Annals of medicine
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Parkinson disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer disease with a lifetime risk in the UK population of almost 5%. An association between PD and Gaucher disease (GD) derived from the observation that GD patients and their heterozygous carrier relatives were at increased risk of PD. GD is an autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disorder caused by homozygous mutations in the gene encoding glucocerebrosidase (GBA). ⋯ GBA mutations result in a phenotype that is virtually indistinguishable clinically, pharmacologically, and pathologically from sporadic PD, except GBA mutations result in a slightly earlier age of onset and more frequent cognitive impairment among PD patients. The mechanisms by which GBA mutations result in PD are not yet understood. Both reduced glucocerebrosidase enzyme (GCase) activity with lysosomal dysfunction, and unfolded protein response (UPR) with endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD) and stress are considered contributory.
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Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) associate with increased oxidative stress. Malondialdehyde acetaldehyde (MAA) adducts have been suggested to be one of the antigenic epitopes in MDA-LDL responsible for the antibody recognition. Our aim was to investigate the associations between plasma IgA antibodies to MAA-LDL, inflammatory markers, adipokines, obesity, and T2D. ⋯ T2D subjects had increased IgA to MAA-LDL compared to subjects with normal glucose metabolism. The data suggest that the associations between IgA to MAA-LDL and markers of glucose metabolism were independent of TNF-α but dependent on components of the metabolic syndrome.
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Resetting of the circadian clocks involves the heat shock pathway. Cryptochromes as the actual repressors take care of circadian alignment, and in addition they link the circadian clocks to temperature responses, metabolic homeostasis, and sleep homeostasis. In contrast, circadian misalignment redistributes rapid-eye-movement sleep and has ramifications for the insulin pathway, inflammation, weight control, and mood. Here, the second half of the night and the actions of cryptochromes are suggested to be a critical period and a key mechanism, respectively.
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Prediction of prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is difficult. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of serum MMP-8, -9, -13, and TIMP-1 in patients with HCC. ⋯ Our results suggest that serum MMP-8, TIMP-1, and the ratio of MMP-9/TIMP-1 might be useful adjuncts as predictors of prognosis in patients with HCC.
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To describe the relationship of plasma apelin levels with blood pressure in a coastal Chinese population. ⋯ A negative correlation between plasma apelin levels and blood pressure was found in this 1000-population-based epidemiological study. Apelin may become a potential therapeutic target of anti-hypertensive treatment.