The degree of food processing can influence serum fatty acid and lipid profiles in women with severe obesity

Background

The increase in the prevalence of obesity is associated with the increase in the consumption of ultra-processed foods and may be related to the increase in the disorders involving metabolism and the transport and storage of fatty acids.

Objective

To evaluate the effect of processed food consumption according to the degree of processing on the serum fatty acid levels and lipid profile of women with severe obesity.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study. Data were collected from anthropometric assessments, the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), and blood tests for lipidogram studies and serum fatty acid measurements. The foods consumed were identified through the FFQ and classified according to the degree of processing based on the NOVA rating, and the frequencies of consumption were transformed into scores, as proposed by Fornés methodology. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics, version 21. The significance level for the analysis was set at 5%.

Results

This study included 44 women with a mean age of 40.59 years and mean body mass index of 48.61 kg/m2. An inverse association was observed between the consumption of unprocessed and the occurrence of hypertriglyceridemia (p = 0.021) and levels of triglycerides (p = 0.047), total cholesterol (p = 0.030), and very low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (p = 0.039). The consumption of processed foods was positively associated with the presence of hypertriglyceridemia (p = 0.044) and omega 6/3 ratio (p = 0.001) and negatively associated with total omega 3 levels (p = 0.011). The consumption of processed foods was positively associated with total cholesterol (p = 0.041) and negatively associated with the omega 3/6 ratio (p = 0.001). A negative correlation was found between the average consumption of ultra-processed foods (at least once a week) and serum level of high-density lipoprotein (p = 0.035).

Conclusion

The consumption of processed and ultra-processed foods was associated with unfavorable lipid profiles and fatty acid levels in women with severe obesity. These results emphasize the importance of promoting the consumption of unprocessed food to mitigate metabolic disorders linked to processed food intake.

The Influence of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms On Body Weight Trajectory After Bariatric Surgery: A Systematic Review

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To conduct a systematic review to summarize the results of studies on this subject and to identify whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are good prognostic markers for body weight trajectory after bariatric surgery.

RECENT FINDINGS

A considerable number of events can influence the body weight trajectory after bariatric surgery, and in the post-genomic era, genetic factors have been explored. This study is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021240903). SNPs positively associated with poor weight loss after bariatric surgery were rs17702901, rs9939609, rs1360780, rs1126535, rs1137101, rs17782313, rs490683, and rs659366. Alternatively, SNPs rs2229616, rs5282087, rs490683, rs9819506, rs4771122, rs9939609, rs4846567, rs9930506, rs3813929, rs738409, rs696217, rs660339, rs659366, rs6265, rs1801260, and rs2419621 predicted a higher weight loss after bariatric surgery. Six studies performed with a genetic risk score (GRS) model presented significant associations between GRS and outcomes following bariatric surgery. This systematic review shows that, different SNPs and genetic models could be good predictors for body weight trajectory after bariatric surgery. Based on the results of the selected studies for this Systematic Review is possible to select SNPs and metabolic pathways of interest for the GRS construction to predict the outcome of bariatric surgery to be applied in future studies.

Dietary inflammatory index and its relation to the pathophysiological aspects of obesity: a narrative review

Obesity, a complex disease that involves energy imbalance and chronic low-grade inflammation, is implicated in the pathogenesis of several chronic non-communicable diseases. As dietary components modulate the human body's inflammatory status, the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII®), a literature-derived dietary index, was developed in 2009 to characterize the inflammatory potential of a habitual diet. Abundant research has been conducted to investigate the associations between DII and obesity. In this narrative review, we examined the current state of the science regarding the relationships between DII and the inflammatory pathophysiological aspects related to obesity. DII is associated with inflammation in obesity. The most pro-inflammatory diet was directly related to higher levels of pro-inflammatory markers, which included C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-1β, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Therefore, evidence suggests that the use of the DII may be useful for understanding the relationship between diet and the inflammatory process related to obesity.

Effect of dietary fat intake and genetic risk on glucose and insulin-related traits in Brazilian young adults

PURPOSE

The development of metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes (T2D) is closely linked to a complex interplay between genetic and dietary factors. The prevalence of abdominal obesity, hyperinsulinemia, dyslipidaemia, and high blood pressure among Brazilian adolescents is increasing and hence, early lifestyle interventions targeting these factors might be an effective strategy to prevent or slow the progression of T2D.

METHODS

We aimed to assess the interaction between dietary and genetic factors on metabolic disease-related traits in 200 healthy Brazilian young adults. Dietary intake was assessed using 3-day food records. Ten metabolic disease-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were used to construct a metabolic-genetic risk score (metabolic-GRS).

