Abdominal adiposity appears to have a pivotal role in the development of IRS.

Non-insulin dependent (Type 2) diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Oxidative stress mechanisms are often reported to be implied in type 2 diabetes mellitus. In order to determine their clinical relevance, we investigated several plasma indicators in the Turkish patients with NIDDM: (i) homocysteine (Hcy) and cysteine (Cys) which contribute to increase the risk of atherosclerosis during NIDDM, (ii) glutathione (GSH) and cysteinylglycine (CysGly) resulting from GSH degradation catalyzed by gamma-glutamylcysteine transferase (GGT), (iii) malonaldehyde (MDA) as a marker for lipid peroxidation, and (iv) total antioxidant status (TAS). Our main results were evaluated based on sex and diabetic status. In female patients, plasma concentrations of MDA and Hcy were significantly higher than in controls, while GSH levels were significantly lower. In males, a difference between control and diabetic groups was noticed only for Hcy, levels being also higher in patients. In the diabetic group, increase in serum glucose concentration was significantly correlated with increased GGT activity. In both controls and diabetic patients, GGT activity was correlated with a raised Cys concentration and a decreased GSH level. In both controls and diabetic patients, there were significant positive correlations between Cys and Hcy and between GSH and Hcy. We concluded that GSH and MDA levels are clinical indicators for an oxidative process linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus, especially in women.

Objective: Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms and bone metabolic markers were investigated as potential genetic markers for osteoporosis in postmenopausal Turkish women. The relationship between their VDR gene polymorphisms and bone states was determined. Materials and Methods: Restriction fragment length polymorphisms at the VDR gene locus (i.e., for BsmI, ApaI, and TaqI) was investigated in 75 postmenopausal osteoporotic (53.16 ± 1.31 years) and 66 healthy (52.62 ± 1.69 years) Turkish women and the genotypes were related to bone mineral density (BMD) at femoral neck (FN), lumbar spine (L1–4), trochanter, Ward’s triangle (Ward’s) and metabolic parameters of bone turnover. Results: In osteoporotic women, TaqI genotype-related differences of the VDR gene were found to be significant at all BMD sites; TT genotype had higher L1–4 BMD values than Tt and tt (p < 0.05); tt genotype had significantly lower BMD at FN (p < 0.05), trochanter (p < 0.01), and Ward’s (p < 0.05) compared to TT genotype. The tt genotype was found to be associated with higher (p < 0.05) serum osteocalcin levels compared to Tt and TT genotypes in the osteoporotic women, whereas no such association was found for the healthy women. Conclusion: Our data showed an association between VDR TaqI genotype and BMD at the FN, L1–4, trochanter and Ward’s triangle in nonobese postmenopausal osteoporotic women. Thus the VDR gene Taql polymorphism modulates differences in BMD in the postmenopausal osteoporotic women.

Background: Nitric oxide (NO) is an endothelium derived relaxing factor (EDRF) which has an important role for regulating the heart-vessel physiology. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the eNOS T-786C polymorphism on lipid parameters and the development of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and coronary heart disease (CHD) for the first time in a Turkish study group. We have analyzed the genotype frequencies of the T-786C polymorphism of the eNOS gene in 10 ACS patients (5 men, 5 women), 20 CHD patients (14 men, 6 women), and 31 controls (10 men, 21 women), who were angiographically proven to have normal coronaries.

Apo B EcoRI genotypes were not found as risk factors for CAD, whereas XbaI TT genotype was detected to prevent against CAD in our study group.