Adiponectin, Obesity, and Cancer

Biochemical studies of adiponectin gene polymorphism in patients with obesity in Egyptians

BACKGROUND

Adiponectin gene polymorphisms have recently been reported to be associated with obesity. In Egypt, obesity has expanded especially with the changing nourishment propensities and the inexorably inactive ways of life, with almost 70 percent of the Egyptian populations being obese.

AIM

To assess the relationship of the adiponectin gene (ADIPOQ) polymorphism in patients with Obesity in Egyptians.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

This study included 100 patients with obesity and 97 random controls.

RESULTS

Adiponectin rs1501299 polymorphism showed significant difference cases with different obesity grades where the T/T genotype was relatively higher in higher classes of obesity (Class II and III; (66.7% and 55.6% respectively, p = 000), which determines the susceptibility to obesity.

CONCLUSION

Adiponectin rs1501299 polymorphism might be a candidate gene, which determines the susceptibility to obesity. Larger studies are necessary to confirm these findings in various populations.

The effect of caloric restriction and fasting on cancer

Cancer is one of the most frequent causes of worldwide death and morbidity and is a major public health problem. Although, there are several widely used treatment methods including chemo-, immune- and radiotherapies, these mostly lack sufficient efficiency and induce toxicities in normal surrounding tissues. Thus, finding new approaches to mitigate side effects and potentially accelerate treatment is paramount. In line with this, increasing preclinical evidence indicates that caloric restriction (CR) and fasting might have anticancer effects by reducing tumor progression, enhancing death of cancer cells, and elevating the effectiveness and tolerability of chemo- and radiotherapies. Nonetheless, clinical studies assessing the potential of CR and fasting in cancer are scarce and inconsistent, and more investigations are still required to clarify their effect in different aspects of cancer treatment. In this review, we have summarized the findings of preclinical and clinical studies of CR and fasting with respect to efficacy and on the adverse effects of standard cancer treatments.