Abnormal liver function test results are related to metabolic syndrome and BMI in Taiwanese adults without chronic hepatitis B or C.

BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is considered a cause of abnormal deposition of fat into hepatocytes, which might be associated with hepatic steatosis or abnormal liver function. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the factors associated with MS and the relationship between MS and abnormal aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) levels in Taiwanese subjects without chronic hepatitis B (CHB) or C (CHC). SUBJECTS: We enrolled 2539 Taiwanese adults without CHB or CHC (age range: 16-88 years old) and investigated the factors related to MS using the NCEP-ATP (National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel) III criteria; body mass index (BMI) was measured using Asia-Pacific criteria. RESULTS: The prevalence rate of MS in Taiwanese adults without CHB or CHC was 16.9% using the modified ATP III criteria and 15.4% using the International Diabetes Federation criteria. Males had a significantly higher prevalence rate than females (P<0.001), and subjects with MS were significantly older and had significantly higher BMI values and AST, ALT and GGT levels (all P<0.001). In univariate analyses, the abnormality of liver function test results were related to gender, level of fasting sugar, systolic blood pressure, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein, BMI and MS (all P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that the male gender, a higher BMI value and MS were related to abnormal liver function test results. The cutoff value for ALT in relation to MS is 31 IU l(-1) for male and 18 IU l(-1) for female. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of MS in Taiwanese adults without hepatitis B or C was found to be high, and MS and BMI were identified as being related to abnormal liver function test results in these adults.

Ether lipid metabolism. Incorporation of O-hexadecyl ethanediol into rat brain lipids.

1-O-[1'-14C]Hexadecyl ethanediol was administered intracerebrally to myelinating rat brain, and incorporation of radioactivity into brain lipids was followed over a 48-h period: (1) O-Hexadecyl ethanediol was metabolized primarily through oxidative ether bond cleavage, and much of the label was recovered in phospholipid acyl groups. (2) Substantial amounts of radioactivity were also found in choline and ethanolamine phospholipids having an O-hexadecyloxyethyl glycerol backbone. This means that alkyl ethanediol was used in glycerol ether biosynthesis as are long-chain primary alcohols. (3) Acidic hydrolysis of the ethanolamine glycerophosphatide fraction yielded also labeled hexadecanol which may indicate desaturation of 1-O-hexadecyloxyethyl 2-acyl glycerophosphoryl ethanolamine to the plasmalogen analogue. (4) Small amounts of the substrate were oxidized to O-hexadecyl glycolic acid and incorporated into the phospholipids. The substrate did not serve as precursor of O-hexadecyl ethanediol phosphorylcholine or phosphorylethanolamine in the brain.

Molecular cloning and characterization of a mouse alpha 2C2 adrenoceptor subtype gene.

A clone MA2C2 encoding the murine homologue of adrenoceptor alpha 2C2 was isolated from a mouse genomic library using a subtype specific probe. The nucleotide and the deduced amino acid sequences derived from an ApaI fragment (2 kb) of the clone reveal a single open reading frame encoding a putative receptor protein of 455 amino acids. The 5' untranslated region (0.5 kb) sequenced is characterized by high GC content and CpG island count.

Effect of anti-hypertensive drug dose frequency on the clinic-home blood pressure difference in patients with stage 1 treated hypertension.

Clinic blood pressure (CBP) is generally used for diagnosis and treatment monitoring in hypertension, but target organ damage correlates more closely with home blood pressure (HBP). Eliminating the clinic-home blood pressure difference (CHBPD) would make conventional CBP a more accurate alternative to HBP. This prospective, randomized, open trial compared the effect of a once-daily versus a twice-daily regimen of anti-hypertensive therapy on CHBPD. After a 2-week wash-out period, 85 confirmed stage 1 hypertensive patients were randomized to receive 2 mg trichlormethiazide daily in one (40 subjects) or two (45 subjects) daily doses for 3 weeks. CBP and HBP measurements were taken during the third week of treatment and the CHBPD calculated. After treatment, the systolic and diastolic CHBPD values were significantly greater in the once-daily regimen than in the twice-daily regimen. Conventional CBP should not be used as an alternative to HBP for evaluating prognosis and monitoring anti-hypertensive therapy when using a once-daily regimen.

Left ventricular filling profiles in young white-coat hypertensive patients without hypertrophy.

