Studies of the Mechanisms Causing Pancreatitis in Severe Hypertriglyceridemia

Hypertriglyceridemia has been estimated to cause around 7% to 10% of the total number of cases of acute pancreatitis in man. The mechanisms involved in the progression of hypertriglyceridemia to pancreatitis are not well understood.

In this paper, we refer to different mechanisms proposed by previous authors to explain the pathogenesis. We discuss these theories in relation to our own experimental results.

It has been difficult to verify previous theories because pancreas biopsies cannot easily be obtained in humans in the early, mild stages of acute pancreatitis.

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Changes in Antioxidant Enzymes in Metabolic Syndrome Patients after Consumption a Citrus-Based Juice Enriched with Aronia Melanocarpa

Increased oxidative stress has been suggested as an early event in the development of the metabolic syndrome and, as such, might contribute to disease progression.

The aim of de present study was to evaluate Total Antioxidant Status and endogenous antioxidant enzymes in metabolic syndrome patients after consumption of a citrus-based juice compared with control groups.

Before, and at sixth month after treatment the following parameters were determined: Total Antioxidant Status, Superoxide Dismutase, Glutathione Peroxidase and Glutathione Reductases.

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Body Weight Reduction and QTc Interval in Obesity

Obesity is associated with wide variety of electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities.

Prolonged QTc interval is common in obesity and it represents a delayed ventricular repolarisation which is associated with ventricular arrhythmias, syncope and sudden cardiac death.

The aim of our study is to evaluate the effects of weight reduction on QTc interval in obese subjects. The study included 74 obese subjects aged 41.78 ± 10.70 years, treated with a lowcalorie diet (800 kcal/day) for two weeks.

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Diabetes Mellitus and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Beyond A Dermatological Problem

Polycystic ovarian syndrome is a common endocrine disorder in reproductive age, with unknown etiology and a variable clinical presentation.

Recognizing polycystic ovary syndrome in women presenting with oligo-ovulation and hyperandrogenism offers an important opportunity to begin a life-long conversation about prevention and treatment of a condition that has a multi-system impact on affected women.

Recognition offers the chance for providers and patients to engage in discussions about prevention and early treatment of metabolic derangements.

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Sequential Contraction Compression Device Therapy affects Symptomatic Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

The authors evaluate a novel compression device, Sequential Contraction Compression Therapy Device (SCCD) on patients with hypo esthetic Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy.

The authors selected 15 patients all of whom had a diagnosis of DPN and were currently taking 150 mg. of Pregabalin twice daily. After thirty days of treatment with SCCD, patients were evaluated for improvement in their pain score, amount of rescue drugs used, and the amount of sleep interference they experienced.

All patients experience statistically significant improvement in all three measurements.

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Polymorphisms rs1800587 and rs1143634 of the Interleukin-1α Gene are associated with the Progression of Carotid Atherosclerosis in Caucasians with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Our study was designed to test the possible association between either polymorphisms T889C (rs1800587) or C3954T (rs1143634) of the interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1α) gene with subclinical markers of carotid atherosclerosis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Moreover, the effect of both polymorphisms on progression of carotid atherosclerosis in 3.8-year follow-up was studied. Patients and methods: 595 subjects with T2DM were enrolled in the prospective study.

Subclinical markers of carotid atherosclerosis were assessed with ultrasound at the time of recruitment and after 3.8-years. Genotyping of two polymorphisms (rs1800587, rs1143634) was performed with real-time PCR System.

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The Analysis of Tumor Aggressiveness According to Tumor Size in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Less Than 2 cm in Size in Korean Patients

Papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC) less than 2 cm in size are believed to be a less aggressive subset of PTC which behave more like benign lesions and are often more conservatively treated.

However, it is unclear whether carcinoma no larger than 2.0 cm in diameter can be expected to have a similar favorable clinical behavior as tumors no larger than 1.0 cm.

Therefore, to address this question and to characterize the biology and optimal treatment for PTC less than 2 cm, we performed a retrospective chart review.

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Frequency of Metabolic Syndrome in a Rural District Hospital in Malaysia

The term ‘Metabolic Syndrome’ (MetS) dates back to at least the late 1950s, but came into common use in the late 1970s to describe various associations between risk factors and Diabetes Mellitus (DM) noted as early as the 1920s.

MetS is a cluster of interrelated factors that increase the risk of Cardiovascular Disease (CAD) and type 2 DM. The central feature of MetS is obesity and its prevalence is increasing with the ‘obesity epidemic’.

