Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0948265 (metabolic syndrome)
 24,271 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Gallstone disease is common and costly, creating over 700,000 cholecystectomies annually. Its complications consume approximately $6.5 billion in the United States. Surveys using noninvasive ultrasonography have identified its true prevalence and the associated risk factors. In developed countries, at least 10% of white adults harbor cholesterol gallstones; women have twice the risk, and age further increases the prevalence in both sexes. Gallstones reach epidemic proportions in the North and South American Indian populations, accompanied by an increased risk for gallbladder cancer. In contrast, the rate in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia is quite low. Obesity, a major risk factor, likely relates to insulin resistance (the metabolic syndrome). Evolution and circumstance in American Indians may have ironically selected those with "thrifty" genes that conserve energy. Our abundant access to food places us at the increased risk of obesity and cholelithiasis. The general rise in obesity in many countries raises the specter of heightened disease, best identified by epidemiologic studies.
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PMID:Epidemiology and risk factors for gallstone disease: has the paradigm changed in the 21st century? 1580 2

The significance of gallbladder wall thickness (GBWT) in regard to gallbladder disease (GBD) is not completely understood. Thickening of the gallbladder wall has been observed in patients with acute calculous and acalculous cholecystitis and chronic cholecystitis. However, various pathologic processes, such as gallbladder cancer and nonbiliary disorders such as liver cirrhosis and viral hepatitis, could also cause thickening of the gallbladder wall. To date, there is no report available on the genetic factors influencing GBWT. Therefore we sought to estimate the heritability (h2) of GBWT and to perform a genome-wide search to identify the susceptibility genes for GBWT, using data from the San Antonio Family Diabetes/Gallbladder Study (SAFDGS), a family study of Mexican Americans. GBWT was measured by ultrasound. After adjusting for the significant effects of age, sex, GBD (i.e., asymptomatic gallstones), metabolic syndrome, and duration of type 2 diabetes (T2DM), GBWT was found to be under significant and appreciable additive genetic influences (h2 +/- SE = 0.38 +/- 0.09, P < 0.0001). The strongest evidence for linkage occurred between markers D11S912 and D11S968 on chromosome 11q24-q25 (LOD = 2.7), where we have already shown suggestive evidence for linkage of GBD (LOD = 2.7) in a subset of our SAFDGS data. Potential evidence for linkage occurred at markers D1S1728 (1p31.1; LOD = 1.4) and D16S748 (16p13.1; LOD = 1.4), respectively. In conclusion, our study provides suggestive evidence for linkage of GBWT on chromosome 11q in Mexican Americans, and future tasks of mapping susceptibility gene(s) for GBD and its related traits, such as GBWT, in this chromosomal region can be fruitful.
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PMID:Autosomal genome-wide linkage analysis to identify loci for gallbladder wall thickness in Mexican Americans. 1850 42

Diseases of the gallbladder are common and costly. The best epidemiological screening method to accurately determine point prevalence of gallstone disease is ultrasonography. Many risk factors for cholesterol gallstone formation are not modifiable such as ethnic background, increasing age, female gender and family history or genetics. Conversely, the modifiable risks for cholesterol gallstones are obesity, rapid weight loss and a sedentary lifestyle. The rising epidemic of obesity and the metabolic syndrome predicts an escalation of cholesterol gallstone frequency. Risk factors for biliary sludge include pregnancy, drugs like ceftiaxone, octreotide and thiazide diuretics, and total parenteral nutrition or fasting. Diseases like cirrhosis, chronic hemolysis and ileal Crohn's disease are risk factors for black pigment stones. Gallstone disease in childhood, once considered rare, has become increasingly recognized with similar risk factors as those in adults, particularly obesity. Gallbladder cancer is uncommon in developed countries. In the U.S., it accounts for only ~ 5,000 cases per year. Elsewhere, high incidence rates occur in North and South American Indians. Other than ethnicity and female gender, additional risk factors for gallbladder cancer include cholelithiasis, advancing age, chronic inflammatory conditions affecting the gallbladder, congenital biliary abnormalities, and diagnostic confusion over gallbladder polyps.
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PMID:Epidemiology of gallbladder disease: cholelithiasis and cancer. 2257 Jul 46

Obesity is an increasingly common problem worldwide and a risk factor for a variety of gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, both non-neoplastic (e.g. gastro-oesophageal reflux and Barrett's oesophagus) and neoplastic (e.g. oesophageal adenocarcinoma, colorectal carcinoma, and gallbladder cancer). Furthermore, obesity is associated with worse GI cancer outcomes. Body mass index is a commonly used measure of fat accumulation, although specific patterns such as abdominal/central obesity and visceral fat quantity sometimes predict disease risk more accurately. Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a related condition characterized by central adiposity and insulin resistance. The reasons for the associations with neoplasia are diverse. Established cancer-related conditions that have a higher prevalence in overweight subjects include Barrett's oesophagus and gallstones. Preneoplastic lesions such as colorectal adenoma, colorectal serrated lesions and pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia are also associated with obesity/MS. At the cellular level, adipocytes can release carcinogens such as adipokines, insulin-like growth factor, and vascular endothelial growth factor. Inflammatory cells constitute a further potential source of carcinogens; in obese subjects, their numbers are increased systemically and in adipose tissue. Animal studies have contributed additional information. For example, mice with a genetic predisposition to develop colorectal carcinoma given a high-fat diet have larger and more numerous intestinal adenomas than controls, and there may be demonstrably higher levels of mucosal oncogenic factors. The associations between obesity and GI disease are of variable strength, and the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood, but it is clear that obesity and MS have a significant, potentially avoidable and often under-recognized impact on the population burden of GI disease.
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PMID:Obesity and metabolic syndrome: pathological effects on the gastrointestinal tract. 2659 7