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Biomedical subjects

R S Lindsay

Publications and source records attributed to R S Lindsay.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Insulin and insulin propeptides at birth in offspring of diabetic mothers.

Maternal diabetes during pregnancy is associated with excess fetal growth and increased fetal insulin production. We hypothesized that insulin propeptides (proinsulin and 32-33 split proinsulin) might be more robust indicators of chronic fetal overproduction of insulin. We examined insulin-like molecules in cord blood (ILM) (insulin, proinsulin, and 32-33 split proinsulin) in relation to birth weight, maternal glycemia, and cord glucose in 140 offspring of mothers with type 1 diabetes (ODM) and 49 offspring of mothers who did not have diabetes (CONTROL) as well as degradation of ILM in response to sampling conditions at birth. Insulin propeptides were abundant in cord blood, comprising 50% of ILM in CONTROL and 36% in ODM (P < 0.0001) and more resistant to degradation than insulin (P < 0.05). Concentrations of all three ILM were highly intercorrelated with median values 2- to 5-fold higher in ODM than CONTROL [e.g. median (range): insulin ODM 110 (60-217) pmol/liter; CONTROL 22 (15-37) pmol/liter; P < 0.0001]. In ODM, 32-33 split proinsulin and proinsulin were more closely related to birth weight (Spearman r for ILM: r(32-33 split)= 0.54; r(PROINSULIN): r = 0.54; r(INSULIN) = 0.40: r(32-33 split) and r(PROINSULIN) > r(INSULIN)P < 0.05) and fetal leptin (r(32-33 split)= 0.55; r(PROINSULIN); r = 0.54; r(INSULIN) = 0.22: r(32-33 split) and r(PROINSULIN) > r(INSULIN)P < 0.05) than insulin). By contrast, insulin was more closely related to cord glucose (r(32-33 split) = 0.15; r(PROINSULIN): r = 0.10; r(INSULIN) = 0.42: r(INSULIN) > r(32-33 split) and r(PROINSULIN)P < 0.05). In CONTROL, 32-33 split proinsulin was also more closely related to fetal leptin r(32-33 split)= 0.61; r(PROINSULIN): r = 0.29; r(INSULIN) = 0.33: r(32-33 split) > r(INSULIN)P < 0.05). In ODM, 32-33 split proinsulin and proinsulin have closer relationships to fetal growth and leptin concentrations at birth than insulin. Measurement of insulin propeptides may be advantageous in assessment of the influence of maternal hyperglycemia on the newborn.

Birth Weight↗

Assessment of parent-of-origin effects in linkage analysis of quantitative traits.

Methods are presented for incorporation of parent-of-origin effects into linkage analysis of quantitative traits. The estimated proportion of marker alleles shared identical by descent is first partitioned into a component derived from the mother and a component derived from the father. These parent-specific estimates of allele sharing are used in variance-components or Haseman-Elston methods of linkage analysis so that the effect of the quantitative-trait locus carried on the maternally derived chromosome is potentially different from the effect of the locus on the paternally derived chromosome. Statistics for linkage between trait and marker loci derived from either or both parents are then calculated, as are statistics for testing whether the effect of the maternally derived locus is equal to that of the paternally derived locus. Analyses of data simulated for 956 siblings from 263 nuclear families who had participated in a linkage study revealed that type I error rates for these statistics were generally similar to nominal values. Power to detect an imprinted locus was substantially increased when analyzed with a model allowing for parent-of-origin effects, compared with analyses that assumed equal effects; for example, for an imprinted locus accounting for 30% of the phenotypic variance, the expected LOD score was 4.5 when parent-of-origin effects were incorporated into the analysis, compared with 3.1 when these effects were ignored. The ability to include parent-of-origin effects within linkage analysis of quantitative traits will facilitate genetic dissection of complex traits.

