Biomedicine (Journal)
Not a member yet
328 research outputs found
Sort by
LEP G2548A Polymorphism is Associated with Increased Serum Leptin and Insulin Resistance among T2DM Malaysian Patients
No full textBackground: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic metabolic syndrome that is rapidly increasing across the world, especially in Malaysia. Leptin plays a vital role in the regulation of metabolism through its effect on peripheral tissues. G2548A polymorphism in the LEP gene promoter has been associated with insulin resistance, leptin, and type 2 diabetes mellitus across different population, but has not been inclusively reported within the Malaysian population.
Objective: Thus, our study aimed to investigate the impact of G2548A polymorphism on serum leptin levels and insulin resistance among Malaysian T2DM patients.
Methods: This case-control study involved 150 T2DM patients and 150 non-diabetic volunteers from ethnic Malays, Chinese and Indians. Genotyping of G2548A polymorphism was carried out using PCR-RFLP. Serum leptin and insulin levels were determined via ELISA. ANOVA and Chi-square tests were used to determine the distribution of genotypes and allelic frequencies based on serum leptin and insulin levels.
Results: Frequency of AA genotype and A allele of G2548A variant were significantly (P \u3c 0.05) higher in T2DM patients of Malay and Indian ethnicities (4%, 35%, and 36%, 57%, respectively) as compared to the control groups (0%, 22%, and 18%, 35%, respectively). Fasting serum leptin levels were significantly (P \u3c 0.001) higher in T2DM patients compared to non-diabetic subjects (166.78 pg/ml, 101.94 pg/ml, respectively). Additionally, elevated serum leptin, insulin levels, and BMI in diabetic patients were found to be associated with the AA genotype of this variant, compared to GG, and GA genotypes (P \u3c 0.05).
Conclusion: Our findings suggest a significant association between G2548A polymorphism among Malaysian T2DM subjects, particularly among Malay and Indian ethnic groups. Moreover, the A allele frequency of the G2548A variant significantly increased the risk of T2DM and is significantly associated with increased serum leptin, insulin levels, and elevated BMI
The evaluation of serum lipid profile and Apolipoprotein C-1 in the Iranian patients of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
No full textBackground: The key role of apolipoprotein C-1 (ApoC-1) is reported in breast, pancreas and lung cancer. However, no information is available on potential difference of ApoC-1 between OSCC patients and healthy individuals. This work aimed to examine the serum ApoC-1 level as well as lipid profile values between OSCC patients and healthy control groups.
Material and Methods: In this study, 44 blood samples from 22 OSCC patients and 22 healthy individuals were collected to determine the values of lipid profile and ApoC-1 concentration using colorimetric method and Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), respectively.
Results: A significant decrease in serum lipid profile and ApoC-1 concentration was observed between OSCC and healthy control groups (P=0.001).
Conclusion: Our results confirm the previous findings on the significant differences of lipid profile between OSCC and controls, also show the lower serum level of ApoC-1 in OSCC as compared to the controls. Future studies would further elaborate the association of ApoC-1 with OSCC
Applying Artificial Neural-network Model to Predict Psychiatric Symptoms
No full textIntroduction: Mental disorders result in mental disabilities and discomfort in the affected person as they affect both thinking and behavior. Therefore, more vulnerable people must first be identified to improve the psychological level of society.
Aim: This study aims to determine the importance of gender, employment, education, place of residence, and age in predicting mental disorders using artificial neural network modeling.
Methods: The pattern held between variables in this study will be identified using multilayer feed-forward back-propagation neural networks with five inputs and 10 outputs. To determine the neural network with the least sum of square errors, we evaluated the performance of all neural networks with varying algorithms and different numbers of neurons in the hidden layer. Data were analyzed for 380 people aged 10 to 82 years using the SPSS software.
Results:The optimal neural network model was effective in predicting mental disorders. In this model, the variables of the place of residence, education, age, gender, and employment were important in fitting the optimal model with 34.08, 20.11, 18.93, 14.55, and 12.33%, respectively.The accuracy rate for the neural network model was 99.2%.
