Recent progress in the use of genetics to understand links between type 2 diabetes and related metabolic traits

Genome-wide association studies have identified genetic variants associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes. The aim of this review is to highlight some of the insights into the mechanism underlying type 2 diabetes provided by genetic association studies.     

A review of the herbal phosphodiesterase inhibitors; Future perspective of new drugs

Phosphodiesterase inhibitors (PDEIs) are a class of drugs that are widely used because of their various pharmacological properties including cardiotonic, vasodilator, smooth muscle relaxant, antidepressant, antithrombotic, bronchodilator, antiinflammatory and enhancer of cognitive function. In the recent years, interest in drugs of plant origin has been progressively increased. Some pharmacologically active substances that come from plants demonstrate PDEI activity. They mainly belong to alkaloids, flavonoids, and saponins. In this review, studies on herbal PDEI were reviewed and their possible therapeutic applications were discussed. Screening plants for PDE inhibitory activity may help to develop standardized phytotherapeutic products or find new sources for new lead structures with PDEI pharmacological activity. The studies discussed in this paper are mainly in vitro and for more reasonable and conclusive results, it is required to conduct in vivo and finally human and clinical tests.     

Influence of Polymer Aggregation and Liquid Immiscibility on Morphology Tuning by Varying Composition in PffBT4T‐2DT/Nonfullerene Organic Solar Cells

The temperature‐dependent aggregation behavior of PffBT4T polymers used in organic solar cells plays a critical role in the formation of a favorable morphology in fullerene‐based devices. However, there is little investigation into the impact of donor/acceptor ratio on morphology tuning, especially for nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs). Herein, the influence of composition on morphology is reported for blends of PffBT4T‐2DT with two NFAs, O‐IDTBR and O‐IDFBR. The monotectic phase behavior inferred from differential scanning calorimetry provides qualitative insight into the interplay between solid–liquid and liquid–liquid demixing. Transient absorption spectroscopy suggests that geminate recombination dominates charge decay and that the decay rate is insensitive to composition, corroborated by negligible changes in open‐circuit voltage. Exciton lifetimes are also insensitive to composition, which is attributed to the signal being dominated by acceptor excitons which are formed and decay in domains of similar size and purity irrespective of composition. A hierarchical morphology is observed, where the composition dependence of size scales and scattering intensity from resonant soft X‐ray scattering (R‐SoXS) is dominated by variations in volume fractions of polymer/polymer‐rich domains. Results suggest an optimal morphology where polymer crystallite size and connectivity are balanced, ensuring a high probability of hole extraction via such domains.     

Single‐nucleotide polymorphism c.474G>A in the SEPT12 gene is a predisposing factor in male infertility

SEPT12 is a testis‐specific gene involved in the terminal differentiation of male germ cells. SEPT12 protein is required for sperm head‐tail formation and acts as a fundamental constituent of sperm tail annulus. In this study, we screened genetic variations in exons 5, 6, 7 of the SEPT12 and assessed the annulus status in teratozoospermic, globozoospermic, and patients with immotile short tail sperm. DNA sequencing was performed for 90 teratozoospermic and 30 normozoospermic individuals. Immunocytochemistry, transmission electron microscopy and western blotting were conducted to evaluate annulus status and the expression level of SEPT12 in patients with a distinct exonic variation (c.474G>A), respectively. Five polymorphisms identified within the desired regions of the SEPT12, among them c.474G>A had the potential to induce aberrant splicing results in the expression of a truncated protein. The annulus was detected in most of the spermatozoa from teratozoospermic and normozoospermic men with c.474G>A. In contrast, in the patient with short tail sperm defect carrying c.474G>A, 99% of spermatozoa were devoid of the annulus. Based on our findings there would be no association between exons 5, 6, 7 polymorphisms of the SEPT12 gene and the occurrence of mentioned disease but c.474G>A would be a predisposing factor in male infertility.     

Toxoplasma gondii profilin and tachyzoites RH strain may manipulate autophagy via downregulating Atg5 and Atg12 and upregulating Atg7

Molecular Biology Reports - Autophagy process is an important defense mechanism against intracellular infection. This process plays a critical role in limiting the development of Toxoplasma gondii....     

Cold atmospheric plasma induced genotoxicity and cytotoxicity in esophageal cancer cells

Molecular Biology Reports - In this paper, we studied the functional effects of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) on the esophageal cancer cell line (KYSE-30) by direct and indirect treatment and...     

Psychological and Social Factors Associated with Late Pregnancy Iron Deficiency Anaemia in Rural Viet Nam: A Population-Based Prospective Study

Objectives

The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between psychological and social factors and late pregnancy IDA among pregnant women in rural Viet Nam.

