Polymorphisms within autophagy-related genes as susceptibility biomarkers for pancreatic cancer: A meta-analysis of three large European cohorts and functional characterization.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal cancers with patients having unresectable or metastatic disease at diagnosis, with poor prognosis and very short survival. Given that genetic variation within autophagy-related genes influences autophagic flux and susceptibility to solid cancers, we decided to investigate whether 55,583 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within 234 autophagy-related genes could influence the risk of developing PDAC in three large independent cohorts of European ancestry including 12,754 PDAC cases and 324,926 controls. The meta-analysis of these populations identified, for the first time, the association of the BID variant with an increased risk of developing the disease (OR = 1.

Novel Biomarkers Reveal Mismatch Between Tissue and Serum Thyroid Hormone Status in Amiodarone-Induced Hyperthyroidism.

Context: Serum thyrotropin and thyroid hormone (TH) levels are routine markers of thyroid function. However, their diagnostic performance is limited under special conditions, such as in amiodarone-induced hyperthyroidism (AIH). Such cases would require the assessment of tissue TH action, which is currently unfeasible.

Hormonal changes in the first 24 postoperative hours after cardiac surgical procedures.

Background: Hormone level changes after heart surgeries are a widely observed phenomenon due to neurohormonal feedback mechanisms that may affect postoperative morbidity and mortality. The current study aimed to analyze the changes in thyroid and sex hormones in the first 24 postoperative hours after heart surgery.

Methods: This prospective, observational study (registered on ClinicalTrials.

The master role of polarized NIS expression in regulating iodine metabolism in the human body.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate how polarized sodium iodide symporter (NIS) expression may regulate iodide metabolism .

Materials And Methods: Polarized NIS expression was analyzed in tissues that accumulate iodide by the use of immunohistochemistry and polyclonal antibody against the C-terminal end of human NIS (hNIS).

Results: Iodide absorption in the human intestine occurs via NIS expressed in the apical membrane.