Errate: Dysregulation of Inflammation, Oxidative Stress, and Glucose Metabolism-Related Genes and miRNAs in Visceral Adipose Tissue of Women with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

The authors informed the journal that errors occurred in their manuscript, and were not noticed by the authors during the proofreading. Corrections: 1. Figure 1, top entry: "Predipocytes" should read "Preadipocytes". 2. Figure 3, chart "TIGAR": "-9" value on y axis should read "-8". 3. Figure 4, chart "let-7g-5p": the upper "-4" value on y axis should read "0". 4. Figure 5: the title of the bottom right chart should read "TIGAR". 5. Figure 6, chart "miR-26a-5p": the values on y axis should read from the top: 2, 1, 0, -1, -2. 6. Figure 6, chart "miR-374a-5p": the values on y axis should read from the top: 0, -1, -2, -3, -4. 7. Table 4., in the 6 rows from the bottom: in column "miRNAs", "hsa-miR-21-5" should read "hsa-miR-21-5p". 8. Supplementary Table1, 1st column on the left: "TG-HDL" should read "TG/HDL" Reference: Adam Wróblewski, Justyna Strycharz, Katarzyna Oszajca, Piotr Czarny, Ewa Swiderska, Tomasz Matyjas, Andrzej Zieleniak, Monika Rucinska, Lech Pomorski, Józef Drzewoski, Agnieszka Sliwinska, Janusz Szemraj: Dysregulation of Inflammation, Oxidative Stress, and Glucose Metabolism-Related Genes and miRNAs in Visceral Adipose Tissue of Women with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Med Sci Monit, 2023; 29: e939299. DOI: 10.12659/MSM.939299.

Polθ Inhibitor (ART558) Demonstrates a Synthetic Lethal Effect with PARP and RAD52 Inhibitors in Glioblastoma Cells.

DNA repair proteins became the popular targets in research on cancer treatment. In our studies we hypothesized that inhibition of DNA polymerase theta (Polθ) and its combination with Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) or RAD52 inhibition and the alkylating drug temozolomide (TMZ) has an anticancer effect on glioblastoma cells (GBM21), whereas it has a low impact on normal human astrocytes (NHA). The effect of the compounds was assessed by analysis of cell viability, apoptosis, proliferation, DNA damage and cell cycle distribution, as well as gene expression. The main results show that Polθ inhibition causes a significant decrease in glioblastoma cell viability. It induces apoptosis, which is accompanied by a reduction in cell proliferation and DNA damage. Moreover, the effect was stronger when dual inhibition of Polθ with PARP1 or RAD52 was applied, and it is further enhanced by addition of TMZ. The impact on normal cells is much lower, especially when considering cell viability and DNA damage. In conclusion, we would like to highlight that Polθ inhibition used in combination with PARP1 or RAD52 inhibition has great potential to kill glioblastoma cells, and shows a synthetic lethal effect, while sparing normal astrocytes.

Dysregulation of Inflammation, Oxidative Stress, and Glucose Metabolism-Related Genes and miRNAs in Visceral Adipose Tissue of Women with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

BACKGROUND Human visceral adipose tissue (VAT), now identified as an endocrine organ, plays a significant role in impaired fasting glucose and diabetes through the deregulated metabolism and adipogenesis of visceral adipocytes in obesity. Our study focuses on exploring the link between inflammation, oxidative stress, and glucose metabolism-associated genes with corresponding miRNAs in human visceral adipocytes and VAT from individuals with glucose metabolism disorders. MATERIAL AND METHODS We examined the expression of ATM, NFKB1, SOD2, INSR, and TIGAR, along with their related miRNAs using PCR, in two contexts:1 - During the three-stage visceral adipogenesis under normal glucose levels (5.5 millimoles), intermittent, and chronic hyperglycemia (30 millimoles).2 - In visceral adipose tissue from subjects (34 F, 18 M) with normal glucose metabolism, impaired fasting glucose, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. RESULTS Both chronic and intermittent hyperglycemia similarly influenced ATM, NFKB1, TIGAR, SOD2, INSR gene expression in visceral adipocytes, with corresponding changes in a few tested miRNAs (eg, let-7g-5p, miR-145-5p, miR-21-5p). Anthropometric and biochemical parameters led us to focus on female subjects. Our results showed transactivation of NFKB1, TIGAR, miR-10b-5p, miR-132-3p, miR-20a-5p, miR-21-5p, and miR-26a-5p exclusively in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Upregulated molecules (excluding miR-10b-5p and miR-20a-5p) positively correlated with glucose metabolism markers. CONCLUSIONS The genes studied may undergo miRNA interferences and hyperglycemic memory in visceral adipocytes under hyperglycemic conditions. VAT from women with type 2 diabetes mellitus, but not with impaired fasting glucose, showed transactivated miRNAs and a molecular dysregulation of TIGAR and NFKB1, possibly enhancing inflammation, oxidative stress, and disrupted glucose metabolism. These findings highlight the epigenetic and molecular disturbances in VAT related to glucose metabolism abnormalities. However, additional research is necessary to further understand their biological significance.

Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Base-Excision Repair-Related Genes Involved in the Risk of an Occurrence of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Oxidative stress is one of the pillars crucial in the development of a non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and may cause DNA damage. Since the main pathway responsible for the repair of oxidative DNA damage is the base-excision repair (BER) pathway, we examined the relationship between the presence of different genetic variants of BER-associated genes and the risk of NAFLD. The study evaluates seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within five genes, hOGG1, APEX1, NEIL1, LIG3, LIG1, in 150 NAFLD patients and 340 healthy controls. The genotyping was performed using TaqMan probes and the results were presented as odds ratio with its corresponding 95% confidence interval. The following SNPs were assessed in the study: hOGG1 (rs1052133), APEX1 (rs176094 and rs1130409), NEIL1 (rs4462560), LIG3 (rs1052536), LIG3 (rs4796030), and LIG1 (rs20579). Four of the investigated SNPs, i.e., rs176094, rs1130409, rs4462560 and rs4796030, were found to be associated with NAFLD risk. Furthermore, the occurrence of insulin resistance in patients with steatosis depended on various LIG3 genetic variants. The findings imply the impact of genes involved in BER on NAFLD and fatty liver-related insulin sensitivity.

Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Genes Maintaining the Stability of Mitochondrial DNA Affect the Occurrence, Onset, Severity and Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder.

One of the key features of major depressive disorder (MDD, depression) is increased oxidative stress manifested by elevated levels of mtROS, a hallmark of mitochondrial dysfunction, which can arise from mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage. Thus, the current study explores possibility that the single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of genes encoding the three enzymes that are thought to be implicated in the replication, repair or degradation of mtDNA, i.e., POLG, ENDOG and EXOG, have an impact on the occurrence, onset, severity and treatment of MDD. Five SNPs were selected: EXOG c.-188T > G (rs9838614), EXOG c.*627G > A (rs1065800), POLG c.-1370T > A (rs1054875), ENDOG c.-394T > C (rs2977998) and ENDOG c.-220C > T (rs2997922), while genotyping was performed on 538 DNA samples (277 cases and 261 controls) using TaqMan probes. All SNPs of EXOG and ENDOG modulated the risk of depression, but the strongest effect was observed for rs1065800, while rs9838614 and rs2977998 indicate that they might influence the severity of symptoms, and, to a lesser extent, treatment effectiveness. Although the SNP located in POLG did not affect occurrence of the disease, the result suggests that it may influence the onset and treatment outcome. These findings further support the hypothesis that mtDNA damage and impairment in its metabolism play a crucial role not only in the development, but also in the treatment of depression.

Polθ Inhibition: An Anticancer Therapy for HR-Deficient Tumours.

