Journal of Korean medical science
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Sep 2013
Influence of body mass index on the growth hormone response to provocative testing in short children without growth hormone deficiency.
Obesity and its related factors are known to suppress the secretion of growth hormone (GH). We aimed to evaluate the influence of body mass index (BMI) on the peak GH response to provocative testing in short children without GH deficiency. We conducted a retrospective review of medical records of 88 children (2-15 yr old) whose height was less than 3 percentile for one's age and sex, with normal results (peak GH level > 10 ng/mL) of GH provocative testing with clonidine and dopamine. ⋯ In stepwise multivariate regression analysis, BMI SDS was the only significant predictor of ln peak GH level in the combination of tests and the clonidine test, but not in the dopamine test. In children without GH deficiency, BMI SDS correlates negatively with the peak GH level. BMI SDS should be included in the analysis of the results of GH provocation tests, especially tests with clonidine.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Sep 2013
Caspase-1 level in synovial fluid is high in patients with spondyloarthropathy but not in patients with gout.
Activation of caspase-1 by NALP3 inflammasomes has been shown to be important in initiating acute gouty arthritis. The objectives of this study were to measure the levels of caspase-1 in synovial fluid in gout and various arthritides, and to elucidate the clinical significance of caspase-1 levels in synovial fluid. Caspase-1, IL-1β, IL-18, and uric acid were measured in synovial fluid from 112 patients with gout and other arthritides, such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and spondyloarthropathy. ⋯ Caspase-1 was detectible in the synovial fluid of patients with the various arthritides. Contrary to our hypothesis, the caspase-1 level in the synovial fluid of patients with gout was not higher than in that of other arthritides. High levels of caspase-1 may be helpful in differentiating spondyloarthropathy from other arthritides.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Sep 2013
Podoplanin, α-smooth muscle actin or S100A4 expressing cancer-associated fibroblasts are associated with different prognosis in colorectal cancers.
The interactions between the tumor microenvironment and tumor cells determine the behavior of the primary tumors. Whether cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) have a tumor progressive or a protective role likely depends on the type of tumor cells and the CAF subpopulation. In the present study, we analyzed the prognostic significance of CAF subpopulations in colorectal cancer (CRC). ⋯ On the other hand, the PDPN(-)/S100A4(high) CAFs were associated with 2 tumor progression parameters, but not with disease prognosis. The PDPN(+) CAF phenotype is distinct from the α-SMA or S100A4 CAFs in that it is associated with less aggressive tumors and a favorable prognosis, whereas the PDPN(-)/α-SMA(high) or PDPN(-)/S100A4(high) CAFs are associated with tumor progression in CRC. These findings suggest that CAFs can be a useful prognostic biomarker or potential targets of anti-cancer therapy in CRC.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Sep 2013
The clinical measures associated with C-peptide decline in patients with type 1 diabetes over 15 years.
This study was done to characterize the natural course of C-peptide levels in patients with type 1 diabetes and identify distinguishing characters among patients with lower rates of C-peptide decline. A sample of 95 children with type 1 diabetes was analyzed to retrospectively track serum levels of C-peptide, HbA1c, weight, BMI, and diabetic complications for the 15 yr after diagnosis. The clinical characteristics were compared between the patients with low and high C-peptide levels, respectively. ⋯ In conclusion, C-peptide level was significantly decreased after 5 yr from diagnosis. Type 1 diabetes patients whose beta-cell functions were preserved might have low incidence of diabetic ketoacidosis. The declines of C-peptide level after diagnosis in type 1 diabetes may be associated with changes of body weight and BMI.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Sep 2013
Association of polymorphisms in the vitamin D receptor promoter with idiopathic short stature.
The genetic alterations of vitamin D receptor (VDR) are related with the growth of long bone. There were a lot of reports regarding an association of polymorphisms in the VDR promoter with many disorders, but not with idiopathic short stature (ISS). We investigated the association of them with ISS. ⋯ We selected two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from VDR promoter (rs11568820 at the Cdx-2 binding site upstream of exon 1e and rs4516035 at -1012 upstream of exon 1a) as candidates, respectively. In genotype analysis, the frequency of A/A genotype at the Cdx-2 binding site locus (rs11568820) upstream of exon 1e of VDR was decreased to 6.9% in ISS patients (28.6% in controls) (P = 0.027). The genetic variation at the Cdx-2 binding site of VDR promoter can be a contributing factor of growth of height.