Alleles↗

Exaggerated pancreatic polypeptide secretion in Pima Indians: can an increased parasympathetic drive to the pancreas contribute to hyperinsulinemia, obesity, and diabetes in humans?

Vagally-mediated hyperinsulinemia is a common abnormality in various rodent models of genetic and hypothalamic obesity that have a high propensity for type 2 diabetes. We hypothesized that Pima Indians, a population with a high prevalence of hyperinsulinemia, obesity, and type 2 diabetes also have an increased parasympathetic drive to the pancreas. To test this, we measured plasma concentrations of insulin and pancreatic polypeptide (PP), a surrogate marker of pancreatic vagal tone, in lean and obese Pima Indian and Caucasian children (n = 43, 26P/17C, 7 +/- 1 y) and adults (n = 92, 61P/31C, 31 +/- 5 y). Pima Indian children had approximately 2-fold higher fasting insulin and 57% higher fasting PP concentrations than age- and sex-matched Caucasian children (P < .05). Although there was no difference in fasting PP concentration between Pima Indian and Caucasian adults, in response to a mixed meal, Pima Indians had a 51% higher early (30 minutes) PP concentration and 2-fold higher early insulin concentration than Caucasians (P < .05). PP concentrations at 60 minutes and 120 minutes after the meal were also markedly higher in both lean and obese Pima Indians compared with lean and obese Caucasians. These results suggest that Pima Indians may have an increased parasympathetic drive to the pancreas, which could lead to a primary hypersecretion of insulin and contribute to their high propensity for obesity and diabetes, as is the case in various rodent models of obesity.

Adult↗

Body mass index as a measure of adiposity in children and adolescents: relationship to adiposity by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry and to cardiovascular risk factors.

Body mass index is widely used as a measure of adiposity in adults, but its use in children and adolescents is controversial. We assessed body mass index as a measure of adiposity in children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 20 yr examined as part of the NIH survey of health in the Pima Indian population. Body mass index (measured in 985 subjects and analyzed in 3 age groups: 5-9, 10-14, and 15-19 yr, in both sexes) was compared cross-sectionally to percent fat and fat mass derived from dual energy x-ray absorptiometry and to fasting and 2-h plasma glucose, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting insulin, and triglycerides. Body mass index was strongly correlated in all age groups to both percent fat (r = 0.83-0.94; for each group, P < 0.0001) and fat mass (r = 0.96-0.98; P < 0.0001). The relationship of body mass index to percent fat was different in males and females; differences were more marked in older age groups. Body mass index, percent fat, and fat mass showed similar degrees of correlation to metabolic measures in childhood. Body mass index is strongly associated with measures of adiposity derived from dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Both measures show similar associations with cardiovascular risk factors in Pima Indian children.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗

Genome-wide linkage analysis assessing parent-of-origin effects in the inheritance of type 2 diabetes and BMI in Pima Indians.

We examined the hypothesis that imprinted genes may affect the propensity to type 2 diabetes and obesity in Pima Indians. Multipoint variance component methods were used to assess linkage of BMI (kg/m(2)) and age-adjusted diabetes to loci derived from either father (LOD(FA)) or mother (LOD(MO)) in a genome-wide scan. Tentative evidence of loci where imprinted genes might be acting was found for diabetes with maternally derived alleles on chromosomes 5 (LOD(MO) = 1.5) and 14 (LOD(MO) = 1.6). Evidence of linkage of BMI to maternally derived alleles was found on chromosome 5 (LOD(MO) = 1.7) and to paternally derived alleles on chromosome 10p (LOD(FA) = 1.7). Additional analyses of sibling pairs who were affected by diabetes and younger than 25 years of age showed an increase of sharing of maternally derived alleles on chromosome 6 (LOD(MO) = 3.0). We also examined sites of a priori interest where action of imprinted genes has been proposed in diabetes or obesity. We found no evidence of parent-specific linkage (of either diabetes or BMI) on chromosome 11p, a region that contains several imprinted genes, but observed weak evidence of linkage of diabetes to paternally derived alleles (LOD(FA) = 0.9) in the region of chromosome 6q, believed to contain an exclusively paternally expressed gene or genes that cause transient neonatal diabetes mellitus. In conclusion, we determined regions of interest on chromosomes 5, 6, and 10 where imprinted genes might be affecting the risk of type 2 diabetes or obesity in Pima Indians.

