Gut microbiota produces biofilm-associated amyloids with potential for neurodegeneration.

Age-related neurodegenerative diseases involving amyloid aggregation remain one of the biggest challenges of modern medicine. Alterations in the gastrointestinal microbiome play an active role in the aetiology of neurological disorders. Here, we dissect the amyloidogenic properties of biofilm-associated proteins (BAPs) of the gut microbiota and their implications for synucleinopathies.

An integrated transcriptomic and epigenomic analysis identifies CD44 gene as a potential biomarker for weight loss within an energy-restricted program.

Purpose: The interindividual variable response to weight-loss treatments requires the search for new predictive biomarkers for improving the success of weight-loss programs. The aim of this study is to identify novel genes that distinguish individual responses to a weight-loss dietary treatment by using the integrative analysis of mRNA expression and DNA methylation arrays.

Methods: Subjects from Metabolic Syndrome Reduction in Navarra (RESMENA) project were classified as low (LR) or high (HR) responders depending on their weight loss.

Higher Fruit Intake Is Related to TNF-α Hypomethylation and Better Glucose Tolerance in Healthy Subjects.

Background/aim: This study hypothesized an association between healthy dietary patterns, hypermethylation of the tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) promoter and decreased risk of metabolic changes.

Methods: Forty normal-weight young women were involved in this cross-sectional study. DNA was isolated from white blood cells, and CpG site methylation in TNF-α was analyzed by Sequenom EpiTyper.

LINE-1 and inflammatory gene methylation levels are early biomarkers of metabolic changes: association with adiposity.

We analyzed whether global and inflammatory genes methylation can be early predictors of metabolic changes and their associations with the diet, in a cross-sectional study (n = 40). Higher global methylation was associated to adiposity, insulin resistance, and lower quality of the diet. Methylation of IL-6, SERPINE1 and CRP genes was related to adiposity traits and macronutrients intake.

LINE-1 methylation is positively associated with healthier lifestyle but inversely related to body fat mass in healthy young individuals.

With the goal of investigating if epigenetic biomarkers from white blood cells (WBC) are associated with dietary, anthropometric, metabolic, inflammatory and oxidative stress parameters in young and apparently healthy individuals. We evaluated 156 individuals (91 women, 65 men; age: 23.1±3.

Expression of inflammation-related miRNAs in white blood cells from subjects with metabolic syndrome after 8 wk of following a Mediterranean diet-based weight loss program.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of a dietary strategy for weight loss (the RESMENA [reduction of metabolic syndrome in Navarra, Spain] diet) on the expression of inflammation-related microRNAS (miRNAs) and genes in white blood cells (WBC) from individuals with metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Methods: The clinical, anthropometric, and biochemical characteristics of 40 individuals with MetS (20 men and 20 women; age: 48.84 ± 10.

DNA Methylation and Hydroxymethylation Levels in Relation to Two Weight Loss Strategies: Energy-Restricted Diet or Bariatric Surgery.

Background: Weight loss can be influenced by genetic factors and epigenetic mechanisms that participate in the regulation of body weight. This study aimed to investigate whether the weight loss induced by two different obesity treatments (energy restriction or bariatric surgery) may affect global DNA methylation (LINE-1) and hydroxymethylation profile, as well as the methylation patterns in inflammatory genes.

Methods: This study encompassed women from three differents groups: 1.

SH2B1 CpG-SNP is associated with body weight reduction in obese subjects following a dietary restriction program.

Unlabelled: The objective of this study was to examine whether 7 SNPs previously associated with obesity-related traits that add or remove potential sites of DNA methylation are accompanied by differential DNA methylation and subsequently affect adiposity variables or body weight reduction in WBC from obese subjects under an energy-restricted program.

Material And Methods: Anthropometric measurements were assessed in 47 volunteers recruited within the RESMENA study (Spain). At baseline, DNA from white blood cells was isolated and 7 obesity-related trait CpG-SNPs were genotyped by TaqMan-PCR.

Oxidative stress in susceptibility to breast cancer: study in Spanish population.

Background: Alterations in the redox balance are involved in the origin, promotion and progression of cancer. Inter-individual differences in the oxidative stress regulation can explain a part of the variability in cancer susceptibility.The aim of this study was to evaluate if polymorphisms in genes codifying for the different systems involved in oxidative stress levels can have a role in susceptibility to breast cancer.

