RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Lead poisoning is a chronic health condition arising from prolonged ingestion and exposure to lead above permissible limits. Although reported globally, developing countries like India and neighboring countries are amongst the most affected by lead. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to evaluate lead poisoning associated with herbal health supplements in a suspected case. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 31-year-old male reported consuming sixteen different herbal health supplements. The case and supplements were assessed for lead levels. The patient came from one of the metro cities of Uttar Pradesh state, India. RESULTS: The blood lead level of the case was found to be 78.40 µg/dL, which was much higher than the permissible limit of ≤5 µg/dL. Moreover, one of the supplements was found to have a very high lead content. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrated a case of lead poisoning which was very likely due to high lead content present in one of the supplements. The case had typical neurological signs of lead toxicity such as irritability, frequent headache, mental dullness, generalized pain, muscle weakness, numbness and tingling, and twitching and shaking of the legs while sleeping. PATIENT CONSENT: Obtained. COMPETING INTERESTS: The authors declare no competing financial interests.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Homocysteine (HCY) interferes with collagen cross-linking in bones and stimulates osteoclast activity. The activated osteoclasts secrete cathepsin K (CathK), a cysteine protease, in eminent quantity during bone resorption. Hyperhomocysteinemia may effect bone mineral density (BMD) through CathK. We, therefore, examined the relation between HCY and BMD along with CathK, 25-hydroxyvit-D (25[OH]D), intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), and Vitamin B12. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We recruited a total of 93 postmenopausal women between the age group of 45-60 years, attending the Endocrinology outpatient department at King George's Medical University, Lucknow. BMD was done by DXA scan using Hologic QDR1000 system. Based on the WHO criteria, patients were segregated into three groups as follows; normal bone mass, osteopenia, and osteoporosis. All women underwent routine biochemical laboratory parameters, HCY, Vitamin B12, and CathK levels. RESULTS: Among 93 postmenopausal women, 56% (52) had osteoporosis. Nineteen percent (18) had normal BMD (mean age, 53.22 ± 8.5 years) and 23 (25%) had osteopenia (mean age 52.86 ± 6.67 years). The mean age in the osteoporetic group was 56.2 ± 6.9 years. The median (interquartile range) levels of HCY in the three groups were 14.5 µmol/L (12.2-24.7), 15.05 µmol/L (12.1-19.9) and 13.2 µmol/L (10.3-17.0), respectively. CathK levels were similar in three groups 7.6 ng/ml (7.0-80.5), 8.3 ng/ml (7.3-8.5), and 8.6 ng/ml (7.2-8.9). Both HCY and CathK were found positively associated with serum phosphorus (r = 0.584, P < 2.01 and r = 0.249, P < 0.05, respectively). Levels of HCY positively correlate with PTH (r = 0.303, P < 0.01) and inversely with Vitamin B12 (r = -0.248, P < 0.05). No significant association was seen between CathK level and 25(OH) D, iPTH, serum calcium. CONCLUSION: Low bone mass by DXA is a significant problem in postmenopausal females. HCY and CathK do not reliably correlate with bone loss in postmenopausal women although phosphorus metabolism may play a role.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND/AIM: Cytokines are responsible for the modulation of immunological and inflammatory processes and play a significant role in the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease (CAD). Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) are considered as a pro inflammatory and interleukin-10 (IL-10) anti inflammatory have been shown to predict the risk of incident of CAD. Aim of present study is to examine the impact of the TNF-α and Il-10 levels on various components of the CAD. METHODS: Total 580 subjects were recruited in the present study out of which 290 diagnosed CAD subjects (Age 51.61±9.26; BMI 25.27±3.58) and 290 healthy controls (Age 51.72±9.48; BMI 24.02±7.42). Serum TNF-alpha and IL-10 levels were measured by ELISA. RESULTS: Data of present study revealed that CAD patients had higher frequency (p=0.001) of smoking (38.28%), Alcohol (21.03%), Diabetes (53.45%) and hypertension (48.28%) as compare to controls. Moreover, we have observed highly significant (p<0.05) difference in PR, BMI, DBP, DBP, Glucose, TC, TG, VLDL, LDL, TNF-α and TNF-α/IL-10. However, HDL and IL-10 were found lower in CAD. CONCLUSION: The findings of present study suggest that the TNF-α/IL-10 ratio may play a vital role in the development of CAD of North Indian population.