Circulating asprosin concentrations in individuals with new-onset type 2 diabetes and prediabetes.

AIMS: This research aimed to clarify the relationship between serum asprosin levels and the occurrence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in light of mixed findings about the role of asprosin in T2DM and the lack of studies on its effects on prediabetic conditions. METHODS: In this observational analysis the cohort included 252 adults aged22-69 recruitedfromJinan Central Hospital were categorized into three groups, normal glucose tolerance (NGT), impaired glucose regulation (IGR) and T2DM groups. Serum asprosin levels were measured using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Additionally, all participants underwent assessments of various anthropometric and biochemical markers. RESULTS: Analysis revealed a notable increase in serum asprosin levels among individuals with newly diagnosed T2DM, with IGR subjects also demonstrating slightly elevated asprosin levels compared to the healthy group. Further stratification by quartiles of asprosin levels revealed a progressive increase in the proportions of IGR + T2DM patients, highlighting a potential association between elevated asprosin and increased T2DM risk. The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis for the efficacy of asprosin in identifying IGR + T2DM yielded an area under curve (AUC) of 0.853 (95 % CI: 0.808-0.899), pointing a threshold value of 4.95 ng/ml for asprosin. CONCLUSIONS: This investigation revealed that individuals with prediabetes and those newly diagnosed with T2DM exhibit increased serum asprosin levels, suggesting that elevated asprosin concentrations are linked to early disturbances in glucose homeostasis.

Elevated Cathepsin K potentiates metastasis of epithelial ovarian cancer.

Cathepsin K, or CTSK, has been found to be involved in the peritoneal metastasis of ovarian carcinoma. However, the expression and clinicopathological significance of CTSK remains unknown in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of CTSK and its clinicopathological significance in EOC. CTSK expression was evaluated using immunohistochemistry in EOC tissue microarray. The expression of CTSK in EOC was displayed to be markedly higher than that of adjacent normal control. In addition, CSTK expression was shown to be remarkably associated with metastases and inferior overall prognosis of EOC. In vitro, Knock-down of CTSD was exhibited to be able to suppress migration and invasion in EOC cell lines OV-2008 but not proliferation in OV-2008. Together, our data showed that elevated CTSD in EOC can potentiate the metastasis of EOC cells, suggesting that targeting CTSD might be used as a novel therapeutic target for EOC.

Development of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification method for rapid detection of streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin B.

We developed a visual loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technique to detect the streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin B (speB) gene. Fifteen strains (from American Type Culture Collection or clinical isolates) were used to determine the specificity and sensitivity of the LAMP assay. Clinical samples were collected from 132 patients with suspected Streptococcus pyogenes (S. pyogenes) infection to verify the feasibility of the LAMP assay for detection of the speB gene. By using a set of five primers (a pair of outer primers, a pair of inner primers and one loop primer) targeting the speB gene, the amplification reaction was rapidly performed in a regular water bath under isothermal conditions at 63 °C for approximately 60 min. Only the two S. pyogenes strains showed positive results which were easily observed with the naked eye, and the other strains showed negative results. The detection limit of the LAMP assay was 0.01 ng/µl of template, showing higher sensitivity than conventional PCR (with a detection limit of 1.0 ng/µl). The detection rate of the speB gene in clinical samples was 71.21% and was consistent with the PCR results. The rapid detection of the speB gene by the LAMP assay is highly specific and sensitive, is simple to perform and cost-effective, and is expected to be a new reliable method for the rapid diagnosis of S. pyogenes infection, that is particularly suitable for rural or community hospitals in developing countries.