Thyroid hormone analogues and derivatives:Actions in fatty liver

Fatty liver or nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD),a problem of increasing clinical significance and prevalence worldwide,is associated with increased risk for the development of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.Although several therapeutic approaches can be used in the context of NAFLD,dietary and physical activities are still the most frequently used strategies.Some pharmacological agents show promising results although no conclusions can be drawn from recent clinical trials.Thyroid hormones[THs;thyroxine(T4)and3,3′,5-triiodo-L-thyronine(T3)]coordinate a diverse array of physiological events during development and lipid/energy homeostasis and have some potentially therapeutic actions which include inducing weight loss,and lowering plasma cholesterol levels and tissue adiposity.The thyroid hormones exert their physiological effects by binding to specific nuclear receptors[thyroid hormone receptors(TR)]of which the TRβisoform is liver specific and has been considered a putative target for the treatment of dyslipidemia and fatty liver.In view of this,the aim of the review is(1)to provide an overview of the action of T3 on lipid metabolism with implications for liver steatosis and(2)to provide an update on the current knowledge concerning the administration of TRβselective thyromimetics(GC-1 and MB07811),as well as of 3,5-diiodo-L-thyronine and its novel functional analogue TRC150094 in animal models of overweight and related disorders including primarily fatty liver.

Comparison of six human anti-transglutaminase ELISA-tests in the diagnosis of celiac disease in the Saharawi population

AIM: Celiac disease (CD) is an enteropathic disorder very prevalent in Saharawi people. Our aim was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of six human tissue transglutaminase (tTG) based ELISA tests in Saharawi CD patients. METHODS: Fifty-two CD patients and 23 controls were selected from the Saharawi refugee camps in Tinduf. CD patients were divided into two groups according to their anti-endomysium (EmA) status: 41 EmA positive and 11 EmA negative. Sera from patients and controls were tested for human tTG using six commercial ELISA kits. We used receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves and areas under the curve to compare the diagnostic accuracies of the six assays. RESULTS: In general, there are differences in the sensitivity and specificity of the human tTG ELISA assays used. Diagnostic accuracy of tests was significantly improved by adjusting the cut-off thresholds according to ROC plot analysis; the correction of the cut-off with the employment of the ROC curve analysis modifies the decision limit in more than 50% in five of the six kits evaluated. CONCLUSION: Some of the human tTG ELISAs used in this study have a diagnostic accuracy similar to EmA determination for diagnosis of CD in Saharawi people. However, it is necessary to select the assay with a higher sensitivity and specificity, and recalculate the cut-off threshold using samples from the referral population.