RESULTS

We found significant interactions between the metabolic-GRS and total fat intake on fasting insulin level (Pinteraction = 0.017), insulin-glucose ratio (Pinteraction = 0.010) and HOMA-B (Pinteraction = 0.002), respectively, in addition to a borderline GRS-fat intake interaction on HOMA-IR (Pinteraction = 0.051). Within the high-fat intake category [37.98 ± 3.39% of total energy intake (TEI)], individuals with ≥ 5 risk alleles had increased fasting insulin level (P = 0.021), insulin-glucose ratio (P = 0.010), HOMA-B (P = 0.001) and HOMA-IR (P = 0.053) than those with < 5 risk alleles.

CONCLUSION

Our study has demonstrated a novel GRS-fat intake interaction in young Brazilian adults, where individuals with higher genetic risk and fat intake had increased glucose and insulin-related traits than those with lower genetic risk. Large intervention and follow-up studies with an objective assessment of dietary factors are needed to confirm our findings.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40200-021-00863-7.

Dietary Intake is Associated with miR-31 and miR-375 Expression in Patients with Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important epigenetic regulators in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), with miR-31 being considered an oncomir and miR-375, a tumor suppressor miR, which are up- and down-regulated in HNSCC, respectively. Nutrients are known to influence miRNA expression; however, this association is poorly explored in HNSCC. This work aimed to identify associations between dietary intake and the expression of miR-31 and miR-375 in patients newly diagnosed with HNSCC. The expression of miR-31 was positively associated with the consumption of iron (β = 16.65) and vitamin C (β = 0.37), and inversely associated with total sugar (β = -0.88), cholesterol (β= -0.23), vitamin B₉ (β= -0.37) and zinc (β = -5.66) intake. The expression of miR-375 was positively associated with the consumption of selenium (β = 1.52), vitamin C (β = 0.17) and vitamin D (β = 13.01), and inversely associated with the consumption of added sugar (β = -0.49), phosphorus (β= -0.27) and vitamin B₁₂ (β = -10.80). Our findings showed important associations between dietary intake and miR-31 and miR-375 expression in HNSCC, offering possible directions for further studies investigating how nutrients interfere with carcinogenesis.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/01635581.2021.1990972 .

Antiangiogenic effects of the chemopreventive agent tributyrin, a butyric acid prodrug, during the promotion phase of hepatocarcinogenesis

Agents that inhibit angiogenic factors may prevent the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Thus, the objective of this study was to kinetically evaluate the antiangiogenic activity of tributyrin (TB), a butyric acid prodrug, in the promotion stage of hepatocarcinogenesis. For this purpose, the resistant hepatocyte (RH) model was used for induction of preneoplastic lesions in Wistar rats. During the promotion phase, the animals received TB or maltodextrin (MD) as control daily. The rats were killed at three time-points (P1, P2 and P3). Increased expression of Vegfa and Vegfr2 was observed during promotion phase of hepatocarcinogenesis, which was not reversed by TB treatment. However, TB treatment reduced the expression of cluster of differentiation (CD) 34-positive vessels at P3 and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA)-positive vessels at P2 compared with MD. Enhanced levels of hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinases (pERK) were detected at P3 when compared with P1 and P2 in the MD treatment. TB treatment reduced the levels of HIF-1α and pERK at P3 relative to the MD control. Experiments with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) showed that sodium butyrate (NaBu) inhibited cell migration and tube formation, confirming the antiangiogenic activity of its prodrug TB. In conclusion, antiangiogenic activity of TB is an early event that already occurs in preneoplastic livers, reinforcing its potential chemopreventive effects against HCC.

APOE genotype associates with food consumption and body composition to predict dyslipidaemia in Brazilian adults with normal-weight obesity syndrome

BACKGROUND & AIM

Normal-Weight Obesity Syndrome has been characterized by a normal body mass index and high percentage of body fat. It is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease development. This study aimed to evaluate whether apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotypes and food consumption are related to the lipid profiles of adults with Normal-Weight Obesity Syndrome.

METHODS

Analytical cross-sectional study, including adults with Normal-Weight Obesity Syndrome. Socioeconomic, health and lifestyle questionnaires were administered. Anthropometric variables, body composition and blood pressure were evaluated. Dietary intake, lipid profile and genotyping of polymorphisms rs7412 and rs429358 in the APOE gene were evaluated.

RESULTS

Only 6.0% of women and none of the men had increased waist circumference (≥80 cm for women and ≥94 cm for men). No women and 6.2% of men had altered blood pressure (systolic blood pressure ≥130 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥85 mmHg). When the traditional lipid profile was assessed, 52.5% of individuals presented dyslipidaemia. When the levels of apolipoproteins A1 and B were included, the prevalence was 73.0%. Regression analysis showed a positive relationship between the presence of allele ε2 and apolipoprotein A1 levels (95% CI = 4.2 to 38.3; p = 0.015) and between the ε4 allele and apolipoprotein B (ε4 versus ε2: 95% CI = 0.08 to 29.5; p = 0.049 and ε4 versus ε3: 95% CI = 0.6 to 17.6; p = 0.036). Carriers of the ε2 allele had a 75.0% lower probability of presenting dyslipidaemia compared with ε3ε3 individuals (95% CI = 0.04 to 0.8; p = 0.027). Relationships between body fat, food consumption and lipid profile were observed and differed among genotypes.

