Hypoparathyroidism and Fahr's syndrome: case series / Hipoparatireoidismo e síndrome de Fahr: série de casos

Abstract Hypoparathyroidism (HP) is a rare metabolic disorder and causes hypocalcemia because parathyroid hormone secretion is inadequate to mobilize calcium from bone and reabsorb calcium from kidney and gut. Anterior neck surgery is the most common cause of acquired HP and autoimmune HP is the next most common form in adults. The duration, severity, and rate of development of hypocalcemia determine the clinical presentation. A variety of organs can be affected by calcification, more frequently kidneys, but also joints, eyes, skin, vasculature, and other organ systems and, although rarely seen, intracerebral calcifications. We report four cases of bilateral basal ganglia calcifications (BGC) also known as Fahr's syndrome related to hypoparathyroidism. Fahr's syndrome is characterized by bilateral symmetrical calcification of areas of the brain that control movements including basal ganglia, thalamus, and others; it is a rare inherited or sporadic neurological disorder with a prevalence of less than 1/1.000.000. Main symptoms related to bilateral BGC include extra-pyramidal and cerebellar disorders, cognitive impairment, epileptic seizures, and psychiatric changes. BGC has been established as a possible outcome of HP. Its prevalence, demonstrated in the HP cohorts, varied significantly from 12 up to 74%. Currently, computed tomography (CT) is the most valuable method for diagnosis. The treatment include symptomatic support and identification of causes, but there is no specific treatment limiting the progression of calcification in the basal ganglia. Especially in HP, an early treatment can prevent calcification and neurophysiological disorders.

Resumo O hipoparatireoidismo (HP) é um distúrbio metabólico raro e causa hipocalcemia, pois a secreção do paratormônio é inadequada para mobilizar o cálcio dos ossos e reabsorver o cálcio dos rins e intestino. A cirurgia cervical anterior é a causa mais comum de HP adquirido. O HP autoimune é a segunda causa mais comum em adultos. A duração, gravidade e taxa de desenvolvimento da hipocalcemia determinam a apresentação clínica. Diversos órgãos podem ser afetados pela calcificação, mais frequentemente os rins, mas também articulações, olhos, pele, vasculatura e outros órgãos e, embora raramente vista, calcificações intracerebrais. Relatamos quatro casos de calcificações dos gânglios da base (CGB) bilaterais, também conhecidas como síndrome de Fahr relacionadas ao hipoparatireoidismo. A síndrome de Fahr é caracterizada pela calcificação bilateral simétrica de áreas do cérebro que controlam os movimentos incluindo os gânglios da base, tálamo e outros; é um distúrbio neurológico raro, hereditário ou esporádico, com uma prevalência 1/1.000.000. Os principais sintomas relacionados à CGB bilateral incluem distúrbios extrapiramidais e cerebelares, comprometimento cognitivo, convulsões e alterações psiquiátricas. A CGB foi estabelecida como uma possível consequência do HP. Sua prevalência, demonstrada nas coortes de HP, variou significativamente de 12 a 74%. Atualmente, a tomografia computadorizada (TC) é o método mais valioso para o diagnóstico. O tratamento inclui suporte sintomático e identificação de causas, mas não há tratamento específico limitando a progressão da calcificação nos gânglios da base. Especialmente no HP, um tratamento precoce pode prevenir calcificações e distúrbios neurofisiológicos.

Hypoparathyroidism and Fahr's syndrome: case series.

Hypoparathyroidism (HP) is a rare metabolic disorder and causes hypocalcemia because parathyroid hormone secretion is inadequate to mobilize calcium from bone and reabsorb calcium from kidney and gut. Anterior neck surgery is the most common cause of acquired HP and autoimmune HP is the next most common form in adults. The duration, severity, and rate of development of hypocalcemia determine the clinical presentation. A variety of organs can be affected by calcification, more frequently kidneys, but also joints, eyes, skin, vasculature, and other organ systems and, although rarely seen, intracerebral calcifications. We report four cases of bilateral basal ganglia calcifications (BGC) also known as Fahr's syndrome related to hypoparathyroidism. Fahr's syndrome is characterized by bilateral symmetrical calcification of areas of the brain that control movements including basal ganglia, thalamus, and others; it is a rare inherited or sporadic neurological disorder with a prevalence of less than 1/1.000.000. Main symptoms related to bilateral BGC include extra-pyramidal and cerebellar disorders, cognitive impairment, epileptic seizures, and psychiatric changes. BGC has been established as a possible outcome of HP. Its prevalence, demonstrated in the HP cohorts, varied significantly from 12 up to 74%. Currently, computed tomography (CT) is the most valuable method for diagnosis. The treatment include symptomatic support and identification of causes, but there is no specific treatment limiting the progression of calcification in the basal ganglia. Especially in HP, an early treatment can prevent calcification and neurophysiological disorders.

