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Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Surgical operation is routinely applied to patients with CRC. An important part of postoperative care for patients is to assess the prognosis of patients, especially those with early-stage cancers. However, effective biomarkers for CRC prognosis remain inadequate. The purpose of this study was to assess the prognostic potential of Yes-associated protein (YAP) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in early-stage CRC., Methods: A total of 116 matched pairs of CRC tissues and adjacent normal mucosae as well as 73 cases of metastatic lymph nodes were analyzed., Results: The results show that CRC tissues exhibited higher YAP expression compared with the adjacent normal mucosae. Immunohistochemical analysis shows that YAP expression in the CRC or lymphatic metastatic tissues was clearly higher than that in normal mucosae ( P < 0.01), whereas that in CRC tissues with lymphatic metastasis was higher than that in tissues without lymphatic metastasis ( P < 0.05). YAP expression is associated with serosal invasion, lymphatic metastasis, lymph node ratio, remote metastasis, Dukes stage, and CEA levels ( P < 0.05). YAP and CEA are independent predictors of the survival of CRC patients ( P < 0.05 and P < 0.01). YAP predicted CRC prognosis primarily for patients with late-clinical-stage CRC ( P =0.002), but not for patients with early-clinical-stage CRC ( P =0.083). However, patients with high YAP and high CEA levels exhibited lower overall survival rates than those with low YAP expression in early-clinical-stage CRC ( P < 0.001)., Conclusion: High YAP levels in the cancer tissues combined with high plasma CEA levels are potential biomarkers for predicting CRC prognosis in the early clinical stage., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2019 Zihui Xu et al.)

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine any changes in adiponectin and omentin levels in GDM patients who delivered at term and preterm and to evaluate whether adipokines can be useful as a clinical biomarker to predict subsequent preterm delivery., Patients and Methods: The levels of adiponectin and omentin were measured in four groups: (1) women with GDM who delivered at term (n=63); (2) women with GDM who had the symptoms of threatened preterm labor and delivered at term (n=23); (3) women with GDM and spontaneous preterm birth (before 37 completed weeks of gestation) (n=19); (4) women with physiological pregnancy (n=55)., Results: In comparison with control group the median adiponectin concentrations were significantly lower in all GDM groups (10737 versus 8879; 7057; 6253 ng/ml, respectively; p<0.01). The median omentin concentrations were also significantly lower in all GDM groups in comparison with control group (469 versus 432; 357; 308 ng/ml, respectively; p<0.01). No significant differences in adiponectin and omentin levels between the GDM, preterm labor, and preterm birth groups were observed. However, there was a trend towards lower adiponectin and omentin levels in preterm birth group. The strong correlations between adiponectin and omentin levels were observed in all groups (R=0.801, p<0.001; R=0.824, p<0.001; R=0.705, p<0.001; R=0.764, respectively; p<0.001). In the univariable logistic regression model, significant correlation between omentin concentrations and preterm birth occurrence was found., Conclusions: Our findings suggest that omentin-1, rather than adiponectin, could be useful as a predictor of preterm birth in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus.

Objectives: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is closely associated with obesity, insulin resistance, and inflammation. Adiponectin, omentin, ghrelin, and visfatin are adipokines involved in insulin sensitivity or regulation of inflammatory disease. This study aims to clarify the relationship between OSA and associated adipokines., Patients and Methods: Thirty overweight male patients with severe OSA and twenty controls underwent standard diagnostic polysomnography (PSG), and 10 patients underwent overnight continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment. Blood samples were collected in the morning after PSG or CPAP procedures., Results: Among the investigated adipokines, only plasma omentin levels of patients with OSA were significantly lower than those of control subjects (442.94 ± 191.89 ng/ml versus 573.52±228.67 ng/ml, p=0.034) and levels did not change after CPAP treatment. In patients with OSA, omentin levels were positively correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) levels (r=0.378, p=0.007), adiponectin levels (r=0.709, p<0.001), percentage of sleep at the rapid eye movement (REM) stage (r=0.307, p=0.003), and average and minimum SpO 2 (p=0.041, 0.046, respectively) and negatively with hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP, r=-0.379, p=0.007) and apnea-hypopnea index (AHI, r=-0.315, p=0.026). However, plasma concentrations of adiponectin, ghrelin, and visfatin in patients with OSA did not significantly differ from those of the control or correlate with sleep parameters and CPAP treatment., Conclusions: Patients with OSA have decreased omentin levels, which are associated with sleep parameters, including AHI, SpO 2 , percentage of REM sleep, hsCRP, HDL, and adiponectin levels.

Obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) are growing problems among children and adolescents. There are no reports of changes in the activity of butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) in children and adolescents with metabolic syndrome especially after supplementation with extract from Aronia melanocarpa . Materials studied included plasma and erythrocytes isolated from peripheral blood of patients with MetS and healthy subjects. We have estimated the following parameters: acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) activity, lipid peroxidation and lipids levels in plasma, and erythrocytes membrane. In patients with MetS, a significant increase in AChE and BChE activity, higher LDL-cholesterol and triacylglycerol levels, and lower HDL-cholesterol level were observed. Supplementation with A. melanocarpa extract resulted in mild but statistically significant reduction of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triacylglycerol levels and caused an increase in HDL-cholesterol level and a decrease in lipid peroxidation in plasma patients with MetS. Additionally, a decrease in lipid peroxidation and cholesterol level and a decrease in AChE activity in the erythrocyte membranes after supplementation with A. melanocarpa were noted. Summarizing, an increase in AChE and BChE activity and disruption of lipid metabolism in patients with MetS were observed. After supplementation of MetS patients with A. melanocarpa extract, a decrease in AChE activity and oxidative stress was noted.

The increasing knowledge on the functions of gastric peptides and adipokines in the body allows the assumption of their major role linking the process of food intake, nutritional status, and body growth, largely through the regulation of glucose metabolism and insulin resistance. The aim of the study was the assessment of serum levels of selected gastric peptides and adipocytokines in children with type 1 diabetes, with respect to the disease duration. The study involved 80 children aged 4-18 years (M/F -37/43). Children with type 1 diabetes (n = 46) were compared to the control group (n = 34). The study group was divided into 4 subgroups: (I) patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes, after an episode of ketoacidosis (n = 10), (II) patients with type 1 diabetes of duration no longer than 5 years (n = 9), (III) patients with 5 to 10 years of DT1 (n = 20), and (IV) patients with type 1 diabetes of duration longer than 10 years (n = 7). The concentrations of gastric peptide and adipocytokines across all subgroups were lower than in the control group. The differences were statistically significant (p < 0.0001), which may be of importance in the development of the disease complications.

The study quantified the relative absolute PSCA level in relation to the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) level in the peripheral blood of 478 hormone-naive prostate cancer (PC) patients who underwent radical prostatectomy from 2005 to 2012 and evaluated its prognostic significance as a risk factor for predicting biochemical recurrence (BCR), compared to known parameters. Nested real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and gel electrophoresis detected PSCA levels and measured the PSCA/GAPDH ratio. Clinicopathological data from the institutional database were examined to determine the adequate cut-off level to predict postoperative BCR. A total of 110 patients had a positive PSCA result (23.0%) via RT-PCR (mean blood ratio 1.1 ± 0.4). The BCR was significantly higher in the PSCA-positive detection group (p = 0.009). A multivariate model was created to show that a PSCA/GAPDH ratio between 1.0 and 1.5 (HR 12.722), clinical T2c stage (HR 0.104), preoperative PSA (HR 1.225), extraprostatic capsule extension (HR 0.006), lymph node dissection (HR 16.437), and positive resection margin (HR 27.453) were significant predictive factors for BCR (p < 0.05). The study showed successful quantification of PSCA with its significance for BCR-related risk factor; however, further studies are needed to confirm its clinical predictive value.

Objectives: To evaluate blood monocyte subsets and functional monocyte properties in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) of short duration in the context of cardiovascular (CV) risk and disease activity., Methods: We studied conventional markers of CV risk, intima media thickness (IMT), and blood monocyte subsets in 27 patients aged 41 ± 10 years with RA of short duration (median 12 months) and 22 healthy controls. The RA subjects were divided into low (DAS28: 2.6-5.1) and high (DAS28 > 5.1) disease activity., Results: RA patients exhibited increased levels of intermediate (CD14(++)CD16(+)) monocytes with decreased CD45RA expression compared to controls, increased counts of classical (CD14(++)CD16(-)) monocytes, and decreased percentages of nonclassical (CD14(+)CD16(++)) monocytes. Patients with high disease activity had lower HLA DR expression on classical monocytes compared to low disease activity patients. There were no differences in monocyte subsets between subjects with DAS > 5.1 and DAS ≤ 5.1. There were no significant intergroup differences in IMT and the majority of classical CV risk factors., Conclusions: Patients with RA of short duration show alteration in peripheral blood monocyte subsets despite the fact that there is no evidence of subclinical atherosclerosis. Disease activity assessed with DAS28 was associated with impaired functional properties but not with a shift in monocyte subpopulations.