The renal tubular markers are very important for early diagnosis of renal tubulointerstitial injuries. Urinary excretion of Cystatin C is a sensitive marker of early injury in renal proximal tubule. The particle turbidimetric immunoassay developed in recent years has been used in the autoanalyzer, and may be used in medical laboratories routinely. Urinary cystatin C excretion has early diagnostic value for diabetic nephropathy, hypertensive nephropathy, and drug-induced renal impairments. This tubular marker will be used more frequently for the diagnostic purpose, as the trend of various chronic kidney diseases will be increased in the near future. The current problems to be solved are the standardization of methodology, and the further study according to the guidelines of evidence-based laboratory medicine. In the routine testing, the ratio of a spot urine Cystatin C concentration to creatinine is recommended.

Objective To evaluate the development of early hypothyroidism of patients with hyperthyroidism after radioiodine131 therapy, its outcome and predisposing factors. Methods Sixty-one patients manifesting early hypothyroidism after treatment with 131 I were followed-up for over one year, and they were divided into two groups: temporary hypothroidism group (including those who had attained normal thyroid function and those with recurrent hyperthyroidism), and permanent hypothyroidism. The duration between treatment and appearance of hypothyroidism, gender, thyroglobulin antibody (TGA) and thyroid microsome auto-antibody (TMA) levels, thyroid weight, total dosage of 131 I, and peak of 131 I intake were compared between two groups. Results Over one half of the 61 patients manifested temporary hypothyroidism (3.3% with recurrent hyperthyroidism, 50.4% of them attained normal thyroid function). Based on the length of the interval between the beginning of the treatment and onset of hypothyroidism, they could be categorized into ≤3 month, 4～6 months became permanent hypothyroidic. The above indises determined during the treatment did not show relationship with the outcome. Conclusion It was therefore concluded that the time of appearance of hypothyroidism was the main factor which determined the outcome of 131 I therapy so far as hypothyroidism was concerned.

BACKGROUD: It is not consistent on whether melatonin correlates with the adolescent idiopathic scoliosis(AIS) demonstrated by the domestic and foreign scholars.OBJECTIVE: To study the pathogenesis of AIS and its correlation with melatonin.DESIGN: A nonrandomized age-matched controlled study screened with two tests.SETTING: The Second Department of Orthopaedics, Haikou People' s Hospital.PARTICIPANTS: The experiment was completed in the Second Department of Orthopaedics, Haikou People' s Hospital. Totally 8 198 in-school students.from over 10 schools of towns in Haifu District, 4 423 males and 3 775 females, aged 7 to 16 years were surveyed.METHODS: Forty-two adolescents who have been diagnosed with AIS were selected and 50 healthy age-matched adolescents were selected as controls. Melatonin was assayed with the radioimmunology and the data were processed statistically.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The levels of serum melatonin in the two groups.RESULTS: The serum melatonin of the preadolescents below 10 years old in AIS group, especially of females, was less than that of adolescents in the control group, with significant differencein statistics.CONCLUSION: The serum melatonin correlates with pathogenesis of AIS.