The increased prevalence of MetS is accompanied with three-fold and two-fold increases in type 2 DM and CAD respectively and has become a major health challenge worldwide

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Clinical Efficacy of Fat Reduction on the Thigh of Korean Women through Cryolipolysis

A variety of techniques such as surgical, pharmacological and electrical as well as manipulation approaches had been tried in order to remove undesirable fat on targeted area.

So far, no distinguished method is considered to be most cost effective. Cryolipolysis is a new concept to reduce fat since Zeltiq machine had been introduced several years ago.

Zeltiq machine, invented by Manstein Dieter, a researcher of photo-medicine group, is used to remove fat through cryolipolysis. Previous studies showed Zeltiq had a pronounced outcome to eliminate central abdominal fat in pig as well as human.

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Health Risk Assessment of Children in the Environmental Pollution Region of Kardzhali for the Period 1991-2013

Obesity is pandemic and is associated with many disorders including Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) which is emerging as a risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD).

The relationship between obesity and incidence of diabetes, CAD and cancer has been shown by many studies. Fat accumulates mainly in subcutaneous adipocytes, and deposition of triglyceride has been found in ectopic sites such as visceral area, liver, muscle, heart and pancreas.

Vague and colleagues reported an association between body fat distribution and atherosclerosis and the importance of abdominal obesity was recognized only in the 1980’s when Larsson et al.     

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Pancreatic Injury in Children: Role of Nonoperative Management

Pancreatic trauma in children is relatively uncommon, but carries high morbidity and mortality rates when diagnosis is delayed. Preoperative diagnosis of pancreatic lesion might be difficult, especially in the case of isolated injury.

We analyze two cases of pancreatic trauma in childhood in our institute. Both cases were managed conservatively and discharged from the hospital without any complications.

In one case child had development of pseudocyst after about two weeks of trauma which was managed conservatively with percutaneous drainage. In another case, child was managed conservatively without any intervention.

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Proportion of BNP Decline after Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation Predicts Length of Survival after Surgery

Differences in B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) values before and after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) surgery were evaluated as a predictor of survival after the surgery.

The impact of reduction of pre-operative BNP values, following LVAD surgery, on post-operative survival in heart failure (HF) patients is not known.

Among a total of 287 patients who underwent LVAD surgery at Columbia University Medical Center between 2000 and 2010, 72 patients who had plasma BNP measurements at both 1 week before and 1 month after surgery were enrolled.

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A Novel Val286Ala Polymorphism in the NPXXY Motif of the Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Receptor S1PR2 Associates with the Incidence and Age of Onset of Diabetes

S1PR2 is one of five known sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors and has recently been discussed to be implicated in the development or progression of diabetes.

Our aim was to identify S1PR2 polymorphisms in the coding region of the human S1PR2 gene and perform association analyses between S1PR2 polymorphisms leading to amino acid exchanges and phenotypic parameters in a clinical study cohort.

Method: We screened the coding region of the S1PR2 gene for polymorphisms resulting in amino acid exchanges in the S1PR2 protein in 40 Caucasian DNA samples from a CEPH control panel.

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Testicular Changes in Male Albino Rat Pups Exposed to Medroxy- Progesterone Acetate during Lactational Period

There are great concerns regarding the use of synthetic progesterone during breastfeeding due to probable negative effects on future fecundity of male infants. Therefore the present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of exposing male rat pups to depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) during lactational period on pubertal testicular histology, morphometry and cells quantitation.

Twenty male Wistar rat pups reared to dams treated with DMPA (10 mg/ kg BW) every other day during their early lactation period; were employed to achieve the objectives of this study.

Other 20 male rat pups reared to untreated dams served as control. The pups were allowed to reach 90 days old, sacrificed, their testes were dissected and weighed and histological sections were prepared.

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Pheochromocytoma: A Case Report and Literature Review

We present a case of pheochromocytoma with fatal paroxysmal dyspnea hemoptysis and shock. A systematic review of literature on pheochromocytoma was performed to improve the understanding of the clinical manifestation, diagnosis and treatment of a typical pheochromocytoma.

The clinical manifestation, diagnostic examination, operation mode and pathological characteristics of the typical pheochromocytoma, were analyzed and summarized. Simultaneously relevant literature was reviewed.

A 29-year-old male was diagnosed with pheochromocytoma with hemorrhagic cysts though without any typical clinical manifestation such as paroxysmal hypertension headache diaphoresis and palpitation.

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Changing Our Mind: Beta Cell Workload Hypothesis

Despite recent advances in treatment options for type 2 diabetes (T2DM), the prevalence of T2DM continues to increase throughout the world.

