Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a highly prevalent chronic metabolic disease with strong co-morbidity with obesity and cardiovascular diseases. FNDC5 gene encodes a type I membrane protein that is processed proteolytically to form a newly identified hormone secreted into the blood, termed irisin. After induction by exercise, irisin activates profound changes in the subcutaneous adipose tissue, stimulating browning and UCP1 gene expression. Th...

Introduction: Some studies have reported associations between five uncoupling protein (UCP) 1–3 polymorphisms and obesity. This paper describes a case–control study and a meta-analysis conducted to determine if the following polymorphisms are associated with obesity: −3826A/G (UCP1); −866G/A, Ala55Val and Ins/Del (UCP2) and −55C/T (UCP3).Methods: The case–control study enrolled 282 obese and 483...

Uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) is a mitochondrial protein located in the mitochondrial inner membrane, and it uncouples substrate oxidation from ATP synthesis, thereby dissipating the membrane potential energy and consequently decreasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation by mitochondrial respiratory chain. ROS overproduction is related to diabetic retinopathy (DR), a chronic complication of diabetes mellitus (DM). Recently, our group reported that the -866A/55Val/Ins haplot...

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes and both conditions are characterized by insulin resistance (IR) and decreased insulin production by pancreatic beta-cells. FNDC5 gene encodes a type I membrane protein that is proteolytically processed to form a hormone secreted into the blood, termed irisin. After induction by exercise, irisin activates profound changes in the subcutaneous adipose tissue, stimulating browning and UCP1 gene e...

Introduction: Pancreatic islet transplantation is an effective treatment for patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) with unstable metabolic control. However, the quality of islets isolated from a donor is negatively affected by the inflammatory environment related to the donor’s brain death and by the stress related to islet isolation and culture. To overcome islet quality loss, some studies have co-cultured islets with mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). Considering...