A symptom severity questionnaire for patients suffering from functional gastrointestinal disorder: FGI-Checklist.

Background And Aim: A well-validated, comprehensive checklist of functional gastrointestinal (FGI) disorder (FGID) symptom severity for tracking symptom profile changes over time is lacking. We aim to develop and validate a comprehensive symptom severity checklist for FGID.

Methods: A 20-item scale, including both upper and lower gastrointestinal symptoms, was generated to measure the symptom severity commonly found in FGID.

Functional dyspepsia susceptibility is associated with TGFB1 gene polymorphisms (RS4803455, RS1800469) in H pylori-negative Chinese population.

Background: We previously published that altered expression of gastric TRPV1, BDNF, and peripheral cytokines was present in patients with functional dyspepsia. We herein examine whether genetic predisposition in altered biomarkers influences dyspeptic, sleep, and mood symptoms in patients with FD without previous infection.

Methods: Consecutive adult FD patients (Rome III) with no recent history of gastroenteritis and asymptomatic age- and sex-matched healthy controls were recruited for upper endoscopy.

Microtubule network is required for insulin-induced signal transduction and actin remodeling.

Both microtubule and actin are required for insulin-induced glucose uptake. However, the roles of these two cytoskeletons and their relationship in insulin action still remain unclear. In this work, we examined the morphological change of microtubule/actin and their involvement in insulin signal transduction using rat skeletal muscle cells.

Glucose lowering effect of transgenic human insulin-like growth factor-I from rice: in vitro and in vivo studies.

Background: Human insulin-like growth factor-I (hIGF-I) is a growth factor which is highly resemble to insulin. It is essential for cell proliferation and has been proposed for treatment of various endocrine-associated diseases including growth hormone insensitivity syndrome and diabetes mellitus. In the present study, an efficient plant expression system was developed to produce biologically active recombinant hIGF-I (rhIGF-I) in transgenic rice grains.

The pivotal role of protein kinase C zeta (PKCzeta) in insulin- and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-mediated glucose uptake in muscle cells.

Insulin and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signal pathways are involved in the regulation of glucose uptake. The integration of signals between these two pathways to maintain glucose homeostasis remains elusive. In this work, stimulation of insulin and berberine conferred a glucose uptake or surface glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) translocation that was less than simple summation of their effects in insulin-sensitive muscle cells.

Berberine modulates insulin signaling transduction in insulin-resistant cells.

Berberine has been shown to have insulin-sensitizing effect, but the molecular mechanism underlying remains elusive. In this work, we investigated the effect of berberine on insulin-induced signal transduction and glucose uptake in both insulin-sensitive and insulin-resistant rat skeletal muscle cells. Berberine increased the activity of AMPK and PKCzeta and AS160 phosphorylation in normal cells, but had little effect on PKB activation.