Int J Med Sci
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Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with chronic inflammation, suggesting the metabolic abnormalities are originated from or exacerbated by cytokine overproduction. Cytokines and counter-regulatory molecules are crucial in keeping the balance of immune responses and, therefore, are potential candidates involved in T2DM etiology, development and complications. Our previous reports identify several significant associations between the genotypes of cytokine genes and T2DM and/or the clinical lipid parameters, which strongly suggest the participation of immune-regulatory molecules in lipid metabolism. ⋯ Intriguingly, CTLA-4 -318 genotype was associated with circulatory triglycerides in T2DM subjects (P=0.019) although no significant association between CTLA-4 -318 (P=0.119) and +49 (P=0.2) genotypes with T2DM was identified. In addition, CTLA-4 +49 genotype was significantly associated with the ratio between total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (P=0.004) in control subjects. Our results suggest that CTLA-4 may be involved in lipid metabolism and affect T2DM disease progression and/or the development of diabetic complications although this gene does not represent a major risk factor for T2DM.
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Background: Diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) remains a challenge, especially when resources in pathology are limited. The study aimed to evaluate cost-effective tumor markers to predict the probability of MPM in plasma samples in order to accelerate the diagnostic workup of the tissue of potential cases. Methods: We conducted a case-control study stratified by gender, which included 75 incident cases with MPM from three Mexican hospitals and 240 controls frequency-matched by age and year of blood drawing. ⋯ The corresponding figures for calretinin were 0.81 and 0.18, and for both markers combined 0.84 and 0.11, respectively. Conclusions: We developed prediction models based on plasma concentrations of mesothelin and calretinin to estimate the probability of an MPM diagnosis. Both markers showed a good performance and could be used to accelerate the diagnostic workup of tissue samples in Mexico.
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Although miRNA markers have been identified for the pathological development of gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC), the underlying molecule mechanism are still not fully understood. Moreover, some gastric adenoma/dysplasia may progress to GAC. In this study, the miRNA expression profiles in normal and paired low-/high-grade dysplasia were analyzed using Affymetrix Gene-Chip miRNA arrays. ⋯ The analysis revealed that hsa-miR-421, hsa-miR-29b-1-5p, and hsa-miR-27b-5p were overexpressed in gastric low-/high-grade dysplasia and that based on these miRNA-target interactions, FBXO11 and CREBZF could be considered convincing markers for gastric cancer (GC) progression. Thus, we identified three miRNAs (hsa-miR-421, hsa-miR-29b-1-5p, and hsa-miR-27b-5p) with two mRNAs (FBXO11 and CREBZF) that might play an important role in the GC development from premalignant adenomas. Furthermore, these two target mRNAs and three miRNAs were predicted to be potential biomarkers for the progression of GC by miRNA-target interaction analysis.
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Background: Estrogens are involved in glycemic regulation, playing an important role in the development and/or progression of insulin resistance. For that, estrogens regulate the expression of the glucose transporter protein GLUT4 (codified by the solute carrier family 2 member 4 gene, Slc2a4), thus modulating adipose and muscle glucose disposal. This regulation is a balance between ESR1-mediated enhancer effect and ESR2-mediated repressor effect on Slc2a4 gene. ⋯ Conclusions: ESR1 activation in adipocytes increased the nuclear content of SP1 protein, the SP1/ESR1 interaction and SP1 binding into the Slc2a4 gene promoter, culminating with increased Slc2a4/GLUT4 expression. No involvement of SP1 seems to occur in ESR2-mediated repressor effect on Slc2a4. We expect that this ESR1/SP1 cooperative effect can contribute to the development of new approaches for prevention or treatment of insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus.
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Background: The study examined the difference in the expression of the receptor for activated C kinase 1 (RACK1) between anaesthesia with propofol and isoflurane in rats with myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were studied. Anaesthesia was induced with xylazine 20 µg/g by intraperitoneal injection and maintained with propofol or isoflurane. ⋯ However, the heart injury scores in the two groups did not differ significantly (3.56 ± 0.29 vs. 4.33 ± 0.23 in the propofol and isoflurane groups, respectively, p=0.33). Conclusion: There were significant differences in inflammation and apoptosis, including the expression of RACK1 and TLR4, after myocardial IRI between the propofol and isoflurane groups. However, both groups had similar heart injury scores.