A healthy lifestyle is a key factor in both treatment and prevention of T2DM. A healthy lifestyle cannot be established without self-management ability. Better understanding of the pathogenesis of T2DM will improve self-management ability.

T2DM is characterized by insulin resistance and beta cell dysfunction, which result in insufficient insulin action, leading to chronic hyperglycemia.

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Strategy to Treat Pancreatic Fistula Using Comprehensive Endoscopic Procedures Together with Percutaneous Methods

Pancreatic fistula (PF) is an early complication after pancreatoduodenectomy. PF occurs because of disruption to the pancreatodigestive tract anastomosis with stricture or occlusion. A strategy to treat PF using interventional methods is proposed.

We treated a total of 6 patients with PF by endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided or percutaneouspancreatic duct drainage. In this paper, these patients are reviewed based on the applied treatment for PF.

Results: At the time of introduction to our department, all the patients, except for one, had a percutaneous drainage tube implanted prior to surgery.

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Atherogenic Index and Female Gender are Independent Determents of Chronic Subclinical Inflammation in Subjects with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Chronic subclinical inflammatory poses additional risk of cardiovascular diseases in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) but its determinants in Bangladeshi population are not fully resolved.

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between marker of chronic subclinical inflammation and gender and atherogenic index (AI) in subjects with T2DM.

Two hundred and fifty-four subjects with T2DM were included. Demographic and anthropometric variables were estimated. Plasma glucose, serum lipid profile and high sensitivity-C reactive protein (hsCRP) were measured in fasting blood samples using standard methods.

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Association of Vitamin D Level and Subclinical Coronary Artery Disease

The role of vitamin D level in subclinical atherosclerosis remains controversial. We aimed to investigate the relationship between vitamin D level and coronary artery calcium score (CACS).

We investigated 303 consecutive patients referred to an outpatient clinic for CACS. The 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH) D] levels were checked within three months of CACS evaluation. Vitamin D levels of <30 and <20 ng/mL were used as thresholds of vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency, respectively.

The correlation between CACS and vitamin D was assessed. Unadjusted and covariate-adjusted logistic regression analyses were used to predict positive CACS.

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Pheochromocytoma: A Case Report and Literature Review

We present a case of pheochromocytoma with fatal paroxysmal dyspnea hemoptysis and shock. A systematic review of literature on pheochromocytoma was performed to improve the understanding of the clinical manifestation, diagnosis and treatment of a typical pheochromocytoma.

The clinical manifestation, diagnostic examination, operation mode and pathological characteristics of the typical pheochromocytoma, were analyzed and summarized. Simultaneously relevant literature was reviewed.

A 29-year-old male was diagnosed with pheochromocytoma with hemorrhagic cysts though without any typical clinical manifestation such as paroxysmal hypertension headache diaphoresis and palpitation.

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Machine Learning Methods for Automated Detection of Severe Diabetic Neuropathy

The present study aimed at investigating machine learning methods for automated detection of severe diabetic neuropathy. Severe diabetic neuropathy represents a significant neurological problem in diabetes as it requires urgent intervention to reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death.

Automated detection provides a tool that can be applied to clinical data and for identifying comorbidities that can trigger diagnosis and treatment.We applied multi scale Allen factor to determine heart rate variability, a marker for diabetic neuropathy from ECG recordings as features to be used for the machine learning methods and automated detection.

The major innovation of this work is the introduction of a new Graph-Based Machine Learning System (GBMLS).

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Metabolic Syndrome in First Manic Episode: A Comparison between Patients with or without Previous Depressive Episode

Diagnosed with dipolar disorder type I according to DSM-IV criteria fifty four patients who were had a least one previous depressive episode (PDE) and 87 patients who were experiencing their first manic episode (FME) evaluated consecutively for inclusion.

Comorbid axis I disorders and alcohol or substance use were excluded. NCEP ATP III formulated an operational definition of MetS based on the presence of three or more of the following characteristics: abdominal obesity (waist circumference), hypertriglyceridemia, low HDL or being on an antilipidemic agent, high blood pressure or being on an antihypertensive agent, and fasting hyperglycemia or being on antiglycemic agent.

The patients who had been in remission period for at least 8 weeks were evaluated with SCIP-TURK and TEMPS-A. Remission was defined as YMRS score<5.

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Vitamin D and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Indian Perspectives

Deficiency of vitamin D is emerging as one of the important nutritional risk factors for development of insulin resistance (IR) and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM).