CONCLUSIONS

APOE genotype and food consumption were associated with lipid profile. This was the first study to evaluate the APOE genotype and to analyze relationships between genetic profile, food intake and lipid profile of subjects with Normal-Weight Obesity Syndrome.

Suppressing activity of tributyrin on hepatocarcinogenesis is associated with inhibiting the p53-CRM1 interaction and changing the cellular compartmentalization of p53 protein

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), an aggressive and the fastest growing life-threatening cancer worldwide, is often diagnosed at intermediate or advanced stages of the disease, which substantially limits therapeutic approaches for its successful treatment. This indicates that the prevention of hepatocarcinogenesis is probably the most promising approach to reduce both the HCC incidence and cancer-related mortality. In previous studies, we demonstrated a potent chemopreventive effect of tributyrin, a butyric acid prodrug, on experimental hepatocarcinogenesis. The cancer-inhibitory effect of tributyrin was linked to the suppression of sustained cell proliferation and induction of apoptotic cell death driven by an activation of the p53 apoptotic signaling pathway. The goal of the present study was to investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms linked to tributyrin-mediated p53 activation. Using in vivo and in vitro models of liver cancer, we demonstrate that an increase in the level of p53 protein in nuclei, a decrease in the level of cytoplasmic p53, and, consequently, an increase in the ratio of nuclear/cytoplasmic p53 in rat preneoplastic livers and in rat and human HCC cell lines caused by tributyrin or sodium butyrate treatments was associated with a marked increase in the level of nuclear chromosome region maintenance 1 (CRM1) protein. Mechanistically, the increase in the level of nuclear p53 protein was associated with a substantially reduced binding interaction between CRM1 and p53. The results demonstrate that the cancer-inhibitory activity of sodium butyrate and its derivatives on liver carcinogenesis may be attributed to retention of p53 and CRM1 proteins in the nucleus, an event that may trigger activation of p53-mediated apoptotic cell death in neoplastic cells.

Expression of miR-296-5p as predictive marker for radiotherapy resistance in early-stage laryngeal carcinoma

PURPOSE

Definitive radiation therapy is the mainstay of treatment for early stage laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). However, up to 30% of the patients do not respond to radiotherapy. Unfortunately, we are unable to predict which tumors are likely to respond to radiation, and which will be resistant and persist. Therefore, the development of novel markers to predict response to radiotherapy is urgently needed. This study was designed to evaluate the expression pattern of microRNAs (miRNAs) in LSCC in order to identify markers capable of segregating radioresistant and radiosensitive tumors and to investigate the relationship between the expression of these miRNAs and the prognosis of LSCC.

METHODS

The expression profile of 667 miRNAs was determined in an initial screening of nine early-stage LSCC samples (5 radioresistant and 4 radiosensitive) using TaqMan Low-Density Array (TLDA). Real-time polymerase chain reactions were performed to validate the expression of selected miRNAs in an expanded LSCC cohort (20 radioresistant and 14 radiosensitive). The miRNA expression level was scored as high or low based on the median of the expression in the LSCC samples.

RESULTS

A comprehensive miRNA expression profiling enabled the identification of four miRNAs (miR-296-5p miR-452, miR-183* and miR-200c) differentially expressed in radioresistant LSCC. Moreover, the analysis of additional 34 LSCC samples, confirmed the expression of miR-296-5p as significantly related to radioresistance (p = 0.002) as well as an association of this marker with recurrence (p = 0.025) in early stage laryngeal cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

This study indicates that miR-296-5p expression is associated with resistance to radiotherapy and tumor recurrence in early stage LSCC, showing the feasibility of this marker as a novel prognostic factor for this malignance. Furthermore, miR-296-5p expression could be helpful in the identification of tumors resistant to radiotherapy; thus aiding the clinicians in the choice of the best therapeutic scheme to be used in each case.

