Polimorfizmy genu receptora witaminy D (TaqI oraz ApaI) oraz cyrkulacja osteokalcyny u pacjentów chorujących na cukrzycę typu 2 i osób zdrowych

  Introduction: Vitamin D receptor (VDR) is encoded by the VDR gene. Several studies have supported that this gene is associated with diabetes. Heterodimer VDR/RXR functions as an enhancer of the BGLAP gene and increases the basal transcription rate of osteocalcin (OC) during osteoblast differentiation. OC is a regulator of glucose metabolism in mice. Moreover, OC level is decreased in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Although inversely correlated with serum glucose insulin and glycated haemoglobin, it is unclear whether OC reduction is caused by diabetes or plays a role in the pathogenesis and/or progression of the disease. In this study we analysed the association between TaqI and ApaI VDR gene polymorphisms and OC serum concentration in T2D subjects. Material and methods: Patients underwent clinical and nutritional assessment. Genomic DNA was extracted from leucocytes using a standard salting-out procedure. The polymorphisms were genotyped by PCR-RFLP method. ELISA was used to measure OC and insulin concentrations. Results: Association between TT genotype of TaqI polymorphism and low levels of OC was observed only in the population with overweight and obesity. No association between TaqI and ApaI polymorphisms and T2D was observed (p > 0.05). Furthermore, in T2D subjects, no correlation between ApaI and TaqI genotypes and age, sex, Body Mass Index (BMI), glucose, or OC was observed. Conclusions: The TT genotype of TaqI VDR gene polymorphism was correlated with low levels of OC in overweight and obese subjects. However, TaqI and ApaI VDR gene polymorphisms were not associated with T2D. (Endokrynol Pol 2015; 66 (4): 329–333)    Wstęp: Receptor witaminy D (VDR) kodowany jest przez gen VDR. Kilka badań potwierdziło, że gen ten jest związany z cukrzycą. Heterodimer VDR/RXR funkcjonuje jako stymulator genu BGLAP i zwiększa podstawowy wskaźnik transkrypcji osteokalcyny (OC) podczas różnicowania osteoblastów. Osteokalcyna jest regulatorem metabolizmu glukozy u myszy. Ponadto, stężenie OC jest obniżone u pacjentów z cukrzycą typu 2 (T2D). Pomimo odwrotnej korelacji między stężeniem OC a stężeniem glukozy i insuliny w surowicy, a także hemoglobiną glikowaną, nie jest wiadome czy obniżenie stężenia OC jest wywołane przez cukrzycę lub odgrywa rolę w patogenezie i/lub progresji choroby. W niniejszym badaniu autorzy przeanalizowali związek pomiędzy polimorfizmami genów VDR TaqI oraz ApaI, a także stężenie OC w surowicy u pacjentów z T2D. Materiał i metody: Pacjentów poddano ocenie klinicznej i żywieniowej. Genomowe DNA pobrano z leukocytów dzięki standardowej procedurze wysalania. Polimorfizmy genotypowano metodą PCR-RFLP. Testem ELISA zmierzono stężenia OC oraz insuliny. Wyniki: Związek pomiędzy genotypem TT polimorfizmu TaqI a niskim stężeniem OC zaobserwowano jedynie u populacji z nadwagą i otyłością. Nie wykazano związku pomiędzy polimorfizmami TaqI i ApaI oraz T2D (p > 0,05). Co więcej, u pacjentów z T2D nie wykazano korelacji pomiędzy genotypami ApaI i TaqI oraz wiekiem, płcią, wskaźnikiem masy ciała (BMI), glukozą lub OC. Wnioski: Genotyp TT polimorfizmu genu VDR TaqI jest skorelowany z niskim stężeniem OC u pacjentów z nadwagą i otyłością. Jednakże, polimorfizmy genu VDR TaqI i ApaI nie są związane z T2D. (Endokrynol Pol 2015; 66 (4): 329–333)

Microfinance for Self-Employment Activities in the European Urban Areas: Contrasting Crédal in Belgium and Adie in France