DNA polymerase theta (Polθ)-mediated end joining (TMEJ) is, along with homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ), one of the most important mechanisms repairing potentially lethal DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Polθ is becoming a new target in cancer research because it demonstrates numerous synthetically lethal interactions with other DNA repair mechanisms, e.g., those involving PARP1, BRCA1/2, DNA-PK, ATR. Inhibition of Polθ could be achieved with different methods, such as RNA interference (RNAi), CRISPR/Cas9 technology, or using small molecule inhibitors. In the context of this topic, RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9 are still more often applied in the research itself rather than clinical usage, different than small molecule inhibitors. Several Polθ inhibitors have been already generated, and two of them, novobiocin (NVB) and ART812 derivative, are being tested in clinical trials against HR-deficient tumors. In this review, we describe the significance of Polθ and the Polθ-mediated TMEJ pathway. In addition, we summarize the current state of knowledge about Polθ inhibitors and emphasize the promising role of Polθ as a therapeutic target.

Agomelatine Changed the Expression and Methylation Status of Inflammatory Genes in Blood and Brain Structures of Male Wistar Rats after Chronic Mild Stress Procedure.

The preclinical research conducted so far suggest that depression development may be influenced by the inflammatory pathways both at the periphery and within the central nervous system. Furthermore, inflammation is considered to be strongly connected with antidepressant treatment resistance. Thus, this study explores whether the chronic mild stress (CMS) procedure and agomelatine treatment induce changes in TGFA, TGFB, IRF1, PTGS2 and IKBKB expression and methylation status in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and in the brain structures of rats. Adult male Wistar rats were subjected to the CMS and further divided into matched subgroups to receive vehicle or agomelatine. TaqMan gene expression assay and methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting (MS-HRM) were used to evaluate the expression of the genes and the methylation status of their promoters, respectively. Our findings confirm that both CMS and antidepressant agomelatine treatment influenced the expression level and methylation status of the promoter region of investigated genes in PBMCs and the brain. What is more, the present study showed that response to either stress stimuli or agomelatine differed between brain structures. Concluding, our results indicate that TGFA, TGFB, PTGS2, IRF1 and IKBKB could be associated with depression and its treatment.

Variations in the Gene Expression Profile in Atherosclerotic Patients with Non-Fatal ACS: A Preliminary Study.

The pathophysiology of atherosclerosis and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is related to interactions between immune cells, endothelium, and blood platelets. An increasing number of reports confirm the link between excessive immune activation and cellular cross-talk with ACS incidence. Our genetic and proteomic analysis was performed on strictly selected atherosclerotic patients with non-fatal ACS without typical risk factors and healthy donors. Results showed changes in the gene expression levels of the various inflammatory factors derived from the peripheral blood cells that drive the over-activation of the immune system. The enhanced activation of the immune system may lead to the overexpression of the pro-inflammatory mediators, which causes self-perpetuating machinery of processes associated with thrombosis. In our preliminary study, we confirmed an altered expression of genes associated with the inflammation and overall interaction of the vascular microenvironment. Furthermore, 5 of 92 analyzed genes, CCL2, CCR2, CSF2, GZMB, and ICOS, were expressed only in patients with ACS. In conclusion, the augmented expression of the pro-inflammatory genes from the peripheral blood cells may be a crucial genetic factor leading to the occurrence of acute inflammation and thus be significant in ACS pathogenesis.

The Interplay between Insulin Resistance, Inflammation, Oxidative Stress, Base Excision Repair and Metabolic Syndrome in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

One of the most common chronic liver disorders, affecting mainly people in Western countries, is nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Unfortunately, its pathophysiological mechanism is not fully understood, and no dedicated treatment is available. Simple steatosis can lead to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and even to fibrosis, cancer, and cirrhosis of the liver. NAFLD very often occurs in parallel with type 2 diabetes mellitus and in obese people. Furthermore, it is much more likely to develop in patients with metabolic syndrome (MS), whose criteria include abdominal obesity, elevated blood triacylglycerol level, reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, increased blood pressure, and high fasting glucose. An important phenomenon in MS is also insulin resistance (IR), which is very common in NAFLD. Liver IR and NAFLD development are linked through an interaction between the accumulation of free fatty acids, hepatic inflammation, and increased oxidative stress. The liver is particularly exposed to elevated levels of reactive oxygen species due to a large number of mitochondria in hepatocytes. In these organelles, the main DNA repair pathway is base excision repair (BER). The present article will illustrate how impairment of BER may be related to the development of NAFLD.

