No abstract available.
Amyloid Neuropathies* ; Amyloid* ; Humans ; Prealbumin*

Humans ; Cardiomyopathies/genetics* ; Prealbumin/genetics*

Transthyretin (TTR) is a small liver-secreted plasma protein that shows close correlations with changes in lean body mass (LBM) during the entire human lifespan and agglomerates the bulk of nitrogen (N)-containing substrates, hence constituting the cornerstone of body building. Amino acids (AAs) dietary restriction causes inhibition of TTR production and impairs the accretion of LBM reserves. Inflammatory disorders result in cytokine-induced abrogation of TTR synthesis and urinary leakage of nitrogenous catabolites. Taken together, the data indicate that malnutrition and inflammation may similarly suppress the production of TTR through distinct and unrelated pathophysiological mechanisms while operating in concert to downsize LBM stores. The hepatic synthesis of TTR integrates both machineries, acting as a marker of reduced LBM resources still available for defense and repair processes. TTR operates as a universal surrogate analyte that allows for the grading of residual LBM capacity to reflect disease burden. Measurement of TTR is a simple, rapid, and inexpensive micro-method that may be reproduced on a daily basis, hence ideally suited for the follow-up of the most intricated clinical situations and as a reliable predictor of any morbidity outcome.
Biomarkers ; Humans ; Inflammation/metabolism* ; Liver/metabolism* ; Prealbumin

Amyloid Neuropathies, Familial/genetics* ; Humans ; Prealbumin/genetics*

China ; Consensus ; Heart ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Prealbumin

Amyloid ; Amyloid Neuropathies, Familial/genetics* ; China ; Humans ; Mutation ; Prealbumin/genetics*

Amyloid Neuropathies, Familial/diagnosis* ; Cardiomyopathies/diagnosis* ; Humans ; Prealbumin

Amyloid Neuropathies, Familial/drug therapy* ; Benzoxazoles ; Humans ; Prealbumin

The transport proteins such as thyroxine-binding-globulin (TBG), albumin and transthyretin carry over 99% of circulating thyroid hormones. TBG is a major thyroid hormone transport protein in serum. Although TBG deficiency does not have metabolic consequences, it has diagnostic implications as it can lead to an incorrect interpretation of thyroid function tests. We experienced a case that a man who had an abnormal thyroid function showed unexpectedly low concentrations of serum total thyroxine. We detected the low TBG in his serum and he was diagnosed the TBG deficiency. We report this case along with a review of the related literature.
Carrier Proteins ; Prealbumin ; Thyroid Function Tests ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Hormones ; Thyroxine

PURPOSE: This study was to examine the reliability and validity of Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) as a nutritional measurement for stroke patients. METHODS: This was a methodological study performed from May 6 to June 10, 2009 at a tertiary university hospital in Seoul. For reliability of PG-SGA, inter-rater reliability was used for statistics. For concurrent validity, BMI and biomarkers were compared between PG-SGA 0 ~ 8 and > or = 9. In addition, sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of PG-SGA compared with SGA were calculated using a contingency table. For predictive validity, hospital day, complications, and readmission within 1-month after discharge were compared between PG-SGA 0 ~ 8 and > or = 9. RESULTS: Correlation of PG-SGA score between two observers was 0.83, and kappa value for the agreement of severe malnutrition was 0.78(all p(s) < .001). The scored PG-SGA showed high sensitivity and specificity (100% and 96.7%, respectively). Severe undernourished patients (PG-SGA > or = 9) had significantly low TLC, protein, albumin, and prealbumin (all p(s) < .01) compared with non-undernourished patients (PG-SGA 0 ~ 8). Also, in severe undernourished patients, complications and readmission (all p(s) = 0.01) were more often represented, and hospital days (p = .013) were significantly delayed. CONCLUSION: PG-SGA is a reliable and valid measurement to assess nutritional status for stroke patients.
Biomarkers ; Humans ; Malnutrition ; Nutrition Assessment ; Nutritional Status ; Prealbumin ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Stroke