Poverty is multidimensional. In its starkest form, the United Nations Development Annual Reports proxy poverty as combined low levels of income, health, and education. Microfinance, on the other hand, addresses directly the income dimension of poverty, and indirectly health and education. Specifically, microfinance is generally perceived as a tool for poverty reduction via self-employment for income-generating activities. Because the vast majority of poor households live in developing countries, poverty in industrialized countries is often neglected. This report focuses on microfinance as a tool for pulling disadvantaged individuals out of poverty in industrialized countries. In particular, this report contrasts the experience of two microfinance institutions, namely, that of Crédit Alternatif (Crédal) in Belgium with that of the Association pour le droit à l’initiative économique (Adie) in France. While both institutions started over twenty years ago, microfinance is far more active and outreach in per capita terms is much higher in the latter than in the former. First, we find similarities between the two institutions: Both target the socially excluded and unbanked, their presence in the capitals of Belgium and France is strong, both offer “guided” microloans, benefit from government support, and socially responsible investors. Second, we encounter very important differences: The distinct historical roots of Crédal and Adie, their different trajectories in terms of scale and scope, governance, loan size and maturity structures, average interest rates, geographic coverage, and their very different strategies for outreach growth. Third, we draw some lessons from Adie, which can potentially be replicated for microfinance outreach growth by Crédal, and by other microfinance institutions operating in Brussels and Belgium. Finally, this report concludes by extending the analysis to other urban areas of Europe, where strategic alliances with other financial institutions and the government, and marketing for guided loans and other financial products might prove key to microfinance expansion in industrialized countries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Microfinance for Self-Employment Activities in the European Urban Areas: Contrasting Crédal in Belgium and Adie in France

Poverty is multidimensional. In its starkest form, the United Nations Development Annual Reports proxy poverty as combined low levels of income, health, and education. Microfinance, on the other hand, addresses directly the income dimension of poverty, and indirectly health and education. Specifically, microfinance is generally perceived as a tool for poverty reduction via self-employment for income-generating activities. Because the vast majority of poor households live in developing countries, poverty in industrialized countries is often neglected. This report focuses on microfinance as a tool for pulling disadvantaged individuals out of poverty in industrialized countries. In particular, this report contrasts the experience of two microfinance institutions, namely, that of Crédit Alternatif (Crédal) in Belgium with that of the Association pour le droit à l’initiative économique (Adie) in France. While both institutions started over twenty years ago, microfinance is far more active and outreach in per capita terms is much higher in the latter than in the former. First, we find similarities between the two institutions: Both target the socially excluded and unbanked, their presence in the capitals of Belgium and France is strong, both offer “guided” microloans, benefit from government support, and socially responsible investors. Second, we encounter very important differences: The distinct historical roots of Crédal and Adie, their different trajectories in terms of scale and scope, governance, loan size and maturity structures, average interest rates, geographic coverage, and their very different strategies for outreach growth. Third, we draw some lessons from Adie, which can potentially be replicated for microfinance outreach growth by Crédal, and by other microfinance institutions operating in Brussels and Belgium. Finally, this report concludes by extending the analysis to other urban areas of Europe, where strategic alliances with other financial institutions and the government, and marketing for guided loans and other financial products might prove key to microfinance expansion in industrialized countries.poverty; microfinance; industrialized countries; Europe; social exclusion.

