Search results for "bioinformatics"
showing 10 items of 1632 documents
Etiology of burning mouth syndrome : a review and update
2010
Introduction: Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is characterized by an oral burning sensation in the absence of any organic disorders of the oral cavity. Although the cause of BMS is not known, a complex association of biological and psychological factors has been identified, suggesting the existence of a multifactorial etiology. Material and Method: A PubMed/Medline search was used to identify articles describing the different hypotheses regarding the etiology of BMS, as well as the psychological and anatomical data upon which such hypotheses are fundamented. Results: A review and update was made of the different hypotheses relating to the etiology of BMS (psychogenic factors, hormone disorders…
Insulin resistance and polycystic ovary syndrome.
2008
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders in humans, affecting approximately 7-8% of women of reproductive age. Despite the criteria adopted, PCOS is considered to be a predominantly hyperandrogenetic syndrome and the evaluation of metabolic parameters and insulin sensitivity is not mandatory. Most women with PCOS also exhibit features of the metabolic syndrome, including insulin resistance, obesity and dyslipidaemia. While the association with type 2 diabetes is well established, whether the incidence of cardiovascular disease is increased in women with PCOS remains unclear. Acknowledging the strong impact of insulin-resistance in the genesis of PCOS co…
Mechanisms inactivating the gene for E-cadherin in sporadic gastric carcinomas
2006
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause for elevated liver enzymes in the developed nations. Beyond prevention programs which are of particular interest because of the increasing number of overweight children, treatment should be focussed on the most important risk factors, obesity and insulin resistance. As a consequence of elucidating the pathomechanisms of NAFLD, the number of potential therapeutic options increased. However, many studies investigating the therapeutic effect show shortcomings in at least one of the following points: lack of a serial liver biopsy, short term of treatment and limited number of included patients. The second generation insulin sensi…
Genetic variants of ANP and cardiometabolic protection: from populations to novel therapeutics
2013
Background The cardiac hormone atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) induces natriuresis, vasodilation and inhibits aldosterone through the activation of the guanylyl cyclase A receptor (GC-A) and the second messenger cGMP. ANP possesses also metabolic properties enhancing lipolysis and release of the adipokine adiponectin. Previous studies in general populations reported that the minor G allele of the ANP genetic variant rs5068 is associated with increased circulating levels of ANP and B-type natriuretic peptide, lower blood pressure (BP), and reduced risk of hypertension. We recently reported that in the general population from Olmsted County, MN, USA the G allele of rs5068 is associated not o…
The search for novel avenues for the therapy and prevention of Alzheimer's disease.
2006
The prevention and therapy of neurodegenerative disorders in the elderly is one of the greatest challenges facing molecular medicine today. Alzheimer's is an excellent example of a disease being studied by many groups worldwide. Indeed, while many molecular details of this disorder have been elucidated in the last two decades, there are still no strictly causal therapies available. While certain symptomatic pharmacological treatments are frequently employed, current molecular medicine research is focused on central Alzheimer-associated biochemical changes to find the key switch that turns the detrimental Alzheimer process on. Although amyloid beta proteins and tau proteins are the focus of …
Clinical implications ofCYP3Apolymorphisms
2006
Due to their enormous substrate spectrum CYP3A4, -3A5 and -3A7 constitute the most important drug-metabolising enzyme subfamily in humans. CYP3As are expressed predominantly, but not exclusively, in the liver and intestine, where they participate in the metabolism of 45 - 60% of currently used drugs and many other compounds such as steroids and carcinogens. CYP3A expression and activity vary interindividually due to a combination of genetic and nongenetic factors such as hormone and health status, and the impact of environmental stimuli. Over the past several years, genetic determinants have been identified for much of the variable expression of CYP3A5 and -3A7, but not for CYP3A4. Using th…
The Potential Use of Resveratrol for Cancer Prevention.
2019
In addition to the traditional treatments of cancer and cancer prevention, the use of natural compounds, especially those found in food, should be considered. To clarify if resveratrol has the potential for cancer prevention and the possibility of use in therapy, the following must be taken into account: data from epidemiology, clinical protocol (case and control), preclinical studies (lab animals), use of established cell lines as models of cancer cells, test tube assays (enzymes activities), and requirements of nanotechnologies in order to discover new drugs to fight cancer. From this perspective and future expected advances, more information is needed such as improved efficacy, methods o…
The rodent tibia fracture model: A critical review and comparison with the complex regional pain syndrome literature
2018
Abstract Distal limb fracture is the most common cause of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), thus the rodent tibia fracture model (TFM) was developed to study CRPS pathogenesis. This comprehensive review summarizes the published TFM research and compares these experimental results with the CRPS literature. The TFM generated spontaneous and evoked pain behaviors, inflammatory symptoms (edema, warmth), and trophic changes (skin thickening, osteoporosis) resembling symptoms in early CRPS. Neuropeptides, inflammatory cytokines, and nerve growth factor (NGF) have been linked to pain behaviors, inflammation, and trophic changes in the TFM model and proliferating keratinocytes were identified …
Motor imagery and cortico-spinal excitability: A review
2016
International audience; Motor imagery (MI) has received a lot of interest during the last decades as its chronic or acute use has demonstrated several effects on improving sport performances or skills. The development of neuroimagery techniques also helped further our understanding of the neural correlates underlying MI. While some authors showed that MI, motor execution and action observation activated similar motor cortical regions, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies brought great insights on the role of the primary motor cortex and on the activation of the cortico-spinal pathway during MI. After defining MI and describing the TMS technique, a short report of MI activities on…
Frequency of polymorphisms of signal peptide of TGF-beta1 and -1082G/A SNP at the promoter region of Il-10 gene in patients with carotid stenosis
2006
The role of inflammation in atherosclerosis is well recognized. We have evaluated the allele frequencies of the +869T/C and +915G/C polymorphisms (SNPs) at the TGF-beta1 gene and -1082G/A SNP at IL-10 promoter sequence, two well-known immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory cytokines, in patients with carotid stenosis. Our data suggest a lack of association between these SNPs and the susceptibility to atherosclerosis although other reports have demonstrated this association. These results may be due to the pleiotropic effects of the cytokines and/or differences in haplotype combination that should be investigated to elucidate the role of TGF-beta1 and IL-10 polymorphisms in atherosclerosis.