No abstract avaiable.
Glucose* ; Homeostasis*

BACKGROUND: D-chiro-inositol (DCI) is a postreceptor signaling molecule of insulin action. Blood and urine levels of DCI were decreased in diabetic animals. Treatment of DCI improves insulin resistance and normalizes blood glucose level in diabetic animals. In diabetic patients, treatment of DCI has a effect of glucose control in some study but not in others. So we study to confirm the effect and to evaluate the safety of DCI by the use of pinitol, methyl derivates of DCI. METHODS: We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in 82 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who visited the Eulji University Hospital from March 2005 to August 2005. We checked the change of HbA1c, FBS, and PP2 to evaluate pinitol effect of sugar control. And also we checked the effect of pinitol treatment to evaluate safety. RESULTS: We treated with either pinitol or placebo for 12 weeks in 66 patients and completed the study in 61 patients. There are no difference in the basal clinical or laboratory data between the pinotol and control groups. In the pinitol group there more decrease in the levels of HbA1c and in fasting blood glucose than in control group after 12 weeks study. When we performed subgroup analysis, in patients with a HbA1c level above 8% there was a more effectively respond to pinitol treatment. Than in less no significant side effects was occurred. There are no differences in side effects seen between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of pinitol was effective and safe in type 2 diabetic patients who received oral hypoglycemic agents. This is especially seen in patients with a high HbA1c level (>8%).
Animals ; Blood Glucose ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Fasting ; Glucose ; Humans ; Hypoglycemic Agents ; Inositol ; Insulin ; Insulin Resistance

No abstract available.
Adiponectin ; Humans ; Plasma

Increasing rates of obesity are related to increasing incidence of metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. The need to prevent and treat obesity is an obvious way to reduce its incidence and to reduce the complications associated with metabolic diseases. To reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in obese adults, it is important not only to lose weight but to manage preexisting metabolic disease. Therefore, a systematic and organized approach is needed for the management of obesity with metabolic disease.
Adult ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Disease Management ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Incidence ; Metabolic Diseases ; Obesity*

No abstract available.
Humans ; Prediabetic State

No abstract available.
Fasting* ; Glucose*

No abstract available.
Bone Density ; Humans ; Male

BACKGROUND: Cilostazol leads to inhibition of platelet aggregation and to vasodilatation. It is widely used for the secondary prevention of cerebral infarction. However, headache is a well-known adverse effect of cilostazol, and these headaches may be caused by the vasodilation of the cerebral artery. The goal of our study was to assess the frequency and severity of headaches following cilostazol treatment and to evaluate factors related to the development of these headaches. METHODS: Seventy patients with cerebral infarction were included in this study. We measured the carotid intima media thickness (IMT), the distensibility of the carotid artery (CAD), the brachial ankle index (ABI), and the brachial ankle pulse wave velocity (PWV) in order to quantify the degree of atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness. Patients were then given 100 mg of cilostazol in tablet form twice daily. For three days, we evaluated headache incidence and severity using a verbal rating scale (0-10). RESULTS: Twenty three (32.9%) patients reported headache during cilostazol medication and 7 patients had severe headache. Women were more likely to develop headaches than men (p=0.03). In addition, the mean IMT was lower in subjects with cilostazol-induced headache than in the headache-free subjects (0.8+/-0.1 vs 1.01+/-0.2 mm, p=0.001), while CAD was higher in these subjects (0.3+/-0.1 vs 0.25+/-0.1, p=0.03). There was no difference in PWV and ABI. CONCLUSIONS: Lower carotid IMT, increased CAD, and female gender may be associated with the development of cilostazol-induced headache in patients with cerebral inafarction, but not the systemic arterial stiffness.
Animals ; Ankle ; Atherosclerosis ; Carotid Arteries ; Carotid Intima-Media Thickness ; Cerebral Arteries ; Cerebral Infarction ; Female ; Headache ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Platelet Aggregation ; Pulse Wave Analysis ; Secondary Prevention ; Tetrazoles ; Vascular Stiffness ; Vasodilation

Scrub typhus is a zoonosis transmitted by a chigger of trombiculid mite and manifested with fever, skin rash, myalgia, and hepatitis etc. The renal involvement of the disease is prese-ted with transient microscopic hematuria and/or proteinuria. However acute renal failure or meningoencephalitis is very rare. We report a case of scrub typhus manifested with acute renal failure, meningoencephalitis, and hepatitis. The patient was treated with doxycycline and continuous arteriovenous hemofiltration (CAVH) and recovered successfully.
Acute Kidney Injury* ; Doxycycline ; Exanthema ; Fever ; Hematuria ; Hemofiltration ; Hepatitis* ; Humans ; Meningoencephalitis* ; Myalgia ; Proteinuria ; Scrub Typhus* ; Trombiculidae

BACKGROUND: Slit2 is a new secreted protein from adipose tissue that improves glucose hemostasis in mice; however, there is no study about the serum levels and precise role of Slit2 in human. The aim of this study is to explore the serum level of Slit2 in human, and to identify the role of Slit2 in diabetes mellitus (DM). METHODS: The participants of this study consist of 38 subjects with newly diagnosed DM, and 75 healthy subjects as a control group. Serum Slit2 levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Relationship between circulating Slit2 and diabetic related factors was investigated in diabetic group compared with non-diabetic group. Additionally, the correlations between the serum level of Slit2 and diverse metabolic parameters were analyzed. RESULTS: Circulating Slit2 level was more decreased in diabetic group than in control group, but there was no significant difference statistically. Interestingly, serum levels of Slit2 were significantly negatively correlated to the serum concentrations of fasting glucose (coefficient r=–0.246, P=0.008), the serum concentrations of postprandial glucose (coefficient r=–0.233, P=0.017), and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c; coefficient r=–0.357, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: From our study, the first report of circulating Slit2 levels in human, circulating Slit2 level significantly negatively correlated with serum glucose and HbA1c. Our results suggest that the circulating Slit2 may play a role in maintainence of glucose homeostasis in human, even though exact contribution and mechanism are not yet known.
Adipokines ; Adipose Tissue ; Adipose Tissue, Brown ; Animals ; Blood Glucose ; Diabetes Mellitus* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Fasting ; Glucose ; Healthy Volunteers ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated ; Hemostasis ; Homeostasis ; Humans* ; Mice