Abstract 1481: miR-296 as prognostic and predictive molecular marker for recurrence in early-stage laryngeal carcinoma treated with definitive radiotherapy

Early-stage laryngeal cancer has cure rates above 80% with exclusive radiotherapy. However, when salvage treatment is needed, surgery is the main option and despite efforts to conservative procedures to preserve laryngeal function, up to 50% will require total laryngectomy at diagnosis of recurrence or future. So, the use of microRNAs as molecular markers is a method to be tested with the aim of predicting the chances of success with radiotherapy, lowering tumor relapses and turning possible to reduce the need for salvage procedures that would affect speech and impact in quality of life. Objectives: To identify microRNAs capable of segregating radioresistant from radiosensitive tumors, to determine prognosis in pre-treatment tumors and to predict failure with radiotherapy. Methods: Molecular Screening of 667 microRNAs using taqman low density array (TLDA) for target selection and then validation in 34 patients, being 20 radioresistant and 14 radiosensitive by RT-PCR with individual assays. Statistical analysis was performed by Chi-square and Fisher exact test for associations between variables, and log-rank method of Kaplan-Meier for recurrence free survival between molecular, clinical, demographic and treatment variables. Also to verify differences in distribution between the expression levels in radioresistant and radiosensitive the Mann-Whitney test was performed. Results: Four microRNAs were selected for validation, miR-296, miR-452, miR-183*, miR-200c based on fold-change and literature review and those were analyzed with respect to age, gender, TNM, laryngeal subsite, radiation dose and treatment interval. Among clinical, demographic, treatment and molecular variables, only miR-296 was shown to present different distribution with statistical significance between radioresistant and radiosensitive (p = 0.002), also demonstrated association with recurrence (p = 0.01) with an odds ratio (OR) of 8.6, confidence interval (CI) between 1.7 and 42.2. Conclusions: In our study, only miR-296 demonstrated the ability to predict patients most likely to fail radiotherapy, also showing a worse prognosis for tumors with high expression level. miR-296 is a molecular predictive and prognostic marker to be considered prior to treatment selection for early-stage laryngeal tumors.

Citation Format: Danielle C C Maia, Ana Carolina de Carvalho, Maria Aderuza Horst, Cristovam Scapulatempo Neto, Andre Lopes Carvalho, Andre L. Vettore. miR-296 as prognostic and predictive molecular marker for recurrence in early-stage laryngeal carcinoma treated with definitive radiotherapy. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1481. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1481

β-ionone inhibits persistent preneoplastic lesions during the early promotion phase of rat hepatocarcinogenesis: TGF-α, NF-κB, and p53 as cellular targets

Dietary isoprenic derivatives such as β-ionone (βI) are a promising class of chemopreventive agents. In this study, cellular aspects of βI protective activities during early hepatocarcinogenesis were evaluated. Male Wistar rats were submitted to "resistant hepatocyte" model and then received daily 16 mg/100 g body weight (b.w.) of βI (βI group) or only 0.25 mL/100 g b.w. of corn oil (vehicle, control group [CO]) during 4 wk, specifically during early promotion phase. Compared to controls, βI inhibited (P < 0.05) the development of persistent preneoplastic lesions (pPNL), considered to be potential hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression sites, and increased remodeling PNL (rPNL) (P < 0.05) that tend to regress to a normal phenotype. Increased βI hepatic levels (P < 0.05), in the βI group, were associated with its chemopreventive actions. Compared to control rats, βI reduced the frequency of both pPNL and rPNL positive for tumor growth factor (TGF)-α (P < 0.05), reduced the frequency of pPNL stained for p65 (nuclear factor-kappaB; NF-κB) (P < 0.05), and reduced the frequency of pPNL positive for cytoplasmic p53 (P < 0.05). Our data demonstrated that βI targets TGF-α, NF-κB, and p53 in initial phases of hepatocarcinogenesis and specifically inhibits PNL with increased probability to progress to HCC. This isoprenoid may represent a chemopreventive agent of choice for HCC control.

Abstract 4202: Oncogenic microRNA-31 as prognostic potential biomarker in histologically negative surgical margins of head and neck cancer patients

The development of locoregional recurrence is the main reason for treatment failure in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) and the remaining of tumor cells in surgical margins is associated with recurrence. Surgical margins are considered negative based on histologic assessment of the pathological specimen. However, this method lacks sensitivity in identifying cells that already started malignant transformation but have not yet developed a pathologic phenotype. We investigated the usefulness of assessing the expression of microRNA-31 for the detection of molecular alterations in histologically negative surgical margins (HNSM) and determine the correlation of these tumor-related alterations with clinical and prognostic parameters. MicroRNAs are endogenously expressed non-coding RNAs that have important biological and pathological functions. The microRNA-31 was found markedly upregulated in different malignancies, including HNSCC. The microRNA-31 expression was determined by qRT-PCR in HNSCC (n=19), HNSM (n=37) and normal mucosa (n=10). According to our results, 76% of tumor samples and 30% of the HNSM specimens were positive for microRNA-31 overexpression. Moreover, the overexpression of this microRNA in the HNSM was associated with perineural invasion (p &lt; 0.05 Fisher's exact tests) and showed a tendency to correlates with poor disease-free survival (p &lt; 0,09 log-rank).

