http://www.hindawi.com The latest articles from Hindawi Publishing Corporation © 2013 , Hindawi Publishing Corporation . All rights reserved. Thu, 14 Mar 2013 10:44:46 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jbm/2013/538765/ Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is one of the most common motor neurodegenerative disorders, primarily affecting upper and lower motor neurons in the brain, brainstem, and spinal cord, resulting in paralysis due to muscle weakness and atrophy. The majority of patients die within 3–5 years of symptom onset as a consequence of respiratory failure. Due to relatively fast progression of the disease, early diagnosis is essential. Metabolomics offer a unique opportunity to understand the spatiotemporal metabolic crosstalks through the assessment of body fluids and tissue. So far, one of the most challenging issues related to ALS is to understand the variation of metabolites in body fluids and CNS with the progression of disease. In this paper we will review the changes in metabolic profile in response to disease progression condition and also see the therapeutic implication of various drugs in ALS patients. Alok Kumar, Devlina Ghosh, and R. L. Singh Copyright © 2013 Alok Kumar et al. All rights reserved. Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:25:49 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jbm/2013/709740/ C-reactive protein, a conserved acute-phase protein synthesized in the liver and involved in inflammation, infection, and tissue damage, is an informative biomarker for human cardiovascular disease. Out of 258 captive adult common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) assayed for CRP, 27.9% of the data were below the quantitation limit. Data were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method and results compared to other methods for handling censored data (including deletion, replacement, and imputation). Kaplan-Meier results demonstrated a modest age effect and a strong effect of HCV infection in reducing CRP but did not allow inference of reference intervals. Results of other methods varied considerably. Substitution schemes differed widely in statistical significance, with estimated group means biased by the size of the substitution constant, while inference of unbiased reference intervals was impossible. Single imputation gave reasonable statistical inferences but unreliable reference intervals. Multiple imputation gave reliable results, for both statistical inference and reference intervals, and was comparable to the Kaplan-Meier standard. Other methods should be avoided. CRP did not predict cardiovascular disease, but CRP levels were reduced by 50% in animals with hepatitis C infection and showed inverse relationships with 2 liver function enzymes. Results suggested that hsCRP can be an informative biomarker of chronic hepatic dysfunction. John J. Ely, Tony Zavaskis, and M. Lon Lammey Copyright © 2013 John J. Ely et al. All rights reserved. Wed, 09 Jan 2013 11:19:24 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jbm/2013/602417/ The expression of N-glycolylneuraminic acid forming the structure of gangliosides and/or other glycoconjugates (Hanganutziu-Deicher antigen) in human has been considered as a tumor-associated antigen. Specifically, some reports of 14F7 Mab (a highly specific Mab raised against N-glycolyl GM3 ganglioside) reactivity in human tumors have been recently published. Nevertheless, tumors of epithelial origin have been mostly evaluated. The goal of the present paper was to evaluate the immunohistochemical recognition of 14F7 Mab in different human tumors of neuroectodermal, mesodermal, and epithelial origins using an immunoperoxidase staining method. Samples of fetal, normal, and reactive astrocytosis of the brain were also included in the study. In general, nontumoral tissues, as well as, low-grade brain tumors showed no or a limited immunoreaction with 14F7 Mab. Nevertheless, high-grade astrocytomas (III-IV) and neuroblastomas, as well as, sarcomas and thyroid carcinomas were mostly reactive with 14F7. No reaction was evidenced in medulloblastomas and ependymoblastomas. Our data suggest that the expression of N-glycolyl GM3 ganglioside could be related to the aggressive behavior of malignant cells, without depending on the tumor origin. Our data could also support the possible use of N-glycolyl GM3 as a target for both active and passive immunotherapies of malignancies expressing this molecule. Rancés Blanco, Yisel Quintana, Damián Blanco, Mercedes Cedeño, Charles E. Rengifo, Milagros Frómeta, Martha Ríos, Enrique Rengifo, and Adriana Carr Copyright © 2013 Rancés Blanco et al. All rights reserved. Tue, 11 Dec 2012 10:47:54 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jbm/2013/627845/ Adequate methods to identify which lung cancer patients are most likely to benefit from the targeted drugs against both epidermal growth factor receptor/epidermal growth factor (EGFR/EGF) are needed. For this reason, we evaluated both the tissue reactivity of ior egf/r3 monoclonal antibody (Mab) in human lung carcinomas and its biological activity in NCI-H125 cells. Additionally, we assessed the tissue expression of EGF using two Mabs, CB-EGF1 and CB-EGF2. The overexpression of EGFR was detected in 33.33% and 62.71% of small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) and non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), respectively. The ability of ior egf/r3 Mab to bind the extracellular domain of EGFR inhibiting cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis in NCI-H125 cells was also demonstrated. The EGF expression was observed in about 17% and 70% of SCLC and NSCLC, respectively. However, differences in the reactivity of CB-EGF1 and CB-EGF2 were evidenced. A dual expression of EGFR and EGF was observed in 16.67% and 57.63% of SCLC and NSCLC patients, respectively. But, a correlation between them was only obtained in NSCLC. Our results permit to recommend the development of diagnostic kits using ior egf/r3 and/or CB-EGF1 Mabs in order to achieve a better selection of patients to EGFR/EGF-targeting treatment. Charles E. Rengifo, Rancés Blanco, Damián Blanco, Mercedes Cedeño, Milagros Frómeta, and Enrique Rengifo Calzado Copyright © 2013 Charles E. Rengifo et al. All rights reserved. Tue, 04 Dec 2012 11:24:28 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jbm/2013/403783/ Subject & Aim. Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) is one of the most important candidate genes in CAD. A functional polymorphism within eNOS gene is a 27 bp VNTR on its intron 4 which has been shown to be associated with various diseases. In this study we investigated eNOS VNTR polymorphism in addition to eNOS gene expression profile in patients with CAD. Material and Methods. The study comprised patients with angiographically confirmed CAD (CAD+) and individuals with normal coronary as CAD−. eNOS VNTR polymorphism frequencies were determined in both groups. In addition eNOS gene expression profile was examined using a quantitative real-time PCR. Results. We have found that aa genotype was significantly increasing the risk of CAD in our patients (aa versus ab + bb, , ; 95% CI: = 0.98 to 16.2). The differences in eNOS expression were not significant between patients and normal group; however in CAD+ patients eNOS expression was higher than the expression level of patients carrying other genotypes (). Conclusion. We have observed that eNOS gene polymorphism was associated with CAD in angiography-confirmed patients. However, the difference in eNOS gene expression was not statistically significant between patients and control which might be due to the contribution of other confounding factors which require further investigations. Milad Abolhalaj, Mahsa M. Amoli, and Parvin Amiri Copyright © 2013 Milad Abolhalaj et al. All rights reserved. Mon, 01 Oct 2012 15:48:03 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jbm/2013/960125/ Polychlorinated biphenyls exposure damages the rat liver cells. Hematological parameters such as hemoglobin, packed cell volume, red-blood cells, white-blood cells, neutrophils, platelet counts, and RBC indices were significantly decreased. Polymorphs, eosinophil counts, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were significantly increased. Serum liver enzymes such as aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, and gamma-glutamyl transferase were increased by PCBs treatment. Serum lipid profiles such as cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoproteins and very-low-density lipoproteins were increased in PCBs-treated rats. High-density lipoprotein, total protein, albumin, globulin levels, and albumin/globulin ratio were also decreased after PCB exposure. Then levels of sodium, potassium, chloride, and bicarbonate were also altered. Serum glucose levels were increased along with total bilirubin after PCBs exposure. Simultaneous quercetin supplementation significantly protected the PCBs-induced changes of hematobiochemical parameters. Thus, quercetin shows a protective role against PCBs-induced alterations in the hematological and biochemical parameters. Kandaswamy Selvakumar, Senthamilselvan Bavithra, Sekaran Suganya, Firdous Ahmad Bhat, Gunasekaran Krishnamoorthy, and Jagadeesan Arunakaran Copyright © 2013 Kandaswamy Selvakumar et al. All rights reserved. Thu, 27 Sep 2012 18:22:24 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jbm/2013/810395/ Purpose. Studies involving genotyping of STR markers at 2q34 have repeatedly found the region to host the disease haplotype for pediatric cataract. Present study investigated the association of D2S2944 marker, in sperm associated antigen 16 (SPAG16) gene and rs2289917 polymorphism, in γ-crystallin B gene, with childhood cataract. Methods. 97 pediatric cataract cases and 110 children with no ocular defects were examined for tetranucleotide repeat marker/SNP using PCR-SSLP/RFLP techniques. Polymorphisms were assessed for association using contingency tables and linkage disequilibrium among alleles of the markers was estimated. Energy-optimization program predicted the secondary structure models of repeats of D2S2944. Results. Seven alleles of D2S2944, with 9–15 “GATA” repeats, were observed. Frequency of the longer allele of D2S2944, ≥(GATA)13 repeats, was 0.73 in cases and 0.56 in controls (). Male children bearing ≥(GATA)13 repeats showed >3-fold higher risk for cataract (CI95% = 1.43–7.00, , ) as compared to female children (, CI95% = 0.49–2.92, ). Cases with haplotype—≥(GATA)13 of D2S2944 and “C” allele rs2289917—have a higher risk for pediatric cataract (, CI95% = 1.595~5.463, ). >(GATA)13 repeats formed energetically more favorable stem-loop structure. Conclusion. Intragenic microsatellite repeat expansion in SPAG16 gene increases predisposition to pediatric cataract by probably interfering posttranscriptional events and affecting the expression of adjacent lens transparency gene/s in a gender bias manner. Shipra Mehra, Suman Kapur, and Suma Ganesh Copyright © 2013 Shipra Mehra et al. All rights reserved.