Effect of Metformin Treatment on Insulin Resistance Markers, and Circulating Irisin in Women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is considered as a common endocrinal dysfunction among adult women characterized by polycystic ovaries, anovulation, and hyperandrogenism. Irisin is associated with metabolic parameters and insulin resistance. However, the association of irisin with PCOS remains poorly delineated. This study was aimed to examine circulating irisin levels and effects of metformin on this parameter in women with PCOS. Moreover, the association of irisin with insulin resistance markers was determined. Thirty-nine females with PCOS, aged 20-40 years, participated in this study and received 500 mg of metformin once daily for 3 months. Serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), cholesterol, triglyceride, fasting blood sugar, testosterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, and irisin were assayed in the studied groups. Circulating irisin was significantly higher in PCOS women. Circulating irisin levels correlated with 17-hydroxyprogesterone, testosterone, and insulin. Three months metformin treatment decreased circulating irisin in PCOS women and improved IR. Circulating irisin is directly associated with insulin resistance in PCOS women and may be used as a biomarker for IR in these patients. Moreover, metformin as a confounding therapy in metabolic diseases can be used to regulate circulating irisin levels in PCOS women.

CXCL5 gene polymorphism association with diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: CXCL5, also known as epithelial cell-derived neutrophil-activating peptide (ENA-78), is a chemokine that has a role in the development of cardiovascular and other diseases. We have previously scanned the full length CXCL5 gene and reported the -156G>C (rs352046) polymorphism in the promoter region of this gene. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine whether there was an association between this polymorphism and type 2 diabetes mellitus or its microvascular complications in an Iranian population. METHODS: A total of 230 patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited from Rafsanjan, in the south-east of Iran; 102 healthy control subjects were recruited from the same area. The region containing the CXCL5 -156G>C polymorphism was genotyped by PCR amplification and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, and allele frequency data were analyzed using STATA 8 software. RESULTS: We observed that patients with type 2 diabetes had a higher frequency of carrying either the G/C or C/C genotype compared with healthy controls (C/G + C/C vs G/G; p = 0.004; odds ratio [OR] 2.17; 95% CI 1.27, 3.80). In addition, the frequency of allele C was significantly increased in patients with diabetes compared with controls (p = 0.01; OR 1.72; 95% CI 1.07, 2.86). No association was found between this polymorphism and diabetic microvascular complications. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest a role of CXCL5 in the pathogenesis of diabetes. The mechanism behind this role needs to be investigated further. Moreover, replications in other populations with larger sample sizes are required to confirm these findings.

Survey of changes in complete blood count and red cell indices of whole blood incubated in vitro at different temperatures up to 48 hours.

BACKGROUND: Complete blood count (CBC) is one of the most common and conventional blood test that physicians usually request. However the results of this test are affected by different factors such as, the temperature and duration of incubation, therefore the aim of this survey was to evaluate the effect of temperature and time of incubation on CBC, red blood cells (RBC) indices and white blood cells (WBC) differential count. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, blood samples were taken from 30 healthy medical students of Rafsanjan University (15 males and 15 females). The samples divided into three parts; CBC were done on the samples up to 48 hours incubation at temperature of 25, 30, and 370 C at the time of sampling, and after 2, 8, 24 and 48 hours. Data were statistically analyzed and the following results were obtained. RESULTS: RBC count, hematocrit, MCH, percent of monocytes and eosinophils were constant in different temperatures, WBC count, MCHC, hemoglobin, platelets count, the percent of lymphocytes and neutrophils were constant up to 24 hours and then tend to increase with increasing temperature except lymphocytes percent that tend to decrease. MCV decreased with increasing temperature up to 8 hours and then significantly increased (from 83.89 to 87.50 fmol/l, p < 0.001). WBC, hematocrit, MCV, platelets count, and neutrophils' percent tend to increase by the time of incubation, but RBC count, MCHC, lymphocytes' percent decreased. Hemoglobin, MCH, and the percent of monocytes and eosinophils were constant. CONCLUSION: The finding of this survey showed that some of CBC parameters can be changed with the incubation, therefore it is better to do the CBC test after blood taking as soon as possible.