SERPINE1, PAI-1 protein coding gene, methylation levels and epigenetic relationships with adiposity changes in obese subjects with metabolic syndrome features under dietary restriction.

Plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) has been associated with metabolic disorders, through different mechanisms, which could involve changes in DNA methylation. This work aimed to assess the potential relationships of the cytosine methylation levels within SERPINE1 gene transcriptional regulatory region, which codes for PAI-1, in peripheral white blood cells with anthropometrical, metabolic and inflammatory features. Forty-six obese subjects with metabolic syndrome features followed Control or Metabolic Syndrome Reduction in Navarra (RESMENA) energy-restricted (-30%E) diets for 8 weeks.

Common variants of the liver fatty acid binding protein gene influence the risk of type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance in Spanish population.

Summary: The main objective was to evaluate the association between SNPs and haplotypes of the FABP1-4 genes and type 2 diabetes, as well as its interaction with fat intake, in one general Spanish population. The association was replicated in a second population in which HOMA index was also evaluated.

Methods: 1217 unrelated individuals were selected from a population-based study [Hortega study: 605 women; mean age 54 y; 7.

Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids may increase plasma LDL-cholesterol and plasma cholesterol concentrations in carriers of an ABCG1 gene single nucleotide polymorphism: study in two Spanish populations.

Background: ABCG1 mediates cellular cholesterol transport, but there is very little known about the influence of ABCG1 polymorphisms on human plasma lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations or on the interactions of these polymorphisms with diet.

Objective: Our objective was to investigate whether interactions between PUFA intake and ABCG1 polymorphisms modulate associations with plasma total cholesterol (TC), LDL- and HDL-cholesterol in two Spanish populations.

Methods: We grounded our investigation on two general population-based studies: the Hortega study (population A) and the Pizarra study (population B).

ELOVL6 genetic variation is related to insulin sensitivity: a new candidate gene in energy metabolism.

Background: The elongase of long chain fatty acids family 6 (ELOVL6) is an enzyme that specifically catalyzes the elongation of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids with 12, 14 and 16 carbons. ELOVL6 is expressed in lipogenic tissues and it is regulated by sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP-1).

Objective: We investigated whether ELOVL6 genetic variation is associated with insulin sensitivity in a population from southern Spain.

Association between AT C573T polymorphism and cardiovascular risk factors in myocardial infarction.

Background: Polymorphisms in the AT1 gene have been associated with various parameters related to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases and to myocardial infarction. This study analyzed the relationship between two polymorphisms of the angiotensin II AT-1 receptor gene (AT1_1166 and AT1_573) and the risk of ischemic heart disease by studying their association with several cardiovascular risk factors.

Methods: The sample population comprised 356 subjects: 174 patients who had survived myocardial infarction (61.

Association of selected ABC gene family single nucleotide polymorphisms with postprandial lipoproteins: results from the population-based Hortega study.

The aim of the study was to determine the influence of twenty single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the ABCA1, ABCG1, ABCG5 and ABCG8 genes on the plasmatic concentrations of total cholesterol (TC), HDL and LDL cholesterol (HDLc, LDLc) in the postprandial state with a representative Spanish Caucasian population (1473 individuals, 50.0% women, ages ranging 21-85 years). In men, subjects with the AA genotype of the ABCA1 rs2230806 (R219K) polymorphism were associated with increased plasma LDLc levels, while the ABCA1 haplotype, which included the rs2230806 A allele, was associated with higher TC and LDLc plasma concentrations.

Genetic bases of urinary albumin excretion and related traits in hypertension.

Epidemiological as well as animal studies have recognized the potential role of genetic factors in the development of microalbuminuria and related traits (renal insufficiency, end-stage renal disease and nephroangiosclerosis) in hypertension. To unravel genetic variants of susceptibility, candidate gene, linkage and genome wide scan analysis has been used. In spite of the great efforts that have been made in the field, sound knowledge about the major genetic variants causing the susceptibility to develop renal damage in hypertension is scarce, since many associations were not replicated or only showed association in a certain subgroup of patients.

Analysis of sequence variations in the LDL receptor gene in Spain: general gene screening or search for specific alterations?

Background: Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a frequent form of autosomal-dominant hypercholesterolemia that predisposes to premature coronary atherosclerosis. FH is caused by sequence variations in the gene coding for the LDL receptor (LDLR). This gene has a wide spectrum of sequence variations, and genetic diagnosis can be performed by 2 strategies.