Low education is associated with poor periodontal status in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: Cardiovascular disease remains the most common cause of death in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Because periodontitis is a risk factor of cardiovascular disease, identification of risk factors of periodontitis is valuable to control periodontitis effectively. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of education and household income with periodontal status in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS: Participants were 2,436 patients (59.8% male, aged 29-93 years) with type 2 diabetes mellitus from 27 medical clinics. Participants' medical records and information about education, household income, general health status, and health behaviors were collected. Periodontal status was assessed in a nearby dental office. Multiple linear regression analyses and ordered logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the association of periodontal parameters with education and household income after adjusting for age, sex, general health status, and health behaviors. RESULTS: Multiple linear regression analysis showed that mean probing pocket depth was not significantly associated with education and household income. Ordered logistic regression analyses showed statistically significant odds ratios (ORs) of junior high school (reference: university) for the tertiles of the percentage of sites with bleeding on probing (OR: 1.42; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.11-1.81), percentage of mobile teeth (OR: 1.58; 95% CI: 1.24-2.03), and number of teeth present (OR: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.39-0.65), and statistically significant odds ratios of high school (reference: university) for the tertiles of the percentage of mobile teeth (OR: 1.27; 95% CI: 1.06-1.51) and number of teeth present (OR: 0.74; 95% CI: 0.62-0.88), but not household income. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that low education is one of the important predictors of poor periodontal status in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. It is important to provide targeted interventions including periodontal education in junior high school.

Association of urinary albumin excretion with periodontal parameters in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Our previous pilot study using patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in one medical clinic showed an association of urinary albumin excretion, a marker of generalized vascular dysfunction and kidney damage, with periodontitis. The purpose of this study was to confirm the association by increasing the number of patients and medical clinics. METHODS: Participants were 2302 patients (59.9% males, aged 29-93 years) with type 2 diabetes mellitus from 25 medical clinics. Their medical records and information about socioeconomic status and health behavior were collected. Periodontal status was assessed in a nearby dental office. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the association of log-transformed urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio with periodontal parameters after adjusting for sociodemographic status, general health conditions, and health behaviors. The analyses were performed in all subjects and subjects with normoalbuminuria only. RESULTS: Multiple linear regression analysis showed that mean probing pocket depth (beta: 0.062), percentage of sites with probing pocket depth of 4 mm or deeper (beta: 0.068), percentage of mobile teeth (beta: 0.055), and severity of periodontitis (beta: 0.049) were significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with log-transformed urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio after adjusting for possible confounders in all subjects. However, no significant associations between urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio and periodontal parameters were observed in subjects with normoalbuminuria only. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that periodontitis is associated with urinary albumin excretion in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Collaboration between medical and dental healthcare providers is needed for treatment of diabetes and periodontitis.

High diagnostic value of a radioiodine uptake test with and without iodine restriction in Graves' disease and silent thyroiditis.

The necessity of iodine restriction before radioiodine uptake (RAIU) testing for differentiation of thyrotoxicosis is controversial. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of iodine restriction on the RAIU value, and the necessity of iodine restriction in differentiating between Graves' disease (GD) and silent thyroiditis (ST). We investigated 415 patients, 277 of whom were patients with GD who had undergone iodine restriction before RAIU [GD(+)], 66 were patients with GD who did not undergo iodine restriction [GD(-)], 61 were patients with ST who had undergone iodine restriction [ST(+)], and the remaining 11 were patients with ST who did not undergo iodine restriction [ST(-)]. The RAIU value of the GD(+) group, 47.6% +/-14.4% (mean +/-standard deviation [SD]), was significantly higher than that of the GD(-) group, 42.4% +/- 17.6% (p = 0.03). However, the areas under the curves from the receiver operator characteristics analyses for the comparison between groups GD(+)/ST(+), GD(+)/ST(-), GD(-)/ST(+) and GD(-)/ST(-) were 0.99967, 0.99967, 0.98436, and 0.98485, and very high, respectively. High diagnostic value of the RAIU test was confirmed, but not affected by the presence of iodine restriction in the differentiation between GD and ST, therefore, iodine restriction before the RAIU test was unnecessary.

Efficacy of vildagliptin on glucose fluctuation in Japanese type 2 diabetic patients with ongoing sulfonylurea based oral glycemic agent therapy.

AIM: To investigate whether vildagliptin, one of the dipeptidylpeptide-4 (DDP-4) inhibitors, improves not only glycemic control but also glycemic fluctuation when added to ongoing sulfonylurea (SU) based oral hypoglycemic agents (OHA) therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: A total of 19 patients with T2DM were recruited from outpatients. Vildagliptin was initiated with a dose of 100mg per day in the patients who had inadequate glycemic control and glycemic fluctuation with ongoing SU based OHA therapy. Glycemic excursion was defined by seven-point self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) on three days at baseline and 12 weeks after vildagliptin-combined therapy, as well as HbA1c levels. M-value and J-index were calculated to evaluate glycemic excursion. RESULTS: Addition of vildagliptin to ongoing SU based OHA therapy significantly decreased HbA1c values from 8.2 ± 3.8% at baseline to 7.3 ± 0.8% at 12-week. The average of blood glucose profiles was significant improved. As a result, M-value was significantly corrected from 20.9 ± 14.4 to 12.2 ± 13.5 and J-index from 55.1 ± 25.5 to 39.1 ± 19.8. CONCLUSIONS: Vildagliptin when added to ongoing SU based OHA therapy for 12 weeks significantly improved glycemic fluctuation as well as glycemic control in Japanese patients with T2DM.

A renoprotective effect of low dose losartan in patients with type 2 diabetes.

It has been reported that angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) improves proteinuria in diabetic patients. However, whether this is a direct effect of ARB or through lowering blood pressure is still controversial. The aim of this study is to determine the direct effect of ARB on diabetic nephropathy. Thirty-four type 2 diabetic patients with early kidney damage were divided into two groups: losartan group (n=17) and control group (n=17). In losartan group, low dose (25mg) of losartan was administered once daily for a year. Blood pressure at home, blood pressure at office and urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR) were measured before and during the treatment. After a 1-year observation, the increment of UACR was significantly smaller in losartan group than that in control group [-23.8+/-13.7 mg/gCr vs. 15.9+/-13.2mg/gCr, mean+/-S.E.M., P=0.0114]. Mean blood pressure levels did not change before and during the observation period both in losartan group and control group, though only systolic blood pressure at home decreased slightly but significantly. There were no significant differences in the levels of HbA(1c), fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride and body mass index between the two groups. The observed decrease in UACR in the losartan-treated group might be attributed to a direct renoprotective action in addition to a subtle decrease in systolic blood pressure at home.