Chronic and Intermittent Hyperglycemia Modulates Expression of Key Molecules of PI3K/AKT Pathway in Differentiating Human Visceral Adipocytes.

BACKGROUND: Due to its prominence in the regulation of metabolism and inflammation, adipose tissue is a major target to investigate alterations in insulin action. This hormone activates PI3K/AKT pathway which is essential for glucose homeostasis, cell differentiation, and proliferation in insulin-sensitive tissues, like adipose tissue. The aim of this work was to evaluate the impact of chronic and intermittent high glucose on the expression of biomolecules of insulin signaling pathway during the differentiation and maturation of human visceral preadipocytes. METHODS: Human visceral preadipocytes (HPA-V) cells were treated with high glucose (30 mM)during the proliferation and/or differentiation and/or maturation stage. The level of mRNA (by Real-Time PCR) and protein (by Elisa tests) expression of IRS1, PI3K, PTEN, AKT2, and GLUT4 was examined after each culture stage. Furthermore, we investigated whether miR-29a-3p, miR-143-3p, miR-152-3p, miR-186-5p, miR-370-3p, and miR-374b-5p may affect the expression of biomolecules of the insulin signaling pathway. RESULTS: Both chronic and intermittent hyperglycemia affects insulin signaling in visceral pre/adipocytes by upregulation of analyzed PI3K/AKT pathway molecules. Both mRNA and protein expression level is more dependent on stage-specific events than the length of the period of high glucose exposure. What is more, miRs expression changes seem to be involved in PI3K/AKT expression regulation in response to hyperglycemic stimulation.

Effects of venlafaxine on the expression level and methylation status of genes involved in oxidative stress in rats exposed to a chronic mild stress.

Recent human and animal studies indicate that oxidative and nitrosative stress may play a role in the aetiology and pathogenesis of depression. This study investigates the effect of chronic administration of the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, venlafaxine, on the expression and methylation status of SOD1, SOD2, GPx1, GPx4, CAT, NOS1 and NOS2 in the brain and blood of rats exposed to a chronic mild stress (CMS) model of depression. Separate groups of animals were exposed to CMS for 2 or 7 weeks; the second group received saline or venlafaxine (10 mg/kg/d, IP) for 5 weeks. After completion of both stress conditions and drug administration, the mRNA and protein expression of selected genes and the methylation status of their promoters were measured in peripheral mononuclear blood cells (PBMCs) and in brain structures (hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus, midbrain, cortex, basal ganglia) with the use of TaqMan Gene Expression Assay, Western blot and methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting techniques. CMS caused a decrease in sucrose consumption, and this effect was normalized by fluoxetine. In PBMCs, SOD1, SOD2 and NOS2 mRNA expression changed only after venlafaxine administration. In brain, CAT, Gpx1, Gpx4 and NOS1 gene expression changed following CMS or venlafaxine exposure, most prominently in the hippocampus, midbrain and basal ganglia. CMS increased the methylation of the Gpx1 promoter in PBMCs, the second Gpx4 promoter in midbrain and basal ganglia, and SOD1 and SOD2 in hippocampus. The CMS animals treated with venlafaxine displayed a significantly higher CAT level in midbrain and cerebral cortex. CMS caused an elevation of Gpx4 in the hippocampus, which was lowered in cerebral cortex by venlafaxine. The results indicate that CMS and venlafaxine administration affect the methylation of promoters of genes involved in oxidative and nitrosative stress. They also indicate that peripheral and central tissue differ in their response to stress or antidepressant treatments. It is possible that that apart from DNA methylation, a crucial role of expression level of genes may be played by other forms of epigenetic regulation, such as histone modification or microRNA interference. These findings provide strong evidence for thesis that analysis of the level of mRNA and protein expression as well as the status of promoter methylation can help in understanding the pathomechanisms of mental diseases, including depression, and the mechanisms of action of drugs effective in their therapy.

Preliminary Study of the Impact of Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms of IL-1α, IL-1ß and TNF-α Genes on the Occurrence, Severity and Treatment Effectiveness of the Major Depressive Disorder.