This study was to assess left ventricular diastolic function in young white-coat hypertensive subjects < 50 years of age without hypertrophy. Hypertensive patients (systolic or diastolic blood pressure > or = 140 or > or = 90 mm Hg on all three visits) were defined as white coat if their average 24-hour blood pressure was < 127/81 mm Hg and at least 18/16 mm Hg lower than their average office values. We chose three groups balanced for sex, age, and body mass index: 50 sustained hypertensives, 25 white-coat hypertensives, and 25 normotensives. Office blood pressure was similar in white-coat and sustained hypertensives. Ambulatory blood pressure was comparable in white-coat hypertensives and normotensives. Compared with normotensives, white-coat hypertensives had more impaired diastolic function: increased ratio of late to early filling velocities, raised ratio of late to early time-velocity integral, prolonged deceleration time, and lengthened isovolumic relaxation time (P<.001, P<.001, P=.002, and P<.001, respectively). No difference was noticed between white-coat and sustained hypertensives. Compared with normotensives, white-coat hypertensives had higher values of plasma and urine norepinephrine (P<.001 and P<.001, respectively), plasma and urine aldosterone (P<.001 and P=.002, respectively), plasma renin activity (P=.04), total cholesterol (P=.001), and LDL cholesterol (P<.001). No difference was observed between white-coat and sustained hypertensives. Within white-coat hypertensives, 24-hour urinary aldosterone closely correlated with the ratio of late to early filling velocities (P=.008), and plasma and 24-hour urinary norepinephrine correlated well with total cholesterol (P=.037 and P=.006, respectively). No correlation was detected within the sustained hypertensives and normotensives. Heightened neurohumoral activity clearly supported the progression of diastolic dysfunction and metabolic abnormality in white-coat hypertensives.

Enalapril does not improve left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in young and mild hypertensives without concomitant hypertrophy.

The aim of the study was to determine whether enalapril monotherapy can improve left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) in young and mild hypertensive patients without concomitant left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Fifty patients with hypertension < or = 160/100 mm Hg, aged < or = 50 years, normal two-dimensional echocardiographic (2-D echo) measurements, and LVDD were enrolled in this study. The LVDD was defined as a transmitral early (E) to atrial (A) peak velocity ratio of < or = 1. The mean documented hypertension was 6.3 years. The mean daily dose of enalapril was 13 mg. Baseline and 24-month follow-up echocardiograms were evaluated. Thirty-eight age- and sex-matched healthy subjects served to establish the normal reference values of 2-D echo measurements. After treatment, peak early diastolic velocity (E) (49 +/- 6 cm/sec v 48 +/- 10 cm/sec; P = not significant), peak atrial velocity (A) (62 +/- 9 cm/sec v 62 +/- 10 cm/sec; P = not significant), and E/A ratio (0.80 +/- 0.10 v 0.78 +/- 0.13; P = not significant) remained unchanged. Moreover, early to atrial velocity-time integral ratio (1.24 +/- 0.08 v 1.23 +/- 0.11; P = not significant) did not change. The left ventricular mass index, relative wall thickness, left ventricular end-systolic diameter, left atrial diameter, fractional shortening, heart rate, and body mass index did not show significant changes in all hypertensive patients. In conclusion, long-term antihypertensive therapy with enalapril did not lead to an improvement of LVDD in young and mild hypertension patients without concomitant LVH.

Differential expression of the GABAA receptor alpha 1 subunit in developing chicken brain.

A unique segment of chicken GABAA receptor alpha 1 subunit was expressed in E. coli and used to generate an antiserum 2A specific for the subunit. The DNA fragment encoding the segment of alpha 1 was obtained by selective amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from a chicken brain cDNA library. The antiserum is characterized by its capacity to immunoprecipitate a [3H]flunitrazepam binding protein of 50 kDa, the chicken GABAA receptor alpha 1 subunit. Subsequent immunoblotting and immunocytochemistry analyses reveal that alpha 1 is expressed in the optic tectum and cerebellum as early as embryonic day 15 (E15), in various areas of telencephalon as early as E20 and distributed heterogeneously among different cell types. The early expression of alpha 1 may imply its functional significance in neurotransmission.

Characterization of a glial associated antigen GA-1 by monoclonal antibody.