Conclusion: To achieve further results in improving mental health problems, it is better to focus more on employed, rural, and younger people with a non-tertiary education level
The expression of ACAT1 in oral squamous cell carcinoma and the adjacent pre-tumour tissue
No full textBackground: Altered acetyl CoA acetyltransferase 1 (ACAT1) expression has been reported in diverse cancers. However, the expression of ACAT1 and its prognostic value in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has remained unexplored. Materials and methods: In this study, the expression of ACAT1 was analysed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in 61 OSCC patients and compared between OSCC and adjacent pre-tumour tissue of 21 patients. Results: The expression of ACAT1 in OSCC tumours is heterogeneous between patients. More specifically, 52.38% of the patients show low expression of ACAT1 in both tumour and adjacent pre-tumour tissues, 9.52% of the patients show high expression of ACAT1 in both tumour and adjacent pre-tumour, 19.05% of the patients have high expression of ACAT1 in tumour tissue and low expression of ACAT1 in adjacent pre-tumour tissue and another 19.05% of the patients have low expression of ACAT1 in tumour tissue and high expression of ACAT1 in adjacent pre-tumour tissue. Conclusion: Comparison of ACAT1 expression, one of the key enzymes in the ketone body metabolic pathway, divided OSCC patients into two groups: 1) similar expression and 2) different expression of ACAT1 in tumour and adjacent pre-tumour tissue. No significant association between ACAT1 levels and overall survival was observed
Phenotype and Genotype in a Taiwanese Girl with Sotos Syndrome
No full textRare copy number variations have been linked to an important source of mutation in many psychopathological traits and neurodevelopmental disorders. In this study, we describe a Taiwanese girl with mental retardation and mild macrocephaly who underwent a childhood psychological evaluation for several years first. When she was 5 years old, she came to our hospital for further diagnosis. We conducted molecular cytogenetic tests and confirmed she actually has Sotos syndrome. We compared our case with two others with very similar deletion regions, but their phenotypes were heterogeneous. Sotos syndrome is very rare in Taiwan, and it is suggested that genetic analysis should be considered early if symptoms of this case are observed
Is autologous platelet activation the key step in ovarian therapy for fertility recovery and menopause reversal?
No full textPlatelets are a uniquely mammalian physiologic feature. As the only non-marine vertebrates to experience menopause, humans have a substantial post-reproductive lifespan and are believed to have a limited, non-renewable oocyte supply. Ovarian reserve typically declines after about age 35yrs, marking losses which cannot be recovered by available fertility medications. When in vitro fertilization fails due to low or absent ovarian response, gonadotropin adjustments are often ineffectual and if additional oocytes are occasionally harvested, egg quality is usually poor. This problem was confronted by Greek researchers who developed a new surgical method to insert autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) into ovaries; the first ovarian PRP success to improve reproductive outcomes was published from Athens in 2016. This innovation influenced later research with condensed platelet-derived growth factors, leading to correction of oocyte ploidy error, normal blastocyst development, and additional term livebirths. Yet women’s health was among the last clinical domains to explore PRP, and its role in ‘ovarian rejuvenation’ remains unsettled. One critical aspect in this procedure is platelet activation, a commonly overlooked step in the cytokine release cascade considered essential for successful transition of undifferentiated ovarian stem cells to an oocyte lineage. Poor activation of platelets thus becomes an unforced error, potentially diminishing or even negating post-treatment ovarian follicular response. To answer this query, relevant theory, current disagreements, and new data on platelet activation are presented, along with clinical challenges for regenerative fertility practice
Serum alpha-1-antitrypsin level in the severity prognosis of systemic lupus erythematosus patients: Systematic exploration of novel biomarker
No full textBackground: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease that affecting multi-organs injury and failure. The rapid, precision, and specificity prognosis by laboratory investigations could prevent active stage and severity in the disease.
Aims: To systematically explore and investigate the candidate serum protein for development into the novel biomarker for severity prognosis of SLE patients.
Methods: The proteins previously reported in abnormal level in serum/plasma of SLE patients since 2014-2020 were comprehensive collected. Thereafter, these serum proteins that found in other diseases were excluded. The association with molecules related to SLE severity of these candidate proteins were then predicted using bioinformatics STIRNG tool. The level of altered protein, which had the strong interaction to the severity molecules in serum of SLE patients was validated by Western blot, analyzed the correlation with anti-nuclear antigen (ANA) and performance of diagnosis, respectively.
Results: From 26 collected serum/plasma proteins, alpha-1-antitrypsin protein was found the abnormal level in only SLE patients and strongly associated with severity molecules including C-reactive protein (CRP), complement C3, and C4. Additionally, the validation of serum alpha-1-antitrypsin in SLE patients exhibited the higher level than healthy controls and also had the positive correlation with ANA titer (r = 0.710). Furthermore, the area under ROC curve for diagnostic power of alpha-1-antitrypsin was 0.970 with 100% sensitivity and 90% specificity at cut-off 0.131/total serum protein.
