Medicine
-
A substantial proportion of patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) are refractory to antihistamines. However, identifying the subpopulation whose urticaria is not completely controlled by antihistamines remains difficult. The response of autologous serum skin test (ASST), a clinical test for the detection of basophil histamine-releasing activity upon autoantibodies or autoreactive stimulation, has been suggested as a potential predictor in the control of urticaria. ⋯ Furthermore, clusterin levels differed significantly between patients with responsive and refractory responses to antihistamine treatment within 3 months (231.0 ± 39.1 vs 205.1 ± 40.4 μg/mL, P < 0.001). ASST results and serum clusterin levels can predict 92.7% of CSU patients whose urticaria would be refractory to antihistamines. Serum clusterin can be a prognostic marker to determine the responsiveness to antihistamine treatment in patients with CSU.
-
Obesity is a disorder with increasing frequency in children and adolescents, directly linked with various diseases. Variants in the FTO (fat mass and obesity-related) gene have been associated with body mass index and waist and hip circumferences in widespread populations. The aim of this case-control study was to assess if there is any association between FTO gene variants rs9939609, respectively, rs17817449 with anthropometric and metabolic biomarkers (fasting glucose, TC, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides) and adipokines (adiponectin and leptin), in Romanian obese children. ⋯ Risk allele carriers of rs17817449 SNP had somewhat higher values of weight, body mass index, waist and hip circumference, total cholesterol, triglycerides, adiponectin, and fasting glucose. This study revealed the genetic association between rs9939609 SNP of FTO and obesity in a Romanian population, and to the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to investigate this association in a Romanian population. This study also established that combined variant genotypes (AA/GG) of FTO rs9939609 /rs17817449 are strongly associated with several measures of adiposity (weight, BMI-SD, mid-upper arm circumference, tricipital skinfold thicknesses) and are also associated with total cholesterol, triglyceride, and LDL-cholesterol levels.
-
It is generally thought that people with diabetes mellitus (DM) are more likely to suffer from osteoarthritis (OA) due to an increased body mass index (BMI), resulting in mechanical destruction of cartilage. However, previous studies have suggested a coexisting metabolic causality. To evaluate the risk of hip or knee replacement, as a proxy for severe OA, in patients with DM. ⋯ This study does not support the theory that DM patients are more likely to suffer from severe OA as compared to patients without diabetes. Moreover, risk of severe OA necessitating TJR decreases with increasing DM severity. This is possibly due to dissimilarities in methodology, a decrease in eligibility for surgery, or variability of OA phenotypes.
-
Aortic arch calcification (AoAC) is associated with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in end-stage renal disease population. AoAC can be simply estimated with an AoAC score using plain chest radiography. The objective of this study is to evaluate the association of AoAC with brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and cardiomegaly in patients who have undergoing hemodialysis (HD). ⋯ After the multivariate stepwise logistic analysis, old age, cerebrovascular disease, high baPWV (per 100 cm/s, odds ratio [OR] 1.065, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.003-1.129, P = 0.038), CTR (per 1%, OR 1.116, 95% CI 1.046-1.191, P = 0.001), and low total cholesterol level were independently associated with AoAC score >4. Our study demonstrated AoAC severity was associated with high baPWV and high CTR in patients with HD. Therefore, we suggest that evaluating AoAC on plain chest radiography may be a simple and inexpensive method for detecting arterial stiffness in HD patients.
-
The impact of sex on metabolic alterations in individuals with hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remains elusive. A community-based study was performed to assess sex, age, body mass index, the lipid profile, blood pressure, glucose, alanine aminotransferase, HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), and HCV antibody levels, smoking and alcohol drinking habits, and cardiometabolic diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular events, and renal diseases. The HCV-RNA level and genotype were further assessed in HCV antibody-positive subjects, and the hepatitis B e antigen and HBV-DNA levels were further examined in HBsAg-positive subjects. ⋯ Females aged ≥49 years and males of all ages exhibited HCV-associated hypolipidemia. HCV-associated cardiometabolic diseases were evident only in the females. Sex dimorphism in HCV-associated metabolic complications warrants personalized follow-up of HCV-positive patients.