Publications

CONTEXT

Mobility is linked to health status and quality of life. Life-Space Mobility Assessment (LSMA; range 0-120) measures the spatial extent of people's excursion and physical support needs over the preceding month.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to generate normative population data for an LSMA-Composite (LSMA-C) score, irrespective of age or health service contact and explore the LSM of people with diabetes, current asthma, arthritis, and osteoporosis.

METHODS

LSMA questions were included in the 2011 South Australian Health Omnibus Survey, a multistage, systematic, and clustered sample of household face-to-face interviews. Sociodemographic and clinical variables were explored in relation to LSMA scores using descriptive, univariable, and multivariable analyses and receiver operator curves.

RESULTS

For the 3032 respondents, the mean LSMA score was 98.3 (SD 20.3; median 100; interquartile range 34 [86-120]; range 6-120). Five percent of respondents scored <60, 11% scored between ≥ 60 and 79, 27% scored between ≥ 80 and 99, and the remainder scored between 100 and 120. After 55 years of age, LSMA-C scores declined, more so in females. In multivariable analysis, declining scores were associated with being female, being older, living in rural areas, lower educational attainment, not working, lower household income, and higher numbers of chronic conditions (R(2) = 0.35, P < 0.001). The receiver operator curve demonstrated a highly specific but relatively insensitive measure.

CONCLUSION

Having controlled for known confounders, the male/female difference cannot be easily explained. These data will help to contextualize studies in the future that use the LSMA-C score.

Type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s), an innate source of the type 2 cytokines interleukin (IL)-5 and -13, participate in the maintenance of tissue homeostasis. Although type 2 immunity is critically important for mediating metabolic adaptations to environmental cold, the functions of ILC2s in beige or brown fat development are poorly defined. We report here that activation of ILC2s by IL-33 is sufficient to promote the growth of functional beige fat in thermoneutral mice. Mechanistically, ILC2 activation results in the proliferation of bipotential adipocyte precursors (APs) and their subsequent commitment to the beige fat lineage. Loss- and gain-of-function studies reveal that ILC2- and eosinophil-derived type 2 cytokines stimulate signaling via the IL-4Rα in PDGFRα(+) APs to promote beige fat biogenesis. Together, our results highlight a critical role for ILC2s and type 2 cytokines in the regulation of adipocyte precursor numbers and fate, and as a consequence, adipose tissue homeostasis. PAPERCLIP:

INTRODUCTION

Nutrition counseling is important for veterans undergoing gastric bypass surgery. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between the number of nutrition visits a patient attended and change in body mass index (BMI) after gastric bypass surgery for the veteran population.

METHODS

A retrospective study examined veterans (N = 79) who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery from June 2004 through July 2010. Spearman's correlation and multivariate regression analysis were used to analyze data.

RESULTS

A significant correlation was found between the number of postoperative nutrition visits and the change in postsurgery BMI at 2 years (Spearman's ρ = 0.21; P = .017). After adjusting for age, sex, and race, the association between postsurgery nutrition visits and BMI change persisted (β = 0.255; 95% confidence interval, 0.015-0.581; P = .039).

CONCLUSION

Veterans with more nutrition visits following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery experienced greater declines in BMI. This finding underscores the importance of the dietitian on the bariatric surgery team.

There is considerable concern within the nephrology community about recent federal budget cuts and the decreasing availability of funds for research. This is especially difficult for junior investigators who are about to start a career as physician-scientists. Accordingly, it is imperative that resources other than federal funds be made available to these individuals during this most delicate yet crucial transition period. This commentary aims to provide an overview of nonfederal funding resources, focusing on the Norman S. Coplon Extramural Grant Program. This program emphasizes support of investigators at the most fragile period in their development of an academic career; it has provided >$11 million of research funds to more than 80 individuals since 2000. The outcome has been stellar, with more than 130 publications originating from these projects and >90% of awardees staying in academia. We hope these accomplishments will encourage similar activities by other entities and scientific programs in addition to ones that are ongoing. Ultimately, these collective efforts will inspire young researchers to use their knowledge, passion, and dedication to advance research into kidney diseases.

INTRODUCTION

Before and after breast cancer surgery, women have reported varying anxiety levels. Recent evidence has suggested that anxiety has a genetic basis and is associated with inflammation. The purposes of the present study were to identify the subgroups of women with distinct anxiety trajectories; to evaluate for differences in the phenotypic characteristics between these subgroups; and to evaluate for associations between polymorphisms in cytokine genes and subgroup membership.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients with breast cancer (n = 398) were recruited before surgery and followed up for 6 months. The patients completed the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory and provided a blood sample for genomic analyses. Growth mixture modeling was used to identify the subgroups of patients with distinct anxiety trajectories.

RESULTS

Two distinct anxiety subgroups were identified. The women in the higher anxiety subgroup were younger and had a lower functional status score. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms in tumor necrosis factor-α (rs1799964, rs3093662) were associated with the higher anxiety subgroup.

CONCLUSION

The results of the present exploratory study suggest that polymorphisms in cytokine genes could partially explain the interindividual variability in anxiety. The determination of phenotypic and molecular markers associated with greater levels of anxiety can assist clinicians to identify high-risk patients and initiate appropriate interventions.