Optical Biosensors for the Detection of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Biomarkers: A Comprehensive Review.

A comprehensive review of optical biosensors for the detection of biomarkers associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is presented here, including microRNAs (miRNAs), C-reactive protein (CRP), rheumatoid factor (RF), anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and histidine, which are biomarkers that enable RA detection and/or monitoring. An overview of the different optical biosensors (based on fluorescence, plasmon resonances, interferometry, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) among other optical techniques) used to detect these biomarkers is given, describing their performance and main characteristics (limit of detection (LOD) and dynamic range), as well as the connection between the respective biomarker and rheumatoid arthritis. It has been observed that the relationship between the corresponding biomarker and rheumatoid arthritis tends to be obviated most of the time when explaining the mechanism of the optical biosensor, which forces the researcher to look for further information about the biomarker.

Effects of perinatal diet and prenatal stress on the behavioural profile of aged male and female rats.

The present work studies whether chronic prenatal stress (PS) influences the long-term sex-dependent neuropsychological status of offspring and the effects of an early dietary intervention in the dam. In addition, dams were fed with either a high-fat sugar diet (HFSD) or methyl donor supplemented diet (MDSD). PS procedure did not affect body weight of the offspring.

Gene expression kinetics of renal transporters induced by ochratoxin A in male and female F344 rats.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin that contaminates foodstuffs. The most relevant concern is its high kidney carcinogenicity in male rats and its unclear mechanism of action. It has been hypothesized that variations in transport mechanisms in kidney cells may be the reason of different sex-dependent sensitivities towards OTA.

Methyl donor supplementation in rats reverses the deleterious effect of maternal separation on depression-like behaviour.

Adverse early life events are associated with altered stress responsiveness and metabolic disturbances in the adult life. Dietary methyl donor supplementation could be able to reverse the negative effects of maternal separation by affecting DNA methylation in the brain. In this study, maternal separation during lactation reduced body weight gain in the female adult offspring without affecting food intake, and altered total and HDL-cholesterol levels.

Epigenetic Changes in the Methylation Patterns of KCNQ1 and WT1 after a Weight Loss Intervention Program in Obese Stroke Patients.

Ischemic stroke patients often show high concentrations of circulating inflammatory markers that are associated with increased risk of recurrence. Epigenetic mechanisms could be involved in obesity, inflammation and stroke. The objective of this research was to investigate, in obese patients suffering a previous stroke, the effects of a nutritional program on anthropometric and biochemical variables, and on the methylation patterns of two stroke-related genes (KCNQ1: potassium channel, voltage gated KQT-like subfamily Q, member 1; and WT1: Wilms tumor 1).

Novel splice-affecting variants in CYP27A1 gene in two Chilean patients with Cerebrotendinous Xanthomatosis.

Cerebrotendinous Xanthomatosis (CTX), a rare lipid storage disorder, is caused by recessive loss-of-function mutations of the 27-sterol hydroxylase (CYP27A1), producing an alteration of the synthesis of bile acids, with an accumulation of cholestanol. Clinical characteristics include juvenile cataracts, diarrhea, tendon xanthomas, cognitive impairment and other neurological manifestations. Early diagnosis is critical, because treatment with chenodeoxycholic acid may prevent neurological damage.

Obesity and ischemic stroke modulate the methylation levels of KCNQ1 in white blood cells.

Obesity and stroke are multifactorial diseases in which genetic, epigenetic and lifestyle factors are involved. The research aims were, first, the description of genes with differential epigenetic regulation obtained by an 'omics' approach in patients with ischemic stroke and, second, to determine the importance of some regions of these selected genes in biological processes depending on the body mass index. A case-control study using two populations was designed.

Maternal methyl donors supplementation during lactation prevents the hyperhomocysteinemia induced by a high-fat-sucrose intake by dams.

Maternal perinatal nutrition may program offspring metabolic features. Epigenetic regulation is one of the candidate mechanisms that may be affected by maternal dietary methyl donors intake as potential controllers of plasma homocysteine levels. Thirty-two Wistar pregnant rats were randomly assigned into four dietary groups during lactation: control, control supplemented with methyl donors, high-fat-sucrose and high-fat-sucrose supplemented with methyl donors.

