COVID-19 vaccine-associated subacute thyroiditis: an unusual suspect for de Quervain's thyroiditis.

Subacute thyroiditis following vaccination is an uncommon presentation of thyrotoxicosis. As the world undertakes its largest immunisation campaign to date in an attempt to protect the population from COVID-19 infections, an increasing number of rare post vaccine side effects are being observed. We report a case of a middle-aged woman who presented with painful thyroid swelling following the second dose of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) with clinical, biochemical and imaging features consistent with destructive thyrotoxicosis.

Clinical Impact of Residual C-Peptide Secretion in Type 1 Diabetes on Glycemia and Microvascular Complications.

Objective: To quantify the relationship of residual C-peptide secretion to glycemic outcomes and microvascular complications in type 1 diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: C-peptide was measured in an untimed blood sample in the Scottish Diabetes Research Network Type 1 Bioresource (SDRNT1BIO) cohort of 6,076 people with type 1 diabetes monitored for an average of 5.2 years.

Quantitative levels of serum N-glycans in type 1 diabetes and their association with kidney disease.

We investigated associations of quantitative levels of N-glycans with hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), renal function and renal function decline in type 1 diabetes. We measured 46 total N-glycan peaks (GPs) on 1565 serum samples from the Scottish Diabetes Research Network Type 1 Bioresource Study (SDRNT1BIO) and a pool of healthy donors. Quantitation of absolute abundance of each GP used 2AB-labeled mannose-3 as a standard.

Predicting renal disease progression in a large contemporary cohort with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Aims/hypothesis: The aim of this study was to provide data from a contemporary population-representative cohort on rates and predictors of renal decline in type 1 diabetes.

Methods: We used data from a cohort of 5777 people with type 1 diabetes aged 16 and older, diagnosed before the age of 50, and representative of the adult population with type 1 diabetes in Scotland (Scottish Diabetes Research Network Type 1 Bioresource; SDRNT1BIO). We measured serum creatinine and urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) at recruitment and linked the data to the national electronic healthcare records.

Persistent C-peptide secretion in Type 1 diabetes and its relationship to the genetic architecture of diabetes.

Background: The objective of this cross-sectional study was to explore the relationship of detectable C-peptide secretion in type 1 diabetes to clinical features and to the genetic architecture of diabetes.

Methods: C-peptide was measured in an untimed serum sample in the SDRNT1BIO cohort of 6076 Scottish people with clinically diagnosed type 1 diabetes or latent autoimmune diabetes of adulthood. Risk scores at loci previously associated with type 1 and type 2 diabetes were calculated from publicly available summary statistics.

The value of the physical examination in clinical practice: an international survey.

A structured online survey was used to establish the views of 2,684 practising clinicians of all ages in multiple countries about the value of the physical examination in the contemporary practice of internal medicine. 70% felt that physical examination was 'almost always valuable' in acute general medical referrals. 66% of trainees felt that they were never observed by a consultant when undertaking physical examination and 31% that consultants never demonstrated their use of the physical examination to them.

N-Glycan Profile and Kidney Disease in Type 1 Diabetes.

Objective: Poorer glycemic control in type 1 diabetes may alter N-glycosylation patterns on circulating glycoproteins, and these alterations may be linked with diabetic kidney disease (DKD). We investigated associations between N-glycans and glycemic control and renal function in type 1 diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: Using serum samples from 818 adults who were considered to have extreme annual loss in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR; i.

Association of ectopic fat with abdominal aorto-illiac and coronary artery calcification in african ancestry men.

Background And Aims: There is strong evidence that fat accumulating in non-adipose sites, "ectopic fat", is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD), including vascular calcification. Most previous studies of this association have assessed only a single ectopic fat depot. Therefore, our aim was to assess the association of total, regional, and ectopic fat with abdominal aorto-illiac calcification (AAC) and coronary artery calcification (CAC) in 798 African ancestry men.

Serum carotenoid and retinol levels in African-Caribbean Tobagonian men with high prostate cancer risk in comparison with African-American men.

Black men are known to have a higher risk for prostate cancer (PC). Carotenoids and retinol, linked to PC, have not been compared in different black populations at risk. We examined serum carotenoid and retinol levels between PC-free African-Caribbean (AC) Tobagonian men with a high PC risk (high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, atypical foci or repeated abnormal PC screenings) and African-American (AA) men with elevated serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels (≥4 ng/ml).

Muscle Attenuation Is Associated With Newly Developed Hypertension in Men of African Ancestry.

Increased ectopic adipose tissue infiltration in skeletal muscle is associated with insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus. We evaluated whether change in skeletal muscle adiposity predicts subsequent development of hypertension in men of African ancestry, a population sample understudied in previous studies. In the Tobago Health Study, a prospective longitudinal study among men of African ancestry (age range 40-91 years), calf intermuscular adipose tissue, and skeletal muscle attenuation were measured with computed tomography.

Elevated Serum PSA is Associated With Human Herpesvirus 8 Infection and Increased Circulating Cytokine Levels in Men From Tobago.