These findings demonstrate that the overexpression of microRNA-31 in histologically negative surgical margins is a frequent event. The use of qRT-PCR may be an useful tool in detecting actually negative HNSCC surgical margins and the overexpression of microRNA-31 in these margins could be helpful in the identification of patients with worst outcome.

Supported by Fapesp (Grant 2011/01919-2).

Citation Format: Maria Aderuza Horst, Ana Carolina Carvalho, Danielle Campelo Maia, Juliana Aymberé Bello, Luiz Paulo Kowalski, Andre Lopes Carvalho, Andre Luiz Vettore. Oncogenic microRNA-31 as prognostic potential biomarker in histologically negative surgical margins of head and neck cancer patients. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4202. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4202

Abstract 1946: Downregulated microRNAs in salivary rinse from patients with head and neck squamous cells carcinoma

Head and neck Squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a disease with high incidence and mortality, and the sixth most common cancer worldwide. The diagnosis is usually made late, after the appearance of visible lesions. The discovery of altered epigenetic profiles in cancer awakened to new paradigms by which molecular mechanisms contribute significantly to carcinogenesis. To date, approximately 1000 miRNAs have been described and it is estimated that they may influence the expression of up to one third of human genes. The deregulation of the expression of miRNAs can directly influence cell proliferation and differentiation and therefore, they can act as oncogenes or tumor suppressors. The aim of this study is to compare the miRNAs expression profiles in saliva samples from patients with HNSCC and normal controls in order to identify potential diagnostic markers for this cancer. Comprehensive miRNA profile was done in 4 salivary rinse samples from HNSCC patients and 3 samples from healthy donors using a Megaplex TaqMan Low Density miRNA Arrays (TLDA) to assess the expression status of miRNAs. 101 miRNAs differentialy expressed were identified. From that, 21 were upregulated in the HNSCC samples while 80 were downregulated in these samples. After a deep revision of the information available from them, we selected candidates to be validated in an independent group of 100 salivary rinses collected from HNSCC patient at diagnoses. A preliminary result indicated that four selected miRNA were down regulated with 90-91% of specificity and 53-64% of sensibility. Our hypothesis is based on the fact that the down regulation confirmed in our results may be related to the potential of tumor suppressor activity of these miRNAs; Besides the validation obtained by our tests, important studies in the literature show agreement with this hypothesis and may add relevant data in developing this study.

Supported by Fapesp (Grant 2011/15122-9).

Citation Format: Maria Fernanda A. Pelarin, Maria Aderuza Horst, Ana Carolina Carvalho, Luiz Paulo Kowalski, André Luiz Vettore, Bruno Karia. Downregulated microRNAs in salivary rinse from patients with head and neck squamous cells carcinoma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1946. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1946

Abstract 5050: MicroRNAs profiling in salivary rinse from patients with head and neck squamous cells carcinoma

Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) constitute the fifth most common malignancy worldwide. Over the last years, diagnosis and management have improved through combined efforts in surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, but long-term survival rates have improved only marginally, and the overall 5-year survival rate for HNSCC patients is around 50%. Late diagnosis and frequent locoregional relapse after definitive therapy are the major causes of morbidly and mortality in HNSCC cases. Hence, there is a need to acquire deeper understanding of HNSCC biology and to identify effective molecular biomarkers useful for a precocious recognition of the relapses. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are evolutionarily conserved, endogenous, small, noncoding RNA molecules of about 19-24 nucleotides in length that function as posttranscriptional gene regulators, might also function as tumor suppressors and oncogenes. These small regulatory RNAs have been recently recognized to play important roles in human cancers and increasing data support the value of miRNA expression profiling to distinguish different types of human malignancies and to categorize various cancer subtypes. The aim of this study is to evaluate the miRNA expression profile in salivary rinse samples from HNSCC patients and to investigate the significance of miRNA as molecular marker for tumor recurrence detection. Comprehensive miRNA profile was done in 4 salivary rinse samples from HNSCC patients and 3 samples from healthy donors using a Megaplex TaqMan Low Density miRNA Arrays (TLDA - Life Technologies) to assess the expression status of 670 miRNAs. Expression values were calculated using the ΔΔCt method, where mean Ct of the 3 normal samples was used as reference. All target miRNAs with undetermined Ct values in all samples were removed, leaving 198 miRNAs in the analysis. Using a cut-off of 2X to identify the differentially expressed miRNAs, 101 candidates were selected. From that, 21 were upregulated in the HNSCC samples while 80 were downregulated in these samples. After a deep revision of the information available from the 101 differentially expressed miRNA, we selected 10 candidates to be validated in an independent group of 100200 salivary rinses collected from HNSCC patient at diagnoses. A preliminary result indicated that one of the selected miRNA is overexpressed 95% (19/20) of tumor samples evaluated. In the future, the validated candidates will be evaluated in salivary rinses that are being collected each six months during the fallow-up of 300 patients included in the study. So we could evaluate their uselfulness as markers for HNSCC relapses. Supported by Fapesp (Grant 2011/01919-2).

