Search results for " Progression"

Aging, longevity, inflammation, and cancer.

2005

Cancer rates increase sharply with age in both sexes, and the majority of cases of cancer occur in patients over the age of 65 years. However, the incidence and mortality for cancer level off around 85-90 years of age, followed by a plateau, or even a decline in the last decades of life. Therefore, it seems reasonable to conclude that centenarians are endowed with a peculiar resistance to cancer. Tumor progression is a complex process that depends on interactions between tumor and host cells. One aspect of the host response, the inflammatory response, is of particular interest because it includes the release of proinflammatory cytokines, some of which may promote tumor growth and hence infl…

Mutational analysis of 105 mucopolysaccharidosis type VI patients

2007

Mucopolysaccharidosis type VI (MPS VI; Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome) is a lysosomal storage disorder caused by mutations in the N-acetylgalactosamine-4-sulfatase (arylsulfatase B, ARSB) gene. ARSB is a lysosomal enzyme involved in the degradation of the glycosaminoglycans (GAG) dermatan and chondroitin sulfate. ARSB mutations reduce enzyme function and GAG degradation, causing lysosomal storage and urinary excretion of these partially degraded substrates. Disease onset and rate of progression is variable, producing a spectrum of clinical presentation. In this study, 105 MPS VI patients—representing about 10% of the world MPS VI population—were studied for molecular genetic and biochemical parame…

Myopia, the challenge of Ophthalmology and its worldwide “explosive epidemic”

2018

Long-Term Impact of Systolic Blood Pressure and Glycemia on the Development of Microalbuminuria in Essential Hypertension

2005

The objective was to assess the temporal impact of factors related to the development of microalbuminuria during the follow-up of young adult normoalbuminurics with high-normal blood pressure or at stage 1 of essential hypertension. Prospective follow-up was conducted on 245 normoalbuminuric hypertensive subjects (mean age 40.9 years; 134 men; blood pressure 139.7/88.6 mm Hg; body mass index 28.5 kg/m 2 ) never treated previously with antihypertensive drugs, with yearly urinary albumin excretion measurements, until the development of microalbuminuria. After enrollment, patients were placed on usual care including nonpharmacological treatment or with an antihypertensive drug regime to achie…

The transcription factor ZEB1 (deltaEF1) promotes tumour cell dedifferentiation by repressing master regulators of epithelial polarity.

2007

Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is implicated in the progression of primary tumours towards metastasis and is likely caused by a pathological activation of transcription factors regulating EMT in embryonic development. To analyse EMT-causing pathways in tumouri-genesis, we identified transcriptional targets of the E-cadherin repressor ZEB1 in invasive human cancer cells. We show that ZEB1 repressed multiple key determinants of epithelial differentiation and cell–cell adhesion, including the cell polarity genes Crumbs3, HUGL2 and Pals1-associated tight junction protein. ZEB1 associated with their endogenous promoters in vivo, and strongly repressed promotor activities in reporter …

Lung microenvironments and disease progression in fibrotic hypersensitivity pneumonitis

2022

Rationale: Fibrotic hypersensitivity pneumonitis (fHP) is an interstitial lung disease caused by sensitization to an inhaled allergen. Objectives: To identify the molecular determinants associated with progression of fibrosis. Methods: Nine fHP explant lungs and six unused donor lungs (as controls) were systematically sampled (4 samples/lung). According to microcomputed tomography measures, fHP cores were clustered into mild, moderate, and severe fibrosis groups. Gene expression profiles were assessed using weighted gene co-expression network analysis, xCell, gene ontology, and structure enrichment analysis. Gene expression of the prevailing molecular traits was also compared with idiopathi…

Expression of the obesity hormone leptin and its receptor correlates with hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha in human colorectal cancer.

2007

Background: The obesity hormone, leptin, has been found to play a role in development and proliferation of normal and malignant tissues. Leptin activity is mediated through the leptin receptor (ObR) that is often expressed in different human cancer cells. Previously, we found that the expression of leptin and ObR can be stimulated by hypoxia-mimetic agents. The aim of this study was to analyze the abundance of and relationships among leptin, ObR and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α, transcriptional regulator) in human colorectal cancer. Materials and methods: We investigated the expression of leptin, ObR and HIF-1 a in colorectal cancer specimens from 135 patients who underwent curative …

Non-invasive prediction of NAFLD severity: a comprehensive, independent validation of previously postulated serum microRNA biomarkers

2018

AbstractLiver biopsy is currently the only reliable method to establish nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) severity. However, this technique is invasive and occasionally associated with severe complications. Thus, non-invasive diagnostic markers for NAFLD are needed. Former studies have postulated 18 different serum microRNA biomarkers with altered levels in NAFLD patients. In the present study, we have re-examined the predictive value of these serum microRNAs and found that 9 of them (miR-34a, -192, -27b, -122, -22, -21, -197, -30c and -16) associated to NAFLD severity in our independent cohort. Moreover, miR-192, -27b, -22, -197 and -30c appeared specific for NAFLD, when compared wi…

Lysosomal cathepsins B and L and Stefin A blood levels in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and/or liver cirrhosis: potential clinical implicati…

1997

The serum levels of lysosomal cathepsin B and L and Stefin A, an intracellular inhibitor of these proteolytic enzymes, were determined in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and/or liver cirrhosis (LC) and correlated with some clinical and biochemical parameters of these diseases. Cathepsin B serum levels were increased in HCC and in LC patients as compared to normal subjects (p < 0.001). However no difference was observed between HCC and LC groups. Interestingly, a significant relationship was evidenced between cathepsin B serum content and the grade of severity of cirrhosis (r = 0.41; p < 0.001). Cathepsin L was significantly elevated only in sera of cancer patients as comp…

Interaction of alcohol intake and cofactors on the risk of cirrhosis.

2010

OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of the interaction between alcohol intake and cofactors [hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), body mass index] and coffee consumption on the risk of cirrhosis. DESIGN: Seven hundred and forty-nine consecutive patients with chronic liver disease referring to units for liver or alcohol diseases in Italy during a 6-months period. Teetotalers were excluded. The odds ratios (OR) for cirrhosis were evaluated using chronic hepatitis cases as the control group. RESULTS: An alcohol intake of more than 3 units/day resulted associated with the likelihood of cirrhosis both in males (OR 4.3; 95% CI=2.5-7.3) and in females (OR 5.7; 95% CI=2.3-14.5). A multiplicative int…