Serum urate gene associations with incident gout,measured in the Framingham Heart Study,are modified by renal disease and not by body mass index

We hypothesized that serum urate-associated SNPs, individually or collectively, interact with BMI and renal disease to contribute to risk of incident gout. We measured the incidence of gout and associated comorbidities using the original and offspring cohorts of the Framingham Heart Study. We used direct and imputed genotypes for eight validated serum urate loci. We fit binomial regression models of gout incidence as a function of the covariates, age, type 2 diabetes, sex, and all main and interaction effects of the eight serum urate SNPs with BMI and renal disease. Models were also fit with a genetic risk score for serum urate levels which corresponds to the sum of risk alleles at the eight SNPs. Model covariates, age (P = 5.95E?06), sex (P = 2.46E?39), diabetes (P = 2.34E?07), BMI (P = 1.14E?11) and the SNPs, rs1967017 (P = 9.54E?03), rs13129697 (P = 4.34E?07), rs2199936 (P = 7.28E?03) and rs675209 (P = 4.84E?02) were all associated with incident gout. No BMI by SNP or BMI by serum urate genetic risk score interactions were statistically significant, but renal disease by rs1106766 was statistically significant (P = 6.12E?03). We demonstrated that minor alleles of rs1106766 (intergenic, INHBC) were negatively associated with the risk of incident gout in subjects without renal disease, but not for individuals with renal disease. These analyses demonstrate that a significant component of the risk of gout may involve complex interplay between genes and environment.     

The minor components of the rat asialoglycoprotein receptor are apically located in neonatal enterocytes

Because specific uptake of the asialoglycoprotein haptocorrin has been reported in suckling distal intestine, evidence of the asialoglycoprotein receptor in rat ileum was sought. On Western blot, two different polyclonal antisera against purified rat holoreceptor recognized only proteins of the size of the minor receptor components (51 and 55 kilodaltons) in both suckling and adult rat intestine. Messenger RNA encoding the minor component (RHL-2/3) was detected in total RNA extracted from rat ileum. Calcium-specific binding of porcine or rat haptocorrin-[57Co]cobalamin complexes was detected in the brush border membranes of distal suckling rat and porcine small intestine. This binding was almost completely blocked by another asialoglycoprotein, asialofetuin. The pH optimum for binding was 6-9, with a Ka of 0.25 nmol/L and a capacity of 4.6 fmol/mg protein. These properties, with the exception of the low capacity, are all consistent with those of the intact receptor on hepatocytes. The intestinal receptor was localized not to the basolateral membrane, as in the liver, but to the apical brush border, as suggested by the binding data. Furthermore, immunoperoxidase stains of paraffin-embedded tissue detected strong binding to the brush border and apical phagolysosome of mid and distal suckling rat intestine. These data show that, contrary to expectations, the minor components of the asialoglycoprotein receptor are functional and expressed in the apical membrane of the suckling intestine. The abundance of the protein by Western blot suggests possible roles for it in the neonatal gut other than haptocorrin binding.     

An analysis of blood donation barriers experienced by North American and Caribbean university students in Grenada,West Indies

Objectives

To estimate the associations of nationality, university program, donation history and gender, with blood donation barriers experienced by non-donating students on the day of a campus blood drive. This project focused particularly on nationality and the effect of the different blood donation cultures in the students' countries of origin.