Novel Association between STAT3 Gene Variant and Vitiligo: A Case-Control Study.

Background: Vitiligo is an autoimmune disorder involving inflammatory damage to melanocytes. STAT3 genetic variant (rs744166 T > C) increases inflammatory signaling via JAK/STAT pathway. Aim: The purpose of this study was to check whether this translates into an association between vitiligo and STAT3 gene variant (rs744166 T > C). Materials and Methods: This is a case-control study. A total of 56 vitiligo patients and 90 healthy, age and gender-matched volunteers were recruited for the study. The STAT3 gene variant (rs744166 T > C) was genotyped using the restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Results: The frequency of the minor allele 'C' was higher in vitiligo patients (72.3%) than in healthy volunteers (57.8%). The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P = 0.006; OR = 1.9 with 95% CI). The genotypic variant showed the highest association with vitiligo in the dominant model (P = 0.001). Conclusion: This study shows that the STAT3 gene variant (rs744166 T > C) is associated with vitiligo. This observation underlines the importance of the JAK/STAT signaling pathway in vitiligo pathogenesis.

Changes in diabetic and renal profile of people exposed to fluoride in south India.

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus is leading cause of Diabetic microvascular complications. India stands second across the globe in prevalence of diabetes mellitus. Due to deficit rain fall, the water table is exposed to more of salts and minerals from the rocks underground. One of the minerals is the Fluoride. Fluoride in negligible amount is good for dental health, chronic exposure to higher range of fluoride causes various metabolic disturbances. Aim: To study the effect of chronic fluoride exposure on diabetes mellitus. A total of 288 study subjects were recruited. The blood samples and urine samples were collected from all the study subjects. Study groups; Group1: Healthy Controls, Group2: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Group3: Diabetic Nephropathy. The serum (0.313± 0.154) and urine (0.3±0.6) fluoride values of diabetic nephropathy group were significantly decreased in comparison between groups. The primary objective of the fluoride with insulin (-0.06) levels are inversely correlating and fluoride with microalbumin (0.083) levels are directly correlating. Results of the study gave a clear picture of effect of fluoride on insulin action and renal damage. In conclusion, though there is no significant effect of fluoride on FBS, PPBS and HbA1c, insulin is the determining factor for glucose homeostasis which is decreased. Microalbumin is yet another marker for renal clearance which is increased. Therefore, fluoride shall be considered as a parameter in prognosis of metabolic disorder especially Diabetes mellitus in fluoride endemic areas.