Is fetuin-A/alpha2-Heremans-Schmid glycoprotein associated with the metabolic syndrome in patients with chronic kidney disease?
The present, explorational, study supports further, mechanistic, studies into a physiological link between AHSG and body fat mass in patients with CKD. As we observed an association between higher fat mass and elevated AHSG levels, these preliminary results may form the basis of further study to establish if the observed associations may be one reason why obesity has been reported to constitute a survival advantage in CKD.
Our study shows that TGF-beta1 induces A549 alveolar epithelial cells to undergo EMT via Smad2 activation. Our data support the concept of EMT in lung epithelial cells, and suggest the need for further studies to investigate the phenomenon.