Casual serum triglyceride as a predictor of premature type 2 diabetes mellitus: an 8-year cohort study of middle-aged Japanese workers.

BACKGROUND: The utility of casual serum triglyceride (TG) as a predictor of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is unclear, especially during the most productive years. METHODS: Participants were 3271 workers (913 men and 2358 women, age 20-57) without DM at baseline. They underwent consecutive annual medical check-ups for 8 years. The association between newly diagnosed DM and casual serum TG level was determined by classifying the participants into 4 groups according to casual serum TG level at baseline: below 50 mg/dL (group A), 50-100 mg/dL (group B), 100-150 mg/dL (group C), and ≥150 mg/dL (group D). The effects of casual serum TG level in combination with sex, obesity, or serum glucose level on newly diagnosed DM were also evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 222 newly diagnosed type 2 DM cases with a mean age of 50 years old were observed during the follow-up period, i.e., 10/406 in group A, 66/1534 in group B, 58/712 in group C, and 88/619 in group D. Compared with group A, the odds ratio (ORs) for newly diagnosed DM (after adjusting for DM-associated factors) was found to increase with casual serum TG level: 1.38 (group B), 1.79 (group C), and 2.36 (group D). Moreover, the OR for newly diagnosed DM was higher in participants with high casual serum TG levels who were also male (OR 2.46), obese (OR 4.18), or had a high serum glucose level (OR 6.96) than in the reference group. CONCLUSIONS: Serum TG level ≥150 mg/dL when fasting or nonfasting is a significant predictor of type 2 diabetes in middle-aged Japanese workers.

The combination of strong expression of ZNF143 and high MIB-1 labelling index independently predicts shorter disease-specific survival in lung adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The transcription factor, zinc finger protein 143 (ZNF143), positively regulates many cell-cycle-related genes. The ZNF143 would show high expression of multiple solid tumours related closely to cancer cell growth, similar to the widely accepted Ki67 (MIB-1) protein, but the underlying mechanisms for ZNF143 remain unclear. We investigated the association of ZNF143 expression with clinicopathological features and prognoses of patients with lung adenocarcinoma. METHODS: Expressions of ZNF143 and MIB-1 were immunohistochemically analysed in 183 paraffin-embedded tumour samples of patients with lung adenocarcinoma. The ZNF143 expression was considered to be strong when >30% of the cancer cells demonstrated positive staining. RESULTS: Strong ZNF143+ expression showed a significantly close relationship to pathologically moderate to poor differentiation and highly invasive characteristics. The ZNF143 positivity potentially induced cell growth of lung adenocarcinoma, correlated significantly with high MIB-1 labelling index (⩾10%). Univariate and multivariate analyses demonstrated that both strong ZNF143+ and the high MIB-1 index group have only and significantly worse survival rates. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of strong ZNF143 expression and high MIB-1 index potentially predicts high proliferating activity and poor prognosis in patients with lung adenocarcinoma, and may offer a therapeutic target against ZNF143.

UAG is a sense codon in several chlorophycean mitochondria.

The mitochondrial genetic code of those land plants and green algae that have been examined does not deviate from the universal one. A red alga, Chondrus crispus, is the sole reported example throughout the algae that uses a deviant (non-universal) mitochondrial genetic code (UGA=Trp). We have analyzed 366-bp DNA sequences of the gene for mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COXI) from ten chlorophyceaen algae, and detected 3-8 in-frame UAG codons in the sequences of five species. Comparisons of these sequences with those of other algae and land plants have shown that most of the UAG sites in Hydrodictyon reticulatum, Pediastrum boryanum and Tetraedron bitridens correspond to alanine, and those of Coelastrum microporum and Scenedesmus quadricauda to leucine. The three species in which UAG probably codes for alanine are characterized by zoospore formation in asexual reproduction and form a clade in the COXI phylogenetic tree. The two species in which UAG codes for leucine are known to form daughter coenobia and pair in the tree. This is the first report on a deviant mitochondrial genetic code in green algae. Mutational change(s) in the release factor corresponding to UAG would be involved in these code changes. No genetic code deviation has been found in five other species examined.

Bioavailability and diuretic effect of furosemide during long-term treatment of chronic respiratory failure.

The bioavailability and diuretic effect of furosemide 40 mg administered orally for at least 6 months have been compared in patients with chronic respiratory failure and in healthy controls. The mean urinary recovery of unchanged drug was 11.5 mg and 9.41 mg in 24 h after pre- and postprandial administration to 10 patients, whereas the recovery was 14.4 mg in 10 healthy subjects. The diuretic effect, in terms of urine flow and sodium ion excretion in the 6 h after administration, was also less in patients than in healthy subjects. This was ascribed to the lower bioavailability of furosemide in patients, based on the urinary recovery of unchanged drug, and not to a lower level of response to furosemide than in healthy subjects. The mean absolute bioavailability of furosemide in 6 patients was 41.3% and 63.4%, respectively, calculated from unchanged drug and total drug (unchanged plus glucuronide conjugate). Approximately 53.9% of the dose of furosemide was excreted as the glucuronide conjugate after oral administration, and 34.2% after i.v. injection in the 6 patients. In 3 of the 6 patients studied, a distinct first-pass effect for glucuronidation of furosemide was observed after oral administration. In another study, the mean glucuronide fraction recovered in 24-h urine was 20.7% and 7.3% (p less than 0.01) in 38 patients and 12 healthy subjects, respectively. The fraction in urine was not affected by changing the dose of furosemide from 20 to 120 mg. The lower bioavailability in patients as compared to healthy subjects is ascribed to enhanced glucuronidation and incomplete drug absorption.

Bioavailability of two preparations of furosemide and their pharmacological activity in normal volunteers.

The relative bioavailability and diuretic effect of 2 commercially available tablet preparations of furosemide 40 mg was examined in 10 healthy male volunteers. A close linear relationship between the urinary excretion rate of furosemide and the rate of sodium ion excretion in urine and/or flow rate of urine was demonstrated. There were no significant differences in the urinary excretion of furosemide, sodium and potassium ions or urinary volume following the oral doses. The difference in drug content affected the urinary recovery of furosemide over 24 h but had no effect on the pharmacological response. The analytical power of ANOVA using the various parameters of the responses to furosemide was no lower than when the parameters of urinary excretion of furosemide were used.