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The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions and meanings of type II diabetes among Mexican American farmworking women working in California’s Northern San Joaquin Valley. Perceptions of type II diabetes play a major role in how Mexican American farmworking women feel about diabetes and these perceptions influence diabetes treatment strategies and health care decisions. Yet, little is known about the perceptions and meanings that farmworking women attribute to type II diabetes. A qualitative interdisciplinary research methodology (integrating knowledge from social work and nursing) involving open-ended, in-depth interviews with a nonprobabilistic sample of 17 Mexican American farmworking women was used to gain an understanding of how farmworking women make meaning of type II diabetes. Based on Kleinman’s (1980) explanatory model, salient themes in the areas of illness, causation, treatment and perceptions were identified. The study showed that farmworking women have a predominantly cultural perspective of diabetes. A large majority of women applied cultural beliefs and traditional home remedies to the treatment of diabetes; although many were not opposed to incorporating western medicine into cultural treatment strategies. Causation of diabetes was attributed to a transformation of blood and destabilization of the pancreas as a result of Susto (fright), an ethno-specific illness. Home remedy and dosing strategies were categorized and farmworking women revealed subjective definitions of high blood glucose and heredity that are dissimilar to western biomedicine. Understanding how farmworking women conceptualize and make meaning of type II diabetes and including these important culturally influenced beliefs and treatment strategies into interdisciplinary health care practices and service delivery systems can serve as a basis for modifying current medical theoretical orientations about diabetes education, treatment and maintenance strategies and service provision for this particularly vulnerable population. Additionally, the inclusion of cultural beliefs and treatment strategies can engender trust and facilitate meaningful, reciprocal relationships between patients and health care providers, which are considered essential for developing culturally meaningful, effective treatment, and competent and responsible service provision. / text

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Endocytosis is the process in which a cell engulfs extracellular cargo by creating invaginations within its plasma membrane. The cargo that has entered the cell enters an endosome and then is delivered to either the trans-Golgi network for recycling to the plasma membrane or to the lysosome for its degradation (Trousdale & Kim, 2015). Retromer is a peripheral membrane protein complex that plays a key role in sorting of these cargo molecules (Collins, 2008). More specifically, retromer deliver cargo from the endosome to the trans-Golgi Network, the process which is called retrograde transport of cargo molecules. Retromer dysfunction is strongly linked to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease. However, recent Genome Wide Association Studies suggest that a mutation in retromer subunit VPS26a, has been linked to Type II Diabetes (Trousdale & Kim, 2015). A 2016 study published in The Faseb Journal attempts to characterize the role of retromer in adipocyte differentiation and insulin-stimulated uptake of glucose through transporter GLUT4 (Yang et al., 2016). The aim of this study is to further investigate the role of retromer in adipogenesis and to determine whether retromer plays a role at the transcriptional level or translational level. In this study, retromer’s VPS35 subunit was knocked down in four mouse 3T3-L1 fibroblast cell lines using the CRISPR-Cas9 approach. These cell lines were differentiated into mature adipocytes and analyzed by Oil-Red O staining, Western Blotting and quantitative PCR. The knockdown of retromer produced varying effects on adipocyte differentiation. In two of the knockdown cell lines, adipocyte differentiation was downregulated whereas adipocyte differentiation was upregulated in the other two cell lines. Although the results from Oil-Red O staining and Western Blot analyses complemented each other, results obtained from qPCR were not as straightforward and further analysis is needed to fully comprehend how retromer acts at the transcriptional level of cell differentiation. Based on the results of this study, retromer is involved in adipogenesis at both the transcriptional and translational level, however it’s mechanism of action remains unclear as both cases of impaired differentiation and upregulated differentiation were observed. Further studies are necessary to determine retromer’s exact role in adipogenesis.

Type II diabetes mellitus (TIIDM) causes multiple complications under chronic hyperglycemia. Long term persistent exposure to elevated glucose conditions is considered one of the major factors for diabetic complications. Pathologically, mechanical and biochemical stimuli will induce a signaling cascade in cardiac fibroblasts, which causes myocardial fibrosis and leading to ventricular stiffness. Non-enzymatically, high levels of glucose can react with long-lived proteins, such as collagen to form advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). AGEs have been shown to be associated with many of the diabetic cardiovascular complications due to their interaction with the receptor for AGE (RAGE). AGE/RAGE activation stimulates the secretion of growth factors, promotes increased collagen production that leads to tissue fibrosis, and increased RAGE expression. The purpose of this study is to identify the role for Rap1a in regulating fibrosis under TIIDM conditions, as well as to offer insight into the AGE-RAGE signaling cascade definition for cardiovascular extracellular matrix remodeling under TIIDM condition. To test our hypothesis, both loss-ofunction and gain-ofunction based experiments were performed to manipulate Rap1a protein expression in AGE-RAGE mediated fibrosis. Also, we down-regulated the activity of downstream molecules in the AGE-RAGE signaling cascade, such as protein kinase C-ζ (PKC-ζ) and ERK1/2 by specific inhibitor treatments, to test their positions in AGE-RAGE mediated fibrosis pathway. To perform our experiment in vivo, we used high fat diet to feed Rap1a heterozygous mice in order to build a Rap1a heterozygous diabetic animal model. Our results showed that Rap1a protein plays a key role in AGE-RAGE signaling pathway under TIIDM, and changes in Rap1a activity altered the signaling pathway. Also, we found that PKC-ζ is the upstream player relatively to ERK1/2, and Rap1a is the upstream player for both PKC-ζ and ERK1/2. By understanding the role Rap1a played in AGE-RAGE signaling cascade, a new molecular mechanism is found possibly to reduce the cardiac fibrosis in TIIDM patients.

