BACKGROUND Clinical and epidemiological studies indicate that obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) has a strong genetic basis. OBJECTIVES To investigate the apolipoprotein E (APOE) alleles as a genetic risk factor in OSAS. METHODS A total of 73 patients (37 male) were included. All underwent full-night polysomnography and were evaluated for APOE alleles. RESULTS The mean age was 51 ± 1...

OBJECTIVE Apolipoprotein E4 may benefit children during early periods of life when the body is challenged by infection and nutritional decline. We examined whether apolipoprotein E4 affects intestinal barrier function, improving short-term growth and long-term cognitive outcomes in Brazilian shantytown children. METHODS A total of 213 Brazilian shantytown children with below-median height-for...

The human adenovirus (Ad) type 2 genome (Mr = 23 X 10‘) is expressed in permissive human cells in two major stages, early and late. Early genes are organized in four major regions (El to E4) located in noncontiguous regions of the viral genome. To define the number of different 5’-termini, we have isolated, characterized, and mapped in E l to E4 the 5”terminal oligonucleotides produced by RNase...

Transgene expression after the administration of recombinant adenovirus with E1 deleted is constantly transient. It is admitted that E1A-substituting activities of cellular or viral origin allow viral antigen synthesis and trigger cytotoxic lymphocyte-mediated clearance of the recipient cells. Our approach to solving this problem relies on the additional deletion of the E4 region from the vecto...

OBJECTIVE To elucidate the relationship, if any, between lipid abnormalities and apolipoprotein E (apo E) polymorphism, by investigating apo E phenotype and allele frequency. METHODS Fasting blood samples were taken for determination of apo E phenotype and serum lipids in 221 male patients with gout and 141 control male subjects. Apo E phenotype was determined by one dimensional flat gel isoe...

Although several studies have been reported on the synthesis of steroids in the fetus, the metabolism and conjugation of estrogens in the fetus is not completely known. In this study serum levels of estetrol (E4), estetrol glucosiduronate (E4-G), estriol (E3) and estriol-16-glucosiduronate (E3-16-G) were measured by R.I.A. in maternal peripheral vein blood (MPV), umbilical artery blood (UA) and...

First-generation, E1-deleted adenoviral vectors (E1-AV) can transduce the vascular endothelium with high efficiency, but their use is limited by the resulting acute endothelial injury and the long-term development of intimal hyperplasia. To reduce the impact of viral proteins on the gene-modified cells, a second-generation adenoviral vector with an additional pair of deletions in the E4 region ...

OBJECTIVE The most important cause of morbidity and mortality in type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) is atherosclerosis. Apolipoprotein E (Apo E) polymorphism is accused of being the genetic risk factor for atherosclerosis. The aim of the present study was to determine which Apo E polymorphism was related to atherosclerosis in patients with type 1 DM. METHODS Seventy-four patients with type 1 DM we...

INTRODUCTION The plasma concentration of beta-amyloid (Aβ) has been considered another biomarker of Alzheimer's disease and was reportedly associated with cortical Aβ accumulation. METHODS We analyzed 28 subjects with apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4; E4 group) and 89 subjects without ApoE4 (non-E4 group) to determine the association between cortical Aβ accumulation by standard uptake value ratio wit...

Increased risk of breast cancer is a critical side effect associated with the use of a menopausal hormone therapy (MHT). Estetrol (E4) is a natural estrogen produced by the human fetal liver and is a promising compound for clinical use in MHT. However, its impact on breast cancer is controversial and poorly defined. In this preclinical study, we show that E4 acts as a weak estrogen by stimulati...