Aging↗

Gamma globulin levels predict type 2 diabetes in the Pima Indian population.

It has been proposed that inflammation or infection may contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes. We examined whether serum gamma globulin, a nonspecific measure of the humoral immune system, predicted changes in glucose tolerance in 2,530 members of the Pima Indian population, a group with a marked predisposition to type 2 diabetes. Cross-sectionally, gamma globulin was positively related to age (r = 0.08, P < 0.0005), BMI (r = 0.09; P < 0.0001), and female sex (P < 0.0001). Gamma globulin concentrations were familial, being positively correlated among siblings (r = 0.23; P < 0.0001) and between parents and their children (mother/child: r = 0.17, P < 0.0001; father/child: r = 0.25, P < 0.0001). Gamma globulin concentrations were higher with greater degrees of American Indian heritage (P < 0.004, with adjustment for age, sex, and BMI) and in the presence of a family history of type 2 diabetes (P < 0.04). Higher gamma globulin levels predicted risk of diabetes. In univariate analysis, a 1 SD difference in gamma globulin was associated with a 20% higher incidence of diabetes in those who were normal glucose tolerant at baseline (hazard rate ratio 1.20 [CI 1.11-1.30]; P < 0.0001) and remained as a significant predictor of diabetes, even when controlled for effects of sex, BMI, and 2-h glucose as additional predictors (hazard rate ratio for 1 SD difference in gamma globulin, 1.14 [1.05-1.24]; P = 0.002). Gamma globulin was also associated in univariate analysis with later development of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) (hazard rate ratio 1.15 [1.07-1.23]; P < 0.0001), but not with the transition from IGT to diabetes (hazard rate ratio 1.04 [0.90-1.20]; P = 0.6). Thus, gamma globulin levels predict increased risk of diabetes in the Pima population. We suggest that immune function or activation may play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes.

Adult↗

Relationship between birth weight and body composition, energy metabolism, and sympathetic nervous system activity later in life.

OBJECTIVE: Epidemiological studies suggest that high birth weight might be associated with an increased risk of obesity later in life. Programming of metabolic, endocrine, and/or autonomic pathways during intrauterine development has been proposed to explain this association. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: To determine the relationship between birth weight and body composition and energy metabolism later in life, we measured fat mass and fat-free mass (hydrodensitometry or double-energy X-ray absorptiometry), 24-hour energy expenditure, sleeping metabolic rate, and 24-hour respiratory quotient (respiratory chamber) in 272 adult nondiabetic Pima Indians (161 males/ 111 females, age 25 +/- 5 years, mean +/- SD). In these subjects, birth weight varied over a wide range (2,000 to 5,000 g). Individuals known to be offspring of diabetic pregnancies were excluded. In 44 of the 272 subjects, muscle sympathetic nerve activity was assessed by microneurography. RESULTS: Birth weight was positively correlated with adult height (r = 0.20, p < 0.001) and fat-free mass (r = 0.21, p < 0.001), but not with fat mass (r = 0.01, not significant). Sleeping metabolic rate, adjusted for age, sex, fat-free mass, and fat mass, was negatively related to birth weight (r = -0.13, p < 0.05), whereas adjusted 24-hour energy expenditure (r = 0.07, not significant) and 24-hour respiratory quotient (r = -0.09, not significant) were not. There was no relationship between birth weight and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (r = 0.12, not significant, n = 44). DISCUSSION: In Pima Indians who are not offspring of diabetic pregnancies, high birth weight is associated with increased height and lean body mass, but not with increased adiposity later in life. Although high birth weight may be associated with relatively low resting energy expenditure, it is not associated with major abnormalities in 24-hour energy metabolism or with low muscle sympathetic nerve activity later in life.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗

Intrauterine exposure to diabetes conveys risks for type 2 diabetes and obesity: a study of discordant sibships.

