s-ICAM-1 and s-VCAM-1 in healthy men are strongly associated with traits of the metabolic syndrome, becoming evident in the postprandial response to a lipid-rich meal.

BACKGROUND: The importance of the postprandial state for the early stages of atherogenesis is increasingly acknowledged. We conducted assessment of association between postprandial triglycerides, insulin and glucose after ingestion of a standardized lipid-rich test meal, and soluble cellular adhesion molecules (sCAM) in young healthy subjects. METHODS: Metabolic parameters and sICAM-1, sVCAM-1 and E-selectin were measured before and hourly until 6 hours after ingestion of a lipid-rich meal in 30 healthy young men with fasting triglycerides <150 mg/dl and normal fasting glucose levels. Subjects were classified as either normal responders (NR) (postprandial triglyceride maxima < 260 mg/dl) or high responders (HR) (postprandial triglyceride maxima > 260 mg/dl). Levels of CAM were compared in HR and NR, and correlation with postprandial triglyceride, insulin and glucose response was assessed. RESULTS: Fasting sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 levels were significantly higher in HR as compared to NR (p = 0.046, p = 0.03). For sE-selectin there was such a trend (p = 0.05). There was a strong positive and independent correlation between sICAM-1 and postprandial insulin maxima (r = 0.70, p < 0.001). sVCAM-1 showed significant correlation with postprandial triglycerides (AUC) (r = 0.37, p = 0.047). We found no correlation between sCAMs and fasting insulin or triglyceride concentrations. CONCLUSION: This independent association of postprandial triglycerides with sICAM-1 may indicate a particular impact of postprandial lipid metabolism on endothelial reaction.

Investigation of the Lith6 candidate genes APOBEC1 and PPARG in human gallstone disease.

BACKGROUND: Genetic susceptibility contributes to the aetiology of gallbladder diseases as shown by multiple epidemiological studies. A major gallstone susceptibility locus (Lith6) was identified in 2003 by quantitative trait locus mapping in mice. Two attractive positional and functional candidate genes in apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing protein (APOBEC1) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARG) are located in this interval. AIMS: To investigate APOBEC1 and PPARG as candidate genes for common symptomatic gallstone disease in humans. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eight hundred and ten patients who underwent cholecystectomy for symptomatic gallstone disease (median age of onset 50) were compared with 718 sex-matched control individuals. An independent additional sample included 368 gallstone patients and 368 controls. Control individuals were sonographically free of gallstones. Haplotype tagging and all known coding single nucleotide polymorphisms were genotyped for PPARG (N=32) and APOBEC1 (N=11). RESULTS: The investigated high-risk patient sample provides a power of greater than 80% for the detection of odds ratios down to 1.45. No evidence of association of the two genes in the single-point tagging markers, coding variants and in the sliding window haplotype analysis was detected (all nominal single point P-values >0.04). A logistic regression analysis including age, sex and BMI as covariates was also negative (nominal P-values > or =0.08). CONCLUSIONS: In the investigated German samples, no evidence of association of APOBEC1 and PPARG with gallstone susceptibility was detected. Systematic fine mapping of the complete Lith6 region is required to identify the causative genetic variants for gallstone in mice and humans.

Lactobacilli, bifidobacteria and E. coli nissle induce pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

AIM: To investigate whether the stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) with the cell debris and cell extraction of different probiotic strains is similar or species specific. METHODS: Three strains of bifidobacteria, 4 strains of lactobacilli, and E. coli nissle were sonicated and centrifuged in order to divide them into cell extract and cell debris. PBMNC were separated by density gradient and incubated for 36 h with either the cell debris or the cell extract of single strains of probiotic bacteria in doses from 10(2) to 10(8) CFU/mL. Cell supernatants were taken and interleukin (IL)-10, IL-1beta, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha were determined by ELISA. RESULTS: Depending on the species super-family, the strains had different stimulation patterns. Except for both L. casei strains, the cell extract of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli had less stimulating capacity than cell debris, whereas the cell extract of E. coli nissle had similar stimulating properties to that of the cell debris of the strain and significantly more stimulating capacity than that of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli. The cell debris of bifidobacteria stimulated more cytokine release than the cell debris of lactobacilli. The cell debris of lactobacilli did not have a stimulating capacity when lower concentrations were used. Neither cell extraction nor cell debris had an inhibitory effect on the production of the tested cytokines by stimulated PBMNC. CONCLUSION: The incubation of probiotic strains, which have been used in clinical trials for inflammatory diseases, with immunocompetent cells leads to different species specific reactions. High IL-10 response to cell debris of bifidobacteria and E. coli nissle can be found. This corresponds to positive effects of bifidobacteria and E. coli nissle in clinical trials for inflammatory bowel disease compared to negative outcomes obtained with lactobacilli.

