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OBJECTIVETo assess insulin action on peripheral glucose utilization and nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA) suppression as a predictor of coronary artery calcification (CAC) in patients with type 1 diabetes and nondiabetic controls.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSInsulin action was measured by a three-stage hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp (4, 8, and 40 mU/m2/min) in 87 subjects from the Coronary Artery Calcification in Type 1 Diabetes cohort (40 diabetic, 47 nondiabetic; mean age 45 ± 8 years; 55% female).RESULTSPeripheral glucose utilization was lower in subjects with type 1 diabetes compared with nondiabetic controls: glucose infusion rate (mg/kg FFM/min) = 6.19 ± 0.72 vs. 12.71 ± 0.66, mean ± SE, P < 0.0001, after adjustment for age, sex, BMI, fasting glucose, and final clamp glucose and insulin. Insulin-induced NEFA suppression was also lower in type 1 diabetic compared with nondiabetic subjects: NEFA levels (μM) during 8 mU/m2/min insulin infusion = 370 ± 27 vs. 185 ± 25, P < 0.0001, after adjustment for age, sex, BMI, fasting glucose, and time point insulin. Lower glucose utilization and higher NEFA levels, correlated with CAC volume (r = −0.42, P < 0.0001 and r = 0.41, P < 0.0001, respectively) and predicted the presence of CAC (odds ratio [OR] = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.22–0.93, P = 0.03; OR = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.08–5.32, P = 0.032, respectively). Insulin resistance did not correlate with GHb or continuous glucose monitoring parameters.CONCLUSIONSType 1 diabetic patients are insulin resistant compared with nondiabetic subjects, and the degree of resistance is not related to current glycemic control. Insulin resistance predicts the extent of coronary artery calcification and may contribute to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with type 1 diabetes as well as subjects without diabetes.

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) represents a heterogeneous group of malignancies consisting essentially of adenocarcinoma (ADC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Although the diagnosis and treatment of ADC and SCC have been greatly improved in recent decades, there is still an urgent need to identify accurate transcriptome profile associated with the histological subtypes of NSCLC. The present study aims to identify the key dysregulated pathways and genes involved in the development of lung ADC and SCC and to relate them with the clinical traits. The transcriptional changes between tumour and normal lung tissues were investigated by RNA-seq. Gene ontology (GO), canonical pathways analysis with the prediction of upstream regulators, and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to identify co-expressed modules and hub genes were used to explore the biological functions of the identified dysregulated genes. It was indicated that specific gene signatures differed significantly between ADC and SCC related to the distinct pathways. Of identified modules, four and two modules were the most related to clinical features in ADC and SCC, respectively. CTLA4, MZB1, NIP7, and BUB1B in ADC, as well as GNG11 and CCNB2 in SCC, are novel top hub genes in modules associated with tumour size, SUVmax, and recurrence-free survival. Our research provides a more effective understanding of the importance of biological pathways and the relationships between major genes in NSCLC in the perspective of searching for new molecular targets.

Type 1 diabetes is believed to be a Th1 lymphocyte-mediated disease, and both environmental and genetic factors play a role in its pathogenesis. It was recently found that interleukin (IL)-18 acts as a proinflammatory cytokine and, in synergy with IL-12, promotes development of Th1 lymphocyte response by induction of gamma-interferon production. The aim of our study was to evaluate the frequency of known polymorphisms in the IL-18 promoter in patients with type 1 diabetes in comparison with healthy control subjects, since higher levels of IL-18 were recently reported in the subclinical stage of type 1 diabetes. We studied two recently described single-nucleotide polymorphisms of the promoter of IL-18 gene at the position -137 and -607, which have been suggested to cause differences in transcription factor binding and have an impact on IL-18 gene activity. The genotype distribution differed significantly between patients with type 1 diabetes and control subjects. The difference reflected an increase in the GC genotypes and a decrease in GG genotypes at position -137 in the promoter of IL-18 gene. AA genotype at position -607 was found only in the control group. The results also demonstrated that the contribution of -137GC genotypes to genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes differs depending on the combination of IL-18 promotor gene haplotypes. Our study suggests the first evidence of an association between type 1 diabetes and polymorphisms in the promoter of IL-18 gene.