Effect of genotype and methylation of CYP2D6 on smoking behaviour.

Objective: Cigarette smoking is one of the most influential environmental factors affecting the DNA methylation patterns. The addiction-causing substance of tobacco smoke, nicotine, has also shown the potential to alter DNA methylation patterns. However, genetics has a strong influence on DNA methylation patterns, which in turn may affect an individual's smoking behaviour.

Pathogenic infection confounds induction of the estrogenic biomarker vitellogenin in rainbow trout.

To examine the behavior of the estrogenic biomarker vitellogenin (VTG) under the combined impact of estrogens and pathogens, parasite-infected or noninfected rainbow trout were exposed to two doses of 17β-estradiol (E2). Infected and E2-exposed fish showed significantly lower hepatic VTG mRNA levels than healthy fish. Transcriptome data suggest that this was due to energetic constraints.

Molecular crosstalk between a chemical and a biological stressor and consequences on disease manifestation in rainbow trout.

The aim of the present study was to examine the molecular and organism reaction of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, to the combined impact of two environmental stressors. The two stressors were the myxozoan parasite, Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae, which is the etiological agent of proliferative kidney disease (PKD) and a natural stressor to salmonid populations, and 17β-estradiol (E2) as prototype of estrogen-active chemical stressors in the aquatic environment. Both stressors, the parasite and estrogenic contaminants, co-exist in Swiss rivers and are discussed as factors contributing to the decline of Swiss brown trout populations over the last decades.

The hypermethylation of the O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase gene promoter in gliomas--correlation with array comparative genome hybridization results and IDH1 mutation.

The use of molecular markers in the diagnostics of gliomas aids histopathological diagnosis and allows their further classification into clinically significant subgroups. The aim of this study was to characterize the methylation pattern of the O(6) -methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter, gene copy number aberrations, and isocitrate dehydrogenase I (IDH1) mutation in gliomas. We studied 51 gliomas (15 oligodendrogliomas, 18 oligoastrocytomas, 3 astrocytomas, and 15 glioblastomas) by pyrosequencing, array comparative genome hybridization (CGH), and immunohistochemistry.

Carotid intima-media thickness after pediatric renal or liver transplantation at high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography.

In a previous study, we observed a higher incidence of dyslipidemia in pediatric renal recipients compared with liver recipients. In the present study, we measured common carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) in 13 pediatric renal recipients, 9 liver recipients, and 26 control individuals with median age of 11.4, 10.