Journal of Metabolic Syndrome

Aim: To clarify the mechanism governing progression of Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), we examined hepatic gene expression associated with macrophage and oxidative stress/inflammation, which plays an important role in the progression of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) in simple steatosis (SS) model and NASH model rats.
Methods: Four-month-old male Spontaneously Hypertensive Hyperlipidemic Rats (SHHR) and Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were each divided into two groups: SD rats received a high-fat diet and 30% sucrose solution (HFDS) as SS model rats and SHHR received the HFDS as NASH model rats. Microarray analysis was performed on the liver of these rats at eight months of age to select those gene sets, e.g., “genes correlated with progression of NAFLD” and “genes expressed exclusively in NASH”, which are related to macrophage or oxidative stress/inflammation.
Results: Thirteen genes were selected from the microarray analysis data. Four genes were associated with macrophage: acid phosphatase 5, tartrate-resistant (Acp5), a member of the RAS oncogene family (Rab8a), scavenger receptor class B, member 2 (Scarb2) and CD36 molecule (Cd36). Nine genes were associated with oxidative stress/inflammation: translocator protein (Tspo), prostaglandin I2 synthase (Ptgis), tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily, member 9 (Tnfrsf9), glutathione S-transferase alpha 5 (Gsta5), regucalcin (Rgn), glutathione S-transferase kappa 1 (Gstk1), disabled homolog 2, mitogen-responsive phosphoprotein (Dab2), glutathione S-transferase mu 5 (Gstm5) and flavin-containing monooxygenase 5 (Fmo5). Acp5, Tspo, Ptgis, Tnfrsf, Gsta5 (upregulated) and Rab8a, Rgn, Gstk1 (down-regulated) were included in genes correlated with progression of NAFLD. Scarb2, Cd36, Dab2 Gstm5 (up-regulated) and Fmo5 (down-regulated) were included in genes expressed in only NASH model rats.
Conclusion: We hypothesized that scavenger receptor class B and glutathione S-transferase play an important role in the progression from simple NAFLD to NASH. Our results afford beneficial data regarding therapeutic targets of progression of NAFLD/NASH.

The common varieties of dates represent about 30% of national production. They are generally reserved for cattle feeding and sometimes thrown into the wild. Among these varieties, palm dates very rich in carbohydrates (glucose, fructose and sucrose) and contains practically most of minerals (Ca, Fe, K, Na, etc.). The use of fermentation technology is necessary to save the genetic heritage and enhances by-product of dates in various bio products. Lactic acid is a natural organic acid. The fermentation substrates most commonly used are glucose and fructose. The lactic acid has a major importance in food and pharmaceutical industries. It is used also in drink industries, medicines etc. Algeria till today continues to import this organic acid. The objective of this study is the use of dates syrup as a substrate for the production of lactic acid, this study allowed us to have interesting results. Mixed culture of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, grown in batch fermentation. Two culture mediums were tested, the un-enriched one and the one enriched with Tween80 (1 g/l), MgSO4 (1 g/l), MnSO4 (1.5 g/l), from the results obtained by fermentation trials, the enriched medium seems best suited with a yield of lactic acid 49 g/l, where comes from its economical and commercial interest.

Protein synthesis is a series of codon–anticodon interactions to buildup the polypeptide chains. The corresponding rule is that out of 64 codons in mRNA, 61 codons have recognizing ability of the 20 amino acids based on degeneracy except methionine and tryptophan which are coded by single codon. The remaining three are stop codons of mRNA sequence, which does not decode any amino acids in the protein synthesis mechanism. A fascinating study is how many amino acids are recognizing the high guanine-cytosine or adenine-uracil rich triplet codons. These data would be useful to find the copy numbers of transfer RNA that encode the amino acids having high guanine-cytosine triplet codons or adenine-uracil rich triplet codons in three domains of life (Bacteria, Archeae and eukaryotes). The four types of nucleotides compositions (guanine, cytosine, adenine and thymine or uracil) have distinctly playing a central role in amino acid composition of protein sequences.

Background: This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of fatty liver and its associations with the components of metabolic syndrome in school children of Kashmir valley of north India.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 1112 children aged 4-18 years were selected from different schools of Kashmir valley. Anthropometric assessments, blood pressure measurements and fasting blood samples were obtained after proper consent. Ultrasonography was performed by a single sonologist on prefixed dates. Fatty liver was defined by already established criteria for fatty liver disease. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to Adult treatment panel III criteria. Analysis and inferences were drawn using Student’s test, chi-square test, Man Whitney U test and logistic regression analysis.

Results: The overall prevalence of fatty liver was 7.4%. The Prevalence of fatty liver in children with metabolic syndrome was 44.4%% and in obese children it was 61%. Body Mass Index, waist circumference and metabolic syndrome are strongly correlated with the prevalence of fatty liver.

Conclusion: This study is the first study from India on the prevalence of fatty liver disease in children. The estimates of our study are unexpectedly high and immediate attention is needed to address the problem.