Cardiovascular Risk Predictors High Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein and Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 in Women with Lean Phenotype of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: A Prospective Case-Control Study.

Objective Accumulating evidence suggests increased cardiovascular risk in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) due to a cluster of factors, such as obesity, lipid abnormalities, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and hypertension. Markers such as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) can provide an adjunctive method for the assessment of cardiovascular risk and can indicate future coronary heart diseases in women with lean PCOS. Materials and Methods In this prospective case-control study, women clinically diagnosed with PCOS ( n = 25) with normal body mass index (BMI) and age and BMI-matched healthy controls ( n = 75) were enrolled. The quantitative data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD). Unpaired Student's t -test was used to compare the values (PCOS vs. controls) and Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to elucidate the relationship between the variables. Results The mean level of fasting blood sugar, serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), prolactin (PRL), hs-CRP, and PAI-1 were significantly increased in PCOS patients ( p < 0.000) compared with the control patients. Of the reported cases, 54.16% had hs-CRP levels greater than 3 mg/L. When the cases were further divided into normal ( n = 20) and IGT ( n = 5), hs-CRP values were significantly higher in IGT group as compared with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) group. On bivariate correlation analysis, hs-CRP had significant correlations with PAI-1 ( r = 0.41, p < 0.000), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR; r = 0.23, p = 0.02), fasting blood sugar (FBS; r = 0.26, p = 0.009), LDL ( r = 0.20, p = 0.03), TSH ( r = 0.42, p < 0.000), and LH-to-FSH ratio ( r = 0.24, p = 0.01). Conclusion Women with lean phenotype of PCOS suffer from many metabolic abnormalities such as abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, hyperandrogenemia, and insulin resistance. The findings of the study suggest that environment of ongoing low-grade inflammation due to infiltration further exacerbates the metabolic derangements and cardiovascular risk. The investigations as hs-CRP and PAI-1 will help in early identification, diagnosis, and management of cardiovascular diseases associated with lean type of PCOS. These markers can prove to be beneficial in monitoring any unfavorable changes in cardiometabolic profile of such patients.

Depleting deubiquitinating enzymes promotes apoptosis in glioma cell line via RNA binding proteins SF2/ASF1.

USP5 and USP8 (Deubiquitinating enzyme) are highly overexpressed and more recognized as poor prognosis marker in various cancers. Depleting USP5 or USP8 to assess the synergism with proteasome inhibitor (Bortezomib) were measured. Furthermore, in present finding USP5 cooperates hnRNPA1 & USP8 cooperate SF2/ASF1, therefore gain in expression of either hnRNPA1 or SF2/ASF1 is sufficient to promote cell survival. On the other side, apoptosis markers were more pronounced in U87 or T98G cells devoid of either USP5 or USP8. However, apparent increase in SF2/ASF1 in absence of USP5, providing resistant factor is new. Antiapoptotic activity due to rise in SF2/ASF1 was validated after co-knock down of SF2/ASF1 in addition to USP5 induces more apoptosis comparing to individual knock down of USP5 or SF2/ASF1. This reveals SF2/ASF1 (RNA binding protein) delayed the apoptotic effect due to loss of USP5, lends ubiquitination of hnRNPA1. In presence of USP5, PI3 kinase inhibition promotes even more interaction between USP5 and hnRNPA1, thereby stabilizes hnRNPA1 in U87MG. In that way hnRNPA1 and SF2/ASF1 impart oncogenic activity. In conclusion, siRNA based strategy against USP5 is not enough to inhibit glioma, moreover targeting additionally SF2/ASF1 by knocking down USP8 is suitably more effective to deal with glioma tumour reoccurrence by indirectly targeting both SF2/ASF1 and hnRNPA1 oncogene.

An aptasensor for rapid and sensitive detection of estrogen receptor alpha in human breast cancer.

The analysis of estrogen receptor (ER) expression in breast carcinomas plays a crucial role in determining the endocrine responsiveness of tumors for systemic adjuvant therapy. Conventionally, the ER levels in breast carcinomas had been detected using the dextran-coated charcoal assay and radioimmunoassay, which are now substituted with safer and economic antibody-based assays such as immunohistochemistry (IHC) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Despite a gold (Au) standard method, the IHC has been criticized for factors such as tissue fixation, antibody selection, and threshold staining for result interpretation that could falsify test accuracy and reproducibility. The quest for alternative methods of ER quantification in tissue samples paved the way for aptamer-based diagnostics. Previously, we have isolated a DNA aptamer against human ER alpha (ERα) using an in vitro evolution system. In this study, we developed an electrochemical sensor using the 76-nucleotide DNA ERα- aptamer for rapid, precise, and cost-effective detection of ERα expression in human breast cancer patients. The aptasensor was constructed by covalently immobilizing the thiolated ERα- aptamer onto a screen-printed Au electrode. Construction of aptasensors was confirmed through atomic force microscopy and differential pulse voltammetry measurements. A detection limit of 0.001 ng/ml was calculated for full-length ERα (66.2 kDa) in a detection time of 10 min. Analysis of the cancerous breast tissue samples using the ELISA and aptasensor methods enabled distinctive classification of samples into the categories of ER -ve, weak ER +ve, and strong ER +ve samples. The current change of this aptasensor lies within 5% after a storage of 60 days at 4°C. Further studies on a reasonably large sample size are required to realize the clinical potential of the sensor.

