Concentrations of Connective Tissue Growth Factor in Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Association with Liver Fibrosis

Aim: In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between the histological fibrosis stage of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and serum connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) to determine the usefulness of this relationship in clinical practice. Methods: Serum samples were collected from 51 patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD and 28 healthy controls, and serum levels of CTGF were assayed by ELISA. Results: Levels of CTGF were significantly higher in patients with NAFLD compared with controls (P = 0.001). The serum CTGF levels were significantly increased, that correlated with histological fibrosis stage, in patients with NAFLD [in patients with no fibrosis (stage 0) 308.2 ± 142.9, with mild fibrosis (stage 1–2) 519.9±375.2 and with advanced fibrosis (stage 3–4) 1353.2 ± 610 ng/l, P < 0.001]. Also serum level of CTGF was found as an independent predictor of histological fibrosis stage in patients with NAFLD (β = 0.662, t = 5.6, P < 0.001). The area under the ROC curve was estimated 0.931 to separate patients with severe fibrosis from patients with other fibrotic stages. Conclusion: Serum levels of CTGF may be a clinical utility for distinguishing NAFLD patients with and without advanced fibrosis

Analysis of serum micro-RNAs as potential biomarker in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as a complex disease with genetic and environmental compound is one of the leading causes of death in worldwide. This disease is characterized by lower airway inflammation, and increases risk of lung cancer in smokers. Micro-RNA (miRNA) molecules are key regulators in gene expression that have been widely associated with a several diseases. Differential expression of miRNAs is involved in lung tissue of COPD, but there is no information about biomarker potential of circulating miRNAs in patients. To analyze the miRNA expression profile in COPD, levels of serum miRNAs were profiled by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) array system. The authors examined 72 miRNAs by qRT-PCR array, in 20 COPD patients and 12 control subjects. U6snRNA was used for normalization of the expression of miRNAs for each sample. According to the results, 5 miRNAs were found to be significantly dysregulated. There was down-regulation of miR-20a, miR-28-3p, miR-34c-5p, and miR-100, and up-regulation of miR-7, compared with the controls. This was the first study in COPD for screening of serum miRNAs for searching for biomarker. These results are preliminary screening data and should be confirmed with large patient groups. If so, these miRNAs are likely being involved in pathogenesis of COPD and may give clues for designing therapeutic strategy

GSTT1 is Deregulated in Left Colon Tumors

Our aim was to determine GSTT1 expression levels in left colon tumors and paired normal tissue in order to identify specific alterations in GSTT1 mRNA levels. Alterations in GSTT1 expression in twenty-four left-sided colon tumors and paired cancer free tissue were determined by qRT-PCR. Significant fold changes were determined with t-test. When compared with cancer free tissue, left colon cancers showed a significant decrease in GSTT1 expression. However, GSTT1 mRNA levels among different grades increased gradually in correlation with tumor grade. Our results suggest that downregulation of GSTT1 in left-sided colon cancers is an early event and is reversed with cancer progression, probably due to cellular defense mechanisms as a response to changes in the microenvironment

The Significance of HSP90AA1, HSP90AB1 and HSP90B1 Gene Polymorphisms in a Turkish Population with Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Background/Aim: Heat-shock proteins (HSPs) are molecular chaperones which modify the structures and interactions of other proteins. The aim of our study was to investigate HSP90AA1, HSP90AB1 and HSP90B1 gene polymorphisms in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Materials and Methods: Ninety-seven patients with NSCLC and 97 healthy controls were included in the study. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was used for genotyping. Results: The frequency of mutant CC genotype for HSP90AA1 (rs4947C/T), mutant AA genotype for HSP90AB1 (rs13296A/G) and mutant CC genotype for HSP90B1 (rs2070908 C/G) was significantly higher in the patient group than in controls (p=0.019, p=0.004 and p=0.036, respectively). The frequency of patients with homozygote mutant allele was also significantly higher than that of controls and possessing of the mutant genotype increased the risk for disease by approximately 2.9, 4.8, 1.9 for HSP90AA1, HSP90AB1 and HSP90B1, respectively. The present study appears to be the first of its kind to report data on these gene polymorphisms in patients with NSCLC in the Turkish population