Visfatin serum level and expression in subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue in prepubertal boys.

BACKGROUND: The biological role of visfatin in humans, especially in eutrophic and healthy children, is not understood yet, except for its link to obesity-related disorders in adolescents and adults. OBJECTIVES: To determine the physiological values of serum visfatin concentrations, and visfatin mRNA expression in subcutaneous (SAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT), and to correlate them with anthropometric/metabolic data in prepubertal healthy boys. METHODS: The study included 59 healthy boys, age 1-10 years, hospitalized for elective surgery, divided according to age into group I (1-3 years old), group II (3-7 years old) and group III (7-10 years old). Anthropometric and biochemical measurements, and the visfatin serum and mRNA level in SAT and VAT were determined in all patients. RESULTS: Visfatin mRNA expression was higher in SAT compared with VAT in all three studied groups. Highest visfatin mRNA was found in SAT of group III compared with group II (P = 0.030). VAT visfatin mRNA expression negatively correlates with body weight (P = 0.039), waist circumference (P = 0.027) and morning glucose level (P = 0.007). CONCLUSION: Lack of changes in serum visfatin level despite the changes in visfatin mRNA expression of adipose tissue suggests paracrine effect of visfatin rather than endocrine. Negative correlation of visfatin VAT mRNA expression with anthropometric parameters indicates important role of VAT visfatin in maturation and in glucose metabolism.

Lack of Association of Tumor Necrosis Factor-α G-308A and Transforming Growth Factor-ß1 C-509T Polymorphisms in Patients with Deep Neck Space Infections.

Deep neck space infections are defined as infections that spread along the fascial planes and spaces of the head and neck. Even in the era of antibiotics, these infections can and have been potentially life-threatening conditions. The role of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) genes in deep neck infections has not been studied. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of the TNF-α G-308A and TGF-ß1 C-509T polymorphisms in patients suffering from infections of deep neck spaces and to determine the correlation of these polymorphisms with the values of inflammation markers [C-reactive protein (CRP) and white blood cell (WBC) count]. A total of 41 patients with infections of deep neck spaces and 44 healthy controls were screened for TNF-α G-308A and TGF-ß1 C-509T polymorphisms using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. The distribution of the TNF-α G-308A genotype in patients did not reveal statistically significant correlation compared to con-trols (p = 0.483, χ(2) = 0.491) as well as the distribution of the TGF-ß1 C-509T genotypes (p = 0.644, χ(2) = 0.725). The distribution of TNF-α -308 and TGF-ß1 -509 alleles was not significantly different in patients compared to controls. Moreover, CRP levels and WBC counts were not associated with TNF-α G-308A and TGF-ß1 C-509T promoter polymorphisms in patients with deep neck infections. In conclusion, our study suggests that the TNF-α G-308A and TGF-ß1 C-509T polymorphisms are not associated with infections of deep neck spaces.