Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Dietary Assessments And Their Association With Psychological Factors, Inflammation, And Cardiovascular Health Outcomes, Junghee Kang

Theses and Dissertations--Nursing

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels, are the leading cause of death worldwide, causing one-third of deaths each year. Diet is one of the most important behavioral risk factors for CVD. The effects of behavioral risk factors, such as diet, may lead to increased blood pressure, increased blood glucose, raised blood lipids, and overweight and obesity. Inflammation contributes to the development of CVD and can be influenced by diet. Dietary assessment indices can measure diet quality from an individual's dietary intake by scoring food and nutrient intakes. However, the mediation effects of diet …

Associations Between Psychosocial Stressors, Genes, And Cardiovascular Disease In At-Risk Adults, Kaitlin Voigts Key

Theses and Dissertations--Nursing

Psychosocial stressors have a significant adverse impact on cardiovascular health. While better medical treatments and increased emphasis on healthy lifestyle have improved cardiovascular health for many in the United States over the past 50 years, there are persistent inequities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) rates, with the highest rates among populations burdened by chronic exposure to psychosocial stressors such as discrimination and anxiety, among others. Genetic factors may interact with these stressors further influencing the rates of CVD in these populations. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine associations among psychosocial stressors and other CVD risk factors, and the influence …

Adropin: An Endocrine Link Between The Biological Clock And Cholesterol Homeostasis, Sarbani Ghoshal, Joseph R. Stevens, Cyrielle Billon, Clemence Girardet, Sadichha Sitaula, Arthur S. Leon, D.C. Rao, James S. Skinner, Tuomo Rankinen, Claude Bouchard, Marinelle V. Nuñez, Kimber L. Stanhope, Deborah A. Howatt, Alan Daugherty, Jinsong Zhang, Matthew Schuelke, Edward P. Weiss, Alisha R. Coffey, Brian J. Bennett, Praveen Sethupathy, Thomas P. Burris, Peter J. Havel, Andrew A. Butler

Physiology Faculty Publications

Objective

Identify determinants of plasma adropin concentrations, a secreted peptide translated from the Energy Homeostasis Associated (ENHO) gene linked to metabolic control and vascular function.

Methods

Associations between plasma adropin concentrations, demographics (sex, age, BMI) and circulating biomarkers of lipid and glucose metabolism were assessed in plasma obtained after an overnight fast in humans. The regulation of adropin expression was then assessed in silico, in cultured human cells, and in animal models.

Results

In humans, plasma adropin concentrations are inversely related to atherogenic LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in men (n = 349), but not in women (n = …

Targeting Hepatic Heparin-Binding Egf-Like Growth Factor (Hb-Egf) Induces Anti-Hyperlipidemia Leading To Reduction Of Angiotensin Ii-Induced Aneurysm Development, Seonwook Kim, Lihua Yang, Seongu Kim, Richard G. Lee, Mark J. Graham, Judith A. Berliner, Aldons J. Lusis, Lei Cai, Ryan E. Temel, Debra L. Rateri, Sangderk Lee

Saha Cardiovascular Research Center Faculty Publications

Objective

The upregulated expression of heparin binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) in the vessel and circulation is associated with risk of cardiovascular disease. In this study, we tested the effects of HB-EGF targeting using HB-EGF-specific antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) on the development of aortic aneurysm in a mouse aneurysm model.

