Hypokalemic rhabdomyolysis: a rare manifestation of primary aldosteronism.

Rhabdomyolysis is a rare presentation of hypokalemia, although muscle weakness is a well-known manifestation of hypokalemia. Primary aldosteronism is characterized by hypertension, suppressed plasma renin activity, increased aldosterone excretion and hypokalemia with metabolic alkalosis. Rhabdomyolysis is not common in primary aldosteronism. We present here a 40-year-old woman presenting with rhabdomyolysis accompanied by severe hypokalemia as heralding symptom of primary aldosteronism.

Erythrocyte glutathione transferase: a non-antibody biomarker for systemic sclerosis, which correlates with severity and activity of the disease.

Erythrocyte glutathione transferase (e-GST) is a detoxifying enzyme hyper-expressed in nephropathic patients and used recently as a biomarker for blood toxicity. Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is characterized by endothelial dysfunction and fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. Renal involvement is frequent in SSc patients. Here we show that e-GST is hyper-expressed in SSc patients (n = 102) and correlates (R(2) = 0.49, P < 0.0001) with the Medsger DSS and DAI Valentini indices that quantify the severity and activity of this disease. Interestingly, e-GST does not correlate with the impairment of kidney or other specific organs taken separately. e-GST hyper-expression seems to be linked to the presence of a factor (i.e., toxin) that triggers the autoimmune disease, and not to the damage of specific organs or to oxidative stress. e-GST may be proposed as an innovative non-antibody biomarker for SSc useful to check the progress of this disease and the efficiency of new therapeutic strategies.