Markers of Monocyte Activation, Inflammation, and Microbial Translocation Are Associated with Liver Fibrosis in Alcohol Use Disorder

Background: The association between markers of inflammation (interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-10), monocyte activation (sCD163 and sCD14), and microbial translocation (lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and LPS binding protein) and liver fibrosis in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and no overt liver disease is not well established. Methods: We studied patients admitted for treatment of AUD at two hospitals in Barcelona. Advanced liver fibrosis (ALF) was defined as FIB-4 > 3.25. Results: A total of 353 participants (76.3% male) were included and 94 (26.5%) had ALF. In adjusted correlation analyses, sCD163, sCD14, IL-6, IL-10, and LPS binding protein levels directly correlated with FIB-4 values (adjusted correlation coefficients 0.214, 0.452, 0.317, 0.204, and 0.171, respectively). However, LPS levels were inversely associated with FIB-4 (-0.283). All plasma marker levels in the highest quartile, except LPS, were associated with ALF (sCD163, sCD14, IL-6, IL-10, and LPS binding protein: adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 11.49 (95% confidence interval 6.42-20.56), 1.87 (1.11-3.16), 2.99 (1.79-5.01), 1.84 (1.11-3.16), and 2.13 (1.30-3.50), respectively). Conversely, LPS levels in the lowest quartile were associated with ALF (aOR 2.58 (1.48-4.58), p < 0.01). Conclusion: In AUD patients, plasma levels of the markers of inflammation, monocyte activation, and microbial translocation are associated with ALF

Epigenetic effects of healthy foods and lifestyle habits from the southern european atlantic diet pattern: a narrative review

Recent scientific evidence has shown the importance of diet and lifestyle habits for the proper functioning of the human body. A balanced and healthy diet, physical activity, and psychological well-being have a direct beneficial effect on health and can have a crucial role in the development and prognosis of certain diseases. The Southern European Atlantic diet, also named the Atlantic diet, is a unique dietary pattern that occurs in regions that present higher life expectancy, suggesting that this specific dietary pattern is associated with positive health effects. In fact, it is enriched with nutrients of high biological value, which, together with its cooking methods, physical activity promotion, reduction in carbon footprint, and promoting of family meals, promote these positive effects on health. The latest scientific advances in the field of nutri-epigenetics have revealed that epigenetic markers associated with food or nutrients and environmental factors modulate gene expression and, therefore, are involved with both health and disease. Thus, in this review, we evaluated the main aspects that define the Southern European Atlantic diet and the potential epigenetic changes associated with them based on recent studies regarding the main components of these dietary patterns. In conclusion, based on the information existing in the literature, we postulate that the Southern European Atlantic diet could promote healthy aging by means of epigenetic mechanisms. This review highlights the necessity of performing longitudinal studies to demonstrate this proposalS

Markers of monocyte activation, inflammation, and microbial translocation are associated with liver fibrosis in alcohol use disorder

CatedresAltres ajuts: Programa Juan Rodes JR20/00016; Programa Sara Borrell CD19/00019; Physician Intensification Program INT19/00026; National Plan on Drugs, Spain (grant nos. 2018/020 and 2020/024)Background: The association between markers of inflammation (interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-10), monocyte activation (sCD163 and sCD14), and microbial translocation (lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and LPS binding protein) and liver fibrosis in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and no overt liver disease is not well established. Methods: We studied patients admitted for treatment of AUD at two hospitals in Barcelona. Advanced liver fibrosis (ALF) was defined as FIB-4 > 3.25. Results: A total of 353 participants (76.3% male) were included and 94 (26.5%) had ALF. In adjusted correlation analyses, sCD163, sCD14, IL-6, IL-10, and LPS binding protein levels directly correlated with FIB-4 values (adjusted correlation coefficients 0.214, 0.452, 0.317, 0.204, and 0.171, respectively). However, LPS levels were inversely associated with FIB-4 (−0.283). All plasma marker levels in the highest quartile, except LPS, were associated with ALF (sCD163, sCD14, IL-6, IL-10, and LPS binding protein: adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 11.49 (95% confidence interval 6.42-20.56), 1.87 (1.11-3.16), 2.99 (1.79-5.01), 1.84 (1.11-3.16), and 2.13 (1.30-3.50), respectively). Conversely, LPS levels in the lowest quartile were associated with ALF (aOR 2.58 (1.48-4.58), p < 0.01). Conclusion: In AUD patients, plasma levels of the markers of inflammation, monocyte activation, and microbial translocation are associated with ALF

Biochemical assessment of metabolic associated fatty liver disease

Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is defined as fat accumulation in the liver in the presence of metabolic alterations. This disorder is generally asymptomatic and may progress to severe liver disease, which are linked to inflammation and/or fibrosis. MAFLD has a high prevalence (26%) and therefore a considerable number of patients are at high risk of having advanced liver disease. This document provides an overview of the most relevant serological markers in the characterization and diagnosis of MAFLD. An example is provided of a routine diagnostic algorithm that incorporates serological testing. A range of useful serological scores are currently available for the management of MAFLD patients, especially for the stratification of patients at risk of fibrosis. A large proportion of the population is at risk of developing severe liver disease. The integration of non-invasive serological markers in the stratification of patients at risk for liver fibrosis may contribute to improve the control and management of MAFLD patients