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5050. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-5050

Chemopreventive effects of β-ionone and geraniol during rat hepatocarcinogenesis promotion: distinct actions on cell proliferation, apoptosis, HMGCoA reductase, and RhoA

Chemopreventive activities of the dietary isoprenoids β-ionone (βI) and geraniol (GOH) were evaluated during the promotion phase of hepatocarcinogenesis. Over 5 consecutive weeks, rats received daily 16 mg/100 g body weight (b.w.) of βI (βI group), 25 mg/100 g b.w. of GOH (GOH group), or only corn oil (CO group, controls). Compared to the CO group, the following was observed: only the βI group showed a decrease in the mean number of visible hepatocyte nodules (P<.05); βI and GOH groups had reduced mean number of persistent preneoplastic lesions (pPNLs) (P<.05), but no differences regarding number of remodeling PNL (rPNLs) were observed; only the βI group exhibited smaller rPNL size and percentage of liver sections occupied by pPNLs (P<.05), whereas the GOH group displayed a smaller percentage of liver sections occupied by rPNLs (P<.05); a trend was observed in the βI group, which showed reduced cell proliferation of pPNLs (P<.10), and the GOH group had increased apoptosis in pPNLs and rPNLs (P<.05); only the βI group displayed reduced total plasma cholesterol concentrations (P<.05) and increased hepatic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMGCoA) reductase mRNA levels (P<.05); only the GOH group had lower hepatic membrane RhoA protein levels (P<.05); both the βI- and GOH-treated groups had higher hepatic concentrations of βI and GOH, respectively (P<.05). Given these data, βI and GOH show promising chemopreventive effects during promotion of hepatocarcinogenesis by acting through distinct mechanism of actions: βI may inhibit cell proliferation and modulate HMGCoA reductase, and GOH can induce apoptosis and inhibit RhoA activation.

Chemoprevention of rat hepatocarcinogenesis with histone deacetylase inhibitors: efficacy of tributyrin, a butyric acid prodrug

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ranks in prevalence and mortality among top 10 cancers worldwide. Butyric acid (BA), a member of histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) has been proposed as an anticarcinogenic agent. However, its short half-life is a therapeutical limitation. This problem could be circumvented with tributyrin (TB), a proposed BA prodrug. To investigate TB effectiveness for chemoprevention, rats were treated with the compound during initial phases of "resistant hepatocyte" model of hepatocarcinogenesis, and cellular and molecular parameters were evaluated. TB inhibited (p < 0.05) development of hepatic preneoplastic lesions (PNL) including persistent ones considered HCC progression sites. TB increased (p < 0.05) PNL remodeling, a process whereby they tend to disappear. TB did not inhibit cell proliferation in PNL, but induced (p < 0.05) apoptosis in remodeling ones. Compared to controls, rats treated with TB presented increased (p < 0.05) hepatic levels of BA indicating its effectiveness as a prodrug. Molecular mechanisms of TB-induced hepatocarcinogenesis chemoprevention were investigated. TB increased (p < 0.05) hepatic nuclear histone H3K9 hyperacetylation specifically in PNL and p21 protein expression, which could be associated with inhibitory HDAC effects. Moreover, it reduced (p < 0.05) the frequency of persistent PNL with aberrant cytoplasmic p53 accumulation, an alteration associated with increased malignancy. Original data observed in our study support the effectiveness of TB as a prodrug of BA and as an HDACi in hepatocarcinogenesis chemoprevention. Besides histone acetylation and p21 restored expression, molecular mechanisms involved with TB anticarcinogenic actions could also be related to modulation of p53 pathways.

Association of attending physician specialty with the cesarean delivery rate in the same patient population

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

In the context of a dramatic increase in US cesarean delivery rates over the past 30 years and explicit national goals to decrease the cesarean rate, previous retrospective studies have shown that pregnant women cared for by family physicians may be less likely to undergo cesarean delivery, compared with patients cared for by obstetricians.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective chart review of 3,560 deliveries from the family practice service of a community-based family practice residency from 1986-1995, focusing primarily on cesarean delivery rates during two periods of time. During period 1 (n = 1,063), all attending were private practice obstetricians. After a transition period, all births were attended by family medicine faculty (period 2, n = 1,346).

RESULTS

The total cesarean delivery rate declined from 16.7% in period 1 to 11.1% in period 2. Repeat cesareans declined from 8.5% to 2.9%.

CONCLUSIONS

In this community-based residency, a change in the specialty of the attending physician was associated with a 34% decline in the cesarean delivery rate. The observed decline in the cesarean rate could not be accounted for by any change in patient demographics or secular trends in cesarean delivery rates.

