Women with TSH levels in the upper reference range have increased arterial stiffness compared to women with lower TSH. The upper limit of normal TSH in postmenopausal women may need re-evaluation with respect to the effects on the vasculature.

Objective: In order to elucidate the interrelationship of adipokines in glucose hemiostasis, we determined the concentration of visfatin and adipsin in blood samples in patients with type 2 diabetes and age-matched controls after an overnight fast. Subjects and methods: We enrolled 37 patients with known type 2 diabetes -21 males and 16 females, aged 62.95 ± 15.72 years and 43 controls-28 males and 15 females, aged 60.79 ± 12.67 years. Blood samples were collected after an overnight fast and routine biochemical parameters such as glucose, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides along with Hb1Ac, insulin and c-peptide, in addition to circulating visfatin and adipsin were determined in all samples. Data were considered significant at a level of p < 0.05. Results: In patients with type 2 diabetes, circulating adipsin levels were decreased and inversely related with glucose levels while circulating visfatin was increased significantly in the fasting state. Conclusion: These results implicate the adipokines adipsin and visfatin as possible participants in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes.Arch Endocrinol Metab. 2016;60(1):76-8

BackgroundThe protective potential of lazaroids has been reported in previous studies on ischemia/reperfusion and induced hemorrhagic shock protocols.ObjectivesThe present study is the first experimental protocol on the effects of the antioxidant factor U-74389G on the small intestine of swine models in a hemorrhagic shock protocol and resuscitation with 3 different types of fluids.MethodsThe study included 49 Landrace breed swine that were divided into groups of 7 each. Hemorrhage was provoked 45 minutes after starting the surgical protocol (0 minutes), followed by resuscitation starting 30 minutes after haemorrhage ceased by using 3 different fluids. Three groups (Group A, resuscitation using blood; Group B, resuscitation with Ringer’s lactate solution; and Group C, resuscitation with hypertonic saline solution) underwent resuscitation with fluid alone, and another 3 groups (named A', B,' and C') were administered lazaroid U-74389G in addition to fluid. Control Group S underwent all the surgical procedures without hemorrhagic shock. Vital signs, complete blood count, and biochemical markers were analyzed, and tissue samples of the small intestine were collected from all animals. Further, malondialdehyde, tumor necrosis factor-α, and levels of inflammation in the tissue sample were measured.ResultsIn Group S-A-A' and Group S-C-C', the analysis did not show statistically significant differences in the percentage changes of histopathology, malondialdehyde, and tumor necrosis factor-α through time. In Group S-B-B', the malondialdehyde levels in the small intestine were reduced in both the B and B' groups, without lazaroid (Group B) (P = 0.038) and lazaroid (Group B') (P = 0.011), compared with Group S (control), but the group without lazaroid (Group B) had greater reduction in malondialdehyde levels than the group treated with lazaroid (Group B'). With regard to the biochemistry results, 24% reduction was observed for alkaline phosphatase (P = 0.022) in Group A' treated with lazaroid compared with that in the untreated group. Lastly, for the complete blood count parameters, a 14% reduction in white blood cells was observed in Group B', which was treated with lazaroid in all phases (P = 0.015) (absolute value = 6.23) compared with Group B (absolute value = 13.74).ConclusionsDespite few initial findings of this study suggesting that administration of lazaroid U-74389G may have some potential in attenuation of the effects of hemorrhagic shock in the small intestine of swine models, no differences remained after correction for multiple comparisons was made. Therefore, further research is required to investigate this result thoroughly.

There is little evidence on the role of prior infection in patients with external ventricular drains (EVDs) and lumbar drains (LDs). In this study, our aim is to investigate whether previous bacteremia is a risk factor for cerebrospinal fluid drain infection (CSFDI) in patients with EVDs and LDs and to describe the microorganisms implicated. We designed a retrospective, single-center cohort study. We recorded patients’ demographic and clinical characteristics, as well as microbiology laboratory data. We used non-parametric statistical methods to identify possible risk factors for CSFDI. We found 799 neurosurgical admissions during the study period, 70 of which fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Acinetobacter baumannii was the most frequent single pathogen isolated in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Acinetobacter baumannii bacteremia was more common in patients with Acinetobacter baumannii CSFDI (p = 0.01). The distribution of the pathogens in the CSF differed from that of the pathogens isolated in blood (p = 0.001). In the univariate analysis, prior bacteremia was more common in patients with CSFDI (p = 0.027), but, in the multivariate model, prior bacteremia was not identified as an independent risk factor (OR = 0.456, CI: 0.138–1.512, p = 0.2). In an ICU population, the most frequently isolated pathogens were Gram-negative Enterobacteriaceae and Acinetobacter baumannii. Previous bacteremia was significantly more probable among patients with EVDs or LDs who developed a CSFDI, and its role warrants further investigation.