25-Hydroxyvitamin D Serum Levels Linked to Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs2228570, rs2282679, rs10741657) in Skeletal Muscle Aging in Institutionalized Elderly Men Not Supplemented with Vitamin D.

Sarcopenia (Sp) is the loss of skeletal muscle mass associated with aging that results in an involution of muscle function and strength. Vitamin D deficiency is a common health problem worldwide, especially among the elderly, and hypovitaminosis D leads to musculoskeletal disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact and presence of a possible linkage between Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) CYP2R1 (rs10741657), GC (rs2282679), and VDR (rs2228570), serum 25-OH/D concentrations and the link with the degree of sarcopenia in 19 institutionalized elderly men not supplemented with vitamin D. Levels of 25-OH vitamin D were quantified with a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit and 3 SNPs were genotyped with KASPar assays. Significant differences in 25-OH/D concentration were determined between the bi-allelic combinations of rs228679 and rs228570. We detected statistically significant weak positive correlations between the AA (rs10741657 and rs228570) and TT (rs228679) and alleles and 25-OH/D and the probability of having higher 25-OH/D concentrations was 2- to 3-fold higher. However, the GG alleles of the 3 SNPs showed that the probability of having optimal 25-0H/D concentrations decreases by 32% for rs10741657, 38% for rs228679, and 74% for rs228570, showing a strong negative correlation between the degree of sarcopenia and 25-OH/D levels. Allelic variations in CYP2R1 (rs10741657), GC (rs2282679), and VDR (rs10741657) affect vitamin D levels and decisively influence the degree of sarcopenia in institutionalized elderly people.

Clinical Perspective and Translational Oncology of Liquid Biopsy.

The term liquid biopsy (LB) refers to the study of circulating tumor cells, circulating tumors nucleic acids free of cells or contained in exosomes, and information about platelets associated with tumors. LB can be performed in different biofluids and allows the limitations of tissue biopsy to be overcome offering possibilities of tumor identification reflecting in real time tumor heterogeneity. In addition, LB allows screening and early detection of cancer, real-time monitoring of therapy, stratification and therapeutic intervention, a therapeutic target and resistance mechanism, and a risk of metastatic relapse. Currently, LB has been shown to be effective for its application in different types of tumors including lung, colorectal, prostate, melanoma, breast and pancreatic cancer, by the determination and identification of biomarkers that with a high probability have the potential to change the way in which medical oncology could predict the course of the disease. These biomarkers make it possible to capture the heterogeneity of the cancer, monitor its clonal evolution, indicate new treatments or retreatments and evaluate the responses to different evolutionary and/or therapeutic pressures in the cancer disease.

High-resolution genome-wide analysis of chromosomal alterations in elastofibroma.

Elastofibroma is a rare, benign fibrous proliferation that most commonly occur in periscapular soft tissues and is characterized by accumulated elastic fibers. Although the lesion is generally regarded as a reactive process, an unusual fibroblastic pseudotumor or as a fibroelastic tumor-like lesion, its etiology remains unknown. Cytogenetic studies in these lesions detected chromosomal instability and some recurrent clonal chromosomal changes, which raised the possibility that the lesion represents a neoplastic process. Here, we report the genomic alterations detected by array-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) and by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) in two cases of elastofibroma. Both cases showed losses on 1p, 13q, 19p, and 22q by aCGH. In addition, deletion of CASR (3q21), GSTP1 (11q13), BRCA2 (13q12) and gains on APC (5q21) and PAH (12q23) were observed by MLPA in both samples. Genomic screening studies of this fibrous proliferation may lead to identify chromosomal regions containing genes involved in the development of elastofibromas.