Relation between insulin level and bone mineral density in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

The aim of this work is to measure BMD in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and to correlate it with insulin level and insulin resistance. This study comprised 50 premenopausal women 40 type 2 diabetic patients [20 on insulin therapy and 20 or oral hypoglycemic drugs], 10, as a control group, which were healthy non diabetic women matched for age. All studied subjects were subjected to history taking, clinical examination, including weight, height, BMI and waist/hip ratio. Laboratory investigations including fasting and post prandial blood glucose levels, HbA1c, kidney functions, liver functions, urine analysis, lipid profile, serum calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, and fasting insulin level. Bone mineral density [BMD] was measured using DEXA on left fore-arm using Lunar PIXI densitometer. Subjects with other diseases or using drugs that affect BMD were excluded. We found that there was no statistically significant difference in BMD between patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and the control group [T-score was -0.3 in the diabetic group and T-score was -0.2 in the control group]. In patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, there was a significant positive correlation between BMD and both insulin level [p value <0.05] and insulin resistance [p value <0.05]. There was no difference in BMD between type 2 diabetic patients and control group. There was a significant positive correlation between BMD with both insulin level and insulin resistance [HOMA] in patients with type 2 DM

role of serum transferrin receptors in the assessment of body iron stores and iron - deficient erythropoiesis in children

The present work studied the role of serum transferrin receptors in the differentiation between iron deficiency anemia and anemia of chronic disorders based on the presence or absence of iron stores. The study included 40 children, in the age range of 5-15 years. They were divided into 3 groups: control group of 10 healthy children, iron deficiency group of 15 patients, and 15 patients with anemia of chronic disease. The following laboratory tests were done for both cases and controls: complete blood picture, serum iron, total iron binding capacity [TIBC], serum ferritin and serum transferrin receptors. Percent transferrin saturation and serum transferrin receptor-ferritin index [sTfR- F index] were calculated. Hemoglobin concentration, red blood cell [RBC] indices and serum iron behaved similarly in patients with iron deficiency anemia [IDA] and those with anemia of chronic diseases [ACD]. Total iron binding capacity was significantly increased in IDA and decreased in ACD. The percent transferrin saturation decreased in IDA patients to less than 16%, it was significantly higher in ACD than IDA patients. Serum ferritin was significantly higher in ACD than in IDA group. The serum transferrin receptor [sTfR] was found to be significantly higher in IDA than in patients with ACD. The serum transferrin receptor [sTfR] was the best discriminatory power of all parameters used in the study for distinguishing between IDA and ACD