Endocrine Research最新文献

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and complications such as chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular symptoms pose a substantial public health burden. Increasing studies have shown that circular RNAs (circRNAs) regulate many gene expressions that are essential in diverse pathological and biological procedures. However, the roles of particular circRNAs in DM are unclear.

Methods: In the current investigation, endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were used to search for abnormal expression of circRNAs by using high-throughput sequencing under high glucose (HG) conditions. The regulatory mechanisms and targets were then studied through bioinformatics analysis, luciferase reporter analysis, angiogenic differentiation experiments, flow cytometry detection of apoptosis and RT-qPCR analysis.

Results: The circ-Astn1 expression in EPCs decreased after HG treatment. Overexpression or circ-Astn1 suppressed HG induced endothelial cell damage. MicroRNA (miR)-138-5p and SIRT5 were found to be the downstream targets of circ-Astn1 through luciferase reporter analysis. SIRT5 downregulation or miR-138-5p overexpression reversed circ-Astn1's protective effect against HG induced endothelial cell dysfunction, including apoptosis and abnormal vascular differentiation. Furthermore, circ-Astn1 overexpression promoted autophagy activation by increasing SIRT5 expression under HG conditions. Our findings suggest that circ-Astn1 mediated promotion of SIRT5 facilitates autophagy by sponging miR-138-5p.

Conlusion: Together, our findings show that the overexpression of circ-Astn1 suppresses HG induced endothelial cell damage by targeting miR-138-5p/SIRT5 axis.

Thyroid Eye Disease (TED) is an inflammatory autoimmune condition affecting the eyes, often associated with Graves' disease. Inflammation is important in TED, involving immune cells and orbital tissues. While inflammatory markers have been studied in other diseases, their role in TED is unclear. We included 734 participants from 5 eligible studies investigated associations between neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) and TED. Initial analysis found no significant differences in these markers between TED and control groups. However, sensitivity analysis excluding an outlier study revealed significant differences in NLR, PLR, and MLR between groups, suggesting the potential association between these inflammatory markers and TED. More research is needed, but these findings indicate complex TED pathogenesis and that inflammation may offer insights for TED diagnosis and management.

Background: The triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index serves as a convenient indicator of insulin resistance, which has been demonstrated to be associated with diabetic retinopathy(DR). However, the relationship between TyG-WHR, a novel index combining TyG with the central obesity indicator WHR, and retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes remains unclear. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the correlation between TyG-WHR and DR in adult patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 1702 patients with T2DM. Logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the associations between TyG-WHR and DR. Additionally, the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) was utilized to assess the predictive efficacy of TyG-WHR for DR.

Results: Patients in higher TyG-WHR quartiles demonstrated an increased presence of DR, and TyG-WHR increased with the severity of DR. Moreover, TyG-WHR remained significantly associated with a higher odds ratio (OR) for DR (OR 1.223, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.078-1.387, p < 0.05) after multivariate adjustment. Additionally, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis indicated that the optimal cutoff value for TyG-WHR in predicting DR presence was 8.8983, with a sensitivity of 61.00%, specificity of 48.50%, and area under the curve (AUC) of 0.555.

Conclusions: In patients with T2DM, TyG-WHR was significantly elevated in those with DR and independently associated with an increased risk of DR presence in Chinese patients. This implies that TyG-WHR could potentially serve as a valuable and dependable biomarker for DR, underscoring the importance of giving greater consideration to T2DM patients with elevated TyG-WHR to effectively prevent and mitigate the onset of DR and associated adverse health outcomes.

Background: As the high-risk stage of diabetes, the role of prediabetes in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. To address this knowledge gap, we undertook a meta-analysis to investigate the potential association between the prediabetic stage and HCC.

Methods: In this study, two independent investigators conducted a comprehensive search for relevant articles published up until May 2023 in several databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Medline, EMBASE, and Google Scholar. The results were then summarized using STATA 12.0 software.

Results: Our analysis included a total of 6 cohort studies involving 1,490,752 participants, as well as 1 case-control study with 220 participants. The research aimed to examine the association between prediabetes and the risk of HCC. Our meta-analysis revealed that prediabetes was significantly associated with an elevated risk of HCC (odds ratio (OR)/relative risk (RR) = 1.25, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06 to 1.48, I² = 57.2%, p = 0.012), using a random-effects model. Moreover, four cohort studies, encompassing 1,362,847 participants, explored the relationship between prediabetes and HCC mortality. The meta-analysis showed that prediabetes was associated with a higher mortality rate of HCC, also utilizing a random-effects model (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.36, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.81, I² = 55.8%, p = 0.060).

