microRNA cluster 106a~363 is involved in T helper 17 cell differentiation.

T-helper cell type 17 (Th17) mediated inflammation is associated with various diseases including autoimmune encephalitis, inflammatory bowel disease and lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. Differentiation into distinct T helper subtypes needs to be tightly regulated to ensure an immunological balance. As microRNAs (miRNAs) are critical regulators of signalling pathways, we aimed to identify specific miRNAs implicated in controlling Th17 differentiation.

Domains of physical activity and brain volumes: A population-based study.

Observational studies and intervention trials suggest that physical activity (PA) is beneficial for human brain morphology, especially in older individuals. Few population-based studies examined whether domain-specific PA is associated with brain volumes. Accordingly, we studied putative associations of PA during leisure time, sports and work with volumes of the hippocampus, the prefrontal cortex, the temporal lobe, gray matter (GM), white matter (WM) and total brain (TBV) after 5.

Retinopathy with central oedema in an INS transgenic pig model of long-term diabetes.

Aims/hypothesis: Diabetic retinopathy is a severe complication of diabetes mellitus that often leads to blindness. Because the pathophysiology of diabetic retinopathy is not fully understood and novel therapeutic interventions require testing, there is a need for reliable animal models that mimic all the complications of diabetic retinopathy. Pig eyes share important anatomical and physiological similarities with human eyes.

Sex Hormones and Hair Loss in Men From the General Population of Northeastern Germany.

This cohort study of German men investigates cross-sectional associations between a panel of liquid chromatography mass–spectrometry-measured sex hormones and hair loss.

Predicting brain structure in population-based samples with biologically informed genetic scores for schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is associated with brain structural abnormalities including gray and white matter volume reductions. Whether these alterations are caused by genetic risk variants for schizophrenia is unclear. Previous attempts to detect associations between polygenic factors for schizophrenia and structural brain phenotypes in healthy subjects have been negative or remain non-replicated.

Prevalence of elevated liver enzymes in adults with type 1 diabetes: A multicentre analysis of the German/Austrian DPV database.

Aims: To assess the prevalence of elevated liver enzymes in adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in routine clinical care and the association with cardiovascular risk profile in the Diabetes-Prospective-Documentation (DPV) network in Germany and Austria.

Subjects And Methods: This cross sectional observational study from the DPV registry includes data from 45 519 adults with T1DM at 478 centres up to September 2016. Liver enzyme measurements were available in 9226 (29%) patients at 270 centres and were analysed for increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT; men >50 U/L, women >35U/L) and/or aspartate aminotransferase (AST; men >50 U/L, women >35U/L) and/or gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT; men >60U/L, women >40 U/L).

Pancreas lineage allocation and specification are regulated by sphingosine-1-phosphate signalling.

During development, progenitor expansion, lineage allocation, and implementation of differentiation programs need to be tightly coordinated so that different cell types are generated in the correct numbers for appropriate tissue size and function. Pancreatic dysfunction results in some of the most debilitating and fatal diseases, including pancreatic cancer and diabetes. Several transcription factors regulating pancreas lineage specification have been identified, and Notch signalling has been implicated in lineage allocation, but it remains unclear how these processes are coordinated.

Healthcare costs of Type 2 diabetes in Germany.

Aim: To describe for the first time the direct costs of Type 2 diabetes treatment by analysing nationwide routine data from statutory health insurance in Germany.

Methods: This cost-of-illness-study was based on a 6.8% random sample of all German people with statutory health insurance (4.

Impact of quality of life (QoL) on glycemic control (HbA1c) among adolescents and emerging adults with long-duration type 1 diabetes: A prospective cohort-study.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of self-reported chronic-generic and condition-specific quality of life (QoL) on glycemic control among adolescents and emerging adults with long-duration type 1 diabetes (T1D) in a longitudinal design.

Methods: The database used was a nationwide cohort study of patients with ≥10 years T1D duration at baseline in Germany. The baseline questionnaire survey was conducted in 2009-2010, the follow-up survey in 2012-2013; additional clinical data of routine care procedures were linked.

Production of high-quality islets from goettingen minipigs: Choice of organ preservation solution, donor pool, and optimal cold ischemia time.

Background: The transplantation of porcine islets into man might soon become reality for patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Therefore, porcine islets of high quality and quantity, and a scalable isolation process with strict quality control will be an unconditional prerequisite to enable the best possible transplantation graft. In this study, we provide a comparative study evaluating islet isolation outcome and in vitro survival based upon donor age, organ preservation solution (OPS), and cold ischemia time (CIT).

Gestational diabetes alters the fetal heart rate variability during an oral glucose tolerance test: a fetal magnetocardiography study.

Objective: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) potentially harms the child before birth. We previously found GDM to be associated with developmental changes in the central nervous system. We now hypothesise that GDM may also impact on the fetal autonomic nervous system under metabolic stress like an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).

Predicting risk of substantial weight gain in German adults-a multi-center cohort approach.