Transcriptomic and epigenetic changes in early liver steatosis associated to obesity: effect of dietary methyl donor supplementation.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a primary hepatic manifestation of obesity and an important adverse metabolic syndrome trait. Animal models of diet-induced obesity promote liver fat accumulation putatively associated with alterations in epigenetic profile. Dietary methyl donor-supplementation may protect against this disturbance during early developmental stages affecting the molecular basis of gene regulation.

Association of weight regain with specific methylation levels in the NPY and POMC promoters in leukocytes of obese men: a translational study.

Specific methylation of appetite-related genes in leukocytes could serve as a useful biomarker to predict weight regain after an energy restriction program. We aimed to evaluate whether the pre-intervention DNA methylation patterns involved in the epigenetic control of appetite-regulatory genes in leukocytes are associated with the weight regain process. Eighteen men who lost ≥5% of body weight after an 8-week nutritional intervention were categorized as "regainers" (≥10% weight regain) and "non-regainers" (<10% weight regain) 32weeks after stopping dieting.

The rs9939609 polymorphism in the FTO gene is associated with fat and fiber intakes in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Background/aims: The common polymorphism in the FTO gene (rs9939609) has been associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and appetite regulation. The aim of this study was to evaluate possible associations of FTO rs9939609 with dietary factors in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 236 patients with type 2 diabetes (age 60.

Techniques of DNA methylation analysis with nutritional applications.

Epigenetic mechanisms are likely to play an important role in the regulation of metabolism and body weight through gene-nutrient interactions. This review focuses on methods for analyzing one of the most important epigenetic mechanisms, DNA methylation, from single nucleotide to global measurement depending on the study goal and scope. In addition, this study highlights the major principles and methods for DNA methylation analysis with emphasis on nutritional applications.

Prevention of diet-induced obesity by apple polyphenols in Wistar rats through regulation of adipocyte gene expression and DNA methylation patterns.

This study was conducted to determine the mechanisms implicated in the beneficial effects of apple polyphenols (APs) against diet-induced obesity in Wistar rats, described in a previous study from our group. Supplementation of high-fat sucrose diet with AP prevented adiposity increase by inhibition of adipocyte hypertrophy. Rats supplemented with AP exhibited improved glucose tolerance while adipocytes isolated from these rats showed an enhanced lipolytic response to isoproterenol.

Differential DNA methylation patterns between high and low responders to a weight loss intervention in overweight or obese adolescents: the EVASYON study.

In recent years, epigenetic markers emerged as a new tool to understand the influence of lifestyle factors on obesity phenotypes. Adolescence is considered an important epigenetic window over a human's lifetime. The objective of this work was to explore baseline changes in DNA methylation that could be associated with a better weight loss response after a multidisciplinary intervention program in Spanish obese or overweight adolescents.

High-throughput sequencing of microRNAs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells: identification of potential weight loss biomarkers.

Introduction: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are being increasingly studied in relation to energy metabolism and body composition homeostasis. Indeed, the quantitative analysis of miRNAs expression in different adiposity conditions may contribute to understand the intimate mechanisms participating in body weight control and to find new biomarkers with diagnostic or prognostic value in obesity management.

Objective: The aim of this study was the search for miRNAs in blood cells whose expression could be used as prognostic biomarkers of weight loss.

Screening of polyphenolic plant extracts for anti-obesity properties in Wistar rats.

Background: Polyphenols have been reported to prevent chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases. The objective of the study was to conduct a screening for potential anti-obesity polyphenolic plant extracts using a diet-induced animal model. Rats were fed a high-fat-sucrose (HFS) diet with or without supplementation of different polyphenolic plant extracts (almond, apple, cinnamon, orange blossom, hamamelis, lime blossom, grape vine, and birch) for 56-64 days.

CLOCK, PER2 and BMAL1 DNA methylation: association with obesity and metabolic syndrome characteristics and monounsaturated fat intake.

The circadian clock system instructs 24-h rhythmicity on gene expression in essentially all cells, including adipocytes, and epigenetic mechanisms may participate in this regulation. The aim of this research was to investigate the influence of obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) features in clock gene methylation and the involvement of these epigenetic modifications in the outcomes. Sixty normal-weight, overweight and obese women followed a 16-weeks weight reduction program.