Growth hormone directly favors hepatic ketogenesis in persons with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with empagliflozin.

PURPOSE: Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors increase glucagon secretion by pancreatic alpha cells and the susceptibility to ketoacidosis. On the other hand, growth hormone (GH) stimulates peripheral lipolysis and provides free fatty acids (FFA) for ketogenesis; however, it remains unresolved whether GH directly impacts hepatic ketogenesis. We aimed to investigate the role of physiologic GH levels in promoting ketogenesis in prediabetic or type 2 diabetic patients under empagliflozin treatment. METHODS: Sixteen patients (11 women, 5 men) with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes mellitus, aged 55.6 ± 4.7 years and with a mean BMI of 30.7 ± 4.8 kg/m2 and HbA1c 7.1 ± 1.6% (means ± SD), participated in this study. All of them were submitted to three mixed-meal tests: they received placebo at -60 min (test 1), and empagliflozin 25 mg (test 2, 21st day) and empagliflozin 25 mg plus pegvisomant 30 mg were administered subcutaneously 36 h before (test 3, 28th day). After test 1, all patients were instructed to take empagliflozin 25 mg daily. RESULTS: The empagliflozin treatment decreased the plasma concentrations of glucose by 14% (P < 0.01), FFA by 23% (P < 0.01), and the insulin/glucagon ratio by 26% (P < 0.01), and it increased ß-hydroxybutyrate by 44% (P < 0.05). The GH receptor block by pegvisomant restored the plasma ß-hydroxybutyrate to baseline levels. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that GH has a direct effect on promoting the ketogenesis environment in patients treated with empagliflozin.

Derivation and external validation of a simple prediction model for the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Brazilian urban population.

A risk score model was developed based in a population of 1,224 individuals from the general population without known diabetes aging 35 years or more from an urban Brazilian population sample in order to select individuals who should be screened in subsequent testing and improve the efficacy of public health assurance. External validation was performed in a second, independent, population from a different city ascertained through a similar epidemiological protocol. The risk score was developed by multiple logistic regression and model performance and cutoff values were derived from a receiver operating characteristic curve. Model's capacity of predicting fasting blood glucose levels was tested analyzing data from a 5-year follow-up protocol conducted in the general population. Items independently and significantly associated with diabetes were age, BMI and known hypertension. Sensitivity, specificity and proportion of further testing necessary for the best cutoff value were 75.9, 66.9 and 37.2%, respectively. External validation confirmed the model's adequacy (AUC equal to 0.72). Finally, model score was also capable of predicting fasting blood glucose progression in non-diabetic individuals in a 5-year follow-up period. In conclusion, this simple diabetes risk score was able to identify individuals with an increased likelihood of having diabetes and it can be used to stratify subpopulations in which performing of subsequent tests is necessary and probably cost-effective.

Papel do polimorfismo rs7903146 do gene TCF7L2 na população brasileira e sua aplicação na predição de risco de diabetes tipo 2 / TCF7L2 gene rs7903146 polymorphism role in the brazilian population e its application in type 2 diabetes risk prediction

Os polimorfismos do gene TCF7L2 têm sido fortemente associados com risco de desenvolvimento de diabetes mellitus em populações de diversas origens étnicas. No presente estudo, investigou-se se esta associação se confirma em diferentes populações brasileiras e qual seu efeito sobre o desempenho de um modelo de predição de risco de diabetes mellitus quando a informação genética foi acrescentada às variáveis clínicas e laboratoriais iniciais. Concluiu-se que, apesar de haver sido confirmado a associação do polimorfismo rs7903146 ao diabetes tipo 2 na população brasileira, a inclusão desta informação no modelo teve desempenho equivalente ao modelo baseado unicamente em variáveis clínicas.

