Association of fibrinogen with glycemic control and albumin excretion rate in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Background: The high prevalence of classic cardiac risk factors in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus does not explain the increased cardiovascular-related morbidity and mortality in these patients. Fibrinogen may have a role in this excess risk.

Objective: To evaluate the following in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: 1) the distribution of plasma fibrinogen levels and the prevalence of hyperfibrinogenemia and 2) the association of fibrinogen level with hemoglobin A1c value and albumin excretion rate.

Low prevalence of microalbuminuria in young Italian insulin-dependent diabetic patients with short duration of disease: a population-based study. Piedmont Study Group for Diabetes Epidemiology.

Objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of microalbuminuria and the level of glycaemic control obtained in a young Italian population-based cohort of subjects with short duration of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Out of 298 subjects with onset of IDDM in the period 1984-88, 211 were examined (71%) in 1991-92 (duration of disease 3-9 years). Microalbuminuria was defined as albumin excretion rate (AER) 20-200 micrograms min-1 in an overnight urine collection or alb/creat > 2.

Insulin resistance shows selective metabolic and hormonal targets in the elderly.

There has been no simultaneous evaluation of different aspects of insulin action in ageing. We studied 12 elderly (77 +/- 2 years) and 12 young (26 +/- 1 years) subjects with normal glucose tolerance and matched for sex, body mass index, lean body mass (LBM), blood pressure and physical activity, using a euglycaemic-hyperinsulinaemic clamp at about 350 pmol L-1 in combination with [3H]-glucose infusion. In the elderly group, hepatic glucose production was normal, fasting serum insulin and C-peptide were significantly increased (P = 0.

Changes in tRNA pattern in ethionine-induced rat putative preneoplastic hepatocyte nodules.

As part of a study to explore further the biochemical pathology of chemical hepatocarcinogenesis, cytoplasmic tRNA patterns have been studied in ethionine-induced rat putative preneoplastic nodules in comparison to surrounding non-nodular liver and control liver. A new h.p.

Apolipoprotein H: a two-step isolation method.

A new method for the purification of apolipoprotein H by affinity chromatography followed by continuous-elution electrophoresis is described. It is both simpler and less complicated than the chromatographic and electrophoretic methods usually used. In addition, apolipoprotein H is isolated in a pure, structurally uncleaved form.

[Thrombophlebitis of the lower limbs: a convenient diagnosis?].

Venous thrombosis may expose the patient to short (pulmonary embolism) or long term complications (postphlebitic syndrome), invalidating and onerous for society. The main point is identifying or excluding this pathology by anamnesis, clinical findings and bloodless diagnostics as Doppler c.w.

Lipoprotein(a) after acute exercise in healthy subjects.

Some acute-phase proteins increase during exercise, and lipoprotein(a) has been considered an acute-phase protein on the basis of an increase in its serum level after acute cardiovascular episodes or surgery. We found no significant effect of acute physical exercise (600 kpm/min for 20 min) on lipoprotein(a) levels in ten healthy subjects [pre exercise 6.25 (0.

Prevalence and risk factors for micro- and macroalbuminuria in an Italian population-based cohort of NIDDM subjects.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of micro- and macroalbuminuria in NIDDM and their relationship with some known and putative risk factors.

Research Design And Methods: Out of a population-based cohort of 1,967 NIDDM subjects, 1,574 were investigated (80%). Albumin excretion rate (AER) was evaluated on an overnight urine collection, and plasma and urine determinations were centralized.

Albumin excretion rate levels in non-diabetic offspring of NIDDM patients with and without nephropathy.

Familial clustering of diabetic nephropathy points to genetic susceptibility. The observation that in non-diabetic subjects microalbuminuria occurs more frequently in the presence of a parental history of diabetes supports this hypothesis. However, the role of inherited factors in poorly understood in non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM).

Apolipoprotein E allele frequencies in an Italian population: relation to age and lipid profile.

Apo E phenotype and plasma Tg, Chol, LDL-Chol, HDL-Chol and Apo B levels were determined in a sample of 228 healthy Italian subjects (124 men and 104 women) aged 18-93. The allele frequencies were: epsilon 2 = 0.070; epsilon 3 = 0.

Transferable clastogenic activity in plasma from patients with Fanconi anemia.

The present study was conducted on 13 patients with Fanconi anemia. 25 parents and 12 siblings. The chromosomal instability characteristic of this congenital breakage syndrome was associated with the presence of transferable clastogenic material in the plasma, as also reported previously for ataxia telangiectasia and Bloom's syndrome.

Comparison of miglitol and glibenclamide in diet-treated type 2 diabetic patients.

The efficacy of the new intestinal alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, miglitol, and glibenclamide were compared in a 6-month double-blind controlled protocol involving 100 non-insulin dependent diabetic patients under diet alone. HbA1c levels (initially between 7 and 11%) were reduced (p < 0.05): -0.

Alpha 1-blocker doxazosin improves peripheral insulin sensitivity in diabetic hypertensive patients.

The antihypertensive doxazosin is a selective alpha 1-adrenoceptor-blocking drug whose favorable impact on lipid metabolism is well known. A single-blind placebo-controlled crossover study was designed to determine whether antihypertensive treatment with doxazosin affects insulin sensitivity in diabetic, mildly hypertensive, non-obese patients. Twelve subjects (diastolic blood pressure, 98 +/- 1.

In vivo accumulation of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine in DNA correlates with release of reactive oxygen species in Fanconi's anaemia families.

The present study was aimed at verifying the occurrence, if any, of in vivo oxidative DNA damage in FA homozygotes, their parents and siblings. 8-Hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) was measured, by HPLC/EC, in DNA from circulating blood leucocytes from FA homozygotes and their relatives and compared with a group of paediatric and adult healthy subjects. The population studied consisted of: (i) 15 FA homozygotes; (ii) 24 FA heterozygotes; (iii) 11 siblings.

[Heterogeneity of antimicrosomal autoantibodies in chronic hepatitis C virus infection and delta hepatitis].

Microsomal antigen autoantibodies are typical of type 2 autoimmune hepatitis, and a strong association with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been reported in certain geographical areas. These autoantibodies have been denominated LKM-1 to differentiate them from those associated with thienylic acid-induced hepatitis (LKM-2) and from those seen in patients with chronic delta hepatitis (LKM-3). To investigate the antigenic specificity of autoantibodies associated with chronic hepatitis C and delta, we analyzed 52 LKM-1 positive serum samples from patients with chronic hepatitis C and 17 LKM-3 positive serum samples from patients with chronic delta hepatitis by indirect immunofluorescence and Western blotting (immunoblotting).

Insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia in homozygous beta-thalassemia.

Insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia have been reported in homozygous beta-thalassemia before the development of diabetes. However, insulin sensitivity (SI) has never been studied in normoinsulinemic patients. Furthermore, whether hyperinsulinemia is due to increased beta-cell secretion or to decreased hepatic insulin extraction is poorly understood.

Thrombomodulin levels in insulin-dependent diabetic patients with microalbuminuria.

Thrombomodulin (TM) plays an important role in the regulation of blood coagulation at the endothelial surface. TM is also present in plasma, where an increase of its level seems to reflect endothelial damage. Since microalbuminuria is associated with an increased atherothrombotic risk and is considered an expression of widespread vascular damage, we evaluated plasma thrombomodulin levels, blood pressure, and plasma lipid values in Type 1 diabetic patients with micro- and normoalbuminuria.

[Endoscopic treatment of iatrogenic rhino-csf fistulas: notes of surgical techniques].

The Authors describe an endoscopic technique which may be employed in closing an iatrogenic rhino-CSF fistula, today one of the most frequent complication of endonasal surgery performed in the treatment of polyposis. The technique is relatively simple for surgeons with a certain amount in expertise in endoscopic surgery of the nose. Offering the possibility of being repeated without creating great problems, the procedure also allows the surgeon to avoid much more destruction techniques carried out externally.

[Solitary gastric plasmacytoma. Case report and review of the literature].

The authors report a case of extramedullary gastric plasmacytoma followed from the clinical onset of the disease until the death of the patient. The literature on this topic was reviewed. The male patient underwent total gastrectomy with left splenopancreatectomy when he was 40 years old; after surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the plasmacytoma relapsed; the patient died 4 years after the first operation.

Influence of apolipoprotein H polymorphism on levels of triglycerides.

Human apolipoprotein H (apo H) displays a genetically determined structural polymorphism: three alleles (H*1, H*2 and H*3) on chromosome 17 code for the six phenotypes (three homozygotes and three heterozygotes). The effect of apolipoprotein polymorphism on individual variations in plasma lipoprotein levels has been underscored in recent years. Since apo H is involved in metabolism of triglycerides (Tg), its phenotype could affect Tg levels.