It is also observed to be associated with poor glycemic control and progression of complications among diabetics. In India, in spite of adequate sunlight exposure throughout year, several reports documented prevalent finding of deficiency of vitamin D.

With the context of rising surge of T2DM and hypovitaminosis D among Indians, relation between vitamin D and T2DM and related studies have been reviewed in the present article. Vitamin D plays important roles in the metabolism of glucose.

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Polymorphisms rs699 and rs4762 of the Angiotensinogen Gene and Progression of Carotid Atherosclerosis in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are leading causes of mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus. Beside diabetes mellitus, some of the traditional risk factors, such as hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, smoking and positive family history, contribute as well to the high prevalence of cardiovascular disease in subjects with diabetes mellitus.

Ultrasound examination of carotid arteries enables visualization of different aspects of atherosclerosis. Beside carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), which is the most studied non-invasive phenotype of carotid atherosclerosis, we can also measure plaque thickness, total plaque area, plaque volume, determine type of plaques, and degree of stenosis. CIMT is a good marker of early atherosclerosis and its progression

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Value Changes in Bone Turnover Markers and Bone Mineral Density Using Ibandronate in Japanese Postmenopausal Osteoporotic Patients

There has been no actual clinical report on the changes in bone turnover markers and bone mineral density (BMD) during ibandronate (IBN) treatment with or without vitamin D in Japanese postmenopausal osteoporotic patients.

In this study, 48 treatment-naïve primary osteoporotic patients were divided into the IBN group or IBN with alfacalcidol (ALF) group. Bone turnover markers, 1,25(OH)2D3, and whole parathyroid hormone (PTH) were examined just prior to treatment and at 1, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 weeks of therapy.

BMD was measured at 0 and 16 weeks. Values of TRACP-5b were significantly and continuously lower than baseline after 1 week of treatment in both groups.

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Computed Tomography Features of Follicular Thyroid Adenoma and Carcinoma

No previous study has investigated the computed tomography (CT) characteristics of follicular thyroid adenoma (FTA) and follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC).

This study aimed to compare the CT features of FTA and FTC. Eighty-seven consecutive patients with FTA or FTC that underwent preoperative neck CT from January 2006 to December 2013 were included.

In each case, single radiologist retrospectively examined the corresponding neck CT under blinded conditions for the histopathological results. The CT features of FTA and FTC were evaluated, as well as the specific CT features for differentiating FTC from FTA.

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Markers of Carotid Atherosclerosis in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

It is generally accepted that beside cholesterol accumulation, chronic inflammation and immune system are very much involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.

A genetic variability of the candidate genes implicated in atherosclerosis (i.e. candidate genes of inflammation, oxidative stress, growth factors, renin-angiotensin aldosterone system, and so-forth) has so far been demonstrated in several reports to affect the development of atherosclerosis.

Genetic variability in the candidate genes implicated in atherosclerosis may alter their transcriptional activity and contribute to susceptibility to cardiovascular disease. In the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis genetic, environmental, and epigenetic factors are involved.

                                     
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UV-B Exposure Increases the Activity of Indoleamine 2, 3-Dioxygenase

The ocular lens of the ground squirrel is an excellent model for studies of eye light interactions that may apply to the human system. UV-B radiation induced damage to the eye lens is believed to be mediated through ROS Antioxidant systems, both enzymatic and non- enzymatic aid in preventing the damage to the lens.

The activity of indoleamine 2,3- dioxygenase (IDO), a first rate limiting enzyme of tryptophan catabolism, has been studied in the lenses of Indian ground squirrel exposed to UV-B radiation.

Further, antioxidants and oxidative stress markers have also been investigated to assess the oxidative status. Our investigation revealed an increased indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity and tryptophan metabolites suggesting their protective role in UV stress.

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Analysis of BRAFV600E Mutation and Persistence of Papillary Thyroid Cancer after Total Thyroidectomy and Routine Central Neck Dissection

Purpose The aim of this study is to investigate the predictive value of BRAF V600E mutation for the persistence of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) after total thyroidectomy and routine central neck dissection.

Patients and Methods We collect the clinicopathological data of 288 PTC patients with total thyroidectomy (TT) and routine central neck dissection (CND), and analyzed the relationship between BRAFV600E mutation status and the rate of elevated non-stimulated thyroglobulin (NSTg) value.

And we also collect the clinicopathological data of 370 PTC patients who needed radio iodine ablation(RIA) after TT and routine CND, and analyzed the relationship between BRAFV600E mutation status and the rate of elevated stimulated Tg (STg)value before RIA. independent predictive factor for the persistence of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) after TT and routine CND.

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