Purpose. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between body roundness index (BRI) and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in each sex, explore the dose-response relationship between them, and evaluate the predictive value of BRI for T2DM. Materials and Methods. A retrospective cohort study was performed on 15,464 Japanese patients at the Murakami Memorial Hospital. Data on anthropometric indices and biochemical parameters were obtained. Multivariate Cox regression models were used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) of incident T2DM associated with BRI. Dose-response relationships were evaluated using a smoothing function analysis and the threshold effect. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to evaluate and compare the predictive values of BRI, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (WC) for T2DM. Results. During a median 5.4-year follow-up period, 373 subjects were diagnosed with T2DM. After adjusting for age, alcohol intake, smoking status, fatty liver, systolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, glycated hemoglobin, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and total cholesterol, the relationship between BRI and T2DM was linear in women (HR (95% CI) for BRI Z score = 1.48 (1.26,1.74)) and curvilinear in men (HR (95% CI) on the left and right of the inflection point = 0.70 (0.44, 1.10) and 1.46 (1.27, 1.67), respectively). Compared with BMI (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.684; ) and WC (AUC = 0.700; ), BRI was the strongest predictor of T2DM in men (AUC = 0.715). Similarly, the AUC of BRI was larger than that of BMI (AUC = 0.757; ) and WC (AUC = 0.733; ) in women. Conclusions. BRI was positively linearly associated with an elevated risk of incident T2DM in women. In men, the relationship between BRI and T2DM was J-shaped. BRI is an effective indicator of predicting T2DM. Its discriminatory power was higher than that of BMI and WC in both sexes.

Background: Breast cancer is the prevailing malignancy among women, exhibiting a discernible escalation in incidence within our nation; hormone receptor‐positive (HR+) human epidermal growth factor receptor 2‐negative (HER2−) breast cancer is the most common subtype. In this study, we aimed to search for a non‐invasive, specific, blood‐based biomarker for the early detection of luminal A breast cancer through proteomic studies.Methods: To explore new potential plasma biomarkers, we applied data‐independent acquisition (DIA), a technique combining liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry, to quantify breast cancer‐associated plasma protein abundance from a small number of plasma samples in 10 patients with luminal A breast cancer, 10 patients with benign breast tumors, and 10 healthy controls.Results: The proteomes of 30 participants in all cohorts were analyzed using the DIA method, and a total of 517 proteins and 3584 peptides were quantified. We found that there were significant differences in plasma protein expression profiles between breast cancer patients and non‐breast cancer patients, and breast cancer was mainly related to lipid metabolism pathways. Finally, the optimal protein combinations for the diagnosis of breast cancer were PON3, IGLV3‐10, and IGHV3‐73 through multi‐model analysis, which had a high prediction accuracy for breast cancer (AUC = 0.92), and the model could also distinguish breast cancer from HC (AUC = 0.92) and breast cancer from benign breast tumor (AUC = 0.91).Conclusions: The study revealed proteomic signatures of patients with luminal A breast cancer, identified multiple differential proteins, and identified three plasma proteins as potential diagnostic biomarkers for breast cancer. It provides a reference for the screening of biomarkers for breast cancer.

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) represents the predominant and severe microvascular complication associated with diabetes, frequently culminating in End-Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD). The escalating prevalence of diabetes has correspondingly led to a rise in DKD incidence, imposing significant challenges on both individuals and society. The etiology of DKD is multifaceted and remains devoid of definitive therapeutic interventions. This article examines the pharmacological actions and mechanisms of different drugs used for the prevention and treatment of DKD that are currently in clinical use or undergoing development. The goal is to offer insights for early intervention based on therapeutic combinations to potentially slow kidney disease progression.

Circular RNA (circRNA), classified as a type of non‐coding RNA, has gained significant attention in the field of biology due to its distinctive ring structure and functional properties. Recent research has provided evidence that specific circRNAs have the ability to modulate disease progression through diverse mechanisms, one of which is by regulating cellular ferroptosis. Ferroptosis is a form of regulated cell death that is driven by iron dependency and lipid peroxidation, and extensive investigations have revealed a relationship between ferroptosis and disease development. In addition to evidence that both circRNAs and ferroptosis exert critical roles in disease progression, circRNAs have also been shown to actively mediate the process of ferroptosis. The relationship between circRNAs and ferroptosis therefore influences disease progression and offers novel targets for disease treatment. By directly or indirectly modulating the expression of circRNAs that regulate the expression of ferroptosis‐related proteins, it may be possible to impact disease progression by promoting or inhibiting ferroptosis. Current research indicates such approaches may hold significant value in a wide variety of common diseases across physiological systems. This review comprehensively summarizes the findings of recent studies investigating the roles of circRNAs in the regulation of ferroptosis in various diseases.

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between baseline serum gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) and incident diabetes mellitus and to explore their dose-response relationship in a cohort of Japanese adults. Patients and Methods. Data were drawn from the NAGALA (NAfld in the Gifu Area, Longitudinal Analysis) study between 2004 and 2015, including hierarchical information on participants ≥18 years of age without diabetes mellitus, preexisting diabetes mellitus, heavy alcohol drinking, or other liver diseases (e.g., hepatitis B/C). The final analytic sample included 15464 participants, 373 of who were diagnosed as diabetes mellitus with a maximum 13-year follow-up. The risk of incident diabetes mellitus according to baseline serum GGT was estimated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models and a two-piecewise linear regression model was developed to find out the threshold effect. Results. Being in the highest quintile versus the lowest quintile of GGT levels was associated with an almost twofold increased risk of incident diabetes mellitus (hazard ratio 1.83 (95% CI 1.06, 3.15)), independent of age, gender, smoking status, alcohol intake, BMI, SBP, triglycerides, fatty liver, ALT, AST, and fasting plasma glucose. Further analysis revealed a positive curvilinear association between GGT and incident diabetes mellitus, with a saturation effect predicted at 24 IU/L. When serum GGT level was less than 24 IU/L, the risk of developing diabetes mellitus increased significantly with an increase in serum GGT levels (HR 1.04 (1.02, 1.07), P=0.0017). Besides, the association was more significant in nonsmoking participants than ex- or current-smokers (P for interaction = 0.0378). Conclusion. Serum GGT level was a significant predictor of subsequent risk of diabetes mellitus, which increased by 4% for every 1 IU/L increase in GGT when GGT was less than 24 IU/L.