Approach and results

Low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) deficient mice (male, 16 weeks of age) were injected with control and HB-EGF ASOs for 10 weeks. To induce aneurysm, the mice were fed a high fat diet (22% fat, 0.2% cholesterol; w/w) at 5 week point of ASO administration and infused with angiotensin …

Emerging Roles Of Xenobiotic Detoxification Enzymes In Metabolic Diseases, Michael C. Petriello, Jessie B. Hoffman, Andrew J. Morris, Bernhard Hennig

Superfund Research Center Faculty Publications

Mammalian systems have developed extensive molecular mechanisms to protect against the toxicity of many exogenous xenobiotic compounds. Interestingly, many detoxification enzymes, including cytochrome P450s and flavin-containing monooxygenases, and their associated transcriptional activators [e.g. the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)], have now been shown to have endogenous roles in normal physiology and the pathology of metabolic diseases. This mini-review will focus on two such instances: the role of flavin-containing monooxygenase 3 (FMO3) in the formation of the cardiometabolic disease biomarker trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) and the role of AhR as a sensor of endogenous ligands such as those generated by the gut microbiota. Understanding …

Human Igg1 Antibodies Suppress Angiogenesis In A Target-Independent Manner, Sasha Bogdanovich, Younghee Kim, Takeshi Mizutani, Reo Yasuma, Laura Tudisco, Valeria Cicatiello, Ana Bastos-Carvalho, Nagaraj Kerur, Yoshio Hirano, Judit Z. Baffi, Valeria Tarallo, Shengjian Li, Tetsuhiro Yasuma, Parthasarathy Arpitha, Benjamin James Fowler, Charles B. Wright, Ivana Apicella, Adelaide Greco, Arturo Brunetti, Menotti Ruvo, Annamaria Sandomenico, Miho Nozaki, Ryo Ijima, Hiroki Kaneko, Yuichiro Ogura, Hiroko Terasaki, Balamurali K. Ambati, Jeanette H. W. Leusen, Wallace Y. Langdon, Michael R. Clark, Bradley D. Gelfand, Jayakrishna Ambati

Ophthalmology and Visual Science Faculty Publications

Aberrant angiogenesis is implicated in diseases affecting nearly 10% of the world’s population. The most widely used anti-angiogenic drug is bevacizumab, a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody that targets human VEGFA. Although bevacizumab does not recognize mouse Vegfa, it inhibits angiogenesis in mice. Here we show bevacizumab suppressed angiogenesis in three mouse models not via Vegfa blockade but rather Fc-mediated signaling through FcγRI (CD64) and c-Cbl, impairing macrophage migration. Other approved humanized or human IgG1 antibodies without mouse targets (adalimumab, alemtuzumab, ofatumumab, omalizumab, palivizumab and tocilizumab), mouse IgG2a, and overexpression of human IgG1-Fc or mouse IgG2a-Fc, also inhibited angiogenesis in wild-type …

Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors In Structural Firefighters, Nicholas W. Trubee

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

This dissertation is composed of two manuscripts assessing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in structural firefighters. Study 1 compared traditional CVD risk factors and health-related behaviors between professional and volunteer firefighters. Online questionnaires were sent to approximately 4000 firefighters in the state of Kentucky. The results indicated that 90% of volunteer and 58% of professional firefighters were classified as moderate-to-high CVD risk. Volunteer firefighters were significantly (p < 0.001) older and more likely (p = 0.026) to be current cigarette smokers. The mean body mass index among all firefighters in the sample was 30.8 kg·m^-2. Nearly 60% of volunteer firefighters were obese. Obese firefighters were more likely (p < 0.05) to have been diagnosed as diabetic or pre-diabetes compared to overweight and normal weight firefighters. These results indicate that volunteer firefighters may be at a greater CVD risk compared to professional firefighters.

Study 2 investigated the association of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and body fat with arterial stiffness in professional firefighters. Forty-six …

Adherence To Physical Activity Among Individuals With Or Without Cardiovascular Disease, Zyad T. Saleh

Theses and Dissertations--Nursing

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major public health problem and a primary cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Regular physical activity is recommended for prevention and management of CVD. Despite the cardiovascular health benefits of physical activity most adults are physically inactive. Therefore, the aim of this dissertation was to examine the factors associated with adherence to physical activity among individuals with or without CVD.

The first paper is a report of a study conducted to examine which baseline demographic (age, gender, marital status, socioeconomic status, and place of residency), psychosocial (social support, depression, anxiety, and fatalism), …