ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the association of serum protein kinase Cε(PKCε)activity with insulin resistance in elderly patients with concurrent type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD).Methods:Clinical data of 229 patients with T2DM admitted to the Department of Geriatric Endocrinology of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University from October 2017 to October 2018 were retrospectively analyzed.Patients were divided into the T2DM group(T2DM patients without NAFLD, n=112)and the T2DM+ NAFLD group(T2DM patients with NAFLD, n=117). Healthy elderly subjects who underwent physical examination during the same period served as the control group(n=110). Clinical data and laboratory results were compared between the three groups.Serum PKCεactivity was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the correlation between serum PKCεactivity and insulin resistance was analyzed statistically.Results:Serum PKCεactivity and HOMA-IR were higher in the T2DM+ NAFLD group than in the T2DM group and the control group[PKCε: (195.5±62.1) μg/L vs.(188.7±61.2 )μg/L and (89.1±20.2 )μg/L, F=9.76, P=0.010; HOMA-IR: 12.5±7.9 vs. 14.1±5.7 and 5.8±4.1, F=10.21, P=0.010]. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that serum PKCεactivity, HOMA-IR and TG were positively correlated with T2DM+ NAFLD( r=0.339, P=0.01; r=0.305, P=0.01; r=0.329, P=0.01)and that serum PKCεactivity was positively correlated with HOMA-IR and triglyceride( r=0.339, 0.305 and 0.329, P=0.01). Logistic regression analysis showed that serum PKCε activity, HOMA-IR and triglycerides were risk factors in the T2DM+ NAFLD group, and the regression coefficients were 0.849, 0.022 and 0.710, respectively.Increased serum PKCεactivity was an independent influencing factor for T2DM+ NAFLD. Conclusions:Elevated serum PKCεactivity is positively correlated with insulin resistance in elderly T2DM patients with NAFLD.Reducing serum PKCεactivity and improving insulin sensitivity will help to delay or reverse the development of T2DM and NAFLD.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the changes of interleukin-18 (IL-18), tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) levels of liver cirrhosis induced by the composite factors of carbon tetrachloride (CCl_4) in SD rats and their significance. Methods Totally 80 male SD rats of clean class were randomly divided into normal control group (20 rats) and model groups, the latter of which were further divided into three groups according to the length of administration time, namely, 2-week group (2 wk group), 4-week group (4 wk group) and 6-week group (6 wk group), with 20 rats in each. Six rats were killed after 2 wk, 4 wk and 6 wk administration time, respectively. The rat serum levels of IL-18, TNF-α and IFN-γ and the hepatic homogenate supernatant of IL-18 were detected by ELISA; pathological changes of liver tissues were observed by HE staining. Results ① Pathological observation revealed that in the model groups hepatic cells degenerated and swelled at week 2 while large amounts of fibrosis and pseudolobules of some liver tissues occurred at week 6. ② The serum levels of IL-18, TNF-α and IFN-γ were gradually increased with the modeling time, and they were significantly higher in 6-week group than in normal control group (P<0.01). ③ The levels of hepatic homogenate supernatant of IL-18 in the model groups were elevated with liver damage, and they were significantly higher in 6-week group than in normal control group (P<0.01). Conclusion During the formation of liver cirrhosis induced by composite factors of CCl_4 in rats, IL-18, TNF-α and IFN-γ levels gradually increase, suggesting that the three cytokines play a certain role during the occurrence of liver cirrhosis in rats.