A common functional exon polymorphism in the microsomal triglyceride transfer protein gene is associated with type 2 diabetes, impaired glucose metabolism and insulin levels.

The microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) is required for the assembly and secretion of apolipoprotein B-containing lipoproteins. Emerging evidence has indicated that the functional MTP exon polymorphism I128T is associated with dyslipidemia and other traits of the insulin-resistance syndrome, and the T128 variant seems to confer a reduced stability of MTP, resulting in reduced binding of LDL particles. The aim of the study was to elucidate the association of this MTP polymorphism with parameters of postprandial metabolism. A total of 716 male subjects from a postprandially characterized cohort (MICK) and a nested case-control study (EPIC) of 190 incident type 2 diabetes cases and 380 sex- or age-matched controls were genotyped for the I128T exon polymorphism. In comparison to homozygote subjects of the wild allele, carriers of the less common allele of the MTP T128 genotype showed significantly lower postprandial insulin levels (P=0.017), lower diastolic blood pressure (P=0.049) and had a lower prevalence of impaired glucose metabolism and diabetes type 2 (P=0.03) in the MICK. Consistent with this, we found a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes in male subjects of the nested case-control study in the T128 genotype (P=0.007). These results suggest that the rare allele of the MTP I128T polymorphism may be protective against impaired glucose tolerance, type 2 diabetes and other parameters of the metabolic syndrome.

Genetic variation in DLG5 is associated with inflammatory bowel disease.

Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis are two subphenotypes of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a complex disorder resulting from gene-environment interaction. We refined our previously defined linkage region for IBD on chromosome 10q23 and used positional cloning to identify genetic variants in DLG5 associated with IBD. DLG5 encodes a scaffolding protein involved in the maintenance of epithelial integrity. We identified two distinct haplotypes with a replicable distortion in transmission (P = 0.000023 and P = 0.004 for association with IBD, P = 0.00012 and P = 0.04 for association with Crohn disease). One of the risk-associated DLG5 haplotypes is distinguished from the common haplotype by a nonsynonymous single-nucleotide polymorphism 113G-->A, resulting in the amino acid substitution R30Q in the DUF622 domain of DLG5. This mutation probably impedes scaffolding of DLG5. We stratified the study sample according to the presence of risk-associated CARD15 variants to study potential gene-gene interaction. We found a significant difference in association of the 113A DLG5 variant with Crohn disease in affected individuals carrying the risk-associated CARD15 alleles versus those carrying non-risk-associated CARD15 alleles. This is suggestive of a complex pattern of gene-gene interaction between DLG5 and CARD15, reflecting the complex nature of polygenic diseases. Further functional studies will evaluate the biological significance of DLG5 variants.

Association of NOD2 (CARD 15) genotype with clinical course of Crohn's disease: a cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Crohn's disease is a heterogeneous disorder for which NOD2 (CARD 15) has been identified as a susceptibility gene. We investigate the relation between NOD2 genotype and phenotypic characteristics of patients with Crohn's disease. METHODS: Hypotheses about the relation between NOD2 genotype and Crohn's disease phenotype were generated retrospectively from a group of 446 German patients with this disorder. Positive findings (p<0.10) were verified in prospectively established cohorts of 106 German and 55 Norwegian patients with Crohn's disease. All patients were genotyped for the main coding mutations in NOD2, denoted SNP8, SNP12, and SNP13, with Taqman technology. FINDINGS: In the retrospective cohort, six clinical characteristics showed noteworthy haplotype association: fistulising, ileal, left colonic and right colonic disease, stenosis, and resection. In the German prospective cohort, these haplotype associations could be replicated for ileal (p=0.006) and right colonic disease (p < or =0.001). A similar trend was noted in the Norwegian patients. INTERPRETATION: We recorded a distinct relation between NOD2 genotype and phenotype of Crohn's disease. Test strategies with NOD2 variations to predict the clinical course of Crohn's disease could lead to the development of new therapeutic paradigms.