A Screening Study of Potential Carcinogen Biomarkers After Surgical Treatment of Obesity.

BACKGROUND: Obesity has been associated with the development of various types of cancer. Biomarker studies may provide molecular level knowledge of the factors involved in this association, improving clinical practice through new methods of prevention and treatment. PURPOSE: The present study aimed to analyze proteins found in the plasma of obese patients prior to and 6 months after bariatric surgery, using body mass index (BMI) and percentage total weight loss (%TWL) to evaluate, in a prospective manner, the effects of weight loss on the regulation of proteins related to the appearance of tumors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a cohort study designed to compare parameters before and after intervention. A total of 40 patients were divided into two groups: control (n = 10) and obese (n = 30). The latter group was stratified according to surgical technique used (Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) n = 11 and sleeve gastrectomy (SG) n = 19) to remove confounding variables. Blood samples were collected for plasma protein studies using two-dimensional electrophoresis. RESULTS: Six proteins related to carcinogenesis were hyperexpressed in the obese patients but were absent in the control group and following surgery. These proteins were the beta-receptor of derived growth factor platelet, the receptor of apolipoprotein B, thrombospondin-2, the low-density lipoprotein receptor, transthyretin, and podoplanin. CONCLUSION: The current preliminary study thus identified potentially carcinogenic proteins in obese patients. Surgical weight loss resulted in the not detection of these proteins.

Chemiluminescent detection of glycocode alterations in hepatic granulomatous lesions of experimental schistosomiasis.

This work describes the glycophenotype evaluation of mice liver granulomatous lesion caused by infection of Schistosoma mansoni by using lectins labeled to acridinium ester (AE). The employed lectins were Concanavalin A (Con A), wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) and Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA) that specifically recognize α-D-glucose/mannose, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and α-NeuNAc-[2→6]-Gal/GalNAc. The chemiluminescence expressed in relative light unit (RLU) obtained from the hepatic granuloma tissues (0.25 cm2) treated with the lectins-AE was compared with control tissues. Con A-AE infected tissues showed higher statistically significant values (1,501,182 ± 163,450 RLU) compared with the control tissue (575,280 ± 97,216 RLU). WGA-AE results also showed higher values (189,654 ± 20,686 RLU) than that found for the controls (82,878 ± 24,411). SNA-AE results did not present statistical difference between granulomatous tissues (198,990 ± 15,131) and controls (167,290 ± 25,194). There is a significant increase in glucose/mannose residues and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine in hepatic granuloma caused by S. mansoni, while the sialic acid remains virtually unchanged. The understanding of schistosome glycophenotype is relevant for the development of new diagnostic methods for schistosomiasis, design of new drug targets and preparation of glycan-based vaccines.