Type II diabetes mellitus is currently on the rise and reaching epidemic proportions in the United States. In addition to this increase, the number of cases of diabetic complication such as kidney disease has increased. Currently diabetic kidney disease is the leading cause for end stage renal disease in the United States accounting for nearly half of all cases. Type II diabetes is the result of metabolic, hemodynamic and inflammatory alterations within the body. Currently there is a standard of care to treat both metabolic and hemodynamic perturbations by enforcing tight glycemic control and utilizing anti-hypertensive drugs, most notably RAS inhibitors. These therapeutic interventions however, are not sufficient as many patients with type II diabetes will still develop diabetic kidney disease therefore another treatment option is imperative. Currently there are no treatments available to counteract the adverse inflammatory responses associated with type II diabetes which are strong contributors to the progression of the diabetic kidney disease. Among the inflammatory parameters studied as potential targets for therapeutic intervention the inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) stands out among the rest for its multifaceted role in disease progression. TNF-α has been shown to both directly and indirectly involved in development and progression of diabetic kidney disease. The inflammatory cytokine itself is toxic to renal cells initially increasing the permeability of the glomerular filtration barrier and contributing to proteinuria which eventually causes cellular apoptosis. TNF-α also activates second messengers and up-regulates transcription factors that further contribute to the progression of diabetic kidney disease. Two TNF-α inhibitors, pentoxifylline and chrysin have stood out among the other investigational drugs which have been studied as potential therapeutic options to delay the progression of diabetic kidney disease. Pentoxifylline is a methyl-xanthine derivative that is currently used to treat peripheral vascular disease. It has shown good effect in clinical trials decreasing both urinary TNF-α concentrations as well as urinary protein excretion. Chrysin is a natural plant derivative belonging to the flavonoid family and is known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. Currently chrysin has only been studied in animal models of diabetic kidney disease but has shown to not only decrease concentrations of inflammatory cytokines to control levels and improve renal functions but also prevented the histopathological changes associated with diabetic kidney disease suggesting that chrysin has the ability to not only slow the progression of disease and preserve renal function, it has the ability to prevent the disease from ever taking root. Diabetic kidney disease is a devastating disease affecting millions of people worldwide. It is important for further investigation with these investigational drugs to be performed in large scale clinical trials to produce safety and efficacy data with the end goal of becoming approved as new treatments for diabetic kidney disease.

Background: Type II diabetes, which is known as non-insulin dependent diabetes, has become an epidemic worldwide. In the United States, diabetes affects 25.8 million people which represent 8.3% of the population. Out of 25.8 million, 23.22 million people have Type II diabetes. According to the National Statistics Vital Report, Type II diabetes was the number seven cause of death in the USA and it can be prevented. The primary purpose of this study was to assess the overall knowledge and health beliefs about Type II diabetes among a sample of undergraduate students; the second purpose was to assess the relationship between the overall knowledge and health belief subscale. Methods: A cross-sectional and descriptive survey design was used. An existing knowledge and health belief instruments was adapted. In the 2014 spring semester, a non- random convenience sample of over 200 undergraduate students who enrolled in Foundation of Human Health 101- class were surveyed in order to assess knowledge and health belief about Type II diabetes. The Health Belief Model provided the theoretical framework for this study. Results: Overview of the participants in this study was provided through conducting a descriptive analysis. Majority of the participant were female, aged between eighteen and twenty, and Caucasian. Data analysis revealed that the overall knowledge about Type II diabetes among participants was low. For the individual health beliefs, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, and perceived barriers to Type II diabetes were low; however, perceived benefits to engaging in healthy behaviors was high. Having other problems more important than worrying about diet and exercise, and not knowing the appropriate exercise to perform to reduce the risk of developing Type II diabetes were the major barriers among participants. A positive, weak, statistically significant correlation was found between overall knowledge and total belief of benefits to engaging in healthy actions. At the same time, a negative, weak, statistically significant correlation was found between overall knowledge and total belief of barriers to engaging in health lifestyles. Results from multiple regression revealed that knowledge was best predicted by race/ethnicity. Family history, stress level, and level of exercise were the best predictors of perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers, respectively. Perceived severity was not predicted by any of the independent variables.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Diabetes, a worldwide disease, is classified into two types, type 1 or insulin-dependent and type 2 or noninsulin-dependent. Based on reports published by the International Diabetes Federation, the total number of those suffering from diabetes is growing every year. Statistics predict that type 2 diabetes, currently affecting about 8% of the adult population, would spread at such a pace that by 2030, more than 40 million cases of diabetes would be found throughout the world. On the other hand, studies revealed that patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have a lower incidence of tumour development than healthy controls and that patients diagnosed with cancer have a lower risk of mortality when treated with metformin. However, the frequent use of metformin with low oral bioavailability ranging between 40-60% in the intestinal environment leads to large accumulation on the enterocytes. / 2024-02-24