Biobanking initiatives to develop a national liver disease biobank facility in India.

AIM: India has a high hepatobiliary disease burden, yet very little research has been done in this field. A major roadblock in the translational research is the unavailability of quality biosamples with standardized clinical annotations. Having a national level biobank facility can circumvent the problem. The Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences being a premier liver institute, undertook the initiative to establish the national liver disease biobank. METHODOLOGY: We conducted a survey among the potential users of biobank resources. Furthermore, a detailed proposal of the model for a national level liver disease biobank was submitted to a funding agency. CONCLUSION: Establishment of a national biobank facility for liver disease will be a major step towards revolutionizing liver-related clinical and basic research as well as personalized medicine in India.

Reduced graphene oxide modified smart conducting paper for cancer biosensor.

We report results of the studies relating to the fabrication of a paper based sensor comprising of poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) ( PEDOT: PSS) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) composite. The effect of various solvents like methanol, ethylene glycol and H2SO4 on the electrical conductivity of PEDOT: PSS coated Whatman paper has been investigated. The conductivity of this solution processed conducting paper significantly increases from ~1.16×10(-4) S cm(-1) up to ~3.57×10(-2) S cm(-1) (~300 times) on treatment with ethylene glycol. The observed significant increase in electrical conductivity is due to conformational rearrangement in the polymer and is due to strong non-covalent cooperative interaction between PEDOT and the cellulose molecules. Further, incorporation of RGO into the conducting paper results in improved electrochemical performance and signal stability. This paper electrode is a promising alternative over the expensive conventional electrodes (ITO, gold and glassy carbon), that are known to have limited application in smart point-of-care (POC) devices. This low cost, flexible and environment friendly conducting paper based biosensor utilized for cancer biomarker (carcinoembryonic antigen, CEA) detection reveals high sensitivity of 25.8 µA ng(-1) mL cm(-2) in the physiological range, 1-10 ng mL(-1).

Clopidogrel resistance in North Indian patients of coronary artery disease and lack of its association with platelet ADP receptors P2Y1 and P2Y12 gene polymorphisms.

Aspirin and Clopidogrel are used in prophylaxis of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention and long-term prevention of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. Clopidogrel resistance has been attributed to P2Y1 and P2Y12 adenosine diphosphate (ADP) receptor polymorphisms. This study enrolled 100 patients of coronary artery disease (CAD) who were on the maintenance dose of clopidogrel (75 mg OD) with or without aspirin. In addition, 10 received loading dose (300 mg) prior to percutaneous coronary intervention. Relevant clinical and drug history were elicited. ADP-induced platelet aggregation study and PCR-RFLP for P2Y1 (1622A > G) and P2Y12 (i-T744C) polymorphisms were performed. Two groups of controls were used for defining cut-off for platelet aggregation response. Follow-up data, wherever available was recorded. The most common pattern of aggregation response was disaggregation, either complete (46.4%) or partial (53.6%). A frequency of 13% clopidogrel non-responders and 19% semi-responders was found. All the cases were H1/H1 haplotype for P2Y12 gene polymorphism and 28 (29.2%) patients carried P2Y1 1622A > G (21(21.9%) AG and 7(7.3%) GG) gene polymorphism, the frequency being greater in clopidogrel responders compared to semi/non-responders but difference was not statistically significant. There was no statistically significant difference between responders and semi/non-responders in terms of the history of risk factor for CAD, concurrent atorvastatin use or past history of an acute vascular event. On follow up, the two patients who developed myocardial infarction/acute coronary syndromes (MI/ACS) were clopidogrel semi- and non-responder, respectively. Variability in clopidogrel response with 13% non-responders and 19% semi-responders was seen in this study with adverse outcome (MI/ACS) on follow up seen in two patients. Hence, poor response to clopidogrel may be related to increased likelihood of adverse long-term coronary event that may benefit from additional or alternative anti-platelet therapy. Clopidogrel resistance was not associated with ADP receptor P2Y1 and P2Y12 gene polymorphisms. Hence, it is postulated that clopidogrel resistance in CAD patients is multifactorial and not caused by single-gene polymorphisms.

Thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor gene polymorphisms are associated with antigenic levels in the Asian-Indian population but may not be a risk for stroke.

Thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor [carboxypeptidase B2 (plasma), CPB2] is a basic carboxypeptidase, which inhibits fibrinolysis by cleaving the C-terminal lysine residues on plasmin-modified partially degraded fibrin. Plasma CPB2 concentrations have been reported to be under the control of numerous single nucleotide polymorphisms located in the regulatory and coding regions of the gene encoding CPB2 (CPB2). High functional CPB2 levels have been found to be associated with an increased risk for ischemic stroke. The present study investigated CPB2 antigen levels and associated CPB2 polymorphisms in an acute onset non-cardioembolic stroke population compared with an age- and sex-matched healthy control population. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first such study done in an Asian Indian population. CPB2 antigen levels were significantly associated with the disease phenotype (P < 0.001) and with CPB2 polymorphisms (P < 0.001). The haplotypes generated on analysis of the genotypic data accounted for 21% of the natural variation in the CPB2 antigenic levels. However none of the haplotype combinations generated showed any association with disease phenotype and therefore could not explain for the difference in CPB2 antigen levels between cases and controls.