Propagermanium administration for patients with type 2 diabetes and nephropathy: A randomized pilot trial.

Aims: We assessed the potential efficacy and safety of propagermanium (PG), an organic compound that inhibits the C-C chemokine receptor type 2, administration in patients with type 2 diabetes and nephropathy. Furthermore, we assessed the feasibility of future studies.

Materials And Methods: We recruited patients from nine medical institutions in Japan for this randomized, open-label, parallel two-arm pilot trial.

Complex Genomic Rearrangement Within the GNAS Region Associated With Familial Pseudohypoparathyroidism Type 1b.

Context: Pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1b (PHP-1b) results from methylation defects at the G protein stimulatory α subunit (GNAS) exon A/B-differentially methylated region (DMR). Although microduplications in the GNAS region were recently identified in two PHP-1b patients, genetic information on these patients remained fragmentary.

Case Description: A 20-year-old Japanese male and his mother presented with hypocalcemia and elevated blood levels of intact PTH.

Pleiotropic effects of sitagliptin versus voglibose in patients with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled via diet and/or a single oral antihyperglycemic agent: a multicenter, randomized trial.

Purpose: A step-up strategy for diet therapy and/or single oral antihyperglycemic agent (OHA) regimens has not yet been established. The aim of this study was to evaluate hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) as a primary end point, and the pleiotropic effects on metabolic and cardiovascular parameters as secondary end points, of sitagliptin versus voglibose in patients with type 2 diabetes with inadequate glycemic control while on diet therapy and/or treatment with a single OHA.

Methods: In this multicenter, randomized, open-label, parallel-group trial, a total of 260 patients with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes (HbA1c levels >6.

Histological course of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in Japanese patients: tight glycemic control, rather than weight reduction, ameliorates liver fibrosis.

Objective: The goal of this study was to examine whether metabolic abnormalities are responsible for the histological changes observed in Japanese patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) who have undergone serial liver biopsies.

Research Design And Methods: In total, 39 patients had undergone consecutive liver biopsies. Changes in their clinical data were analyzed, and biopsy specimens were scored histologically for stage.

Cross talk of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and the renin-angiotensin system in tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 production from hepatocytes.

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and local activation of the renin-angiotensin system may contribute to insulin resistance and atherosclerosis. In this study, we investigated the involvement of these mediators in the liver. We found that the gene expression of renin-angiotensin system components, together with that of plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1, is upregulated in the liver of patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced production of plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 and its regulation by pioglitazone and cerivastatin in a nonmalignant human hepatocyte cell line.

Plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) is an important mediator of atherosclerosis and liver fibrosis in insulin resistance. Circulating levels of PAI-1 are elevated in obese individuals, and PAI-1 messenger RNA is significantly higher in the livers of obese type 2 diabetic individuals than in nonobese type 2 diabetic individuals. To address the mechanism underlying the up-regulation of hepatic PAI-1 in obesity, we tested the effects of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), an important link between obesity and insulin resistance, on PAI-1 production in the nonmalignant human hepatocyte cell line, THLE-5b.

Subacute thyroiditis developed in identical twins two years apart.

A 34-year-old woman was referred to our hospital complaining of sore throat and arthralgia. She had low-grade fever, tachycardia, and goiter with tenderness. Laboratory data revealed thyrotoxicosis and tests for acute inflammatory markers were positive.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha and troglitazone regulate plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 production through extracellular signal-regulated kinase- and nuclear factor-kappaB-dependent pathways in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

Plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) plays a role in the development of atherosclerosis in diabetic patients. PAI-1 is produced by endothelial cells stimulated with various inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, which induces insulin resistance. In diabetic patients, troglitazone, a thiazolidinedione, can lower the concentration of PAI-1.