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Objective: Because skeletal muscle is one of the target tissues for insulin, skeletal muscle mass might be associated with type 2 diabetes. Serum creatinine is a possible surrogate marker of skeletal muscle mass. The purpose of this study was to determine whether serum creatinine level is associated with type 2 diabetes.Research Design and Methods: The study participants were nondiabetic Japanese men (n = 8,570) aged 40-55 years at entry. Type 2 diabetes was diagnosed if fasting plasma glucose was >or=126 mg/dl or if participants were taking oral hypoglycemic medication or insulin.Results: During the 4-year follow-up period, 877 men developed type 2 diabetes. Lower serum creatinine was associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. The multiple-adjusted odds ratio for those who had serum creatinine levels between 0.40 and 0.60 mg/dl was 1.91 (95% CI 1.44-2.54) compared with those who had levels between 0.71 and 0.80 mg/dl.Conclusions: Lower serum creatinine increased the risk of type 2 diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant secondary metabolites are widely used in human disease treatment; though primary metabolism provides precursors for secondary metabolism, not much has been studied to unravel the link connecting both the processes. Most common form of gene regulation interconnecting diverse metabolism occurs at the transcriptional and/or posttranscriptional level mediated by regulatory cis -elements. The present study aims at understanding the common cis -elements network connecting the major primary metabolic enzyme, cell wall invertase ( CWIN ) and secondary metabolism genes in Nicotiana benthamiana ( N. benthamiana ). The CWIN and thirty one other gene sequences were extracted from N. benthamiana genome, followed by cis -element analysis of their 5′ upstream and 3′ downstream region using different programs (Genomatix software suite; PLACE and PlantCARe). Comparative cis -element analysis of CWIN ( N. benthamiana and other plant species) and other primary, secondary metabolism and transcription factor genes ( N. benthamiana ) revealed the occurrence of common stress associated cis -elements. Predominantly, AHBP, L1BX, MYBL, MADS, MYBS, GTBX, DOFF and CCAF were found in the 5′ upstream region of all genes, whereas AHBP, MYBL, L1BX, HEAT, CCAF and KAN1 were largely occurring in the 3′ downstream region of all genes; indicating common function of these elements in transcriptional and posttranscriptional gene regulation. Further, genomic analysis using FGENESH, GenScan and homology based methods (BlastX and BlastN) was performed on the N. benthamiana contigs harboring CWIN and PAL , in an attempt to identify genomic neighborhood genes. The 5′ upstream and 3′ downstream region of genes in the genomic neighborhood of CWIN and PAL were also subjected to similar cis -element analysis, and the results indicated cis- elements profile similar to CWIN, PAL and other primary, secondary metabolism and transcription factor genes. The results of evolutionary studies confirmed that the 5′ upstream region of NbCWINs significantly showed more proximity to secondary metabolism genes 4CL and the redox gene SOD, followed by the phenylpropanoid pathway gene CHI. The 3′ downstream regions of NbCWINs were more closely related to other plant CWINs, followed by the redox gene, SOD and primary metabolism gene FBA . Thus, the commonly found stress responsive cis- elements in our study can play a vital role in modulating key pathways of both primary and secondary metabolism; thereby postulating their role in regulating plant growth and metabolisms under unfavourable growth conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We prospectively assessed whether the combined measurements of fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and A1C were effective for predicting type 2 diabetes.Research Design and Methods: Study participants included 6,736 nondiabetic Japanese men aged 40-55 years. Type 2 diabetes was diagnosed in those who had an FPG >or=126 mg/dl or who were being treated with an oral antidiabetic agent or insulin. The models including FPG, A1C, and both were compared using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curves.Results: During the 4-year follow-up period, we confirmed 659 diabetes cases. In multivariate analysis, both FPG and A1C were independently associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes. The model including both FPG and A1C had a greater AUROC curve than that including FPG alone (0.853 vs. 0.818; P < 0.001) or A1C alone (0.853 vs. 0.771; P < 0.001).Conclusions: The combined measurement of FPG and A1C was effective for predicting type 2 diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: It has been reported that moderate alcohol consumption decreased the risk of type 2 diabetes but that elevated liver enzymes increased it. The comparative importance of alcohol consumption and liver enzymes as predictors of type 2 diabetes remains unconfirmed. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The participants included 8,576 Japanese men, aged 40-55 years, without type 2 diabetes at entry. Type 2 diabetes was diagnosed if a fasting plasma glucose level was >or=126 mg/dl or if participants were taking oral hypoglycemic medications or insulin. RESULTS: During the 4-year follow-up period, we confirmed 878 cases. In multivariate models, moderate daily alcohol consumption (16.4-42.6 g ethanol/day) decreased the risk of type 2 diabetes, and higher levels of gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) increased the risk. In joint analyses of alcohol consumption and liver enzymes, moderate drinkers with the lowest tertile of GGT had the lowest risk of type 2 diabetes. Compared with them, nondrinkers with the highest GGT had the highest risk of type 2 diabetes (odds ratio 3.18 [95% CI 1.75-5.76]). At every level of GGT, moderate or heavy alcohol drinkers (>or=42.7 g ethanol/day) had a lower risk of type 2 diabetes than nondrinkers. The relationship of ALT and daily alcohol consumption with the risk of type 2 diabetes was almost the same as that of GGT. CONCLUSIONS: GGT, ALT, and daily alcohol consumption were independently associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes. Nondrinkers with the highest GGT or ALT had a high risk of type 2 diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]