The aim of this study is to test whether IL-18 polymorphisms could act as genetic markers for renal stone disease. Material and methods. A control group of 104 healthy subjects, and 272 patients with recurrent calcium oxalate stones were examined. Polymerase chain reaction-based restriction endonuclease analysis was used to detect IL-18 polymorphisms. Results. The patient and control groups differed significantly in genotypic expression of the IL-18 + 105A/C polymorphism. The prevalence of the A/C + C/C genotypes in the patients was higher than that in the controls. The allelic frequency
of IL-18 + 105A/C differed significantly between VS-6063 mouse the patients and the controls. The odds ratio (OR) of the A/C heterozygote of IL-18 + 105A/C associated with urolithiasis was 2.772. The OR of the A/C + C/C genotypes of IL-18 + 105A/C associated with urolithiasis was 3.097. The OR per copy of the C allele of IL-18+105A/C associated with urolithiasis was 4.143. There were also significant differences Cytoskeletal Signaling inhibitor in the prevalence of genotype IL-18-137G/C polymorphisms between the patients and controls. The distribution of the G/G homozygote in the patients was higher than that in the controls. There was no significant difference in genotype and allelic frequency at the IL-18 -607C/A polymorphism between patients and control subjects. Conclusion. The results indicate that IL-18 +
105A/C polymorphisms may play a role in the development of urolithiasis.”
“Introduction: A new arm of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) has been recently characterized; this includes angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) 2 and angiotensin (Ang) 1-7, a heptapeptide acting through the Mas receptor (MasR). Recent studies show that Ang1-7 has an antiproliferative action on lung adenocarcinoma cells. The aim of this study buy Dibutyryl-cAMP was
to characterize RAS expression in human colon adenocarcinoma and to investigate whether Ang1-7 exerts an antiproliferative effect on human colon adenocarcinoma cells.
Materials and methods: Gene, protein expression and enzymatic activity of the main components of the RAS were determined on non-neoplastic colon mucosa as well as on the tumor mass and the mucosa taken 5 cm distant from it, both collected from patients with colon adenocarcinoma. Two different human colon cancer cell lines were treated with AngII and Ang1-7.
Results: The novel finding of this study was that MasR was significantly upregulated in colon adenocarcinoma compared with non-neoplastic colon mucosa, which showed little or no expression of it. ACE gene expression and enzymatic activity were also increased in the tumors. However, AngII and Ang1-7 did not have any pro-/antiproliferative effects in the cell lines studied.
Conclusions: The data suggest that upregulation of the MasR could be used as a diagnostic marker of colon adenocarcinoma.”
“Objective.