Using Electronic Health Records to Assess Depression and Cancer Comorbidities

Comorbid diseases are an important concern in oncology since they can affect the choice and effectiveness of treatment. What is particularly relevant is the fact that the diagnosis of depression in cancer patients has an important impact on the quality of life of these patients. Although there is no consensus about a specific relationship of depression with certain cancer types, some authors have proposed that depression constitutes a risk factor for cancer. The objective of this study is to identify the presence of comorbidities in a massive EHR system, between depression and the 10 most common cancers in women and men and to determine if there is a preferred temporal ordering in the co-occurrence of these diseases. All the cancers studied showed a significant co-occurrence with depression, more specifically, twice more frequent than what could be expected by chance. A preferred directionality was identified between some of the comorbid diseases, such as breast cancer followed by depression, and depression followed by either stomach cancer, colorectal cancer or lung cancer. Future work will address other potential factors that have an influence on the likelihood of suffering from depression in patients with cancer, such as drug therapies received, exposure to substance of abuse or other comorbidities.We received support from the IMI-JU under grant agreement no.115372 (EMIF), resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the EU-FP7 (FP7/2007-2013) and EFPIA companies in kind contribution, and from the EU H2020 Research & Innovation Programme 2014-2020 under grant agreements no. 634143 (MedBioinformatics: Creating medically-driven integrative bioinformatics applications focused on oncology, CNS disorders and their comorbidities)

Valoración bioquímica en la enfermedad hepática grasa asociada a la disfunción metabólica

La enfermedad hepática grasa asociada a la disfunción metabólica (MAFLD) se define por el acúmulo de grasa en el hígado en presencia de alteraciones metabólicas. Suele cursar de forma asintomática y puede progresar a formas graves de enfermedad hepática, ligadas a la aparición de inflamación y/o fibrosis. Su prevalencia es muy elevada (26%), resultando en un alto número de pacientes con riesgo de presentar una enfermedad hepática avanzada. El presente documento describe los marcadores serológicos más relevantes en la caracterización y diagnóstico de la MAFLD, y se propone un ejemplo de su integración en un algoritmo diagnóstico en práctica clínica habitual. En la actualidad se dispone de índices serológicos útiles en el manejo de los pacientes con MAFLD, especialmente en la estratificación del riesgo de la presencia fibrosis. Una gran parte de la población está en riesgo de desarrollar enfermedad hepática grave. La integración de los marcadores serológicos no invasivos en la estratificación del riesgo de fibrosis hepática puede contribuir a un mejor control y manejo de los pacientes con MAFLD

Biochemical assessment of metabolic associated fatty liver disease

Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is defined as fat accumulation in the liver in the presence of metabolic alterations. This disorder is generally asymptomatic and may progress to severe liver disease, which are linked to inflammation and/or fibrosis. MAFLD has a high prevalence (26%) and therefore a considerable number of patients are at high risk of having advanced liver disease. This document provides an overview of the most relevant serological markers in the characterization and diagnosis of MAFLD. An example is provided of a routine diagnostic algorithm that incorporates serological testing. A range of useful serological scores are currently available for the management of MAFLD patients, especially for the stratification of patients at risk of fibrosis. A large proportion of the population is at risk of developing severe liver disease. The integration of non-invasive serological markers in the stratification of patients at risk for liver fibrosis may contribute to improve the control and management of MAFLD patients

Text mining and expert curation to develop a database on psychiatric diseases and their genes

Psychiatric disorders constitute one of the main causes of disability worldwide. During the past years, considerable research has been conducted on the genetic architecture of such diseases, although little understanding of their etiology has been achieved. The difficulty to access up-to-date, relevant genotype-phenotype information has hampered the application of this wealth of knowledge to translational research and clinical practice in order to improve diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric patients. PsyGeNET (http://www.psygenet.org/) has been developed with the aim of supporting research on the genetic architecture of psychiatric diseases, by providing integrated and structured accessibility to their genotype-phenotype association data, together with analysis and visualization tools. In this article, we describe the protocol developed for the sustainable update of this knowledge resource. It includes the recruitment of a team of domain experts in order to perform the curation of the data extracted by text mining. Annotation guidelines and a web-based annotation tool were developed to support the curators' tasks. A curation workflow was designed including a pilot phase and two rounds of curation and analysis phases. Negative evidence from the literature on gene-disease associ- ations (GDAs) was taken into account in the curation process. We report the results of the application of this workflow to the curation of GDAs for PsyGeNET, including the analysis of the inter-annotator agreement and suggest this model as a suitable approach for the sustainable development and update of knowledge resources. Database URL: http://www.psygenet.org. PsyGeNET corpus: http://www.psygenet.org/ds/PsyGeNET/results/psygenetCorpus.tarWe received support from ISCIII-FEDER (PI13/00082, CP10/00524, CPII16/00026), IMI-JU under grants agreements no. 115191 (Open PHACTS)] and no. 115372 (EMIF), resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the EU-FP7 (FP7/2007-2013) and EFPIA companies in kind contribution, and the EU H2020 Programme 2014-2020 under grant agreements no. 634143 (MedBioinformatics) and no. 676559 (Elixir-Excelerate). The Research Programme on Biomedical Informatics (GRIB) is a member of the Spanish National Bioinformatics Institute (INB), PRB2-ISCIII and is supported by grant PT13/0001/0023, of the PE I + D+i 2013-2016, funded by ISCIII and FEDER. MRA, SMR and MCBG are supported RD16/0017/0007; OV, FF and MT are supported by RD16/0017/0010; and AS and FJP are supported by RD16/0017/0001, by Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Red de Trastornos Adictivos (RTA-Retics-ISCIII). AGS acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, through the 'María de Maeztu' Programme for Units of Excellence in R&D (MDM-2014-0370). Funding for open access: EU H2020 Programme 2014-2020 under grant agreements no. 634143 (MedBioinformatics)