The purpose of the preliminary study was to determine whether the occurrence of certain SNPs of genes encoding IL-1α, IL-1ß, and TNF-α is associated with the development of depression. Five polymorphisms were selected: i.e. c.-1560G > C-IL-1ß (rs1143623), c. -118 C > T-IL-1ß (rs1143627), c.340G > T-IL-1α (rs17561), c.-1211T > C-TNF-α (rs1799964) and c.-488G > A-TNF-α (rs1800629). These were analyzed using TaqMan probes. The genotypes of the analyzed polymorphisms were found to be associated with disease severity and may affect the effectiveness of antidepressant therapy. In addition, the gene-gene analysis confirmed that combined genotypes of investigated SNPs may modulate the risk of depression.

DNA damage and repair in neuropsychiatric disorders. What do we know and what are the future perspectives?

Over the past two decades, extensive research has been done to elucidate the molecular etiology and pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders. In majority of them, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), bipolar disorder (BD), schizophrenia and major depressive disorder, increased oxidative and nitrosative stress was found. This stress is known to induce oxidative damage to biomolecules, including DNA. Accordingly, increased mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, as well as RNA damage, were observed in patients suffering from these diseases. However, recent findings indicate that the patients are characterised by impaired DNA repair pathways, which may suggest that these DNA lesions could be also a result of their insufficient repair. In the current systematic, critical review, we aim to sum up, using available literature, the knowledge about the involvement of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA damage and repair, as well as about damage to RNA in pathoetiology of neuropsychiatric disorders, i.e., AD, PD, ALS, BD, schizophrenia and major depressive disorder, as well as the usefulness of the discussed factors as being diagnostic markers and targets for new therapies. Moreover, we also underline the new directions to which future studies should head to elucidate these phenomena.

The Effect of Chronic Mild Stress and Escitalopram on the Expression and Methylation Levels of Genes Involved in the Oxidative and Nitrosative Stresses as Well as Tryptophan Catabolites Pathway in the Blood and Brain Structures.

Previous studies suggest that depression may be associated with reactive oxygen species overproduction and disorders of the tryptophan catabolites pathway. Moreover, one-third of patients do not respond to conventional pharmacotherapy. Therefore, the study investigates the molecular effect of escitalopram on the expression of Cat, Gpx1/4, Nos1/2, Tph1/2, Ido1, Kmo, and Kynu and promoter methylation in the hippocampus, amygdala, cerebral cortex, and blood of rats exposed to CMS (chronic mild stress). The animals were exposed to CMS for two or seven weeks followed by escitalopram treatment for five weeks. The mRNA and protein expression of the genes were analysed using the TaqMan Gene Expression Assay and Western blotting, while the methylation was determined using methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting. The CMS caused an increase of Gpx1 and Nos1 mRNA expression in the hippocampus, which was normalised by escitalopram administration. Moreover, Tph1 and Tph2 mRNA expression in the cerebral cortex was increased in stressed rats after escitalopram therapy. The methylation status of the Cat promoter was decreased in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex of the rats after escitalopram therapy. The Gpx4 protein levels were decreased following escitalopram compared to the stressed/saline group. It appears that CMS and escitalopram influence the expression and methylation of the studied genes.

Association between single nucleotide polymorphisms of TPH1 and TPH2 genes, and depressive disorders.

Tryptophan catabolites pathway disorders are observed in patients with depression. Moreover, single nucleotide polymorphisms of tryptophan hydroxylase genes may modulate the risk of depression occurrence. The objective of our study was to confirm the association between the presence of polymorphic variants of TPH1 and TPH2 genes, and the development of depressive disorders. Six polymorphisms were selected: c.804-7C>A (rs10488682), c.-1668T>A (rs623580), c.803+221C>A (rs1800532), c.-173A>T (rs1799913)-TPH1, c.-1449C>A (rs7963803), and c.-844G>T (rs4570625)-TPH2. A total of 510 DNA samples (230 controls and 280 patients) were genotyped using TaqMan probes. Among the studied polymoorphisms, the G/G genotype and G allele of c.804-7C>A-TPH1, the T/T homozygote of c.803+221C>A-TPH1, the A/A genotype and A allele of c.1668T>A-TPH1, the G/G homozygote and G allele of c.-844G>T-TPH2, and the C/A heterozygote and A allele of c.-1449C>A-TPH2 were associated with the occurrence of depression. However, the T/T homozygote of c.-1668T>A-TPH1, the G/T heterozygote and T allele of c.-844G>T-TPH2, and the C/C homozygote and C allele of c.-1449C>A-TPH2 decreased the risk of development of depressive disorders. Each of the studied polymorphisms modulated the risk of depression for selected genotypes and alleles. These results support the hypothesis regarding the involvement of the pathway in the pathogenesis of depression.