A glial antigen (GA-1) was identified by monoclonal antibodies (MAb) raised against C6 rat glioma cells. MAb-7D3 (IgG2a kappa) revealed GA-1 as a single protein band with a Rf value of 0.09 by the use of basic-PAGE Western blot. SDS-PAGE Western blot and radioimmunoprecipitation (RIP) further resolved GA-1 into two subunits with a molecular weight of 200 and 78 kDa respectively. Subcellular localization by immunocytochemical staining revealed its cytosolic presence with a punctate pattern perinuclearly. Significant expression of GA-1 may be detected in 4 glioma or glial cell lines derived from rat brain. However, no expression may be detected in the rest of the 18 mammalian cell lines or primary neural cell cultures examined. All of the above data thereby suggest that GA-1 may be glial specific whereas the epitope of GA-1 defined by MAb-7D3 is species (rat) specific.

Characterization of the regulatory regions of murine alpha 2C2 adrenoceptor subtype gene.

In order to delineate the regulatory mechanisms underlying the control of alpha 2 adrenoceptor expression, the sequence of 5' (1145 bp) and 3' (2682 bp) flanking regions of murine alpha 2C2 subtype gene were determined and characterized from a genomic phage clone MA2C2. The 5' flanking region has no TATA box yet with high GC content. The 3' flanking region is marked by the presence of a polyadenylation signal 2.3 kb down stream from the stop codon. The transcription start site was mapped by 5' rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) and primer extension assays at nucleotide A, 415 bp upstream from the first initiation codon and resides in a motif resembling the consensus sequence of initiator found in many TATA-less promoters. An NcoI fragment (4.7 kb) immediately upstream from the translation initiation site was linked to a reporter gene lacZ. Using an in vitro transfection assay, cell lines of renal or neural origin were identified as permissive hosts for alpha 2C2 subtype expression. With its core promoter clearly defined and sequence of the regulatory regions at hand, this in vitro gene transfer system will facilitate the identification of putative cis-elements and transcription factors key to alpha 2C2 adrenoceptor expression.

Assignment of two alpha 2 adrenoceptor subtype genes to murine chromosomes.

Subtype-specific probes to the murine homologs of the human ADRA2B and ADRA2C genes were prepared by PCR amplification and used to map these two genes to mouse chromosomes 2 and 5, respectively. Both genes mapped in regions of mouse chromosomes consistent with their map location in humans. These mapping results provide additional insights into the linkage relationships among members of this important gene family.

Myocardial protective effect of trilinolein: an antioxidant isolated from the medicinal plant Panax pseudoginseng.

In a previous study we demonstrated that trilinolein, a natural plant triacylglycerol, is a novel myocardial protective agent in vivo. The mechanism probably involves an antioxidant effect. This work investigated the mechanism of myocardial protection of trilinolein to determine if inhibition of calcium influx and alteration of activity of superoxide dismutase are involved. In isolated cardiomyocytes, pretreatment with trilinolein at a low concentration of 10(-9) M effectively reduced 45Ca2+ influx stimulated by hypoxia/normoxia by 34%. In isolated perfused rat heart subjected to 60 min global hypoxemia without reperfusion, pretreatment with 10(-7) M trilinolein for 15 min reduced infarct size by 37%. Assay of superoxide dismutase-mRNA by Northern blot analysis in in vivo rat heart subjected to 30 min ischaemia and 10 min reperfusion showed pretreatment with 10(-7) M trilinolein had a synergistic action with antioxidant systems preventing the rise in superoxide dismutase-mRNA. These results reconfirm the myocardial protection of trilinolein and suggest it may be related to antioxidant activity and inhibition of 45Ca2+ influx.

Left ventricular filling profiles and angiotensin system activity in elite baseball players.

UNLABELLED: Left ventricular (LV) filling profiles in elite baseball players has not been reported in the literature. Also, angiotensin system activity in athletes has never been reported. We used echocardiography to compare 20 male elite baseball players (aged 21.9+/-1.0 years) with those of age- and sex-matched healthy sedentary subjects. Compared with the normal group, the athlete group showed a significant increase in LV mass, LV diastolic and systolic dimension, and left atrial dimension (P<0.05, <0.001, <0.001, and <0.001, respectively). No differences in relative wall thickness or fractional shortening were found between these two groups. Diastolic filling profiles, including peak early diastolic filling velocity (E), peak late diastolic filling velocity (A), E:A ratio, early time-velocity integral (Ei), atrial time-velocity integral (Ai), Ei:Ai ratio, early filling time, deceleration time of early filling, and isovolumic relaxation time, were similar in both groups. Angiotensin system activity, including plasma renin activity, plasma aldosterone, and 24-h urinary aldosterone excretion, showed no difference between these two groups. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that normal LV filling profile, which is mediated partly by normal angiotensin system activity, is not related to increase in LV dimension and mass in elite baseball players.