Conclusions. The higher level of alpha-1-antitrypsin in serum samples of SLE patients indicated as the novel biomarker for reliable and specific prognosis of disease severity
Preliminary study of structural changes of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency variants
No full textGlucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is the most common enzyme deficiency disorder affecting over 400 million individuals worldwide. G6PD protects red blood cells (RBC) from the harmful effects of oxidative substances. There are more than 400 G6PD mutations, of which 186 variants have shown to be linked to G6PD deficiency by decreasing the activity or stability of the enzyme. Different variants manifest different clinical phenotypes which complicate comprehending the mechanism of the disease. In order to carry out computational approaches to elucidate the structural changes of different G6PD variants that are common to the Asian population, a complete G6PD monomer-ligand complex was constructed using AutoDock 4.2, and the molecular dynamics simulation package GROMACS 4.6.7 was used to study the protein dynamics. The G410D and V291M variants were chosen to represent classes I and II respectively and were created by in silico site-directed mutagenesis. Results from the Root mean square deviation (RMSD), Root mean square fluctuation (RMSF) and Radius of Gyration (Rg) analyses provided insights on the structure – function relationship for the variants. G410D indicated impaired dimerization and structural NADP binding while the impaired catalytic activity for V291M was indicated by a conformational change at its mutation site
Analysis of Pap Smear Screening Factors using Artificial Neural Network (ANNs)
No full textIntroduction: cervical cancer is ranked as the third most prevalent cancer to affect women over the world and a Pap smear seems to be the single most critical intervention to prevent cervical cancer.
Aim: In the present study, the effects of demographic factors (age, education level, job, income level, marriage age, pregnancy, child number, breastfeeding, and menopause), insurance type, disease history (sonography and mammography, breast problem, and cancer) and cancer information on Pap smear screening behavior stage of change were investigated and modeled using an artificial neural network model (ANN).
Materials and Methods: Data were collected from a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study. This research was conducted on 1898 female employees of governmental agencies of Birjand, a city located in the east of Iran. The questionnaire consisted of four parts (socioeconomic, reproductive characteristics, information about cervical cancer screening, and stage of change for cervical cancer screening). Multilayer feed-forward back-propagation neural networks were used to detect the patterns between variables using a neural network with 14 inputs and one output. To find out the neural network with the minimum sum of squared errors, we evaluated the performance of all neural networks using varying algorithms and numbers of neurons in the hidden layer. For this purpose, the data collected from 1898 women were analyzed using SPSS-22 software.
Results: In the optimal neural network model, the variables of marriage age, age, breastfeeding, and child number were identified as the most significant factors with 18.3, 16.3, 7.3, and 7.3 percentages, respectively, whereas the history of cancer, job, pregnancy, and menopause had importance lower than 5 percentage.
Conclusion: Our findings showed that among many associated variables, the marriage age, age, breastfeeding, and children number were important predictors for the behavioral stage of change. Thus, it seems to focus on these identified factors may lead to the adoption of effective programs and policies to improve cervical cancer screening practice behaviors in women
Effect of Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch extract on proliferation and cardiogenic pre-differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells
No full textBackground: Vietnamese medicine tried and tested certain bioactive compounds from plants to increase the rate of tissue immunomodulation, regeneration, and differentiation. Although there are many research papers discovered about phytochemicals of Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch and differentiation induction potential of some substances purified from this herbal, it finds difficult to seek research that investigated the effect of Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch extract on proliferation and cardiogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells, even though it has commonly been used for a long time because of its function as a restorative and as a critical role in cardiovascular treatment in traditional.
Results: Our research indicated that RGE has many predicted bio-pharmacological effects, and the RGE is demonstrated that it is non-toxic to UC-MSCs (IC50 = 1274.741 μg/ml). It also stimulates the proliferation and migration of UC-MSCs at various concentrations, especially at the RGE concentration of 50 ppm, during four days of treatment. On the other hand, the RGE can induce the cardiac pre-differentiation process from the fifth day to the fifteenth day after treatment, which was proven through both molecular and cellular (morphology evidence) level like the up-regulation of GATA4, Nkx2.5, cTnT a- MHC, Desmin genes; the expression of Desmin protein, the appearance of two - nuclei cells, connecting process of adjoining cells, the cytoplasmic striations.
Conclusion: The hot water-extracted Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch could either stimulate proliferation – migration of MSCs or induce the cardiac pre-differentiation process. This extract can be classified as non-toxic to the UC-MSCs