Oxidative and Nitrosative Stress as Well as the Tryptophan Catabolites Pathway in Depressive Disorders.

The aim of this paper is to elucidate the role of oxidative and nitrosative stress as well as the tryptophan catabolites pathway in the development of depression and the mechanism of action of antidepressant drugs, based on the available literature. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 350 million people worldwide suffer from depression. The pathogenesis of depressive disorders has not been fully explained yet and several causes of this disease have been suggested. There is evidence for the involvement of several interconnected biochemical pathways, including oxidative and nitrosative stress as well as the tryptophan catabolites pathway. Studies to date indicate that patients with depression have lower levels of enzymatic and non-enzymatic elements of an antioxidant response and, at the same time, they display an increased amount of oxidative stress markers, when compared to healthy individuals. The development of depression is also associated with excessive activity of nitric oxide synthase. Furthermore, decreased levels of tryptophan and increased levels of its harmful catabolites, i.e. kynurenine and quinolinic acid, may lead to progression of the disease. Changes in these biochemical pathways can be used as risk factors for the development of depression and, in the future, they could be utilized as diagnostic biomarkers. Moreover, regulation of biochemical processes may contribute to the development of a new, effective and personalized antidepressant therapy.

Associations between DNA Damage, DNA Base Excision Repair Gene Variability and Alzheimer's Disease Risk.

BACKGROUND: Increased oxidative damage to DNA is one of the pathways involved in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Insufficient base excision repair (BER) is in part responsible for increased oxidative DNA damage. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of polymorphic variants of BER-involved genes and the peripheral markers of DNA damage and repair in patients with AD. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Comet assays and TaqMan probes were used to assess DNA damage, BER efxFB01;ciency and polymorphic variants of 12 BER genes in blood samples from 105 AD patients and 130 controls. The DNA repair efficacy (DRE) was calculated according to a specific equation. RESULTS: The levels of endogenous and oxidative DNA damages were higher in AD patients than controls. The polymorphic variants of XRCC1 c.580C>T XRCC1 c.1196A>G and OGG1 c.977C>G are associated with increased DNA damage in AD. CONCLUSION: Our results show that oxidative stress and disturbances in DRE are particularly responsible for the elevated DNA lesions in AD. The results suggest that oxidative stress and disruption in DNA repair may contribute to increased DNA damage in AD patients and risk of this disease. In addition, disturbances in DRE may be associated with polymorphisms of OGG1 and XRCC1.

Association between Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms of the hOGG1,NEIL1,APEX1, FEN1,LIG1, and LIG3 Genes and Alzheimer's Disease Risk.

BACKGROUND: One of the factors that contribute to Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the DNA damage caused by oxidative stress and inflammation that occurs in nerve cells. It has been suggested that the risk of AD may be associated with an age-dependent reduction of the DNA repair efficiency. Base excision repair (BER) is, among other things, a main repair system of oxidative DNA damage. One of the reasons for the reduced efficiency of this system may be single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of the genes encoding its proteins. METHODS: DNA for genotyping was obtained from the peripheral blood of 281 patients and 150 controls. In the present study, we evaluated the impact of 8 polymorphisms of 6 BER genes on the AD risk. We analyzed the following SNP: c.-468T>G and c.444T>G of APEX1, c.*50C>T and c.*83A>C of LIG3, c.977C>G of OGG1, c.*283C>G of NEIL1, c.-441G>A of FEN1, and c.-7C>T of LIG1. RESULTS: We showed that the LIG1 c.-7C>T A/A and LIG3 c.*83A>C A/C variants increased, while the APEX1 c.444T>G G/T, LIG1 c.-7C>T G/, LIG3 c.*83A>C C/C variants reduced, the AD risk. We also evaluated the relation between gene-gene interactions and the AD risk. We showed that combinations of certain BER gene variants such as c.977C>G×c.*50C>T CC/CT, c.444T>G×c.*50C>T GG/CT, c.-468T>G×c.*50C>T GG/CT, c.-441G>Ac.*50C>T×c.*50C>T GG/CT, c.*83A>C× c.*50C>T CT/AC, and c.-7C>T×c.*50C>T CT/GG can substantially positively modulate the risk of AD. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, we revealed that polymorphisms of BER genes may have a significant effect on the AD risk, and the presence of polymorphic variants may be an important marker for AD.

