Gene-alcohol interactions in the metabolic syndrome

TGF-β1 promotes the invasion and migration of papillary thyroid carcinoma cells by inhibiting the expression of lncRNA-NEF

Increased expression levels of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) are associated with metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), although the mechanisms involved remain unknown. The present study aimed to investigate these mechanisms. The results demonstrated that the expression levels of TGF-β1 mRNA were higher and those of lncRNA-NEF were lower in tumor tissues compared with in healthy tissues. High levels of TGF-β1 mRNA and low levels of lncRNA-NEF were also detected in the serum of patients with PTC compared with in healthy controls. Serum levels of TGF-β1 and lncRNA-NEF were significantly associated with lymph node metastasis. Furthermore, TGF-β1 promoted cell migration and invasion of PTC cell lines, but not the normal cell line, whereas lncRNA-NEF overexpression inhibited these phenomena. TGF-β1 also inhibited lncRNA-NEF expression in PTC cell lines, but not in the normal cell line. Conversely, lncRNA-NEF overexpression exhibited no effects on TGF-β1. In conclusion, the present study suggested that TGF-β1 may promote the invasion and migration of PTC cells by inhibiting the expression of lncRNA-NEF.

Alcohol intake

Alcohol consumption and its association with health or illness states are of great interest from the nutritional genomics point of view. This interest is centered not only on investigating the genetic variants that can modulate the effects of alcoholic beverages on different intermediate and final disease phenotypes (mainly cardiovascular diseases and cancer), but also on finding out how the genome influences the amount of alcohol consumed and consumption habits. This chapter reviews the latest findings on alcohol consumption trends, the methodological limitations in the analysis of alcohol consumption, and the main genes and polymorphisms related to alcohol intake, including the inconsistent results from genome-wide association studies (GWASs). It also reviews the effects of alcohol consumption on cardiovascular diseases and cancer and the studies analyzing the interactions between different genetic polymorphisms and alcohol in phenotypes related to these diseases, discussing the studies' advantages and limitations as well as future research perspectives.

Alcohol-drinking patterns and metabolic syndrome risk: the 2007 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Alcohol consumption has been known to be related to the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS). Although some studies have revealed that mild to moderate alcohol consumption reduces the risk of MS, most of these studies have focused the effect of alcohol consumption amount on MS. We examined the association between alcohol-drinking patterns and MS by using the alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) questionnaire to study 1,768 alcohol drinkers (847 men, 921 women) aged 20-75 years from Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2007. When compared with the subjects in the reference group (AUDIT score ≤ 7), the odds ratios (ORs, 95% confidence intervals [CIs]) for MS of subjects in the highest group (AUDIT score ≥ 16) were 3.92 (2.40-6.22) in men and 2.27 (0.87-5.89) in women after adjusting for confounding variables. Among the items of the AUDIT score, several alcohol-drinking patterns, including "drinking frequency," "usual drinking quantity," "frequency of high-risk drinking," "frequency of inability to stop drinking," "frequency of feeling guilty after drinking," and "frequency of inability to remember after drinking" were strongly associated with the prevalence of MS in men. In women, there were significant relationships between MS and "usual drinking quantity," "frequency of feeling guilty after drinking," and "frequency of inability to stop drinking." In summary, AUDIT score was strongly associated with MS in Korean adults, particularly in men. Accordingly, in addition to the amount of daily alcohol consumption, alcohol-drinking patterns should be addressed in the prevention and treatment of MS.

Alcohol consumption and cardiovascular risk: mechanisms of action and epidemiologic perspectives

An inverse association between moderate alcohol intake and cardiovascular risk, in particular coronary disease and ischemic stroke, has been demonstrated in many epidemiologic studies. In addition, several not primarily vascular diseases are also known to occur less frequently in moderate drinkers than in nondrinkers, whereas excess drinking is unquestionably harmful. As a consequence, strong concern exists on the possibility that at any dosage the benefit of alcohol could overcome its harmful effects. Alcohol affects several biochemical factors that have potential cardioprotective benefits, including lipids, platelet aggregation, fibrinogen, tissue-plasminogen activator, plasminogen-activator inhibitor and omega-3 fatty acids. Wine possibly acts through mechanisms that might provide additional cardiovascular benefits. Mechanisms supporting the protective effect of moderate alcohol intake against cardiovascular disease, and epidemiologic evidence concerning the relationship between alcohol dosing and vascular and all-cause mortality are discussed in this review.

Drinking habits and health in Northern Italian and American men

BACKGROUND AND AIM

The aim of this study was to investigate alcohol drinking habits in two male cohorts, one Italian and one American, and to investigate whether cardiovascular disease risk factors are related to different drinking patterns. Furthermore, socio-demographic characteristics were taken into account.

METHODS

The Italian sample was drawn from the National Alpines Association. A dietary questionnaire was sent to the members of this association as an additional supplement to their monthly magazine. Eleven thousand one hundred and thirty-four men, 18-94 years, from Northern Italy were included in this analysis. The American sample is part of the Western New York Health Study (WNYHS) including 1927 male participants.

RESULTS

In both populations, those who drank more than 4 drinks/day were the least educated and showed the highest percentage of current smokers; the highest prevalence of hypertension occurred in heavier drinkers and those who mostly drank without food. By contrast, lifetime abstainers exhibited the lowest percentage of hypertension and the highest level of serum cholesterol; in both populations the highest prevalence of diabetes was present in lighter drinkers.

CONCLUSIONS

The current study shows that drinking habits are quite different in the two countries and are basically linked with socio-demographic and behavioral variables and support the notion that excess volume of alcohol consumed, and drinking without food, are associated with a higher risk of hypertension and hyperlipidaemia, particularly for Italians.

Alcohol consumption and metabolic syndrome among Shanghai adults: A randomized multistage stratified cluster sampling investigation

AIM: To examine the relations of alcohol consumption to the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Shanghai adults.

METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of data from the randomized multistage stratified cluster sampling of Shanghai adults, who were evaluated for alcohol consumption and each component of metabolic syndrome, using the adapted U.S. National Cholesterol Education Program criteria. Current alcohol consumption was defined as more than once of alcohol drinking per month.

RESULTS: The study population consisted of 3953 participants (1524 men) with a mean age of 54.3 ± 12.1 years. Among them, 448 subjects (11.3%) were current alcohol drinkers, including 405 males and 43 females. After adjustment for age and sex, the prevalence of current alcohol drinking and metabolic syndrome in the general population of Shanghai was 13.0% and 15.3%, respectively. Compared with non drinkers, the prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia and hypertension was higher while the prevalence of abdominal obesity, low serum high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and diabetes mellitus was lower in subjects who consumed alcohol twice or more per month, with a trend toward reducing the prevalence of metabolic syndrome. Among the current alcohol drinkers, systolic blood pressure, HDL-C, fasting plasma glucose, and prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia tended to increase with increased alcohol consumption. However, low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol concentration, prevalence of abdominal obesity, low serum HDL-C and metabolic syndrome showed the tendency to decrease. Moreover, these statistically significant differences were independent of gender and age.

CONCLUSION: Current alcohol consumption is associated with a lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome irrespe-ctive of alcohol intake (g/d), and has a favorable influence on HDL-C, waist circumference, and possible diabetes mellitus. However, alcohol intake increases the likelihood of hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia and hyperglycemia. The clinical significance of these findings needs further investigation.