On Mission Drift in Microfinance Institutions

This paper sheds light on a poorly understood phenomenon in microfinance which is often referred to as “mission drift”: A tendency reviewed by numerous microfinance institutions to extend larger average loan sizes in the process of scaling–up. We argue that this phenomenon is not driven by transaction cost minimization alone. Instead, poverty-oriented microfinance institutions could potentially deviate from their mission by extending larger loan sizes neither because of “progressive lending” nor because of “cross-subsidization” but because of the interplay between their own mission, the cost differentials between poor and unbanked wealthier clients, and region-specific clientele parameters. In a simple one-period framework we pin down the conditions under which mission drift can emerge. Our framework shows that there is a thin line between mission drift and cross subsidization, which in turn makes it difficult for empirical researchers to establish whether a microfinance institution has deviated from its poverty-reduction mission. This paper also suggests that institutions operating in regions which host a relatively small number of very poor individuals might be misleadingly perceived as deviating from their social objectives. Because existing empirical studies cannot differentiate between mission drift and cross-subsidization, these studies can potentially mislead donors and socially responsible investors pertaining to resource allocation across institutions offering financial services to the poor. The difficulty in separating cross-subsidization and mission drift is discussed in light of the contrasting experiences between microfinance institutions operating in Latin America and South Asia.SCOPUS: ch.binfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Gender empowerment

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Empowering women via microfinance in fragile states

Ever since microfinance was popularized in the mid-1970s in Bangladesh one of its salient features has been the overwhelming representation of women, mostly in fragile states. Institutional structures and social norms in such states are very rigid. Nevertheless, the trend has increased steadily, particularly during the 1980s. According to 2006 Microcredit Summit Campaign Report, seven out of ten microfinance clients are women. Millions of these women are married or live with a partner, and many have children. Relative to initial lending practices by the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, the bias in favor of loans to women in microfinance has been accompanied by an increasing trend to exclude men from microfinance services, particularly in the context of loans to those with very low income levels. The practice of exclusion might however prove to be counterproductive for it can generate frictions within households, as men feel increasingly threatened in their role as primary breadwinners within the household. In this essay we argue that the promotion of women in microfinance initiatives and the bias against men is taking place in the absence of solid empirical evidence on the effects of this approach on the balance of power in households and on the health, education and well-being of all household members. We hold to these to be key aspects of development. We further argue that this issue deserves research attention given the possibility of unforeseen outcomes and adverse consequences that run counter to the goal to encourage microfinance initiatives as a means to promote development. To clarify the central issues, on the one hand, higher household income in the hands of women might increase health and education for women and their household members –we call this the women-empowerment effect. On the other hand, the exclusion of men from access to subsidized finance might create frictions, and rebound effects that diminish the supportive role women play for their spouses and wider household members in the production of health and education – we call this the women-disempowering effect. In the event that the latter effect dominates over the former, then subsidized microfinance for women might have no overall positive impact, or even worse, a negative impact on health and education at the household level and the women in households. An even more challenging issue is to better understand what influence social and institutional conditions exercise on the empowerment and disempowerment effects experienced by women in microfinance initiatives and the subsequent outcomes in terms of development. This issue matters because microfinance initiatives are specifically directed at household level, and, yet prevailing social and institutional norms are determined at community or societal level. In the circumstances where social and institutional conditions dominate the effects of microfinance initiatives it would imply that microfinance projects might lead to better outcomes when they are accompanied by measures for institutional capacity building that promote the rights and role of women in society. This essay is structured as follows. First, it provides an overview of what we currently know about microfinance, gender, health and education in the context of Bangladesh, where most research has been conducted. Second, some anecdotal evidence from Bangladesh and Africa on the notion of microfinance empowerment is presented and discussed. This raises questions about the influence of institutional structures and norms on the enhanced capacity of women to assert their role as the main providers of health and education, mainly arising from the fact that the empowerment of women generates frictions with their partners, which in turn leads to a potential disempowerment effects. It also suggests that institutional structures and norms serve to constrain the outcomes of microfinance initiatives. Third, anecdotal evidence from Chiapas, in southern Mexico, is outlined which provided the basis for empirical research on new approaches to microfinance now being undertaken in the region. Fourth, the essay outlines this experimental intervention in southern Mexico, where the women borrowers in a microfinance initiative can invite their spouses to be part of women-only solidarity groups as borrowers, in order to see whether potential frictions could be eliminated as a way better to enhance women empowerment and provide for improved access to health and education at the household level. The main challenges of implementing this type of intervention as revealed through the experience to date in the South Mexican experiment are described. Finally, a fifth section spells out some concluding remarks.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe