Levels of trace elements in blood in healthy aging subjects.

The effects of age and sex on the serum levels of trace elements were determined after an overnight fast in 80 ambulatory, disease-free adults who had undergone rigorous health screening. Significant age and sex differences were found for Mn. Blood levels of Cu and Zn showed both age and sex differences.

Influence of age and sex on 19 blood variables in healthy subjects.

Normal values exist for all clinical chemical tests, but it is not very clear what is normal for healthy elderly subjects. Therefore, routine blood variables were determined in 80 ambulatory, disease-free persons who had undergone rigorous health screening. The subjects were divided into the following age groups: 20 (+/- 3), 40 (+/- 3), 60 (+/- 3), and 80 (+/- 5) years, with 10 males and 10 females per age group.

Urine Test Strips: How reproducible are readings?

In an experiment, multiple reagent test strips from 90 urine samples were examined twice: observed visually by one of two persons and analyzed by spectrophotometry. Interobserver and intra-observer agreement were calculated and expressed as Cohen's K. Interobserver and intra-observer agreement were moderate to good, but lower than one might expect.

Screening for micro-albuminuria with Micro-Bumintest tablets and albumin/creatinine ratio.

The value of Micro-Bumintest tablets and the albumin/creatinine ratio in first morning (FM) urine samples to screen for micro-albuminuria in diabetic patients was evaluated. The A/C ratio in FM urine was highly correlated with the urinary albumin excretion (UAE) rate in micrograms/min in timed overnight (0) urine (R = 0.95, p < 0.

Value of fasting blood glucose and serum fructosamine as a measure of diabetic control in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

The predictive values of fasting blood glucose and serum fructosamine for monitoring longterm diabetic control were investigated in 98 non-insulin dependent diabetic patients. The HbA1c percentage was taken as standard in this study. Despite a significant correlation, the predictive values of the parameters studied for an acceptable HbA1c-value appeared to be low (37% and 44% respectively), possibly due to differences in periods of time in which these parameters can change during variable metabolic control.

The reproducibility of urinalysis using multiple reagent test strips.

Ninety urine samples were examined twice by 3 "observers" (two persons, using only visual observation, and one person using a spectrophotometric analyser) using multiple reagent teststrips. To determine reproducibility, inter- and intra-observer agreement were calculated and expressed as Cohen's kappa and as weighted kappa. The results show negligible intra-observer differences between the visual and spectrophotometric observation.

[The effects of the cholesterol synthesis inhibitor simvastatin in patients with hypercholesterolemia with and without diabetes mellitus].

We studied the short-term effects of simvastatin on lipid variables in 33 dyslipidemic patients without and 18 with diabetes mellitus who were on a lipid-lowering diet for at least 3 months. Six diabetic patients had type I, and 12 had type II diabetes mellitus, of whom 5 were using insulin. In the whole group total cholesterol decreased by 28%, from 9.

Plasma urea, creatinine, uric acid, albumin, and total protein concentrations before and after 15-, 25-, and 42-km contests.

One hundred fourteen volunteers (34 +/- 8 years) took part in an endurance training study to be completed after 18-20 months with a marathon. Ultimately, 60 males and 18 females achieved that goal. The training program, carefully supervised, was divided into three periods with a maximum of 45, 70, and 110 km/week training volume and concluded with contests of 15, 25, and 42.

[Levels of fasting blood glucose and serum fructosamine for monitoring of glucose control in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus].

The predictive values of fasting blood glucose and serum fructosamine for monitoring long-term diabetic control were investigated in 98 non-insulin dependent diabetic patients. The HbAlc percentage was taken as standard in this study. Despite a significant correlation, the predictive values of the parameters studied for an acceptable HbAlc-value appeared to be low (37% and 44% respectively), possibly due to differences in periods of time in which these parameters can change during variable metabolic control.

Electrophoresis of gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase on cellogel. The appearance of the alpha2-beta band in positive LP-X sera.

Fractionations of serum gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (gamma-GT) and determinations of the "abnormal serum lipoprotein X" (LP-X) have been carried out in sera from patients with different hepatobiliary disorders. LP-X was used to demonstrate or exclude cholestasis. One gamma-GT fraction, alpha2-beta, may be of interest to distinguish between extrahepatic obstruction and intrahepatic cholestasis as was revealed by statistical analysis.