Project description:Subjects of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) received either vitamin D3 (n = 47) in a weekly dose of 20,000 IU or placebo (n = 47) for a period of three to five years
Project description:Resveratrol has been reported to improve metabolic function in metabolically-abnormal rodents and humans, but has not been studied in non-obese people with normal glucose tolerance. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the metabolic effects of 12 weeks of resveratrol supplementation (75 mg/day) in non-obese, postmenopausal women with normal glucose tolerance. Although resveratrol supplementation was well-tolerated and increased plasma resveratrol concentration without adverse effects, it did not change body composition, resting metabolic rate, plasma lipids, or inflammatory markers. A two-stage hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp procedure, in conjunction with stable isotopically-labeled tracer infusions, demonstrated that resveratrol did not increase liver, skeletal muscle, or adipose tissue insulin sensitivity. Consistent with the absence of in vivo metabolic effects, resveratrol did not affect its putative molecular targets, including AMPK, Sirt1, Nampt, and Pgc-1α, in either skeletal muscle or adipose tissue. These findings demonstrate that resveratrol supplementation does not have metabolic effects in non-obese women. We compared gene expression profile in subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue and skeletal muscle (vastus lateralis) biopsy samples obtained from non-obese people before and after 1) placebo (PLC), 2) resveratrol (RES), and 3) calorie restriction (CR) intervention.
Project description:This is global gene expression study of whole blood samples collected in the Cyclophosphamide Or Transplantation (SCOT) randomized controlled trial, as well as unaffected controls. Patients with diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) received either myeloablation followed by autologous stem cell transplantation or intravenous cyclophosphamide
Project description:Cells respond to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress through activation of signaling pathways such as the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) which improve the ER folding environment capacity upon changes in misfolded protein burden. Small molecules termed chemical chaperones can attenuate the UPR under stress conditions and improve folding and trafficking of specific mutant proteins. One such compound is the bile acid tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA). Despite promising results in multiple models of protein folding diseases, TUDCA’s mechanism of action remains unclear. To better define how TUDCA attenuate ER stress, we leveraged the genetically tractable budding yeast, S. cerevisiae. Consistent with properties described for TUDCA, we found it significantly improves growth of yeast subjected to ER stress caused by the N-glycosylation inhibitor tunicamycin (Tm) independently of activity of the UPR. In addition to other data, transcriptomics of strains treated with TUDCA link its ability to resuce Tm-induced stress with cell wall remodeling.
Project description:Vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for developing multiple sclerosis (MS). Both in vitro and animal studies suggest an immunomodulatory effect of vitamin D. The PrevANZ trial, a phase IIb randomized placebo-controlled trial of oral vitamin D3 supplementation in people with a first demyelinating event (FDE), was conducted to determine if supplementation can prevent recurrent disease activity in this cohort at high risk of developing definite MS. As a sub-study of this trial, we used whole blood transcriptomic analyses to investigate the effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on peripheral immune cells in people with an FDE, and to gain insight into potential mechanisms by which vitamin D3 may regulate MS risk and disease activity. The PrevANZ trial randomized participants to 1000 IU, 5000 IU or 10,000 IU daily of oral vitamin D3 or placebo. Peripheral blood was collected at baseline and 12 weeks in PAXgene Blood RNA tubes. Transcriptomic datasets were generated by RNA sequencing.
Project description:The hypothesis tested in the present study was that ameliorating ER stress by TUDCA could reduce the cardiac remodeling in TAC mice. Results provide important information of the genes that were up- or down-regulated in Veh-TAC operated animals in comparison to Sham, TUDCA -Sham and TUDCA-TAC mice.
Project description:The objective of the overall study was to determine the effects of oral vitamin D supplementation on alveolar macrophages from human subjects. In this substudy, subjects treated with vitamin D (intervention group) in paired analysis had small, but significant effects on immune-related differential gene expression pre versus post supplementation. In this study, we obtained alveolar macrophages by bronchoalveolar lavage of subjects before and after a 3 month vitamin D trial. RNA for the array was obtained shortly after bronchoscopy. Randomized Controlled Trial: This is a substudy of paired samples of subjects treated with vitamin D. Each sample was studied once. 22 individuals were studied.
Project description:Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common comorbidity among people living with HIV with a more aggressive course than in the general population. In a recent randomized placebo-controlled trial, we demonstrated that the growth hormone-releasing hormone analogue tesamorelin reduced liver fat and prevented fibrosis progression in HIV-associated NAFLD over one year. In the current study, we leveraged paired liver biopsy specimens from this trial to identify hepatic gene pathways that are differentially modulated by tesamorelin versus placebo to gain key insights into the biological underpinnings of its clinical effects.
Project description:Cholesterol efflux capacity dysfunction in macrophages is thought to be important in atherosclerosis. However, the molecular mechanism underlying this dysfunction remains unclear. Our previous analysis found that the increase of endoplasmic reticulum stress in macrophages during atherosclerotic plaque formation. Here we extended our analysis to ApoE-/- mice fed a high fat diet, some of which were treated with tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) and collected the arteries of mice among these three groups (NFD, HFD and HFD+TUDCA) to perform the Bulk-RNA sequencing. There was significantly high expression of matrix metalloproteinase family (MMP9, MMP25, MMP8, MMP12, MMP13 and MMP3), CD68, inflammasome (IL1b, IL18bp, ifi44, ifi204 and Nlrp3), ER stress (Hspa5) and cholesterol transporters (ABCA1 and ABCG1) in the HFD group compared with the NFD group, however, TUDCA rescued the high expression of the above DEGs to different degrees. As shown by the expression levels of ifi204, Nlrp3, Il1b, and Il18, inflammasome activation was evident in the arteries of the HFD group compared to the NFD group. The ER stress inhibitor TUDCA not only decreased expression of the ER stress-related gene Hspa5 but also down-regulated inflammasome activation (as seen with the expression levels of ifi204, ifi44, NLRP3 and IL1b) in the artery of TUDCA treated mice compared with mice without drugs.
Project description:Resveratrol has been reported to improve metabolic function in metabolically-abnormal rodents and humans, but has not been studied in non-obese people with normal glucose tolerance. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the metabolic effects of 12 weeks of resveratrol supplementation (75 mg/day) in non-obese, postmenopausal women with normal glucose tolerance. Although resveratrol supplementation was well-tolerated and increased plasma resveratrol concentration without adverse effects, it did not change body composition, resting metabolic rate, plasma lipids, or inflammatory markers. A two-stage hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp procedure, in conjunction with stable isotopically-labeled tracer infusions, demonstrated that resveratrol did not increase liver, skeletal muscle, or adipose tissue insulin sensitivity. Consistent with the absence of in vivo metabolic effects, resveratrol did not affect its putative molecular targets, including AMPK, Sirt1, Nampt, and Pgc-1α, in either skeletal muscle or adipose tissue. These findings demonstrate that resveratrol supplementation does not have metabolic effects in non-obese women.