Lipid disorders are the most common (even 70%) and worst monitored cardiovascular risk factor (only 1/4 of patients in Poland and CEE countries are on the LDL-C goal). In order to improve this the clear and easy to implement diagnostic criteria for all components of the lipid profile should be introduced. These are the updated guidelines of the two main scientific societies in Poland in the area - the Polish Society of Laboratory Diagnostics (PSLD) and the Polish Lipid Association (PoLA), which, in comparison to those from 2020, introduce few important changes in recommendations (two main lipid targets, new recommendations on LDL-C measurement, new goals for triglycerides, new recommendations on remnants and sdLDL) that should help the practitioners to be early with the lipid disorders diagnosis and monitoring (after therapy initiation), and in the consequence to avoid the first and recurrent cardiovascular events.

The mechanism that underlies the association between low 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and hypertension is not well understood; it seems to involve regulation of the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system and the impact on endothelial function, cardiac remodeling, and subclinical organ damage. Vitamin D supplementation presents an ambiguous effect on endothelial function and arterial stiffness. We assess serum 25(OH)D₃, biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction (soluble intercellular adhesion molecule [sICAM], C-reactive protein [CRP], homocysteine [Hcy]) and subclinical organ damage in adults with newly diagnosed untreated hypertension. Patients were classified based on ambulatory blood pressure monitoring: 98 had hypertension, whereas in 60 persons BP was normal. Laboratory assays including serum 25(OH)D_3, hsCRP, Hcy, sICAM, glucose, insulin, lipids, echocardiography, pulse wave velocity (PWV), intima-media thickness (IMT), and left-ventricular mass (LVM) measurements were performed. 25(OH)D₃ was significantly lower in hypertensive patients. The logistic regression analysis indicated that 25(OH)D₃ reduced the probability of hypertension occurrence after adjusting for body mass index (BMI). 25(OH)D₃ in those with hypertension correlated significantly with systolic BP (SBP; r = −0.39), PWV, IMT (r = −0.33), and diastolic BP (r = −0.26). Multiple regression analysis in patients with hypertension revealed that 25(OH)D₃ and sICAM accounted for up to 27% of SBP variation after adjusting for age, BMI, and smoking. 25(OH)D₃ and either PWV or IMT accounted for 23% of SBP variation. The impact of 25(OH)D₃ was 10%. The impact of 25(OH)D₃ on SBP variation, mediated by its effect on endothelial dysfunction and subclinical organ damage, is modest but significant.

We examined the relationships of tryptophan (Trp) and the metabolites of the kynurenine pathway (KP) to the occurrence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and metabolic risk factors in obese middle-aged women. The study included 128 obese women divided into two subgroups: a normoglycemic group (NG, n = 65) and a T2D group (n = 63). The concentrations of serum tryptophan (Trp), kynurenine (Kyn), 3-hydroxykynurenine (3HKyn), quinolinic acid (QA), and kynurenic acid (Kyna) were analyzed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization/triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. Blood biochemical parameters and anthropometric parameters were measured. The women with T2D had significantly higher Trp, Kyna, Kyna/QA ratio, and Kyna/3HKyn ratio values than the NG women. Logistic regression analysis showed that the concentrations of Trp and Kyna and the values of the Kyna/3HKyn ratio were most strongly associated with T2D occurrence, even after controlling for confounding factors. The model with Trp level and Kyna/3HKyn ratio accounted for 20% of the variation in the presence of T2D. We also showed a different pattern of correlations between kynurenines and metabolic factors in the NG and T2D women, which was mostly reflected in the stronger relationship between BMI and KP metabolites in the NG obese women. An increase in Trp and Kyna levels with an accompanying increase in Kyna/3HKyn ratio value is associated with the occurrence of T2D in obese middle-aged women.

Background: An association between the level of vitamin D and the risk of pregnancy-related complications remains unclear. The aim of this study was to examine concentrations of 25(OH) vitamin D in Polish women with normal pregnancies and pregnancies complicated by gestational hypertension, preeclampsia or gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Moreover, we analyzed an association between maternal serum 25(OH)D and the risk of gestational hypertension, preeclampsia and GDM. Material and Methods: The study included 207 pregnant women, among them 171 with pregnancy-related complications: gestational hypertension (n = 45), preeclampsia (n = 23) or GDM (n = 103). The control group consisted of 36 women with normal pregnancies. Concentrations of serum 25(OH)D were measured at admission to the hospital prior to delivery Results: Patients with hypertension did not differ significantly from the controls in terms of their serum 25(OH)D concentrations (18.20 vs. 22.10 ng/mL, p = 0.15). Highly significant differences were found in 25(OH)D concentrations of women with preeclampsia and the controls (14.75 vs. 22.10 ng/mL, p = 0.0021). GDM was not associated with significant differences in 25(OH)D concentration. A low level of 25(OH)D turned out to be associated with an increased risk of preeclampsia during pregnancy on both univariate and multivariate regression analysis, and was a significant predictor of this condition on ROC (receiver operating characteristic) analysis (AUC = 0.70, p < 0.01). Conclusions: 25(OH)D deficiency is common among pregnant Polish women. Low concentrations of 25(OH)D may play a role in the etiopathogenesis of preeclampsia. Routine assessment of the 25(OH)D level during pregnancy may be crucial for the identification of women at increased risk of preeclampsia.