BACKGROUND: Currently many emergency medical services (EMS) that provide advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) at scene do not routinely transport out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients without sustained return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). This is due to logistical difficulties and historical poor outcomes. However, new technology for mechanical chest compression has made transpor...

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have suggested gender differences in out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) including outcomes favouring young women. We aimed to investigate these findings in an Australian OHCA population using the Victorian Ambulance Cardiac Arrest Registry (VACAR). METHODS AND RESULTS: The VACAR was searched for adult presumed cardiac OHCAs between 2003 and 2010 where Emergency M...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk. The effect of weight loss on the vascular inflammatory markers plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) and intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) is unknown. Overweight women with (n=14) and without (n=13) PCOS...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the utility of field-based techniques to assess functional exercise capacity and sedentary time in Indigenous and non-Indigenous regional Australian adults. STUDY DESIGN: Observational, analytic cohort study. METHODS: Ninety six adults residing in regional and remote Australian communities participated in this study (Indigenous n = 61 and non-Indigenous Australians n ...

The study of the metabolism of docosapentaenoic acid (DPA, 22:5n-3) in humans has been limited by the unavailability of pure DPA and the fact that DPA is found in combination with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) in natural products. In this double blind cross over study, pure DPA and EPA were incorporated in meals served to healthy female volunteers....

OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of class-I, II and III obesity in Australian adults between 1995, 2007-08 and 2011-12. METHODS: Prevalence data for adults (aged 18+ years) were sourced from customised data from the nationally representative National Nutrition Survey (1995), the National Health Survey (2007-08), and the Australian Health Survey (2011-12) conducted by the Australian Burea...

OBJECTIVE: Obesity trends are likely to increase social disparities in diabetes. The magnitude of this effect depends on the strength of the relationship between obesity and diabetes across categories of disadvantage. This study aims to test the hypothesis that education level moderates the association between obesity and fasting plasma glucose (FPG), 2-h plasma glucose (2hPG), HbA1c level, an...

BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity has a high risk of becoming a chronic disease requiring life-long weight management. Evidence based guidelines were developed and distributed to GPs throughout Australia by the NHMRC, but current application falls short. Measuring height and weight, and calculating BMI for children appears to be rare. Some general practitioners (GPs) perceive significant barriers ...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: To investigate the association between vitamin D levels, angiographic severity of coronary artery disease, arterial stiffness and degree of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) as assessed by ankle brachial index (ABI). METHODS AND RESULTS: 375 patients undergoing coronary angiography from November 2012 to September 2013 were recruited. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD)...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in relation to various anthropometric measures of obesity is still controversial. METHODS AND RESULTS: Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), A Body Shape Index (ABSI) and waist-to-hip-to-height ratio (WHHR) were measured at baseline in a cohort of 46,651 European...

AIM: To compare the effect of 7 h of prolonged sitting on resting blood pressure with a similar duration of sitting combined with intermittent brief bouts of light-intensity or moderate-intensity physical activity. METHODS AND RESULTS: Overweight/obese adults (n = 19; aged 45-65 years) were recruited for a randomized three-treatment crossover trial with a one-week washout between treatments:...

INTRODUCTION: Activated platelets are key players in thrombosis and inflammation. We previously generated single-chain antibodies (scFv) against ligand-induced binding sites (LIBS) on the highly abundant platelet glycoprotein integrin receptor IIb/IIIa. The aim of this study was the construction and characterisation of a novel (18)F PET radiotracer based on this antibody. METHODS: ScFv(anti-...

OBJECTIVE: Parental obesity can induce metabolic phenotypes in offspring independent of the inherited DNA sequence. Here we asked whether such non-genetic acquired metabolic traits can be passed on to a second generation that has never been exposed to obesity, even as germ cells. METHODS: We examined the F1, F2, and F3 a/a offspring derived from F0 matings of obese prediabetic A (vy) /a ...

Defective control of lipid metabolism leading to lipotoxicity causes insulin resistance in skeletal muscle, a major factor leading to diabetes. Here, we demonstrate that perilipin (PLIN) 5 is required to couple intramyocellular triacylglycerol lipolysis with the metabolic demand for fatty acids. PLIN5 ablation depleted triacylglycerol stores but increased sphingolipids including ceramide, hydro...

AIMS: High-density lipoprotein (HDL) and apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) can modulate glucose metabolism through multiple mechanisms. This study determined the effects of a novel bromodomain and extra-terminal (BET) inhibitor (RVX-208) and putative apoA-I inducer on lipid species contained within HDL (HDL lipidome) and glucose metabolism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty unmedicated males with pred...

CONTEXT: Insulin resistance is associated with blunted sympathetic nervous system (SNS) response to carbohydrate ingestion which may contribute to postprandial hypotension and impaired body weight homeostasis. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to examine the effects of pharmacological insulin sensitization on whole-body norepinephrine kinetics during a standard 75-g oral glucose tolerance ...

BACKGROUND: This study aimed at investigating the effects of genetic angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) 2 deficiency on glucose homeostasis in the pancreas and skeletal muscle and their reversibility following ACE inhibition. PROCEDURES: ACE2-knockout and C57bl6J mice were placed on a standard diet (SD) or a high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks. An additional group of ACE2-knockout mice was...

OBJECTIVE: Autonomic dysfunction may contribute to the etiology and exercise intolerance of subclinical diabetic heart disease. This study sought the efficacy of exercise training for improvement of peak oxygen uptake (VO₂(peak)) and cardiac autonomic function in type 2 diabetic patients with non-ischemic subclinical left-ventricular (LV) dysfunction. MATERIALS/METHODS: Forty-nine type 2 dia...

OBJECTIVE: Plasma Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) is significantly elevated in obesity and may contribute to vascular disease, metabolic syndrome or cancer in obese individuals. The current studies were done to determine if hyperinsulinemia increases plasma HGF. MATERIALS/METHODS: Twenty-two participants (10 women/12 men, BMI 20.6-34.5 kg/m(2), age 18-49 years) underwent a hyperinsulinemic eugl...

BACKGROUND: Inflammation is believed to link obesity to insulin resistance, as in the setting of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a soluble protein that seems to exert proatherogenic and prodiabetogenic effects. This study aims at determining OPG levels in MetS and whether OPG might contribute to MetS development and progression. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Circulating...