Association of PvuII polymorphism in the lipoprotein lipase gene with the coronary artery disease in Macedonian population.

Unlabelled: In the etiology of coronary artery disease there are many factors involved as a result of the complex interaction between genetic predisposition and environmental influences. The lipoprotein lipase (LPL) plays a very important role in lipid metabolism. It hydrolyzes the triglycerides in hylomicrones and very low density lipoproteins - VLDL.

Premature atherosclerosis in patients with growth hormone deficiency and diabetes mellitus.

In this article cases of two sisters with premature atherosclerosis have been described. The first one aged 31 with diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency (GHD) and diabetes mellitus presented with calf intermittent claudication as a result of tibial arteries occlusions. The second one aged 34 with impaired fasting glycemia and without any sign of GHD presented with sudden calf pain as a result of tibial posterior arterial acute occlusion.

[Hypertension and diabetes mellitus].

Aim: To evaluate hypertension in patients with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and its correlation with age, duration of DM, Body Mass Index (BMI) and HbA1C).

Materials And Methods: A retrospective study was made on 1211 patients with DM (male 554 and female 657), hospitalized at Clinic of Endocrinology between January 2001 and December 2002. Patients were divided in two groups: Control group (CG)-subdivided into 3 groups patients with DM type 1 (CG-1), DM type 2 on oral anti-hyper-glycemic agents (CG-2)and DM type 2 on insulin therapy (CG-3) and Examined Group (EG), the same groups for diabetes, including hypertension.

How erythropoietin affects bone marrow of uremic patients.

In a prospective study, 40 maintenance hemodialysis patients, randomized in two equal groups, were treated with recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) for their renal anemia, for a period of 2 years. One group was treated for 2 years, while the other was untreated control during the first year, but received rHuEPO during the second year of the study. Anemia was corrected in all treated patients and hematocrit maintained between 30 and 35 vol% by low-dose subcutaneous treatment with Recormon (Boehringer Mannheim GmbH, Germany), according to the study protocol.

The effect of streptozotocin-induced diabetes on pituitary and hypothalamic endorphin equivalents.

This study examines the effect of experimentally induced diabetes mellitus in rats on tissue concentrations of opioid peptides in the neurointermediate lobe (NIL), anterior pituitary (AP) and hypothalamus. Diabetic animals were found to have a marked increase in endorphin equivalents, measured by opiate receptor binding assay, in the NIL whereas no change was observed in beta endorphin-like immunoreactivity (beta ELI) or ACTH measured by RIA. These results may indicate the presence of a feedback mechanism and suggest the possibility that opioid peptides may be physiologically important in the maintenance of glucose homeostasis.