Circulating lipidomic alterations in obese and non-obese subjects with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

BACKGROUND: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects obese and non-obese individuals. However, mechanisms underlying non-obese non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) remain unclear. AIMS: To attempt to identify metabolic perturbations associated with non-obese and obese NAFLD using a lipidomics approach. METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis of 361 subjects with biopsy-proven NAFLD (157 NAFL and 138 NASH) and healthy controls (n = 66) was performed. Individuals were categorised as obese or non-obese based on the Asian cut-off for body mass index. Circulating lipidomic profiling of sera was performed based on the histological severity of NAFLD. Circulating lipidomic alterations were validated with an independent validation set (154 NAFLD subjects [93 NAFL and 61 NASH] and 21 healthy controls). RESULTS: Saturated sphingomyelin (SM) species were significantly associated with visceral adiposity in non-obese NAFLD (SM d38:0; P < 0.001) but not in obese NAFLD. Additionally, SM levels were significantly associated with systemic and adipose tissue insulin resistance (SM d38:0; P = 0.002 and <0.001, respectively). Five potential lipid metabolites for non-obese subjects and seven potential lipids for obese subjects were selected to predict NAFLD and NASH. These lipid combinations showed good diagnostic performance for non-obese (area under the curve [AUC] for NAFLD/NASH = 0.916/0.813) and obese (AUC for NAFLD/NASH = 0.967/0.812) subjects. Moreover, distinctly altered patterns of diacylglycerol (DAG), triacylglycerol (TAG) and SM levels were confirmed in the validation set depending on the histological severity of NAFLD. CONCLUSION: Non-obese and obese NAFLD subjects exhibit unique circulating lipidomic signatures, including DAGs, TAGs and SMs. These lipid combinations may be useful biomarkers for non-obese and obese NAFLD patients.

Enantioselective Strecker and Allylation Reactions with Aldimines Catalyzed by Chiral Oxazaborolidinium Ions.

Chiral oxazaborolidinium ion (COBI)-catalyzed enantioselective nucleophilic addition reactions of aldimines using tributyltin cyanide and allyltributylstannane have been developed. Various α-aminonitriles and homoallylic amines were synthesized in high yield (up to 98%) with high to excellent enantioselectivity (up to 99% ee). A rational mechanistic model for the complex of COBI and aldimine is provided to account for these enantioselective reactions.

Catalytic Enantioselective Protonation/Nucleophilic Addition of Diazoesters with Chiral Oxazaborolidinium Ion Activated Carboxylic Acids.

A new chiral Brønsted acid derived from carboxylic acid and a chiral oxazaborolidinium ion (COBI), as an activator, is introduced. This acid was successfully applied as a catalyst for the highly enantioselective protonation/nucleophilic addition of diazoesters with carboxylic acids.

(E)-2-Hy-droxy-cinnamaldehyde.

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C9H8O2, contains two independent mol-ecules, both of which are essentially planar (r.m.s. deviations = 0.0294 and 0.0284 Å). The C=C double bond is in an E conformation and the vinyl-aldehyde groups adopt extended conformations. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked by O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming infinite chains parallel to [101].

[A case of cavernoma of portal vein associated with polycythemia vera].

Cavernoma of the portal vein is defined as a formation of venous channels within or around a previously thrombosed portal vein. We experienced a 50-year-old woman who presented a huge hepatic mass with right upper quadrant dull pain. Abdominal computed tomography showed a huge sponge-like hepatic mass with cavernous transformation of portal vein along the common bile duct and common hepatic duct. She had increased hemoglobin/hematocrit (15.7 g/dL/49.1%) and red blood cell mass (35 mL/kg). Platelet count was 450,000/microL and white blood cell count was 13,500/microL. Erythropoietin level was low normal range (10.2 mU/mL). Bone marrow biopsy showed a moderately hypercellular marrow and overall cellularity was about 80-90%. Megakaryocytes were slightly increased in number with abnormal clusterings Myelopoiesis and erythropoiesis were also slightly increased with moderate to severe fibrosis. She was diagnosed as polycythemia vera with cavernous transformation of portal vein. Repeated thrombosis occurred in the leg and the toe and was treated with angioplasty and thrombolytic therapy with phlebotomy.