Conclusions: Overall, our findings highlight a significant association between prediabetes and an increased risk of HCC and suggest that prediabetes may also contribute to higher mortality rates among HCC patients.

Introduction: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common risk factor for sarcopenia. However, whether sarcopenia increases the risk of CKD remains unclear. To investigate the longitudinal and causal associations between possible sarcopenia and CKD, this study was performed.

Methods: Possible sarcopenia was defined according to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia in 2019. Participants aged ≥ 40 years were recruited from the baseline survey of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study and followed up for four years. Binary logistic regression was used to evaluate the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between possible sarcopenia, low muscle strength, low physical performance and CKD. Propensity score matching was used to balance the intergroup differences. Subgroup and interactive analyses were adopted to identify potential interactive effects. Mendelian Randomization analysis was used to assess the causal association between appendicular lean mass (ALM) and CKD.

Results: After data cleansing, a total of 7296 participants were included in the baseline survey. In the cross-sectional analyses, the odds ratios (ORs) of prevalent CKD were 1.50 (95% CI = 1.23-1.84, p < 0.001) for possible sarcopenia, 1.37 (95% CI = 1.10-1.70, p < 0.01) for low muscle strength and 1.42 (95% CI = 1.16-1.74, p < 0.001) for low physical performance in the full models. No significant interaction effects of covariates were detected (all P for interaction > 0.05). After four years of follow-up, an increased risk of incident CKD was also observed in participants with possible sarcopenia (OR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.13-2.44, p = 0.010) and low physical performance (OR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.16-2.45, p = 0.006), but not in participants with low muscle strength (OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 0.75-1.88, p = 0.469). In the Mendelian Randomization analysis, the inverse variance weighted estimator showed that a 1-standard deviation increase of genetically predicted ALM was associated with a lower risk of CKD (OR = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.85-0.99, p = 0.035). All the sensitivity analyses supported the main findings.

Conclusions: Possible sarcopenia is an independent risk factor for CKD and may serve as a predictor of CKD for early identification and intervention.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the effects of in-hospital exercise rehabilitation on glucose and lipid metabolism and healthy physical fitness in middle-aged and elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) combined with sarcopenia, and to provide a reference for the effective implementation of exercise rehabilitation for middle-aged and elderly patients with T2DM combined with sarcopenia in healthcare institutions.

Methods: This study retrospectively included 122 patients with T2DM combined with sarcopenia treated at the General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University from August 2017 to August 2020 and randomly divided into a control group and an experimental group. The control group was given conventional treatment and the experimental group was given exercise rehabilitation in the hospital for 12 weeks to compare the indexes related to glucose and lipid metabolism and healthy fitness in the two groups.

Results: After the intervention, the experimental group showed significant decreases in fasting blood glucose (FBG), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density cholesterol (LDL-C) and body fat percentage (p < 0.05), while high-density cholesterol (HDL-C), grip strength, lower limb extension, lower limb flexion, peak oxygen uptake were significantly higher (p < 0.05) and were more significant at 12 weeks compared to the 6-week intervention (p < 0.05). However, there were no significant changes in any of the glucose metabolism indicators in the control group before and after the intervention. A two-way repeated measures ANOVA showed that at control baseline levels, HbA1c decreased significantly in the experimental group after both 6 and 12 weeks of intervention compared to the control group (p < 0.05). After 6 weeks of intervention, the experimental group showed a significant decrease in body fat percentage and a significant increase in grip strength. After 12 weeks of intervention, the experimental group showed an increase in glycemic control from 33.3% to 73.3%, a significant decrease in body fat percentage and a significant increase in grip strength, lower limb extension and lower limb flexion strength and peak oxygen uptake.

Conclusion: In-hospital exercise rehabilitation can effectively improve the glycemic and lipid profiles of patients with T2DM combined with sarcopenia and enhance their health fitness, with good clinical rehabilitation effects.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum α-Klotho levels and insulin resistance (IR), a precursor to type 2 diabetes.

Methods: The study analyzed data from 4,758 adult participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) spanning from 2007 to 2016. The relationship between α-Klotho concentration and IR was assessed using the Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) and odds ratios (OR) derived from logistic regression models.

Results: Results showed that every 1-ln increase in α-Klotho concentration raised the HOMA-IR value by 0.55 (95% confidence interval 0.35-0.74) and the odds of IR by 64% (odds ratio 1.64; 95% confidence interval 1.28-2.1). The odds of IR was 40% greater in highest tertile than in the lowest tertile.

Conclusion: The findings of this study underscore a significant correlation between increased serum α-Klotho levels and the prevalence of IR.