Autopsy statistics on the relative frequency of acute myocardial infarction in the Japanese mental workers and the unemployed during the two oil-crises periods.

In order to investigate whether job induced emotional stress, arising from socioenvironmental disasters would act as a trigger for the onset of AMI, the author reviewed all pathological autopsies throughout Japan 15 years old and over. Data was obtained from publications of the "Annual of the Pathological Autopsy Cases in Japan" for the years 1966-1968 (a period of high economic growth), 1973-1975 (1974, the year of the first oil crisis), and 1978-1980 (1979, the year of the second oil crisis). Relative frequencies of AMI were significantly higher during the years of both oil crises than in both the preceding and following years (2.6% in 1973, 3.7% in 1974, 3.0% in 1975; 2.8% in 1978, 3.2% in 1979, and 2.0% in 1980), and in each of three years of the high economic growth period (1.9-2.2% in 1966-1968). The proportions of managers and officials among AMI victims were significantly higher in the years of both oil crises than in both the preceding and following years (13.4% in 1973, 17.5% in 1974, 12.5% in 1975; 11.6% in 1978, 15.8% in 1979, and 11.1% in 1980). Moreover, there was a significantly higher value in the year of first oil crisis than in each of three years of the high economic growth period (11.7-13.1% in 1966-1968). The proportions of "out of job" persons were also significantly higher in the years of both oil crises than in the preceding years (24.0% in 1973, 29.3% in 1974, 27.8% in 1975; 24.1% in 1978, 29.1% in 1979, and 27.4% in 1980). For 11,199 randomly selected autopsies, the proportions of AMI in the above two occupational groups were significantly higher in the years of both oil crises than in the preceding years. Moreover, the proportion of "out of job" persons was significantly higher in the year of first oil crisis than in each of three years of the high economic growth period. A similar trend was noted among professional and technical workers, with more AMI occurring in this group during the years of both oil crises than in both the preceding and following years but without statistically significant difference.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Rheumatic diseases in China.

Prevalence and clinical manifestations of 5 common rheumatic diseases in China are discussed. Systemic lupus erythematosus appears to be more prevalent in Chinese than in Caucasians with possibly different clinical manifestations, in particular less serositis. Rheumatoid arthritis may be less aggressive and seronegative arthridities are less common. Behçet's and aortitis are frequently seen but not temporal arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica.

Lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme patterns in auricular pseudocyst fluid.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme patterns in the cyst fluid of auricular pseudocysts and autogenous blood, to assist the diagnosis of auricular pseudocyst. METHODS: Twenty patients with auricular pseudocysts participated in this study conducted in Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital between February 2007 and June 2010. Patterns of lactate dehydrogenase in cyst fluid and autogenous blood were analysed. RESULTS: Levels of lactate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 were lower in auricular pseudocysts than in autogenous blood, whereas levels of lactate dehydrogenase 4 and 5 were higher; this difference was statistically significant (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme patterns in auricular pseudocyst fluid indicated higher percentage distributions of lactate dehydrogenase 4 and 5 and lower percentage distributions of lactate dehydrogenase 1 and 2. An effective laboratory method of evaluating the different lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme components was developed; this method may improve the accuracy of auricular pseudocyst diagnosis.

Magnetic resonance venography evaluating veins flow for legs by application of long stretch elastic bandage.

AIM: Varicose veins are a common feature of chronic venous disease that causes pain and swelling of legs. Long stretch elastic bandages are one of the methods used to prevent and treat venous disease, but diagnostic benefit by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is not widely promoted. This study aims to evaluate the effects of long stretch elastic bandages using a non-contrast magnetic resonance venographic (MRV) technique by detecting influence on circumferences and flow velocities of varicose and deep veins, before and immediately after application of long stretch elastic bandages. METHODS: Twelve patients presenting with visible varicose veins underwent MRV. The level of the superficial varicose and deep veins before and after wearing long stretch elastic bandages was recorded. RESULTS: By comparing before and after long stretch elastic bandages, all 12 cases showed statistical significant decrease of the superficial venous flow areas; 9 out of 12 cases showed statistical significant change of the superficial (decreased) and deep (increased) venous flow rates. However, due to technical limitation, over half of the cases could not record the change of the deep venous flow areas. CONCLUSION: The non-contrast MRV technique with Cine phase contrast, is capable to detect the short term beneficial effects of long stretch elastic bandages by measuring change of the superficial venous flow areas and superficial and deep venous flow rates.