[Value of serum parathyroid hormone in the diagnosis of primary aldosteronism].

Objective: To explore the value of serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) in the diagnosis of primary aldosteronism (PA) and to investigate an optimal cut-off of serum PTH to distinguish PA from nonfunctional adrenal tumor (NFA). Methods: The clinical data of patients with adrenal incidentaloma in Chinese PLA General Hospital from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2019 were collected. The data of PA and NFA by clinical characteristics and evaluation on endocrine function were retrospectively analyzed. The logistic regression model was used to find the potential risk factors of elevated PTH. The receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curve was used to evaluate the efficacy of PTH in diagnosis of PA and to explore the best cut-off value. Results: A total of 773 patients were included. There were 356 PA patients (203 males, 57.0%), aged (50±11) years and 417 NFA patients (219 males, 52.5%), aged (51±12) years. The serum PTH level in patients with PA was significantly higher than that in patients with NFA [63.1 (48.4, 80.3) ng/L vs 41.7 (34.1, 51.7) ng/L, P<0.05], as well as the proportion of patients with elevated PTH level (47.8% vs 7.2%, P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that having PA and deficiency of Vitamin D were risk factors for PTH elevation (both P<0.05). The ROC curve showed that the best cut-off value of PTH for the diagnosis of PA in patients with vitamin D deficiency was 56.44 ng/L, with a sensitivity of 66.5% and a specificity of 83.0%, and that in patients with normal vitamin D was 48.81 ng/L, with a sensitivity of 70.5% and a specificity of 72.6%. Conclusions: Patients with PA tend to show increased levels of serum PTH compared with NFA patients. The level of serum PTH can be used as one of the valuable indexes in screening of PA.

[Non-religious prohibitions of meat consumption in Senegal]. / Interdits non religieux de la consommation de viandes au Sénégal.

680 persons belonging to all ethnical and religious groups in various regions of Senegal, have been questioned to know types of meat they avoid for non religious beliefs. The results show that: 25% of responses are related to prohibited meat for patronymic names (family names), reason comparable to "totemism". Camel flesh is in this group. 75% of responses deal with prohibitions of consumption connected with various beliefs. So is the case of goat meat avoided by 13% of persons, because it would transmit leprosy or reveal incubating diseases. 14% of persons questioned said that Spiegel lobule of liver must be exclusively consumed by only sons or only daughters. Meat taboos connected with socio-cultural beliefs (totemism, mimetism) have a minor impact on the global consumption of this food.

[Types of meat preferred by Senegalese people]. / Les viandes recherchées par les sénégalais.

680 senegaleses consumers have been surveyed in order to know the types of meat they prefer and the criteria of their choice. Responses collected reveal that: they like better mutton (95% of responses) because it is tender, tasty and sacred; entire male meat is preferred (74% of responses) to castrated or female meat (14 and 2%) from more habit, or because it is a symbol of strength; they like better meat from young animal; their favourite cuts are cutlets which are appropriate to grilled meat; imported frozen meat are rejected by many consumers (86.5%). They think that frozen meat is less whole some and less conformable to islamic rules than local fresh meat. These results must be considered in order to satisfy the consumers demand.