Maternal tobacco smoking and changes in amino acid uptake by human placental villi: induction of uptake systems, gammaglutamyltranspeptidase and membrane fluidity

Maternal smoking depressed the active uptake of amino acids by human placentae and lowered their levels in the placenta and umbilical vein. During starvation of cells for amino acids, more amino acid carriers are induced and incorporated into the plasma membrane. A question arises whether there could be similar changes due to maternal smoking in the placental amino acid uptake carrier systems. Therefore, the characteristics of (a) the uptake of 2-amino[I-14C]-isobutyric acid (AIB) by isolated placental villi, (b) gammaglutamyltranspeptidase (GGTP), a critical enzyme of the gammaglutamyl cycle (GGC) for the uptake of amino acids in human placenta, and (c) lipid structural parameters (reciprocal of fluidity), by steady state fluorescence polarization of plasma membrane vesicles of microvilli (MV) and microsomal membranes (MM) of umbilical and chorionic plate arteries of placentae of smoking and non-smoking mothers were investigated. The above investigations gave the following results: (a) Washed placental villi of smokers exhibited higher capacity for AIB uptake than those of non-smokers. The higher uptake capacity was mainly due to increase in Vmax for AIB uptake in smokers. Km increased for placental AIB uptake in smokers. (b) Maternal smoking lowered GGTP activity of MV by decreasing its Vmax. Therefore, maternal smoking decreases the formation of gammaglutamyl-amino acid (GGAA) on the surface of trophoblast which are absorbed by the trophoblast. The degree of absorption of GGAA is considered as an inverse environmental signal for the cell to regulate amino acid transport systems. Maternal smoking seems to decrease the formation and absorption of GGAA and thereby induce the formation of new carriers for AIB uptake. (c) Maternal smoking increased the values for lipid structural order parameters and microviscosity of MV and induced tolerance against fluidization by ethyl alcohol in MM of umbilical and chorionic arteries. The alterations could increase Km for AIB uptake system and decrease the sensitivity of umbilical and chorionic arteries to vasoconstrictive substances like 5-hydroxytryptamine and catecholamine which are released by nicotine. All these changes tend to overcome the deficits produced in placental amino acid transport and satisfy the demands of the growing fetus for amino acids.

Activities of 5-methylfurfuryltrimethylammonium iodide and related compounds at vascular endothelial muscarinic receptors of the rat aorta

5-Methylfurfuryltrimethylammonium iodide (5-MFT) is a furan analog of muscarine and was studied for its cholinergic activity at vascular endothelial receptors of the rat aorta. Other related compounds have different substitutions at position 5 of the furan ring and include the following compounds: 5-hydroxymethyl- (5-HMFT), 5-chloromethyl- (5-CMFT), 5-bromomethyl- (5-BMFT), 5-iodomethyl- (5-IMFT), and 5-methoxy- (5-MOFT) furfuryltrimethylammonium salts. The furan analogs relaxed helical strips of rat aorta which contracted with norepinephrine (10(-6)M). These relaxations were endothelial cell-dependent. The ED50's for muscarinic activities increased in the following order: 5-MFT = ACh less than dl-muscarine less than 5-HMFT = 5-CMFT less than 5-MOFT less than 5-BMFT less than 5-IMFT. Among the furan analogs, 5-MFT was found to be a full agonist at the endothelial cells; other furan analogs were only partial agonists. The affinities and relative intrinsic efficacies of the most potent analogs decreased in the following order: ACh = 5-MFT greater than dl-muscarine greater than 5-HMFT greater than 5-CMFT. Atropine and scopolamine antagonized relaxations by furan analogs. KB values for atropine and scopolamine against ACh, 5-MFT or 5-HMFT as agonist were not different, indicating that these agonists and antagonists were acting at the same muscarinic receptors. The KB of atropine and of scopolamine increased when 5-CMFT was used as an agonist, indicating that 5-CMFT may cause relaxation by acting at other sites besides endothelial muscarinic receptors. The endothelial muscarinic receptor might be classified tentatively as of M2 or Ms type. These studies did not exclude the possible heterogeneity of the endothelial muscarinic receptors.

Opioid receptors of human placental villi modulate acetylcholine release

The human placental villous tissue contains components of the cholinergic system and opioid receptors of the kappa type. In vitro stimulation of the villous tissue releases acetylcholine in organ baths. A selective kappa agonist, ethylketocyclazocine, inhibits the release of acetylcholine. This inhibition is reversed by the antagonist Mr 2266. The antagonist alone stimulates the release of acetylcholine 18-fold over control. These results demonstrate an interaction between the placental opioid receptors and the cholinergic system in a non-neural tissue. The modulation of acetylcholine release by endogenous opioid peptides could be one of the in vivo functions of placental opioid receptors.