Intrauterine exposure to diabetes is associated with an excess of diabetes and obesity in the offspring, but the effects of intrauterine exposure are confounded by genetic factors. To determine the role of the intrauterine diabetic environment per se, the prevalence of diabetes and the mean BMI were compared in siblings born before and after their mother was recognized as having diabetes. Nuclear families in which at least one sibling was born before and one after the mother was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes were selected. Consequently, the siblings born before and after differed in their exposure to diabetes in utero. A total of 58 siblings from 19 families in which at least one sibling had diabetes were examined at similar ages (within 3 years). The risk of diabetes was significantly higher in siblings born after the mother developed diabetes than in those born before the mother's diagnosis of diabetes (odds ratio 3.7, P = 0.02). In 52 families, among 183 siblings without diabetes, the mean BMI was 2.6 kg/m2 higher in offspring of diabetic than in offspring of nondiabetic pregnancies (P = 0.003). In contrast, there were no significant differences in risk of diabetes or BMI between offspring born before and after the father was diagnosed with diabetes. Intrauterine exposure to diabetes per se conveys a high risk for the development of diabetes and obesity in offspring in excess of risk attributable to genetic factors alone.

Adult↗

Type 2 diabetes and low birth weight: the role of paternal inheritance in the association of low birth weight and diabetes.

Lower birth weight is associated with an increased occurrence of type 2 diabetes in later life. Whether this relationship is explained by environmental or genetic factors is unknown. We have examined the potential for genetic influences by determining whether parental diabetes is associated with lower birth weight in 1,608 children of known birth weight and gestational age born between 1941 and 1993 in the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona. The previously described relationships of maternal diabetes to increased birth weight and offspring diabetes were observed. In contrast to this we have determined novel relationships between low birth weight and paternal diabetes. The offspring of diabetic fathers were, on average, 78 g lighter than the offspring of nondiabetic fathers. For fathers, lower birth weight in their offspring was associated with an increased risk of later diabetes, i.e., fathers of offspring in the lowest quintile of birth weight, who were not diabetic at the time of birth of their child, had a 1.8-fold increased risk of developing diabetes later in life (95% CI 1.2-2.7; P = 0.004). For children, lower birth weight predicted diabetes in the offspring if paternal but not maternal diabetes was present, but it was not associated with higher plasma glucose if neither parent had diabetes. We conclude that the risk of diabetes associated with low birth weight is strongly related to the development of paternal diabetes, suggesting a genetic link between lower birth weight and later diabetes.

Adult↗

Secular trends in birth weight, BMI, and diabetes in the offspring of diabetic mothers.

OBJECTIVE: The offspring of mothers who had diabetes during pregnancy experience increased risk later of diabetes and obesity later. We hypothesized that, in light of the historical improvements in the management of diabetes during pregnancy, these late consequences of the early environment might be diminishing with time. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Birth weight and information on BMI and glucose tolerance have been collected as part of the epidemiological survey of the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona. We examined birth weight, BMI, and diabetes in offspring of mothers with type 2 diabetes during pregnancy born in four 10-year time intervals since 1955 compared with offspring whose mothers either had not developed diabetes or were prediabetic (i.e., developed diabetes after the index pregnancy). RESULTS: Offspring of diabetic mothers (ODM) were heavier at birth, had a higher BMI at all ages throughout childhood, and had an increased incidence rate of diabetes in childhood and early adulthood (7- to 20-fold, offspring of nondiabetic mothers [ONDM]; 3- to 5-fold, offspring of prediabetic mothers [OPDM]). Relative differences in birth weight and BMI between ODM and ONDM were greatest for those born before 1965. In those born after 1965, despite secular trends to higher BMI and diabetes incidence in the ONDM, differences in BMI and birth weight of ODM versus ONDM and OPDM appeared to have been maintained. CONCLUSIONS: With the possible exception of individuals born before 1965, the increased risk of diabetes and obesity experienced by ODM does not seem to be diminishing with time.

