Association of Myeloperoxidase Gene Polymorphism With Iron Deficiency Anemia in Turkish Children.

This study was performed to investigate the gene polymorphisms of the myeloperoxidase (MPO) enzyme and to determine whether MPO gene polymorphisms influence the response to iron therapy in pediatric patients with iron deficiency anemia (IDA). In this case-control study, 50 Turkish children with IDA and 50 healthy controls were enrolled. Three MPO gene alleles were selected for genotyping in the study: GG, AG, and AA. The relationships of alleles with IDA were analyzed and compared in patients and controls. Pretreatment and posttreatment laboratory parameters and gene polymorphisms were compared in the patient group. There was a significant difference between patients with IDA and controls regarding genotype frequencies of the AA, GG, and AG alleles (P=0.005). However, the AG allele was found to be associated with variations in hemoglobin, red blood cell, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volumes, and mean corpuscular Hb concentrations levels. The frequency of AA, GG, and AG alleles of the MPO gene was potentially associated with changes in iron metabolism and the AG allele led to variations in various hemogram parameters.

The assessment of total antioxidant capacity and superoxide dismutase levels, and the possible role of manganese superoxide dismutase polymorphism in acromegaly.

Oxidative status is attributed to endothelial dysfunction and might be one of the key mechanisms of endothelial dysfunction in acromegaly. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of acromegaly on superoxide dismutase (SOD) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) levels, and the possible influence of human manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) polymorphism on these levels. 51 acromegaly patients and 57 age and sex matched healthy subjects were recruited to the study in Bezmialem Vakif University Hospital between 2011 and 2014. The median SOD and TAC levels were 42.7 (33-60) pg/mL and 1,313.7 (155-1,902) µM in acromegaly; and 46.3 (38-95) pg/mL and 1,607.3 (195-1,981) µM in healthy subjects (p < 0.001, p < 0.001). SOD levels were decreased in controlled and uncontrolled patients compared to healthy subjects (p = 0.05 and p = 0.002, respectively). Controlled and uncontrolled acromegaly displayed significantly decreased levels of TAC compared to healthy subjects (p < 0.05 and p < 0.001, respectively). SOD levels were not associated with MnSOD polymorphisms in acromegaly. In conclusion, this study showed that acromegaly was associated with decreased levels of SOD and TAC, and controlling the disease activity could not adequately improve these levels.

Inflammation and regulatory T cell genes are differentially expressed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of Parkinson's disease patients.

Our aim was to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and healthy controls by microarray technology and analysis of related molecular pathways by functional annotation. Thirty PD patients and 30 controls were enrolled. Agilent Human 8X60 K Oligo Microarray was used for gene level expression identification. Gene ontology and pathway enrichment analyses were used for functional annotation of DEGs. Protein-protein interaction analyses were performed with STRING. Expression levels of randomly selected DEGs were quantified by real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for validation. Flow cytometry was done to determine frequency of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in PBMC. A total of 361 DEGs (143 upregulated and 218 downregulated) were identified after GeneSpring analysis. DEGs were involved in 28 biological processes, 12 cellular components and 26 molecular functions. Pathway analyses demonstrated that upregulated genes mainly enriched in p53 (CASP3, TSC2, ATR, MDM4, CCNG1) and PI3K/Akt (IL2RA, IL4R, TSC2, VEGFA, PKN2, PIK3CA, ITGA4, BCL2L11) signaling pathways. TP53 and PIK3CA were identified as most significant hub proteins. Expression profiles obtained by RT-PCR were consistent with microarray findings. PD patients showed increased proportions of CD49d+ Tregs, which correlated with disability scores. Survival pathway genes were upregulated putatively to compensate neuronal degeneration. Bioinformatics analysis showed an association between survival and inflammation genes. Increased CD49d+ Treg ratios might signify the effort of the immune system to suppress ongoing neuroinflammation.