No abstract

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressing multisystemic and multifactorial neurodegenerative disease that affects upper and lower motor neurons. Neuroinflammation is an important factor in neurodegeneration, the increase of immune cells in the neural tissue and degranulation of these cells causes neuronal damage and death, thus playing an important role in ALS pathophysiology. Studies have sought to use the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) as biomarkers of the inflammatory response indicative of diagnosis, stratification, progression and response to treatment of several diseases, including neurodegenerative. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate NLR and PLR as possible biomarkers in the neurodegenerative process. This retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out with 43 ALS patients selected at the Dr. Henrique Santillo Rehabilitation and Readaptation Center (CRER), Goiânia, Goiás – Brazil. Neutrophil, platelet, and lymphocyte counts were collected from the patient's most recent hemogram. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software, version 26. The correlation between NLR and PLR according to clinical condition showed a significant difference in these parameters during the initial phase of ALS development (p=0.01), revealing a marked inflammatory, with subsequent decline as the disease progresses (p=0.06). Furthermore, the results indicated a moderate positive linear relationship between the two variables (r=0.57; p<0.001), showing a joint increase in these parameters. Therefore, NLR and PLR are important indicators of inflammation and can be useful due to their simplicity, high reproducibility and low-cost for routine use.

miRNAs, a class of small non-coding RNAs, play a role in post-transcriptional gene expression. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct a systematic review of miRNAs associated with GDM to build a panel of miRNAs. A bibliographic search was carried out in the PubMed/Medline, Virtual Health Library (VHL), Web of Science, and EMBASE databases, selecting observational studies in English without time restriction. The protocol was registered on the PROSPERO platform (number CRD42021291791). Fifty-five studies were included in this systematic review, and 82 altered miRNAs in GDM were identified. In addition, four miRNAs were most frequently dysregulated in GDM (mir-16-5p, mir-20a-5p, mir-222-3p, and mir-330-3p). The dysregulation of these miRNAs is associated with the mechanisms of cell cycle homeostasis, growth, and proliferation of pancreatic β cells, glucose uptake and metabolism, insulin secretion, and resistance. On the other hand, identifying miRNAs associated with GDM and elucidating its main mechanisms can assist in the characterization and definition of potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and treatment of GDM.

No abstract

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a rare neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons and promotes progressive muscle atrophy. It has a multifactorial etiology, where environmental conditions playing a remarkable role through the increase of oxidative stress. Genetic polymorphisms in cell detoxification genes, such as Glutathione S-Transferase Pi 1 (GSTP1) can contribute to excessive oxidative stress, and therefore may be a risk factor to ALS. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the role of the GSTP1 rs1695 polymorphism in ALS susceptibility in different genetic inheritance models and evaluate the association of the genotypes with risk factors, clinical and demographic characteristics of ALS patients from the Brazilian central population. This case-control study was conducted with 101 patients with ALS and 101 healthy controls. GSTP1 rs1695 polymorphism genotyping was performed with Polymerase Chain Reaction–Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The statistical analysis was carried out using the SPSS statistical package and SNPStats software. Analysis of genetic inheritance models was performed by logistic regression, which was used to determine the Odds Ratio. The results of this first study in the Brazilian population demonstrated that there was no risk association between the development of ALS and the GSTP1 rs1695 polymorphism in any genetic inheritance model (codominant, dominant, recessive, overdominant, and logarithmic); and that the polymorphic variants were not associated with the clinical and demographic characteristics of ALS patients. No association of the GSTP1 rs1695 polymorphism and ALS development in the Brazilian central population was found. These findings may be justified by the multifactorial character of the disease.