The influence of six polymorphisms of uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) gene and childhood obesity: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is defined as a multifactorial disease, marked by excessive accumulation of body fat, responsible for compromising the individual's health over the years. The energy balance is essential for the proper functioning of the body, as the individual needs to earn and spend energy in a compensatory way. Mitochondrial Uncoupling Proteins (UCP) help in energy expenditure through heat release and genetic polymorphisms could be responsible for reducing energy consumption to release heat and consequently generate an excessive accumulation of fat in the body. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the potential association between six UCP3 polymorphisms, that have not yet been represented in ClinVar®, and pediatric obesity susceptibility. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted with 225 children from Central Brazil. The groups were subdivided into obese (123) and eutrophic (102) individuals. The polymorphisms rs15763, rs1685354, rs1800849, rs11235972, rs647126, and rs3781907 were determined by real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR). RESULTS: Biochemical and anthropometric evaluation of obese group showed higher levels of triglycerides, insulin resistance, and LDL-C and low level of HDL-C. Insulin resistance, age, sex, HDL-C, fasting glucose, triglyceride levels, and parents' BMI explained up to 50% of body mass deposition in the studied population. Additionally, obese mothers contribute 2 × more to the Z-BMI of their children than the fathers. The SNP rs647126 contributed to 20% to the risk of obesity in children and the SNP rs3781907 contribute to 10%. Mutant alleles of UCP3 increase the risk for triglycerides, total cholesterol, and HDL-C levels. The polymorphism rs3781907 is the only one that could not be a biomarker for obesity as the risk allele seem to be protective gains the increase in Z-BMI in our pediatric population. Haplotype analysis demonstrated two SNP blocks (rs15763, rs647126, and rs1685534) and (rs11235972 and rs1800849) that showed linkage disequilibrium, with LOD 76.3% and D' = 0.96 and LOD 57.4% and D' = 0.97, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The causality between UCP3 polymorphism and obesity were not detected. On the other hand, the studied polymorphism contributes to Z-BMI, HOMA-IR, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and HDL-C levels. Haplotypes are concordant with the obese phenotype and contribute minimally to the risk of obesity.

Genomic variations in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome and karyotypes without numerical or structural changes.

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is an onco-hematologic disease with distinct levels of peripheral blood cytopenias, dysplasias in cell differentiation and various forms of chromosomal and cytogenomic alterations. In this study, the Chromosomal Microarray Analysis (CMA) was performed in patients with primary MDS without numerical and/or structural chromosomal alterations in karyotypes. A total of 17 patients was evaluated by GTG banding and eight patients showed no numerical and/or structural alterations. Then, the CMA was carried out and identified gains and losses CNVs and long continuous stretches of homozygosity (LCSHs). They were mapped on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, X, and Y. Ninety-one genes that have already been implicated in molecular pathways important for cell viability were selected and in-silico expression analyses demonstrated 28 genes differentially expressed in mesenchymal stromal cells of patients. Alterations in these genes may be related to the inactivation of suppressor genes or the activation of oncogenes contributing to the evolution and malignization of MDS. CMA provided additional information in patients without visible changes in the karyotype and our findings could contribute with additional information to improve the prognostic and personalized stratification for patients.

Molecular Characterization of Koolen De Vries Syndrome in Two Girls with Idiopathic Intellectual Disability from Central Brazil.

Koolen de Vries syndrome (KDVS; MIM 610443) is a genomic disorder caused by a recurrent microdeletion derived from nonallelic homologous recombination mediated by flanking segmental duplications. Clinical manifestations of this syndrome are characterized by intellectual disability, hypotonia, a friendly behavior, distinctive facial features, and epilepsy. Herein, we report a case of 2 girls who revealed global developmental delay, mild facial dysmorphisms, friendly behavior, and epileptic seizure with a de novo 17q21.31 microdeletion detected by chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA). Conventional cytogenetics analysis by GTG-banding showed a female karyotype 46,XX for both girls. CMA revealed a microdeletion spanning approximately 500 kb in 17q21.31 in both girls, encompassing the following genes: CRHR1, MGC57346, CRHR1-IT1, MAPT-AS1, SPPL2C, MAPT, MAPT-IT1, STH, and KANSL1. Haploinsufficiency of one or more of these genes within the deleted region is the most probable cause of the probands' phenotype and is responsible for the phenotype seen in KDVS. CMA is a powerful diagnostic tool and an effective method to identify the de novo 17q21.31 microdeletion associated with KDVS in our probands.

Applicability of gene expression profile of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia at diagnosis and at the end of the induction phase of chemotherapy at a cancer hospital in the state of Goiás (Brazil).

The present study compared the gene expression pattern of some previously described genes at the time of diagnosis and after induction chemotherapy for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in patients submitted to Brazilian Childhood Leukemia Treatment Group (GBTLI) ALL-99 Protocol. Samples were obtained at the time of diagnosis from 16 patients with ALL and on the 28th day of induction chemotherapy the bone marrow samples were obtained from 12 children. The genes expression profiles in diagnostic and induction samples were analyzed by array-based qPCR and then related to the clinical and biological prognostic factors. The results showed significant associations (p ≤ 0.05) between gender and immunophenotype, immunophenotype and age, immunophenotype and risk group, presence of CD10 and RUNX1 expression, risk group, and immunophenotype. A significant positive correlation was observed between the expression levels of BAX and BCL2. There was a significant difference (p = 0.008) between the gene expression pattern at the time of diagnosis and after induction chemotherapy. The expression pattern of these genes after the induction phase of treatment approached the expression profile of the control group, indicating a good induction response in children treated according to the GBTLI ALL-99 protocol. The findings of the current research could be routinely useful for clinical practice and could assist in the discovery phase of medical applications.