Background: A risk-targeted prevention strategy may efficiently utilize limited resources available for prevention of overweight and obesity. Likewise, more efficient intervention trials could be designed if selection of subjects was based on risk. The aim of the study was to develop a risk score predicting substantial weight gain among German adults.

Circulating Angiopoietin-2 and Its Soluble Receptor Tie-2 Concentrations Are Related to Renal Function in Two Population-Based Cohorts.

Background: An intact angiopoietin/Tie-2 ligand receptor system is indispensable for life. High circulating angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) concentrations are strongly associated with kidney disease involving the progressive loss of glomerular filtration. The aim of our study was to investigate the associations between renal function and serum Ang-2 or serum Tie-2 concentrations in the general population.

Sex Hormones and Sleep in Men and Women From the General Population: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study.

Context And Objectives: Associations between sex hormones and sleep habits originate mainly from small and selected patient-based samples. We examined data from a population-based sample with various sleep characteristics and the major part of sex hormones measured by mass spectrometry.

Design, Setting, And Participants: We used data from 204 men and 213 women of the cross-sectional Study of Health in Pomerania-TREND.

Diabetes induction by total pancreatectomy in minipigs with simultaneous splenectomy: a feasible approach for advanced diabetes research.

Background: Safe and reliable diabetes models are a key prerequisite for advanced preclinical studies on diabetes. Chemical induction is the standard model of diabetes in rodents and also widely used in large animal models of non-human primates and minipigs. However, uncertain efficacy, the potential of beta-cell regeneration, and relevant side effects are debatable aspects particularly in large animals.

Impact of fibroblast growth factor 21 on the secretome of human perivascular preadipocytes and adipocytes: a targeted proteomics approach.

Context: Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) is suggested to impact on vascular cells via humoral factors, possibly contributing to endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis.

Objective: To address whether the hepatokine fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 21 affects the PVAT secretome.

Methods: Human perivascular (pre)adipocytes were subjected to targeted proteomics and whole-genome gene expression analysis.

Islet cell transplantation from Göttingen minipigs to cynomolgus monkeys: analysis of virus safety.

Background: Xenotransplantation using pig cells, tissues or organs may be associated with the transmission of porcine zoonotic micro-organisms. Hepatitis E virus (HEV), porcine cytomegalovirus (PCMV) and porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) are potentially zoonotic micro-organisms which do not show clinical symptoms in pigs and which are due to the low expression level difficult to detect. Göttingen Minipigs (GöMP) are often used for biomedical investigations and they are well characterized concerning the presence of numerous bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites and therefore may be used for islet cell transplantation.

Signs of enhanced sleep and sleep-associated memory processing following the anti-inflammatory antibiotic minocycline in men.

Pro-inflammatory cytokines can promote sleep and neuronal processes underlying memory formation. However, this has mainly been revealed in animal studies. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled within-subject designed study, we examined how changes in the balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory signalling affect sleep and sleep-associated memory consolidation in humans.

Drug-based pain management in people with dementia after hip or pelvic fractures: a systematic review protocol.

Background: Studies show that people with dementia do not receive the same amount of analgesia after a hip or pelvic fracture compared to those without cognitive impairment. However, there is no systematic review that shows to what extent and how drug-based pain management is performed for people with dementia following a hip or pelvic fracture. The aim of this systematic review is to identify studies addressing drug-based pain management for people with dementia who have had a hip or pelvic fracture for which they had either an operation or conservative treatment.

Phenotypes of prediabetes and stratification of cardiometabolic risk.

Prediabetes is associated with increased risks of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, and cancer, and its prevalence is increasing worldwide. Lifestyle and pharmacological interventions in people with prediabetes can prevent the development of diabetes and possibly cardiovascular disease. However, prediabetes is a highly heterogeneous metabolic state, both with respect to its pathogenesis and prediction of disease.

Risk factors for necrobiosis lipoidica in Type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Aims: To compare the clinical and metabolic characteristics of patients with Type 1 diabetes and necrobiosis lipoidica with those of patients with Type 1 diabetes who do not have necrobiosis lipoidica. A multicentre analysis was performed.

Methods: Clinical and laboratory data were obtained from 64 133 patients (aged 0-25 years) with Type 1 diabetes with and without necrobiosis lipoidica who were registered in the German/Austrian Diabetes Prospective Documentation Initiative registry.

Epidemiologic research topics in Germany: a keyword network analysis of 2014 DGEpi conference presentations.

Knowledge of epidemiologic research topics as well as trends is useful for scientific societies, researchers and funding agencies. In recent years researchers recognized the usefulness of keyword network analysis for visualizing and analyzing scientific research topics. Therefore, we applied keyword network analysis to present an overview of current epidemiologic research topics in Germany.

Chemerin in peritoneal sepsis and its associations with glucose metabolism and prognosis: a translational cross-sectional study.

Background: Stress hyperglycaemia (SHG) is a common complication in sepsis associated with poor outcome. Chemerin is an adipocytokine associated with inflammation and impaired glucose homeostasis in metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes (T2D). We aimed to investigate how alterations of circulating chemerin levels and corresponding visceral adipose tissue (VAT) expression are linked to glucose metabolism and prognosis in sepsis.