A diet rich in saturated fats, refined carbohydrates, poor in fruits and vegetables, associated with a sedentary life leads to obesity. According to statistical data, the incidence of obesity among children, adolescents and adults has increased dramatically in the last 20 years both in the USA and in Europe. Obesity has many negative effects on the human body, being involved in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. An important feature of type 2 diabetes is represented by pancreatic beta-cell apoptosis. Hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia causes beta-cell dysfunction and may induce apoptosis in type 2 diabetes. Apoptosis can occur through two major pathways, the extrinsic (death receptor mediated pathway) and intrinsic pathway (involves the regulation of Blc-2). The purpose of this review is to present the mechanisms by which the hypercaloric diet can induce apoptosis of pancreatic beta cells.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common hematological malignancy. Approximately 15% of MM patients are affected by the t(4;14) translocation resulting in the IGH::NSD2 fusion transcript. Breakage occurs in three major breakpoint regions within the NSD2 gene (MB4-1, MB4-2, and MB4-3), where MB4-1 leads to the production of full-length protein, while truncated proteins are expressed in the other two cases. Measurable residual disease (MRD) has been conclusively established as a crucial prognostic factor in MM. The IGH::NSD2 fusion transcript can serve as a sensitive MRD marker. Using bone marrow (BM) and peripheral blood (PB) samples from 111 patients, we developed a highly sensitive quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and digital PCR (dPCR) system capable of detecting fusion mRNAs with a sensitivity of up to 1:100,000. PB samples exhibited sensitivity three orders of magnitude lower compared to BM samples. Patients with an MB4-2 breakpoint demonstrated significantly reduced overall survival (p = 0.003). Our novel method offers a simple and sensitive means for detecting MRD in a substantial proportion of MM patients. Monitoring may be carried out even from PB samples. The literature lacks consensus regarding survival outcomes among patients with different NSD2 breakpoints. Our data align with previous findings indicating that patients with the MB4-2 breakpoint type tend to exhibit unfavorable overall survival.