Trends in glycemic control, cardiovascular risk factors and chronic complications of type 2 diabetes, 2012-2016, in a healthcare area of Barcelona

Epidemiological Situation of High-Prevalence Non-Communicable Diseases in Spain: A Systematic Review

High-prevalence non-communicable diseases (HNCDs) are an ongoing global public health problem, posing a risk to the continuity of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The aim of this study is to describe the current situation in Spain regarding certain HNCDs, namely, ischaemic heart disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus and colorectal cancer, including their prevalence and incidence in recent years. A systematic review was conducted between October 2022 and February 2023 using the MEDLINE, ProQuest and Scopus databases. After an exhaustive search, a total of thirty-four articles were included, comprising fourteen articles on colorectal cancer, seven on ischaemic heart disease and thirteen on diabetes mellitus type 2. The main topics included risk factors, lifestyles, mortality and incidence, the importance of screening and patient empowerment. On analysing each disease, it can be gleaned that risk factors and lifestyle impact the incidence, prevalence and mortality of the diseases studied. In addition, responsible human behaviour, associated with lifestyle factors, is related to the occurrence of these three diseases.

Combining bioinformatics, network pharmacology and artificial intelligence to predict the mechanism of celastrol in the treatment of type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a common chronic disease with many serious complications. Celastrol can prevent and treat type 2 diabetes by reversing insulin resistance in a number of ways. However, the specific mechanisms by which celastrol prevents and treats T2D are not well understood. The aim of this study was to explore the key gene targets and potential signaling pathway mechanisms of celastrol for the treatment of T2D.

METHODS

GSE184050 was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus online database. Blood samples from patients and healthy individuals with T2D were analyzed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and a protein-protein interaction network (PPI) was constructed. Key gene analysis of DEGs was performed using the MCODE plugin in Cystoscope as well as the Hubba plugin, and intersections were taken to obtain hub genes, which were displayed using a Venn diagram. Enrichment analysis was then performed via the ClueGo plugin in Cytoscape and validated using Gene Set Enrichment Analysis. The therapeutic targets of celastrol were then analyzed by pharmacophore network pharmacology, intersected to identify the therapeutic targets of celastrol, enriched for all targets, and intersected to obtain the signaling pathways for celastrol treatment. The protein structures of the therapeutic targets were predicted using the artificial intelligence AlphaFold2. Finally, molecular docking was used to verify whether celastrol could be successfully docked to the predicted targets.

RESULTS

618 DEGs were obtained, and 9 hub genes for T2D were identified by the MCODE and Hubba plug-ins, including ADAMTS15, ADAMTS7, ADAMTSL1, SEMA5B, ADAMTS8, THBS2, HBB, HBD and HBG2. The DEG-enriched signaling pathways mainly included the ferroptosis and TGF-beta signaling pathways. A total of 228 target genes were annotated by pharmacophore target analysis, and the therapeutic targets were identified, including S100A11, RBP3, HBB, BMP7 and IQUB, and 9 therapeutic signaling pathways were obtained by an intersectional set. The protein structures of the therapeutic targets were successfully predicted by AlphaFold2, and docking was validated using molecular docking.

CONCLUSION

Celastrol may prevent and treat T2D through key target genes, such as HBB, as well as signaling pathways, such as the TGF-beta signaling pathway and type II diabetes mellitus.