusted OR 1.32 for the duration of 10-19 years and 1.41 for the duration of > or =20 years), as were the effects of increased rates of areca nut chewing (adjusted OR 1.14 for <10 pieces/day, 1.30 for 10-19 pieces/day and 2.02 for > or =20 pieces/day); similar findings were noted for hyperglycaemia. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: The habit of chewing areca nut independently contributes to the risk of both hyperglycaemia and type 2 diabetes in Taiwanese men. This association is dose-dependent with respect to the duration of areca nut use and the quantity of areca nut chewed per day.
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Vitamin D prevents proliferation, promotes differentiation, and induces apoptosis of colon cells, and reduced intake or insufficiency of the vitamin in the body are associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer. Results of previous studies have suggested that mRNA that codes for 25-hydroxyvitamin D-1-alpha-hydroxylase (1 alpha OHase), which converts 25-hydroxyvitamin D to its active metabolite, might be up regulated in human colon carcinomas. We used real-time reverse transcription PCR assays to measure absolute 1 alpha OHase mRNA concentrations in the colonic mucosa of 44 individuals without cancer, and in paired healthy colon and cancerous colon samples taken from 27 individuals with the disease, to ascertain whether or not such up regulation takes place. Our results suggest that concentrations of 1 alpha OHase mRNA in tumour samples and in healthy colon samples from individuals without cancer are similar, but that concentrations are significantly lower in the paired, phenotypically healthy mucosa of individuals with cancer.
Betel nut (Areca catechu) is chewed regularly by at least 10% of the world population, imported by immigrant users wherever they settle, and is the fourth most widely used addictive substance. It is thought, by users, to soothe the digestion and to be a stimulant and its use has a major role in social situations. Specific arecal alkaloids act as competitive inhibitors of GABA receptors and have widespread effects in the body, including actions on the brain, cardiovascular system, lungs, gut and pancreas. Nitrosated derivatives of arecal alkaloids, proven carcinogens inducing tumours throughout the upper gut and foregut derivatives in animals, are also associated with increased tumour risks in man. These nitrosated compounds are also diabetogenic in CD1 mice, producing a type 2 diabetes with obesity. Increased central obesity is found in association with betel usage in man as well as increases in circulating markers of inflammatory and cardiovascular damage. The effects of chronic betel usage in man are at least as diverse as those of smoking and the habit increases the risks of ill health.
BACKGROUND: Vitamin-D deficiency and vitamin-D receptor genotype (VDR) are risk factors for several disorders with inflammatory components, including coronary heart disease (CHD) and diabetes, though the mechanisms involved are unclear. AIM: To examine the hypothesis that vitamin D status modulates the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) system in a population with a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, a situation affecting susceptibility to CHD and diabetes. DESIGN: Prospective cross-sectional, interventional and embedded studies. METHODS: Circulating MMP2,9, the inhibitor TIMP-1 and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured during studies of vitamin-D deficiency as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes and CHD in 171 healthy British Bangladeshi adults, free of known diabetes or major illness. Vitamin D status, VDR genotype, body-build, blood pressure, lipid and insulin profiles, glucose tolerance, fibrinogen, PAI-1, folate and homocysteine were measured. Vitamin-D-deficient subjects were re-assessed after 1 years' supplementation. MMP, TIMP-1 and CRP levels were measured in 41 subjects halfway through 5-year follow-up. Independent determinants of circulating concentrations of MMP9, TIMP-1 and CRP were assessed by multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: Vitamin D status was the sole determinant of circulating MMP9 (inversely) and an independent determinant of CRP (inversely). Determinants of TIMP-1 were MMP9, systolic blood-pressure (directly) and VDR genotype (TaqI). Significant reductions in MMP9 (-68%), TIMP-1 (-38%) and CRP (-23%) concentrations followed vitamin-D supplementation. DISCUSSION: Vitamin-D insufficiency is associated with increased circulating MMP2,9 and CRP, correctable by supplementation. This finding provides a possible mechanism for tissue damage in chronic inflammatory conditions, including CHD and diabetes.
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