Recently, polymorphisms of gene TCF7L2 have been strongly associated with Type 2 Diabetes risk in populations of diverse genetic backgrounds. In this study we investigated if this association is present in different Brazilian populations and how the inclusion of genetic information to a diabetes risk prediction model based on clinical and laboratorial variables would affect its would affect its performance. We concluded that, even though the TCF7L2 rs7903146 polimorphism is associated to Type 2 Diabetes risk in the Brazilian population, that inclusion of such information to a diabetes risk prediction model based on clinical variables lead to equivalent performance.

Metabolic syndrome determinants in an urban population from Brazil: social class and gender-specific interaction.

INTRODUCTION: The metabolic syndrome (MS) is characterized by multiple cardiovascular risk factors such as central obesity, arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia and hyperinsulinemia and is associated with a higher incidence of cardiovascular events and mortality. The aim of the present work is to describe the prevalence of MS in an urban population from a highly admixed developing country and to characterize the different correlations between this diagnosis, cardiovascular risk factors and demographic variables distributed in this population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases was performed in the urban population of Vitoria, Brazil (n=1507). Major cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking habits, alcohol intake, amount of physical activity, diabetes and hypertension were inquired. Blood biochemical assays were performed by standard techniques in 12 h fasting blood sample and Metabolic Syndrome (MS) was characterizes following the ATP III criteria. RESULTS: The analysis of 1507 individuals showed a 25.43% general prevalence of MS without any significant difference between sexes, but a clear relation of the prevalence with progressing age (p=<0.0001). Even though both sexes showed similar prevalence rates, distribution of risk factors that defined MS was different between men and women, with the prevalence of hypertension, fasting hyperglycemia and hypertriglyceridemia being higher in men. Race was not an important risk factor for MS in this population as opposed to social economic class that was highly associated with the risk of MS in women as their social class was lower, but not in men. CONCLUSION: This cross-sectional study from a large urban population in Brazil showed a high general prevalence of MS (25.4%), which is increased as the population becomes older (especially in women) and poorer. Although prevalence was very similar in both genders, the frequency of components defining the syndrome varied greatly amongst them. In particular, a significant interaction between gender and social class was observed and may shed light in our understanding of the complex interplay between demographic and biological risk factors for metabolic syndrome.

Hipertensäo arterial: análise da realidade da Unidade Básica de Saúde do Jardim Tókio / Hypertension: analysis of the Jardim Tokio's Health Basic Unit reality

A implantaçäo do Projeto Especial de Ensino Assistência Primária à Saúde: Práticas Multiprofissionais e Interdisciplinares (PEEPIN), no Centro de Ciências da Saúde da Universidade Estadual de Londrina, permitiu integrar o ensino das várias profissöes da saúde e desencadeou mudanças na estrutura acadêmica. Um dos grupos participantes (GIM 05), através de observaçöes da realidade e identificaçäo do problema da Unidade Básica de Saúde do Jardim Tókio, analisou a situaçäo dos hipertensos desta comunidade. Utilizou-se como instrumento para coleta dos dados um formulário com questöes fechadas. Foram entrevistados 74 pacientes hipertensos sendo 22 (30 por cento) do sexo masculino e 52 (70 por cento) do sexo feminino, com idade variando entre 28 e 82 anos (média-55 anos). Os resultados revelaram que 35 (47 por cento) apresentam antecedentes familiares de hipertensäo , 54 (73 por cento) usam medicaçäo com frequência, 40(54 por cento) mudaram seus hábitos alimentares e 36 pessoas estudadas (49 por cento) näo receberam informaçöes sobre a doença. Concluiu-se após análise e reflexäo dos resultados, a existência de um papel fundamental para cada profissional envolvido neste trabalho (medicina, fisioterapia, enfermagem odontologia e farmácia quanto à participaçäo na soluçäo desse problema e sugerimos a implantaçäo de um programa especial de atendimento para os hipertensos desta Unidade Básica de Saúde