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Objective We aimed to explore whether squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC), cytokeratin 19 fragment (Cyfra21-1), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) are elevated in diabetic nephropathy (DN) and the association between urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) and tumor markers in diabetic patients. Methods Nondialysis patients with diabetes (n = 261) and 90 healthy controls were enrolled. DN was defined as an UACR ≥ 30 mg/g in the absence of a urinary tract infection or other renal abnormalities. Results Patients with DN had significantly higher serum SCC, Cyfra21-1, and CEA levels than those with normoalbuminuria and healthy controls. The rates of positive SCC, Cyfra21-1, and CEA significantly increased with increasing urinary albumin excretion (all P for trend < 0.001). In contrast, NSE was not affected by DN. SCC, Cyfra21-1, and CEA were significantly and positively correlated with UACR. In logistic regression, after multivariable adjustment, increased UACR was associated with increased odds ratio of elevated tumor marker levels (all P for trend < 0.05). Conclusions Serum levels of SCC, Cyfra21-1, and CEA are markedly increased with increasing urinary albumin excretion, which affects the specificity for diagnosis for lung cancer. Appropriate interpretation of tumor markers in diabetic patients is mandatory to avoid unnecessary and even hazardous biopsies.

Introduction: Previous case-control studies have suggested that the –1562C/T and R279Q polymorphisms of the matrix metalloproteinase 9 gene (MMP9) are associated with coronary heart disease (CHD). However, other studies do not confirm these relationships. The objective is to assess these relationships using meta-analysis. Methods: Databases, including PubMed and ScienceDirect, were searched to access the genetic association studies. Then data were extracted. Pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. Moreover, subgroup and sensitive analysis were performed. Results: The meta-analysis of the –1562C/T polymorphism included 12 studies with 8,336 cases and 3,984 controls. The –1562T allele was significantly associated with CHD (OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.08–1.45, p = 0.004). There was heterogeneity among the 12 studies (I² = 61%, p = 0.003). The overall results were consistent and were not changed substantially by the removal of any data set. The meta-analysis of the R279Q polymorphism, including 6 studies with 6,983 cases and 3,282 controls, showed that the R279Q polymorphism was not associated with CHD (p = 0.16). Conclusions: The synthesis of available evidence supports the fact that the MMP9 –1562C/T polymorphism is a risk factor for CHD.

Graves' disease (GD) is a common autoimmune disorder with a genetic predisposition. The cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10) has a central role in mediating inflammation, which may affect the outcome of the patients with GD. To elucidate the impact of IL-10 gene polymorphisms, we performed a two-stage case-control association study of five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the IL-10 gene as well as a meta-analysis of two SNP's rs1800896 and rs1800872 covering three previous studies from Iran, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. The five SNPs were genotyped by SNPstream Genotyping and Taqman PCR. There was a significant increase of G allele of rs1800896 in the two cohorts (P (allele) = 2.6 × 10(-4) and 0.0082 for cohort Shanghai and Xiamen, respectively) compared with the controls. The meta-analysis showed the risk-increasing effects for the G allele of rs1800896 in GD (OR = 1.88; P < 0.00001). The allele and haplotype analysis results suggested that the polymorphisms of IL-10 were associated with GD susceptibility in the Chinese population.