Health behaviors associated with eating habits and forms of spending free time vs. serum levels of bioelements in middle-school students

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Abstract

Abstract. Background: Health behaviors are forms of human activity that have specific consequences to physical and mental wellbeing. Active forms of spending free time and optimal nutrition can be essential for biological, mental, and social development of a young person. A diet for children and adolescents should be varied and provide protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and bioelements. Aim: The aim of this study was to analyze how a diet and forms of spending free time are related to serum levels of bioelements in middle-school students. Material and methods: The study, which involved 376 middle-school students at the age of 13 – 16 years, consisted of two stages. The first stage was survey-based and conducted using an international standard research tool – the Health Behavior in School-aged Children: A WHO Collaborative Cross-national Study (HBSC). As the next stage, venous blood sample was collected and laboratory analysis was performed to determine the levels of bioelements (Mg, Ca, Cu, Fe, Zn) in blood serum. Results: Laboratory analysis did not demonstrate any deviations from the reference ranges for the levels of bioelements. Statistical analysis revealed statistically significant differences in Ca levels between diet users and non-users. There was also a statistically significant correlation between Zn levels and the number of hours per day spent by the middle-school students watching TV in their free time, both school-days and on weekends. Analysis of the research material demonstrated statistically significant correlation between Fe levels and hours per day that the middle-school students dedicated to using a computer in their free time, both on school-days and on weekends. Conclusions: 1. The influence of a diet and forms of spending free time on the levels of bioelements in the middle-school students has not been clearly determined. 2. The diet contributed to an increase in Ca levels in the adolescents analyzed in the study. 3. There were weak but statistically significant correlations between sedentary activities (watching TV, using a computer) and serum Zn and Fe levels in the middle-school students analyzed in the study. 

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Most cited references 11

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T Theophanides, J Anastassopoulou (2002)

Metal ions play an important role in biological systems, and without their catalytic presence in trace or ultratrace amounts many essential co-factors for many biochemical reactions would not take place. However, they become toxic to cells when their concentrations surpass certain optimal (natural) levels. Copper is an essential metal. Catalytic copper, because of its mobilization and redox activity, is believed to play a central role in the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as O2-* and *OH radicals, that bind very fast to DNA, and produce damage by breaking the DNA strands or modifying the bases and/or deoxyribose leading to carcinogenesis. The chemistry and biochemistry of copper is briefly accounted together with its involvement in cancer and other diseases.

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Serum ceruloplasmin and copper levels in patients with primary brain tumors.

L Turecký, P Kalina, E Uhlíková … (1984)

Serum copper and ceruloplasmin levels are known to increase in several malignancies such as osteosarcomas, some gastrointestinal tumors, and lung cancer. In this study serum copper and ceruloplasmin levels in 40 patients with primary brain tumors were studied. Both parameters were increased in sera of patients with tumors in comparison with healthy subjects or patients with non-tumorous neurological diseases. It is concluded that copper and ceruloplasmin represent a good complement to some other nonspecific parameters in evaluating the activity of malignancy and the therapeutic results.

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Interleukin 7 is produced by murine and human keratinocytes

G Schuler, F von Koch, C Heufler … (1993)

Interleukin 7 (IL-7) was originally identified as a growth factor for B cell progenitors, and subsequently has been shown to exert proliferative effects on T cell progenitors and mature peripheral T cells as well. Constitutive IL-7 mRNA expression so far had been demonstrated in bone marrow stromal cell lines, thymus, spleen, and among nonlymphoid tissues in liver and kidney. Here we show that both murine and human keratinocytes express IL-7 mRNA and release IL-7 protein in biologically relevant amounts. The physiological or pathological relevance of keratinocyte-derived IL-7 is presently unknown. Our finding that keratinocytes can produce IL-7 in concert with reports that IL-7 is a growth factor for in vivo primed antigen- specific T cells, as well as for T lymphoma cells suggests, however, that keratinocyte-derived IL-7 is important in the pathogenesis of inflammatory skin diseases and cutaneous T cell lymphoma.