Cytokines as Biomarkers of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: A Systematic Review.

Objectives: A systematic review of the role of cytokines in clinical medicine as diagnostic, prognostic, or predictive biomarkers in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma was undertaken.

Materials And Methods: A systematic review was conducted according to the 2009 PRISMA guidelines. PubMed database was searched for all original articles on the topic of interest published until June 2015, and this was supplemented with references cited in relevant articles.

Gamma-glutamyltransferase, insulin resistance and cardiometabolic risk profile in a middle-aged African population.

Background: Mechanisms linking liver functions with cardiometabolic risk may involve insulin resistance (IR) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. We assessed the associations of gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) levels with IR and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in an adult South African urban cohort.

Methods: 1198 participants aged >15 years (297 men) were drawn from the Bellville-South suburb (Cape Town).

Polymorphisms in the non-muscle myosin heavy chain gene (MYH9) are associated with lower glomerular filtration rate in mixed ancestry diabetic subjects from South Africa.

Objective: Though single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the non-muscle myosin gene (MYH9) have been reported to explain most of the excess risk of nondiabetic chronic kidney disease (CKD), in African-Americans, some studies have also shown associations with diabetic end-stage renal disease. We investigated the association of MYH9 SNPs with renal traits in a mixed-ancestry South African population prone to diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: Three SNPs known to be associated with CKD (rs4821480, rs5756152 and rs12107) were genotyped using Taqman assay in 716 adults (198 with diabetes) from the Bellville-South community, Cape Town.