Treating obstructive sleep apnea with continuous positive airway pressure benefits type 2 diabetes management.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are both common major public health concerns. Epidemiological and clinical evidence postulates that OSA may be a causal factor in the pathogenesis of T2DM. This review examines recent empirical developments in theory, research, and practice regarding T2DM and OSA.

Alterations in fecal Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species in type 2 diabetic patients in Southern China population.

Background: The connection between gut microbiota and metabolism and its role in the pathogenesis of diabetes are increasingly recognized. The objective of this study was to quantitatively measure Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus species, members of commensal bacteria found in human gut, in type 2 diabetic patients (T2D) patients from Southern China.

Methods: Fifty patients with T2D and thirty control individuals of similar body mass index (BMI) were recruited from Southern China.

The global transcriptional response of isolated human islets of langerhans to glucagon-like Peptide-1 receptor agonist liraglutide.

GLP-1 and its analog have been used in diabetes treatment; however, the direct alteration of gene expression profile in human islets induced by GLP-1 has not been reported. In present study, transcriptional gene expression in the liraglutide-treated human islets was analyzed with 12 human U133A chips including 23000 probe sets. The data compared between liraglutide and control groups showed a significant difference on glucose-induced insulin secretion, rather than viability.

Glucagon like peptide-1-directed human embryonic stem cells differentiation into insulin-producing cells via hedgehog, cAMP, and PI3K pathways.

Objectives: That glucagonlike peptide-1 (GLP-1) induces differentiation of primate embryonic stem (ES) cells into insulin-producing cells has been reported by several groups and also confirmed with our observations.

Methods: To further elucidate the process in detail and the signaling pathways involved in this differentiation, we induced human ES cells HUES1 differentiated into insulin secretion cells by GLP-1 treatment.

Results: A time-dependent pattern of down expression of the stem cell markers (human telomerase reverse transcriptase and octamer-4), and the appearance of multiple beta-cell-specific proteins (insulin, glucokinase, glucose transporter, type 2, and islet duodenal homeobox 1) and hedgehog signal molecules (Indian hedgehog, sonic hedgehog, and hedgehog receptor, patched) have been identified.

Three VSX1 gene mutations, L159M, R166W, and H244R, are not associated with keratoconus.

Purpose: Three mutations, L159M, R166W, and H244R, in the VSX1 gene have been recently reported to be associated with keratoconus by direct sequencing in familial panels. In an attempt to confirm this observation, we surveyed the same mutations of the VSX1 gene for a white sporadic keratoconus case-control panel and a larger familial panel to test its association with keratoconus.

Methods: A case-control panel, with 77 keratoconus patients and 71 healthy controls, and a keratoconus familial panel, with 444 individuals from 75 families, were surveyed.

Two-stage genome-wide linkage scan in keratoconus sib pair families.

Purpose: To identify susceptibility gene loci for keratoconus.

Methods: A genome-wide linkage analysis was performed with data from 67 keratoconus sib pair families with 110 affected sib pairs of white or Hispanic origin. A total of 351 subjects were genotyped for 380 microsatellite markers along the genome at approximately 10-cM density.

Genomewide linkage scan in a multigeneration Caucasian pedigree identifies a novel locus for keratoconus on chromosome 5q14.3-q21.1.

Purpose: Keratoconus is a corneal dystrophy with an incidence of 1 in 2000 and a leading cause for cornea transplantation in Western developed countries. Both clinical observations and segregation analyses suggest a major role for genes in its pathogenesis. It is genetically heterogeneous, most commonly sporadic, but inherited patterns with recessive or dominant modes have also been reported.