Cross-sectional and longitudinal assessments of risk factors associated with hypertension and moderately increased albuminuria comorbidity in patients with type 2 diabetes: a 9-year open cohort study.

Background: Moderately increased albuminuria (MIA) is strongly associated with hypertension (HTN) in patients with type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM). However, the association between risk factors and coexisting HTN and MIA remains unassessed. Objectives: This study aimed to determine both cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of risk factors with HTN and MIA comorbidity in patients with T2DM. Methods: A total of 1,600 patients with T2DM were examined at baseline and longitudinal data were obtained from 1,337 T2DM patients with at least 2 follow-up visits to assess the presence of HTN alone (yes/no), MIA alone (yes/no) and the coexistence of both (yes/no) in a 9-year open cohort study between 2004 and 2013. Bivariate mixed-effects logistic regression with a Bayesian approach was employed to evaluate associations of risk factors with HTN and MIA‎ comorbidity in the longitudinal assessment. Results: After adjustment for age and BMI, patients with uncontrolled plasma glucose, as a combined index of the glucose profile, were more likely to have HTN [odds ratio (OR): 1.73 with 95% Bayesian credible intervals (BCI) 1.29-2.20] and MIA [OR: 1.34 (‎95% BCI 1.13-1.62)]. The risks of having HTN and MIA were increased by a one-year raise in diabetes duration [with 0.89 (95% BCI 0.84-0.96) and 0.81 (95% BCI 0.73-0.92) ORs, respectively] and a one-unit increase in non-high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (Non-HDL-C) [with 1.30 (95% BCI 1.23-1.34) and 1.24 (95% BCI 1.14-1.33) ORs, respectively]. Conclusions: T2DM patients with HTN,‎ MIA, and the coexistence of both had uncontrolled plasma glucose, significantly higher Non-HDL-C, and shorter diabetes duration than the other T2DM patients. Duration of diabetes and uncontrolled plasma glucose index showed the stronger effects on HTN and MIA comorbidity than on each condition separately

Depression, anxiety and stress, comorbidity evaluation among a large sample of general adults: results from SEPAHAN study

Depression, anxiety and stress are common psychological disorders (PDs). This study aimed to assess the odds of co-occurrence of mentioned PDs in total sample and different levels of socio-demographic characteristics, specifically among a large sample of general adults. In a cross-sectional, community-based study conducted among 4763 Iranian adults, depression and anxiety were assessed with Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and stress with General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). The loglinear analysis was applied to investigate their comorbidities. Based on selected models with pair-comorbidity of anxiety with stress, depression with stress, and anxiety with depression, the results showed the odds of comorbidity between anxiety and depression (odds ratio (OR) =12.29, 95%CI: 9.58-15.80), depression and stress (OR = 7.80, 95%CI: 6.55-10.18), and stress and anxiety (OR = 4.62, 95%CI: 3.71-5.75). Also, ORs of pair-comorbidities were the same, except between stress and anxiety for men compared to women (adjusted-OR = 6.47, 95%CI: 4.44-9.49 versus 3.85, 95%CI: 2.95-5.00) and comorbidity between stress and depression for the participants with lower than 40 years compared to others (adjusted-OR = 9.03, 95%CI: 7.17-11.36 versus 6.41, 95%CI: 4.90-8.41), p< 0.05. Stress comorbidity with depression was higher level than other pair-comorbidities. Obvious discrepancies were also observed in terms of ORs of pair-comorbidities between three mentioned disorders in different levels of SDCs

Alendronate improves fasting plasma glucose and insulin sensitivity and decreases insulin resistance in prediabetic osteopenic postmenopausal women: a randomized triple-blind clinical trial

Aims Postmenopausal women receive bisphosphonates for osteoporosis treatment. The effect of these medications on developing diabetes mellitus (DM) in prediabetic patients is yet to be investigated. We aimed to determine the effect of alendronate on plasma glucose, insulin indices of postmenopausal women with prediabetes and osteopenia. Methods This triple‐blind randomized controlled clinical trial included 60 postmenopausal women, aged 45–60 years. All patients were vitamin D sufficient. They were randomly enrolled in intervention (70 mg/week alendronate for 12 week) and control (placebo tablet per week for 12 weeks) groups. The morning 8 hour fasting blood samples were collected at the baseline and follow–up visits to measure the fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (mg/dl), insulin and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). Plasma glucose and insulin concentration were measured 30, 60, and 120 minutes after glucose tolerance test. Matsuda index, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA–IR), homeostasis model assessment of beta–cell function (HOMA–B) and the area under the curves (AUC) of glucose and insulin were calculated. Results Mean (SD) FPG (102.43 (1.46) mg/dl vs. 94.23)1.17) mg/dl, P=0.001), 120‐minutes insulin concentration (101.86)15.70) mU/l vs. 72.60 (11.36), P=0.026), HbA1c (5.60 (0.06) % vs. 5.40 (0.05)%, P=0.001), HOMA‐IR (3.57 (0.45) vs. 2.62 (0.24), P=0.021) and Matsuda index (7.7 (0.41) vs. 9.2 (0.4), P=0.001) significantly improved in the alendronate‐treated group. There was statistically significant more reductions in FPG (‐8.2 (8.63) mg/dl vs. ‐2.5 (14.26) mg/dl, P=0.002) and HbA1c (‐0.2 (0.23) % vs. ‐0.09 (0.26) %, P=0.015) were observed in alendronate‐treated group than placebo group during the study course, respectively. Conclusions Administration of 70 mg/week alendronate improves fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c and insulin indices in postmenopausal women

Degradation-driven protein level oscillation in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Generating robust, predictable perturbations in cellular protein levels will advance our understanding of protein function and enable the control of physiological outcomes in biotechnology applications. Timed periodic changes in protein levels play a critical role in the cell division cycle, cellular stress response, and development. Here we report the generation of robust protein level oscillations by controlling the protein degradation rate in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using a photo-sensitive degron and red fluorescent proteins as reporters, we show that under constitutive transcriptional induction, repeated triangular protein level oscillations as fast as 5-10 min-scale can be generated by modulating the protein degradation rate. Consistent with oscillations generated though transcriptional control, we observed a continuous decrease in the magnitude of oscillations as the input modulation frequency increased, indicating low-pass filtering of input perturbation. By using two red fluorescent proteins with distinct maturation times, we show that the oscillations in protein level is largely unaffected by delays originating from functional protein formation. Our study demonstrates the potential for repeated control of protein levels by controlling the protein degradation rate without altering the transcription rate