Expression and Activity of Metalloproteinases in Depression.

BACKGROUND Depression is one of the most common mental disorders and often co-exists with somatic diseases. The most probable cause of comorbidity is a generalized inflammatory process that occurs in both depression and somatic diseases. Matrix metalloproteinases MMPs play a role in modulating inflammation and their impact in many inflammatory diseases has been investigated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate gene expression for selected polymorphisms of MMP-2 (C-735T), MMP-7 (A-181G), and MMP-9 (T-1702A, C1562T), which have been confirmed to participate in development of depression, and TIMP-2 (G-418C, tissue inhibitor of MMP). Activity variability of pro-MMP-2 and pro-MMP-9 was measured in a group of people with depression and a group of healthy individuals. MATERIAL AND METHODS The examined population comprised 142 individuals suffering from depression and 100 individuals who formed a control group (CG). Designations were carried out for MMP-2 (C-735T), MMP-7 (A-181G), MMP-9 (T-1702A, C1562T), and TIMP-2 (G-418C). RESULTS For all examined and tested MMPs and for TIMP-2, gene expression at the mRNA level was higher in patients with depression than in the CG. Similar results were recorded for gene expression at the protein level, while expression on the protein level for TIMP-2 was higher in the CG. Change in activity of MMP-2 and pro-MMP-2 was statistically more significant in the group with depression. The opposite result was recorded for MMP-9 and pro-MMP-9, in which the change in activity was statistically more significant in the CG. CONCLUSIONS Changes in MMPs and TIMP expression may be a common element in, or perhaps even a marker for, recurrent depressive disorders and somatic diseases.

Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms of Genes Involved in Repair of Oxidative DNA Damage and the Risk of Recurrent Depressive Disorder.

BACKGROUND Depressive disorder, including recurrent type (rDD), is accompanied by increased oxidative stress and activation of inflammatory pathways, which may induce DNA damage. This thesis is supported by the presence of increased levels of DNA damage in depressed patients. Such DNA damage is repaired by the base excision repair (BER) pathway. BER efficiency may be influenced by polymorphisms in BER-related genes. Therefore, we genotyped nine single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in six genes encoding BER proteins. MATERIAL AND METHODS Using TaqMan, we selected and genotyped the following SNPs: c.-441G>A (rs174538) of FEN1, c.2285T>C (rs1136410) of PARP1, c.580C>T (rs1799782) and c.1196A>G (rs25487) of XRCC1, c.*83A>C (rs4796030) and c.*50C>T (rs1052536) of LIG3, c.-7C>T (rs20579) of LIG1, and c.-468T>G (rs1760944) and c.444T>G (rs1130409) of APEX1 in 599 samples (288 rDD patients and 311 controls). RESULTS We found a strong correlation between rDD and both SNPs of LIG3, their haplotypes, as well as a weaker association with the c.-468T>G of APEXI which diminished after Nyholt correction. Polymorphisms of LIG3 were also associated with early onset versus late onset depression, whereas the c.-468T>G polymorphism showed the opposite association. CONCLUSIONS The SNPs of genes involved in the repair of oxidative DNA damage may modulate rDD risk. Since this is an exploratory study, the results should to be treated with caution and further work needs to be done to elucidate the exact involvement of DNA damage and repair mechanisms in the development of this disease.