The lost correlation between heat shock protein 70 (HSPA1A) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 in patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuria

Co-differential genes between DKD and aging: implications for a diagnostic model of DKD

Objective

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a serious complication of diabetes mellitus (DM) that is closely related to aging. In this study, we found co-differential genes between DKD and aging and established a diagnostic model of DKD based on these genes.

Methods

Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in DKD were screened using GEO datasets. The intersection of the DEGs of DKD and aging-related genes revealed DKD and aging co-differential genes. Based on this, a genetic diagnostic model for DKD was constructed using LASSO regression. The characteristics of these genes were investigated using consensus clustering, WGCNA, functional enrichment, and immune cell infiltration. Finally, the expression of diagnostic model genes was analyzed using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) in DKD mice (model constructed by streptozotocin (STZ) injection and confirmed by tissue section staining).

Results

First, there were 159 common differential genes between DKD and aging, 15 of which were significant. These co-differential genes were involved in stress, glucolipid metabolism, and immunological functions. Second, a genetic diagnostic model (including IGF1, CETP, PCK1, FOS, and HSPA1A) was developed based on these genes. Validation of these model genes in scRNA-seq data revealed statistically significant variations in FOS, HSPA1A, and PCK1 gene expression between the early DKD and control groups. Validation of these model genes in the kidneys of DKD mice revealed that Igf1, Fos, Pck1, and Hspa1a had lower expression in DKD mice, with Igf1 expression being statistically significant.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that DKD and aging co-differential genes are significant in DKD diagnosis, providing a theoretical basis for novel research directions on DKD.

Eight Weeks of Vitamin C Supplementation Restores the Lost Correlation between Serum Leptin and C-reactive Protein (CRP) in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes; A Randomized, Double-blind, Parallel-group, Placebo-controlled Clinical Trial

OBJECTIVE

Inflammation is a well-described factor in the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), which has been a suspect in the alteration of correlations between CRP and leptin in patients with type 2 DM.

AIM

This study aimed to show the effect of vitamin C as an antioxidant on the correlation of the serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and leptin in patients with type 2 DM.

METHODS

We recruited 70 patients with longstanding T2DM and randomly assigned them into two groups; one received 500 mg/day of vitamin C, and the other received a placebo for eight weeks. Both groups were matched regarding baseline characteristics such as age, gender, weight, and diabetic medications.

RESULTS

Out of 70 individuals, 57 participants were left in the study. After eight weeks of follow-up, leptin level was significantly increased in the Vitamin C group (MD = 3.48 change = 24%, p-value = 0.001) but did not change in the placebo group. Other markers such as Fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c, Creatinine, uric acid, Urea, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, TG, AST, ALT, insulin, and CRP did not significantly change in both groups (p value > 0.05). The significant changes in the leptin level among the vitamin C group also remained after controlling for age, BMI, Blood pressure (BP), Triglyceride (TG), and cholesterol. Also, the correlation between serum CRP and leptin became significant in the vitamin C group after eight weeks of follow-up but not in the placebo group. (rs = 0.730, p < 0.001 vs. rs = 0.286, p-value = 0.266 in placebo group).

CONCLUSION

This study shows vitamin C can restore CRP-leptin correlation in patients with type 2 diabetes and increase serum leptin levels. More studies are needed to clarify the mechanism of this restoration.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

IRCT20160811029306N1.

The synergistic effect of traditional Chinese medicine prescription and rumen-protected γ-aminobutyric acid on beef cattle under heat stress

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription or rumen-protected GABA (RP-GABA) can effectively relieve the heat stress (HS) in cattle, but the joint effects of TCM and RP-GABA on HS in beef cattle are not fully clarified. To investigate the effects of TCM or/and RP-GABA on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, serum parameters and heat shock proteins (HSPs) expression in beef cattle under HS ambient. A total of 40 Jinjiang yellow cattle were randomly divided into four groups: (a) control group (basal diet, BD), (b) TCM group (BD+TCM), (c) GABA group (BD+RP-GABA) and (d) TCM+GABA group (BD+TCM plus RP-GABA). Results indicated that the average daily feed intake (ADFI) was significantly elevated in the TCM+GABA group (p < 0.05), whereas, average daily gain (ADG) was elevated (p < 0.05) in the group of TCM (38.5%), GABA (35.4%) and TCM+GABA (41.5%) compared with the control group. Meanwhile, TCM+GABA exhibited prominently more positive effects in terms of SOD, BUN, T-CHO, TG, HDL-C and HSP70 (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01) than the control and other treatment groups. Therefore, TCM or GABA can effectively moderate the HS response in beef cattle by ameliorating antioxidant capacity, serum parameters and HSPs expression, meanwhile, the combination of them exerts a synergistic effect on HS alleviation.

Absence of a positive correlation between CRP and leptin in rheumatoid arthritis

Aims

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a model of chronic inflammatory disease. In this study we evaluated the correlation of leptin and CRP in patients with RA and normal controls.

Main methods

A total of 75 patients with RA and 40 healthy adults were recruited in this case-control study. RA patients were categorized into high (DAS–28 > 3.2) and low activity (DAS ≤ 3.2) group according to their DAS-28 score.

Key findings

Leptin level was significantly correlated with CRP in healthy controls (r = 0.365; p < 0.05), but this correlation was lost in RA patients (r = 0.095, p = 0.41). Patients with RA had higher serum leptin levels compared to healthy controls (P < 0.01). No difference in serum leptin level was observed between patients with high and low activity disease. Also leptin was correlated with BMI in healthy controls (r = 0.326, p = 0.037). This correlation was not present in RA patients (r = 0.039, p = 0.756).

Significance

We observed that the physiologic correlation between leptin and CRP and BMI and CRP was not present RA patients. This is a new study reporting the lost correlation between leptin and CRP in RA patients.