Adiposoft: automated software for the analysis of white adipose tissue cellularity in histological sections.

The accurate estimation of the number and size of cells provides relevant information on the kinetics of growth and the physiological status of a given tissue or organ. Here, we present Adiposoft, a fully automated open-source software for the analysis of white adipose tissue cellularity in histological sections. First, we describe the sequence of image analysis routines implemented by the program.

Postnatal maternal separation modifies the response to an obesogenic diet in adulthood in rats.

An early-life adverse environment has been implicated in the susceptibility to different diseases in adulthood, such as mental disorders, diabetes and obesity. We analyzed the effects of a high-fat sucrose (HFS) diet for 35 days in adult female rats that had experienced 180 minutes daily of maternal separation (MS) during lactancy. Changes in the obesity phenotype, biochemical profile, levels of glucocorticoid metabolism biomarkers, and the expression of different obesity- and glucocorticoid-metabolism-related genes were analyzed in periovaric adipose tissue.

Mechanisms involved in BACE upregulation associated to stress.

The objective of the present work was to study a purported involvement of stress in amyloid pathology through the modulation of BACE expression. Early-life stressed rats (maternal separation, MS) showed significant increases in corticosterone levels, BACE expression and Aβ levels. The CpG7 site of the BACE promoter was significantly hypomethylated in MS, and corticosterone levels negatively correlated to the methylation status of CpG7.

Fat intake leads to differential response of rat adipocytes to glucose, insulin and ascorbic acid.

Antioxidant-based treatments have emerged as novel and interesting approaches to counteract fat accumulation in obesity and associated metabolic disturbances. Adipocytes from rats that were fed on chow or high-fat diet (HFD) for 50 d were isolated (primary adipocytes) and incubated (72 h) on low (LG; 5.6 mmol/L) or high (HG; 25 mmol/L) glucose levels, in the presence or absence of 1.

Interplay of early-life nutritional programming on obesity, inflammation and epigenetic outcomes.

The huge health burden accompanying obesity is not only attributable to inadequate dietary and sedentary lifestyle habits, since a predisposing genetic make-up and other putative determinants concerning easier weight gain and fat deposition have been reported. Thus, several investigations aiming to understand energy metabolism and body composition maintenance have been performed considering the participation of perinatal nutritional programming and epigenetic processes as well as inflammation phenomena. The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease hypothesis and inheritance-oriented investigations concerning gene-nutrient interactions on energy homoeostasis and metabolic functions have suggested that inflammation could be not only a comorbidity of obesity but also a cause.

Liver proteome changes induced by a short-term high-fat sucrose diet in wistar rats.

Background/aims: The aim of this study was to gain insight into those proteins that might be involved in the early stages of liver fat accumulation as a consequence of a different fat versus simple sugar dietary intake.

Methods: Forty-five male Wistar rats were randomly distributed into four dietary groups: a starch-rich control diet (CD; n = 10), a high-fat diet (n = 12), a high-sucrose diet (n = 11), and a high-fat sucrose diet (HFSD; n = 12) for 5 weeks. A comparative analysis by 2D-DIGE and LC-ESI-MS/MS was performed to characterize the liver protein expression profiles due to the three obesogenic diets.

Antidiabetic effects of natural plant extracts via inhibition of carbohydrate hydrolysis enzymes with emphasis on pancreatic alpha amylase.

Introduction: The increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus and the negative clinical outcomes observed with the commercially available anti-diabetic drugs have led to the investigation of new therapeutic approaches focused on controlling postprandrial glucose levels. The use of carbohydrate digestive enzyme inhibitors from natural resources could be a possible strategy to block dietary carbohydrate absorption with less adverse effects than synthetic drugs.

Areas Covered: This review covers the latest evidence regarding in vitro and in vivo studies in relation to pancreatic alpha-amylase inhibitors of plant origin, and presents bioactive compounds of phenolic nature that exhibit anti-amylase activity.

Vitamin C modulates the interaction between adipocytes and macrophages.

Scope: Increased adiposity is related with monocyte infiltration into the adipose tissue that accentuates inflammation. Antioxidant treatments emerge as approaches to counteract this phenomenon.

Methods And Results: Cocultures of differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes and RAW264.