Action of agonists and antagonists on adrenergic receptors in isolated porcine coronary arteries

The adrenergic receptors of porcine coronary arteries were investigated in helically cut strips of small (less than or equal to 0.5 mm outer-diameter (od), medium (0.8-1.2 mm od), large (1.5-2.5 mm od), and very large (greater than 4 mm od) coronary arteries. Both the beta1 agonist dobutamine and the beta2 agonist terbutaline relaxed coronary arteries partially contracted by 25 mM of KCl. Dobutamine contracted small coronary arteries at 10(-5) M concentrations, then relaxed them at 10(-4) M. The beta1-adrenoceptor antagonist metoprolol contracted coronary arteries relaxed by either dobutamine or terbutaline, but the beta2 antagonist H35/25 did so only in high and probably nonselective concentrations. Alpha1-adrenoreceptor stimulating concentrations of phenylephrine did not contract any of the arteries. Metoprolol and high concentrations of H35/25 further contracted large coronary arteries partially contracted by 25 mM potassium. These contractions were blocked by verapamil and papaverine but not by atropine, phentolamine, yohimbine, mepyramine, or methysergide. This seems to indicate that beta-adrenergic receptors in porcine coronary arteries are beta1-receptors, or closely resemble beta1-receptors. They differ from many other beta1-receptors, however, in that they are stimulated by terbutaline. Alpha1 adrenoreceptors seem not to be present in these porcine coronary arteries to a significant extent. Metoprolol and high concentrations of H35/25 have a direct contractile effect in large porcine coronary artery that is not mediated by alpha-adrenergic, muscarinic, histaminergic, or serotonergic receptors but requires verapamil-sensitive calcium.

Lack of an effect of drugs acting at histamine receptors on norepinephrine-induced relaxation of porcine coronary arteries

The effects of selective histamine receptor stimulation on relaxation to norepinephrine (NE) were determined in four sizes of spirally cut porcine coronary arteries. The four sizes of porcine coronary artery were designated very large (greater than 4.0 mm o.d.), large (1.5-2.5 mm o.d.), medium (0.8-1.2 mm o.d.), and small (less than or equal to 0.5 mm o.d.). Histamine, dimaprit, 2-pyridylethylamine, and histamine plus either mepyramine or metiamide did not alter the concentration-response curve to NE. Thus histamine receptor stimulation does not change relaxations of porcine coronary arteries to NE.

Effects of dithiothreitol on the isolated rabbit mesenteric artery

Rabbit mesenteric artery strips exposed to 10(-3) M dithiothreitol (DTT) were contracted with a series of concentrations of histamine and 2-pyridylethylamine (PEA). DTT exposure increased the sensitivity to histamine 100-fold but increased the sensitivity to PEA only 4-fold. DTT did not reduce dimaprit-induced relaxations, but reduced histamine-induced relaxations. Following a high concentration of histamine (10(-3) M), DTT itself produced a sustained, slowly developing contraction (29 +/- 6.8% of the maximal contraction) relaxed by 7 X 10(-6) M mepyramine but not by 10(-6) M phentolamine. Metiamide (3 x 10(-5) M) potentiated DTT-induced contractions (29 +/- 6.8 before, 57 +/- 7.5% after metiamide, as a percent of maximal contraction). Changing the bathing fluid and repeating DTT exposure slowly relaxed previously contracted strips. DTT did not prevent the increase in sensitivity of relaxant histamine receptors on exposure to cold. We conclude that DTT, in addition to potentiating histamine H1-receptor responses, releases histamine presumably from non-mast cell pools when they are loaded with a high concentration of exogenous histamine.

Rabbit mesenteric artery receptors formed by cold exposure mediating increased histamine-induced relaxation

On helically-cut strips of rabbit mesenteric artery contracted with phenylephrine, histamine in the presence of mepyramine caused a partial relaxation at 42 degrees C which was potentiated by reducing the temperature to 25 degrees C. However, under the same conditions, the selective H2 agonist, dimaprit, caused a smaller partial relaxation not enhanced by cooling the strips. Neither changing the temperature range (to 38 degrees and 22 degrees C), deleting the H1 blocker, nor substitution of another H1 blocker (pyribenzamine) resulted in an enhanced relation to dimaprit in the cold. Prior reserpinization of the rabbit did not abolish the cooling-enhanced relaxation to histamine, but did abolish the reversal of relaxation observed at high (10(-3) M) histamine concentrations. Metiamide (3 X 10(-4) M) blocked both histamine (H2)- and dimaprit-induced relaxations more effectively in cooled strips. Thus the H2 receptor activity observed in cooled strips differs in selectivity for the two agonists and antagonist from that observed at normal temperature.