BackgroundSubclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is typically featured by elevated serum concentration of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). This study aimed to determine the relationship between TSH levels and microvascular complications in type 2 diabetes patients.Material/MethodsA total of 860 type 2 diabetes patients were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Subjects were evaluated for anthropometric measurements, thyroid function, diabetic retinopathy, and diabetic kidney disease. TSH was divided into 3 levels: 0.27–2.49 mU/l, 2.5–4.2 mU/l, and >4.2 mU/l.ResultsAmong the participants, 76 subjects (8.8%) were diagnosed with subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) (male: 6.6% and female: 11.8%). The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy did not differ among the groups (P=0.259). Of the 860 type 2 diabetic subjects, we further excluded invalid or missing data. Therefore, 800 and 860 subjects were included in our study of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and diabetic kidney disease (DKD), respectively. The frequencies of microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria differed significantly among the different groups. The frequency of DKD was significantly different among the 3 groups (P=0.001) and was higher in subjects with higher TSH levels. After an adjustment for confounding variables, TSH levels were significantly associated with DKD (P<0.001). When compared with subjects with TSH 0.27–2.49 mU/l, the frequency of DKD was higher in subjects with TSH >4.20 mU/l (OR 1.531, 95% CI 1.174–1.997) and with TSH 2.50–4.20 mU/l (OR 1.579, 95% CI 1.098–2.270). However, TSH levels was not significantly correlated with DR (P=0.126).ConclusionsType 2 diabetic patients with higher TSH values had a higher prevalence of DKD.

Exercise duration and intensity are important parameters in exercise prescription and play a major role in improving insulin sensitivity (including transient and persistent improvement effects following cessation of training) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, whether duration or intensity of exercise is the more important factor has yet to be established. Therefore, we aimed to determine whether exercise prescriptions differing in duration and intensity differ in their ability to aid T2DM patients to retain insulin sensitivity following the conclusion of a period of training. Sedentary T2DM patients (age 51.2 ± 1.3 years) were assigned to either a low-intensity (50% V 4 O 2peak , n = 27) or a high-intensity exercise group (75% V 4 O 2peak , n = 28), and followed a 12-week exercise program of 5 sessions/week and 240 kcal/session. Insulin sensitivity (oral glucose tolerance test, ISI) was measured when subjects were sedentary and at 16-24 h and 15 days after the final training bout. The low-intensity group spent more training time to training per exercise session than the high-intensity group (56.1 ± 3.0 min/session vs. 34.3 ± 2.4 min/ session) (P < 0.01), but the total amount of energy expended was the same. ISI was increased in both groups 16-24 h after the final training session, but only the low-intensity group still had elevated ISI 15 days after the cessation of training. These findings suggest that in T2DM patients, the persistent traininginduced improvements in insulin sensitivity may be more dependent on exercise duration than exercise intensity in regimens with the same level of energy expenditure.

ABSTRACT. Recent genome-wide association studies have identified many loci associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), hyperuricemia, and obesity in various ethnic populations. However, quantitative traits have been less well investigated in Han Chinese T2DM populations. We investigated the association between candidate gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and metabolic syndromerelated quantitative traits in Han Chinese T2DM subjects. Unrelated Han Chinese T2DM patients (1975) were recruited. Eighty-six SNPs were genotyped and tested for association with quantitative traits including lipid profiles, blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), serum uric acid (SUA), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), plasma glucose [fasting plasma glucose (FPG)], plasma glucose 120 min post-OGTT (P2PG; OGTT = oral glucose tolerance test), and insulin resistance-related traits. We found that CAMTA1, ABI2, VHL, KAT2B, PKHD1, ESR1, TOX, SLC30A8, SFI1, and MYH9 polymorphisms were associated with HbA1c, FPG, and/or P2PG; GCK, HHEX, TCF7L2, KCNQ1, and TBX5 polymorphisms were associated with insulin resistance-related traits; ABCG2, SLC2A9, and PKHD1 polymorphisms were associated with SUA; CAMTA1, VHL, KAT2B, PON1, NUB1, SLITRK5, SMAD3, FTO, FANCA, and PCSK2 polymorphisms were associated with blood lipid traits; CAMTA1, SPAG16, TOX, KCNQ1, ACACB, and MYH9 polymorphisms were associated with blood pressure; and UBE2E3, SPAG16, SLC2A9, CDKAL1, CDKN2A/B, TCF7L2, SMAD3, and PNPLA3 polymorphisms were associated with BMI (all P values <0.05). Some of the candidate genes were associated with metabolic and anthropometric traits in T2DM in Han Chinese. Although none of these associations reached genomewide significance (P < 5 x 10 -8 ), genes and loci identified in this study are worthy of further replication and investigation.

Only a small proportion of genetic variation in serum ferritin has been explained by variant genetic studies, and genome-wide association study (GWAS) for serum ferritin has not been investigated widely in Chinese population. We aimed at exploring the novel genetic susceptibility to serum ferritin, and performed this two stage GWAS in a healthy Chinese population of 3,495 men aged 20–69 y, including 1,999 unrelated subjects in the first stage and 1,496 independent individuals in the second stage. Serum ferritin was measured with electrochemiluminescence immunoassay, and DNA samples were collected for genotyping. A total of 1,940,243 SNPs were tested by using multivariate linear regression analysis. After adjusting for population stratification, age and BMI, the rs5742933 located in the 5′UTR region of PMS1 gene on chromosome 2 was the most significantly associated with ferritin concentrations (P-combined = 2.329×10−10) (β = −0.11, 95% CI: −0.14, −0.07). Moreover, this marker was about 200kb away from the candidate gene SLC40A1 which is responsible for iron export. PMS1 gene was the novel genetic susceptibility to serum ferritin in Chinese males and its relation to SLC40A1 needs further study.