Methods

Pregnant women from 50 randomly-selected communes within Ha Nam province were recruited and assessed at 12 - 20 weeks gestation (Wave 1, W1). They were followed up in the last trimester (Wave 2, W2). IDA was defined as Haemoglobin < 11 g/dL and serum ferritin < 15 ng/mL. Symptoms of Common Mental Disorders (CMD) were assessed by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale-Vietnam (EPDS-V). Persistent antenatal CMD was defined as having an EPDS-V score ≥ 4 in both W1 and W2. Hypothesis models were tested by Structural Equation Modeling analyses.

Results

A total of 378 women provided complete data at both W1 and W2. The incidence risk of IDA in the third trimester was 13.2% (95% confidence interval (CI): 9.8-16.7). Persistent CMD was found in 16.9% (95% CI: 13.1-20.7) pregnant women and predicted by intimate partner violence, fear of other family members, experience of childhood abuse, coincidental life adversity, and having a preference for the sex of the baby. There was a significant pathway from persistent CMD to IDA in late pregnancy via the length of time that iron supplements had been taken. Receiving advice to take iron supplements and higher household wealth index were indirectly related to lower risk of late pregnancy IDA. Early pregnancy IDA and being multi-parous also contributed to late pregnancy IDA.

Conclusions

Antenatal IDA and CMD are prevalent public health problems among women in Viet Nam. The link between them suggests that while direct recommendations to use iron supplements are important, the social factors associated with common mental disorders should be addressed in antenatal care in order to improve the health of pregnant women and their infants.     

Autophagy and senescence: A new insight in selected human diseases

Senescence and autophagy play important roles in homeostasis. Cellular senescence and autophagy commonly cause several degenerative processes, including oxidative stress, DNA damage, telomere shortening, and oncogenic stress; hence, both events are known to be interrelated. Autophagy is well known for its disruptive effect on human diseases, and it is currently proposed to have a direct effect on triggering senescence and quiescence. However, it is yet to be proven whether autophagy has a positive or negative impact on senescence. It is known that elevated levels of autophagy induce cell death, whereas inadequate autophagy can trigger cellular senescence. Both have important roles in human diseases such as aging, renal degeneration, neurodegenerative disorders, and cancer. Therefore, this review aims to highlight the relevance of senescence and autophagy in selected human ailments through a summary of recent findings on the connection and effects of autophagy and senescence in these diseases.     

Toll-like receptors signaling network in pre-eclampsia: An updated review

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are innate immune cells receptors. They are expressed on leukocytes, epithelial cells, and more particularly on placental immune cells and chorion trophoblast. Upregulation of innate immune response occurs during normal pregnancy, but its excessive activity is involved in the pathology of pregnancy complications including pregnancy-induced hypertension and pre-eclampsia (PE). The recent studies about the overmuch inflammatory responses and aberrant placentation are associated with increased expression of TLRs in PE patients. This review has tried to focus on the relationship between some activities of TLRs and the risk of preeclampsia development.     

The role of nitric oxide signaling in renoprotective effects of hydrogen sulfide against chronic kidney disease in rats: Involvement of oxidative stress,autophagy and apoptosis

The interplay between H₂S and nitric oxide (NO) is thought to contribute to renal functions. The current study was designed to assess the role of NO in mediating the renoprotective effects of hydrogen sulfide in the 5/6 nephrectomy (5/6 Nx) animal model. Forty rats were randomly assigned to 5 experimental groups: (a) Sham; (b) 5/6 Nx; (c) 5/6Nx+sodium hydrosulfide-a donor of H ₂S, (5/6Nx+sodium hydrosulfide [NaHS]); (d) 5/6Nx+NaHS+ L -NAME (a nonspecific nitric oxide synthase [NOS] inhibitor); (e) 5/6Nx+NaHS+aminoguanidine (a selective inhibitor of inducible NOS [iNOS]). Twelve weeks after 5/6 Nx, we assessed the expressions of iNOS and endothelial NOS (eNOS), oxidative/antioxidant status, renal fibrosis, urine N-acetyl-b-glucosaminidase (NAG) activity as the markers of kidney injury and various markers of apoptosis, inflammation, remodeling, and autophagy. NaHS treatment protected the animals against chronic kidney injury as depicted by improved oxidative/antioxidant status, reduced apoptosis, and autophagy and attenuated messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of genes associated with inflammation, remodeling, and NAG activity. Eight weeks Nω-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester ( L -NAME) administration reduced the protective effects of hydrogen sulfide. In contrast, aminoguanidine augmented the beneficial effects of hydrogen sulfide. Our finding revealed some fascinating interactions between NO and H ₂S in the kidney. Moreover, the study suggests that NO, in an isoform-dependent manner, can exert renoprotective effects in 5/6 Nx model of CKD.