Age of Onset↗

Diabetic nephropathy is associated with an increased familial risk of stroke.

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that genetic susceptibility to diabetic nephropathy is associated with an increased familial risk of vascular disease, we have examined the causes and rates of death of parents of individuals with type 1 diabetes complicated by diabetic nephropathy compared with the causes and rates of death of parents of control subjects with diabetes uncomplicated by nephropathy. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Individuals with at least a 14-year duration of type 1 diabetes complicated by diabetic nephropathy were identified and matched for age, sex, and duration of diabetes to control subjects. A total of 118 patients and 118 matched control subjects were identified and approached to obtain information on parental age and cause of death. For parents who had died, the cause of death was ascertained from the death certificate. RESULTS: Kaplan-Meier curves showed that parents of subjects with nephropathy (PN) had reduced survival compared with parents of diabetic subjects without nephropathy (PC) (log rank test P < 0.05). There was an excess of all vascular deaths and, in particular, strokes in the parents of subjects with nephropathy (PN: 20 of 103 deaths, 19% vs. PC: 3 of 66 deaths, 4%; Fisher's exact test P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Parents of diabetic patients with nephropathy have reduced survival. This seems to be largely explained by an increase in vascular deaths and, in particular, a four-fold increase in the number of strokes. This supports the hypothesis that a common hereditary risk factor predisposes to both vascular death and diabetic renal disease.

Adult↗

Glucocorticoid exposure in late gestation permanently programs rat hepatic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and glucocorticoid receptor expression and causes glucose intolerance in adult offspring.

Low birth weight in humans is predictive of insulin resistance and diabetes in adult life. The molecular mechanisms underlying this link are unknown but fetal exposure to excess glucocorticoids has been implicated. The fetus is normally protected from the higher maternal levels of glucocorticoids by feto-placental 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type-2 (11beta-HSD2) which inactivates glucocorticoids. We have shown previously that inhibiting 11beta-HSD2 throughout pregnancy in rats reduces birth weight and causes hyperglycemia in the adult offspring. We now show that dexamethasone (a poor substrate for 11beta-HSD2) administered to pregnant rats selectively in the last week of pregnancy reduces birth weight by 10% (P < 0.05), and produces adult fasting hyperglycemia (treated 5.3+/-0.3; control 4.3+/-0.2 mmol/ liter, P = 0.04), reactive hyperglycemia (treated 8.7+/-0.4; control 7.5+/-0.2 mmol/liter, P = 0.03), and hyperinsulinemia (treated 6.1+/-0.4; control 3.8+/-0.5 ng/ml, P = 0.01) on oral glucose loading. In the adult offspring of rats exposed to dexamethasone in late pregnancy, hepatic expression of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) mRNA and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) mRNA (and activity) are increased by 25% (P = 0.01) and 60% (P < 0.01), respectively, while other liver enzymes (glucose-6-phosphatase, glucokinase, and 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type-1) are unaltered. In contrast dexamethasone, when given in the first or second week of gestation, has no effect on offspring insulin/glucose responses or hepatic PEPCK and GR expression. The increased hepatic GR expression may be crucial, since rats exposed to dexamethasone in utero showed potentiated glucose responses to exogenous corticosterone. These observations suggest that excessive glucocorticoid exposure late in pregnancy predisposes the offspring to glucose intolerance in adulthood. Programmed hepatic PEPCK overexpression, perhaps mediated by increased GR, may promote this process by increasing gluconeogenesis.

11-beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases↗