Background: Serum-prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels have been used for many years as a biomarker for prostate cancer. This usage is under scrutiny due to the fact that elevated PSA levels can be caused by other conditions such as benign prostatic hyperplasia and infections of or injury to the prostate. As a result, the identification of specific pathogens capable of increasing serum levels of PSA is important.

Human herpesvirus 8 infection contributes to a T helper 2 immune response in men from Tobago with prostate cancer.

Objectives: To compare the cytokine profile between human herpesvirus 8 seropositive and seronegative men with and without prostate cancer.

Methods: The study sample was obtained from the Tobago Prostate Survey, an ongoing study of prostate cancer in the Caribbean island of Tobago. Participants in the study were recruited mostly by public service announcement and by word of mouth.

Trans-ethnic Meta-analysis and Functional Annotation Illuminates the Genetic Architecture of Fasting Glucose and Insulin.

Knowledge of the genetic basis of the type 2 diabetes (T2D)-related quantitative traits fasting glucose (FG) and insulin (FI) in African ancestry (AA) individuals has been limited. In non-diabetic subjects of AA (n = 20,209) and European ancestry (EA; n = 57,292), we performed trans-ethnic (AA+EA) fine-mapping of 54 established EA FG or FI loci with detailed functional annotation, assessed their relevance in AA individuals, and sought previously undescribed loci through trans-ethnic (AA+EA) meta-analysis. We narrowed credible sets of variants driving association signals for 22/54 EA-associated loci; 18/22 credible sets overlapped with active islet-specific enhancers or transcription factor (TF) binding sites, and 21/22 contained at least one TF motif.

Greater skeletal muscle fat infiltration is associated with higher all-cause mortality among men of African ancestry.

Background: fat infiltration within and around skeletal muscle (i.e. myosteatosis) increases with ageing, is greater in African versus European ancestry men and is associated with poor health.

Association of Circulating Renin and Aldosterone With Osteocalcin and Bone Mineral Density in African Ancestry Families.

Hypertension is associated with accelerated bone loss, and the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system is a key regulator of blood pressure. Although components of this system are expressed in human bone cells, studies in humans are sparse. Thus, we studied the association of circulating renin and aldosterone with osteocalcin and bone mineral density.

Human herpesvirus 8 establishes a latent infection in prostates of Tobago men resulting in increased macrophage infiltration.

Background: The Caribbean island of Tobago, which is 97% African ancestry, has one of the highest rates of prostate cancer in the world. We have previously reported that human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) infection is significantly associated with prostate cancer in Tobago. In this study, we extend those results testing the hypothesis that HHV-8 seropositive Tobagonian men have a chronic HHV-8 infection in their prostates that is associated with increased inflammation.

Association of Lipopolysaccharide-Binding Protein With Aging-Related Adiposity Change and Prediabetes Among African Ancestry Men.

Objective: Cross-sectional studies suggest that lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) may be associated with obesity and metabolic disorders. However, prospective studies examining LBP are lacking. This prospective study investigated the association between LBP and metabolic abnormalities in 580 African ancestry men (mean age, 59.

Myosteatosis increases with aging and is associated with incident diabetes in African ancestry men.

Objective: Skeletal muscle fat infiltration (known as myosteatosis) is greater in African compared with European ancestry men and may play an important role in the development of type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, prospective studies examining the magnitude of changes in myosteatosis with aging and their metabolic consequences are sparse.

Methods: Longitudinal changes in peripheral quantitative computed tomography measured calf myosteatosis [intermuscular fat (mm(2) ) and skeletal muscle density as a measure of intramuscular fat (mg/cm(3) )] were examined in 1515 Afro-Caribbean men aged 40+ years recruited without regard to their health status.

Advancing Cancer Control Through Research and Cancer Registry Collaborations in the Caribbean.

Background: Few national registries exist in the Caribbean, resulting in limited cancer statistics being available for the region. Therefore, estimates are frequently based on the extrapolation of mortality data submitted to the World Health Organization. Thus, regional cancer surveillance and research need promoting, and their synergy must be strengthened.

Renal Function and Bone Loss in a Cohort of Afro-Caribbean Men.

Poor renal function is associated with increased rates of bone loss and osteoporotic fractures in Caucasian men. The importance of kidney function for skeletal health in African ancestry men, who are a population segment with a high prevalence of chronic kidney disease as well as high peak bone mass, is not well known. We examined the relationship between estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and rates of bone loss in a large population cohort of otherwise healthy Afro-Caribbean men aged 40 years and older.

Association of circulating sclerostin with vascular calcification in Afro-Caribbean men.

Objective: Sclerostin, a Wingless (Wnt) pathway antagonist, is an established regulator of bone mineralization in humans but its potential importance in the regulation of vascular calcification is less clear. Therefore, our objective was to assess the relationship of serum sclerostin levels with coronary and aortic artery calcification (CAC and AAC, respectively) in Afro-Caribbean men on the island of Tobago.

Methods: Serum sclerostin levels and computed tomography of CAC and AAC were measured in 191 men (age mean(SD): 62.

Human herpesvirus 8 seroconversion in a population-based cohort of men in Tobago.

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) is the causal agent of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). In Tobago, KS is not common; however, HHV-8 seropositivity has been reported to be 39.9% in men with prostate cancer compared to <22.