Objective To analyse changes in the characteristics of hypoglycaemic episodes treated in the emergency room of a tertiary hospital in Portugal between 2012 and 2016. Research Design and Methods We retrospectively analysed all emergency room reports for patients discharged with a diagnosis of hypoglycaemia between 2012 and 2016 and analysed demographic characteristics, type of diabetes and treatments, causes of hypoglycaemia and discharge destination. Patients without diabetes were excluded. Results In total, 676 hypoglycaemic episodes were analysed. Most patients were female (59%) and the median age of the patients was 71 years (interquartile range, 57‐81). The proportion of hypoglycaemic episodes relative to all emergency episodes decreased from 1.5% in 2012 to 1.0% in 2016 ( P < .001). The proportion of patients with type 1 diabetes increased from 15.6% to 23.8%, while that of patients with type 2 diabetes decreased from 80.3% to 72.3% (nonsignificant differences). There was an increase in the use of insulin (67.1% to 85.4%, P = .02) and a decrease in the use of insulin secretagogues (26.6% to 11.5%, P = .03) over the study period. The rate of hospitalization dropped significantly from 11% in 2012 to 4.3% in 2015 and 5.4% in 2016 ( P = .02). Conclusions Despite the increasing use of newer diabetes medications associated with a lower risk of hypoglycaemia, these episodes still require emergency care. The proportion of patients receiving insulin increased over the years, probably due to the slight increase in the prevalence of type 1 diabetes and the increasing replacement of secretagogues with insulin in type 2 diabetes.
We performed a meta-analysis of the transcription profiles of type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes to evaluate similarities and dissimilarities among these diabetes types. cRNA samples obtained from peripheral blood lymphomononuclear cells (PBMC) of 56 diabetes mellitus patients (type 1 = 19; type 2 = 20; gestational = 17) were hybridized to the same whole human genome oligomicroarray platform, encompassing 44,000 transcripts. The GeneSpring software was used to perform analysis and hierarchical clustering, and the DAVID database was used for gene ontology. The gene expression profiles showed more similarity between gestational and type 1 diabetes rather than between type 2 and gestational diabetes, a finding that was not influenced by patient gender and age. The meta-analysis of the three types of diabetes disclosed 3,747 differentially and significantly expressed genes. A total of 486 genes were characteristic of gestational diabetes, 202 genes of type 1, and 651 genes of type 2 diabetes. 19 known genes were shared by type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes, highlighting EGF, FAM46C, HBEGF, ID1, SH3BGRL2, VEPH1, and TMEM158 genes. The meta-analysis of PBMC transcription profiles characterized each type of diabetes revealing that gestational and type 1 diabetes were transcriptionally related.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third highest cause of cancer death worldwide. In general, the disease is diagnosed at an advanced stage when potentially curative therapies are no longer feasible. For this reason, it is very important to develop new therapeutic approaches. Retinoic acid (RA) is a natural derivative of vitamin A that regulates important biological processes including cell proliferation and differentiation. In vitro studies have shown that RA is effective in inhibiting growth of HCC cells; however, responsiveness to treatment varies among different HCC cell lines. The objective of the present study was to determine if the combined use of RA (0.1 µM) and cAMP (1 mM), an important second messenger, improves the responsiveness of HCC cells to RA treatment. We evaluated the proliferative behavior of an HCC cell line (HTC) and the expression profile of genes related to cancer signaling pathway (ERK and GSK-3β) and liver differentiation [E-cadherin, connexin 26 (Cx26), and connexin 32 (Cx32)]. RA and cAMP were effective in inhibiting the proliferation of HTC cells independently of combined use. However, when a mixture of RA and cAMP was used, the signals concerning the degree of cell differentiation were increased. As demonstrated by Western blot, the treatment increased E-cadherin, Cx26, Cx32 and Ser9-GSK-3β (inactive form) expression while the expression of Cx43, Tyr216-GSK-3β (active form) and phosphorylated ERK decreased. Furthermore, telomerase activity was inhibited along treatment. Taken together, the results showed that the combined use of RA and cAMP is more effective in inducing differentiation of HTC cells.
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