Lipoic acid (LA) is a naturally existing substance which widely distributed in the cellular membranes and cytosol of animal cells. Its intracellular functions include quenching of free radicals and repairing oxidized proteins. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of LA on post-weaning diarrhoea using a rat model. Sixty weaned rats were fed either a basal diet or a LA-supplemented diet, or a zinc oxide (ZnO)-supplemented diet as a positive control. Rats in the LA and ZnO groups had better performance and reduced incidence of diarrhoea (p < 0.05). Both LA and ZnO treatments enhanced intestinal homeostatic and architecture, significantly decreased urinary lactulose to mannitol ratios (p < 0.05) and increased the expression of the intestinal mucosal tight junction proteins occludin (OCLN) and zonula occludens protein-1 (ZO-1) (p < 0.05). LA significantly increased the activities of antioxidant enzymes, and reduced glutathione while decreasing the levels of oxidative glutathione and malondialdehyde in the intestinal mucosa (p < 0.05). Furthermore, an in vitro study indicated that supplementation with LA in IEC-6 intestinal epithelial cells significantly enhanced the expression of OCLN and ZO-1 under hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress. Collectively, these results suggest that LA relieves post-weaning diarrhoea by reducing intestinal permeability and improving antioxidant indices.
BackgroundCoal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP), resulting from the inhalation of silica-containing coal mine dust, is characterized by fibrosing nodular lesions that eventually develop into progressive pulmonary fibrosis. Recently, it has been hypothesized that inflammasomes could have a crucial role in the host response to silica and recent studies show that the inflammasome contributes to inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis. NLRP3, CARD8 are components of the NLRP3 inflammasome, which triggers caspase 1-mediated IL-1β and IL-18 release. In the present study, we investigated whether common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in inflammasome genes are associated with CWP.MethodsWe performed an association study analyzing 3 NLRP3, 1 CARD8, 1 IL-1β, 2 IL-18 SNPs in a case-control study of 697 CWP and 694 controls. Genotyping was carried out by the TaqMan method.ResultsThe NLRP3 rs1539019 TT genotype was associated with a significantly increased risk of CWP (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.07–1.81), compared with the GG/GT genotype, in particular among smokers (adjusted OR = 1.67, 95%CI = 1.15–2.42). In addition, the polymorphism was significantly associated with risk of CWP patients with stage I.ConclusionsThis is the first report showing an association between the NLRP3 rs1539019 polymorphism and CWP, and suggests that this polymorphism may confer increased risk for the development of the disease. Further studies are warranted to confirm our findings.
Epidemiological studies have evaluated the association between X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 gene (XRCC1) Arg399Gln and Arg194Trp polymorphisms and risk of prostate cancer (PCa). However, the results from the published studies on the association between these two XRCC1 polymorphisms and PCa risk are conflicting. To derive a more precise estimation of association between the XRCC1 polymorphisms and risk of PCa, we performed a meta-analysis. A comprehensive search was conducted to identify all case-control studies of XRCC1 polymorphisms and PCa risk. We used odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to assess the strength of the association. Overall, we found that both Arg399Gln and Arg194Trp polymorphisms were not significantly associated with PCa risk. However, in stratified analysis by ethnicity, we found that the Arg399Gln polymorphism was significantly associated with PCa risk in Asian population (Gln/Gln vs Arg/Arg: OR ¼ 1.46, 95% CI: 1.05-2.03, P ¼ 0.03; Gln/Gln vs Arg/ Gln þ Arg/Arg: OR ¼ 1.48, 95% CI: 1.12-1.95, P ¼ 0.01). In this meta-analysis, we found that both Arg399Gln and Arg194Trp polymorphisms were not related to overall PCa risk. However, in subgroup analysis we found a suggestion that XRCC1 399Gln allele might be a low-penetrent risk factor for PCa only in Asian men.
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