Serum Irisin and Diabetic Nephropathy in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus.

Dear Editor,I read the article by Wang et al., who conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the association between serum irisin levels and diabetic nephropathy (DN) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) 1. The mean serum irisin level in T2DM patients with microalbuminuria was significantly lower than that in T2DM patients with normoalbuminuria. In addition, the mean serum irisin level in T2DM patients with macroalbuminuria was significantly lower than that in T2DM patients with microalbuminuria. Furthermore, the mean serum irisin level in T2DM patients with estimated glomerular infiltration rate (eGFR)<60 ml/min 1.73 m2 was significantly lower than that in T2DM patients with eGFR≥60 ml/min 1.73 m2. The authors concluded that decreased serum irisin level was associated with albuminuria and reduced eGFR in T2DM patients. DN was significantly related to decreased serum irisin level in T2DM patients with dose-response manner. Progression of DN may be considered as advanced DM status, and serum irisin level would reflect glucose intolerance via insulin resistance. I have a comment about their study with special reference to the fundamental relationship between the types of DM and serum irisin levels.

Circulating omentin level, obesity and cancer risk.

The aim of this study was to discuss the association between circulating omentin level and human cancer risk with special reference to obesity.

Lifestyle factors associated with prevalent and exacerbated musculoskeletal pain after the Great East Japan Earthquake: a cross-sectional study from the Fukushima Health Management Survey.

BACKGROUND: While the prevalence of post-disaster musculoskeletal pain has been documented, its associated disaster-related factors have not been investigated. This study was to investigate the association of lifestyle factors associated with musculoskeletal pain after the Great East Japan Earthquake. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 34,919 participants, aged 40-89 years, without any major disabilities at about 1 year after the disaster. The participants were asked about their musculoskeletal pain (low back and limb pain) and lifestyle factors: use of evacuation shelters or temporary housing at any point of time, job loss after the disaster, decreased income after the disaster, current smoking status, current drinking status, lack of sleep, regular exercise, and participation in recreational or community activities. Furthermore, psychological factors, such as traumatic reactions, psychological distress, and uncomfortable symptoms, affecting musculoskeletal pain were assessed. We used multinomial logistic regression analysis to calculate odds ratios of each lifestyle factor for prevalent and prevalent plus exacerbated musculoskeletal pain. RESULTS: Musculoskeletal pain prevalence was 32.8%: 27.6% for prevalent and 5.2% for prevalent plus exacerbated musculoskeletal pain. Multivariable adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of lifestyle factors associated with prevalent and prevalent plus exacerbated musculoskeletal pain were as follows: shelter use (prevalent: 1.02, 0.96-1.08; exacerbated: 1.44, 1.29-1.60), job loss (prevalent: 1.03, 0.96-1.10; exacerbated: 1.30, 1.16-1.47), decreased income (prevalent: 1.13, 1.05-1.21; exacerbated: 1.29, 1.14-1.45), current heavy drinking (prevalent: 1.33, 1.21-1.47; exacerbated: 1.38, 1.14-1.68), insomnia (prevalent: 1.22, 1.15-1.29; exacerbated: 1.50, 1.36-1.65), exercising almost daily (prevalent: 0.83, 0.77-0.91; exacerbated: 0.80, 0.68-0.95), and participating in community activities often (prevalent: 0.83, 0.75-0.92; exacerbated: 0.76, 0.61-0.95). CONCLUSIONS: Prevalent and exacerbated musculoskeletal pain were inversely associated with exercising almost daily and participating in recreational or community activities sometimes or often, and positively associated with decreased income, current heavy drinking, and insomnia. Besides, the use of evacuation shelters or temporary housing/job loss was positively associated only with exacerbated musculoskeletal pain. These results suggest that post-disaster lifestyle factors are potentially associated with musculoskeletal pain. To achieve better post-disaster pain management, further studies are needed to confirm the consistency of these results in other disasters and to highlight the underlying causative mechanisms.

Serum adipokines and metabolic indicators in girls with Turner syndrome.

The aim of this study was to discuss the association between serum adipokines levels and metabolic indicators in girls with Turner syndrome.

Risk of caregiver burden in patients with three types of dementia.

Liu et al. (2017) investigated caregiver burden of patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), which was compared with caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease. The authors concluded that the frequency and severity of behavioral disturbances in caregiver of patients with FTD and DLB were higher than those with caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease. I have some concerns about their study.