Multivariate analysis approach to the serum peptide profile of morbidly obese patients.

Background: Obesity is currently epidemic in many countries worldwide and is strongly related to diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Mass spectrometry, in particular matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF) is currently used for detecting different pattern of expressed protein. This study investigated the differences in low molecular weight (LMW) peptide profiles between obese and normal-weight subjects in combination with multivariate statistical analysis.

Circulating cell-free DNA: a promising marker of regional lymphonode metastasis in breast cancer patients.

Purpose: We undertook the current study with untreated breast cancer to (1) role the variations in the plasma levels of cfDNA and the size distribution in early stage, (2) determine the frequency in plasma of methylation of three candidate genes, RASSF1A, MAL, and SFRP1, and (3) to determine whether detection of cfDNA variations and methylation changes in plasma might have specific clinical utility.

Methods And Materials: Thirty-nine patients woman patients (median age 64 years; range, 36-90 years) who underwent surgery for primary BR and 49 healthy females' subjects (control group without any breast lesion) were evaluated. The cfDNA levels were analyzed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction of β-globin.