Testosterone Plasma Concentration is Associated with Insulin Resistance in Male Hypertensive Patients.

Low testosterone levels are a common finding among men with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and are inversely related to insulin resistance. Whether this relationship holds true in patients with hypertension, but normal glucose tolerance or prediabetes, is unclear. We recruited 87 male outpatients with essential arterial hypertension, aged 35-70 years.

Sulfonylureas and their use in clinical practice.

Many anti-diabetic drugs with different mechanisms of action are now available for treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Sulfonylureas have been extensively used for treatment of type 2 diabetes for nearly 50 years and, even in our times, are widely used for treatment of this devastating chronic illness. Here, we review some of the available data on sulfonylureas, evaluating their mechanism of action and their effects on glycemic control.

Oral glucose tolerance test-based calculation identifies different glucose intolerance phenotypes within the impaired fasting glucose range.

Aims/introduction: The conventional oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) cannot detect future diabetics among isolated impaired fasting glucose (is-IFG) nor normal glucose tolerant (NGT) groups. By analyzing the relationship between fasting (FPG) and 2-h plasma glucose (2hPG), the present study identifies is-IFG subjects liable to worsening glucose homeostasis.

Materials And Methods: Oral glucose tolerance test was carried out in 619 patients suffering from obesity, hypertension or dyslipidemia, whose FPG was in the 100-125 mg/dL range.

Impaired glucose metabolism in hypertensive patients with/without the metabolic syndrome.

Background: In hypertension clinics, screening patients for the metabolic syndrome (MetS) is common practice, while performing the cumbersome oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) is not. How large is the underestimation of diabetes and prediabetes that ensues is unknown.

Methods: We recruited N=1397 patients with essential arterial hypertension who underwent a 75-g OGTT and were classified as normally glucotolerant (NGT) or having impaired glucose metabolism (IGM), and as affected or not by MetS (ATPIII criteria).

Expanding the clinical use of standard OGTT: the percentage increment of 2 h with respect to fasting glucose as an index of β-cell dysfunction.

Aims: Since glucose levels during oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) are determined both by insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion, we investigated whether the percentage increment (PG%) of 2-h plasma glucose (2hPG) over fasting plasma glucose (FPG) is related to validated indexes of insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion.

Methods: Using Stumvoll's formulas we calculated estimated insulin sensitivity index and first-phase insulin secretion in 1281 subjects who underwent a standard OGTT. The ratio first-phase insulin secretion/(1/estimated insulin sensitivity index) was considered a surrogate index of β-cell function.

Primitive hematopoietic stem cells shows a polyclonal pattern in myelodysplastic syndromes.

Background And Objectives: Clonal hematopoiesis is the hallmark of myelodysplastic syndromes, but the role played by pluripotent stem cells and progenitor cells in these disorders remains unclear.

Design And Methods: Eight female patients with myelodysplastic syndrome were studied. X-chromosome inactivation patterns were analyzed in peripheral blood granulocytes, T-lymphocytes, single colonies originating from bone marrow progenitors and pluripotent stem cells, using the human androgen receptor locus polymorphism assay.