Ret proto-oncogene mutations in apparently sporadic Turkish medullary thyroid carcinoma patients: Turkmen study

OBJECTIVE

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) frequently occurs in a sporadic form, but a substantial number of cases are hereditary and appear as part of the multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN2) syndromes. Germline mutations in ret proto-oncogene have been shown to be the underlying cause of MEN2 syndromes.

DESIGN

We carried out a multi-center study that aimed to perform mutational analysis of so called sporadic MTC patients.

METHODS

Fifty-six MTC patients verified by histopathologic examination were subjected to genetic analysis. Exon 10, 11, 13, 14, 15 and 16 of the ret gene were analyzed by DNA sequencing and restriction enzyme digestion method.

RESULTS

Among 56 apparently sporadic MTC patients, we identified 6 (10.7%) ret germline mutation carriers. Three individuals carried mutations at codon 634 in exon 11, one at codon 618 in exon 10, and two at codon 804 in exon 14. Identification of the predisposition gene mutation has allowed DNA-based strategy for direct mutation detection in patients with apparently sporadic MTCs. A substantial number of patients with apparently sporadic MTC carried germline mutations and 50% of their first degree relatives are expected to have or to develop MTC and/or other endocrine tumors.

CONCLUSIONS

These results indicate the importance of careful genetic surveillance of any patient with apparently sporadic MTCs.

Lipoprotein(a) concentrations in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus without cardiovascular disease: relationship to metabolic parameters and diabetic complications

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Diabetes mellitus is associated with a 3-4 times greater risk of coronary artery disease. One of the major risk factors in diabetics is their abnormal plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels, and a high serum concentration of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is an acknowledged risk factor for atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate serum Lp(a) levels in type 2 diabetic (T2DM) patients without cardiovascular disease, and assess the relationship between these levels and microvascular complications.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The study involved 86 T2DM patients without cardiovascular disease and 44 healthy control subjects. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of mean age, body mass index, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol or Lp(a) levels. There was a positive correlation between Lp(a) levels and diabetic proliferative retinopathy. Microalbuminuria and serum Lp(a) concentrations were significantly higher in the T2DM patients with proliferative retinopathy, who also had a longer duration of diabetes.

CONCLUSIONS

Diabetes does not increase serum Lp(a) concentrations. T2DM patients with high Lp(a) levels may be at high risk of retinopathy.

Prevalence and comparisons of five different diagnostic methods for Helicobacter pylori in diabetic patients

Helicobacter pylori is now regarded as a major gastroduodenal pathogen that is etiologically linked with duodenal and gastric disease. It has been suggested recently as an important factor for nongastroenterologic conditions such as coronary heart disease and diabetes mellitus. In this study, we planned to investigate the prevalence of H. pylori in diabetic patients and to evaluate five different diagnostic tests. Group I consisted of 67 patients with type II diabetes mellitus and seventy-three aged-matched health people served as control in group II. Group I was divided in two subgroups with good (Group IA) and poor (Group IB) glycemic control. H. pylori was diagnosed by five different tests: 1) biopsy, 2) culture, 3) gram staining, 4) imprint cytology and 5) brushing cytology. The usefulness of each test for each group was statistically compared. There was a higher prevalence for H. pylori in diabetic patients. This study showed that two positive out of five tests was most reliable for predicting the H. pylori in diabetic and nondiabetic patients. In conclusion, the prevalence of H. pylori is high in diabetic patients. Peristaltic activity, and impaired nonspecific immunity must be evaluated as risk factors in diabetics. We recommend that the 'gold standard' should be regarded as two positive out of these five different tests.

Effect of G-CSF on ethanol-induced hemorrhagic gastritis model in diabetes mellitus-induced rats

Diabetes mellitus can affect every organ system, including large and small vessels, eyes, nerves, kidneys and gastrointestinal system. Acid peptic disease is an inflammatory condition involving the upper gastrointestinal tract. The elevated serum glucose levels of diabetics affect traditional host defenses such as neutrophil counts and functions. We aimed to investigate changes of gastric mucosa and the role of impaired neutrophil functions in a diabetes-induced experimental model and whether G-CSF, which modulates neutrophil counts and function, has protective effects against gastric mucosal injury in diabetic rats. Fifty rats were divided into three groups. Diabetes mellitus was induced by a single dose of streptozotocin in 40 of 50 rats. Controls had a sham injection. The gastric mucosal lesions were produced by intragastric administration of 1 ml of 95% ethanol in all three groups. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) was subcutaneously injected to twenty of diabetes-induced rats. Stomach histology and tissue malondialdehyde and glutathione levels were determined. White blood cell count, neutrophil counts and functions were determined. Peripheral blood cell counts, neutrophil phagocytosis index were decreased but neutrophil adhesivity index was not different in diabetes-induced groups. G-CSF administration improved netrophil counts and function. Macroscopic and microscopic gastric mucosal injury were significantly greater in control and only diabetes group compared with G-CSF pretreated group (p < 0.05). The tissue malondialdehyde and glutathione levels were significantly decreased in G-CSF-administrated diabetic group compared to untreated diabetics (p < 0.001). Finally, G-CSF has been shown to cause neutrophilia and improve neutrophil phagocytosis in diabetic. G-CSF may be cytoprotective for gastric mucosa in diabetes mellitus-induced rats.

Lichen amyloidosis, ankylosing spondylitis and autoimmune thyroiditis: coincidence or association?

Primary localized cutaneous amyloidosis (PLCA) is characterized by the deposition of amyloid in a previously apparently normal skin with the absence of other systemic or cutaneous disorder. Although ankylosing spondylitis may be associated with secondary systemic amyloidosis, no reports have been found showing the association of this disease with PLCA. In addition, the association of PLCA with autoimmune thyroiditis has not been previously reported. We report a concomitant occurrence of lichen amyloidosis, ankylosing spondylitis and autoimmune thyroiditis in a caucasian woman.

Effects of rhG-CSF on neutrophil functions and bone marrow parameters in diabetic rats

Neutrophils have an important role in the host defense. The elevated serum glucose levels of diabetics affect traditional host defenses such as neutrophil counts and functions. The causes of these impairments are not clear. We aimed to investigate changes of peripheral neutrophil counts and functions and their relation with bone marrow cells in diabetic rats. Thirty-two rats were divided into four equal groups. Group 1 were controls and Groups 2 and 4 were made diabetic by a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) was injected subcutaneously into Groups 3 and 4. White blood cell count, neutrophil counts and function and bone marrow cell count were determined. Peripheral blood cell counts, neutrophil phagocytosis index were decreased but neutrophil adhesivity index was not different in the diabetes-induced group. There was a difference in circulating white blood cell counts and neutrophil counts between the rhG-CSF treated and non-treated groups. The phagocytosis index of neutrophil in diabetic rats was significantly diminished by rhG-CSF treatment. A hyperplasia of early cells of the myeloid series in G-CSF treated groups was observed when compared with those of nontreated groups (p<0.001). A significant decrease was noted in the number of mature marrow segmented cells diabetic groups (p<0.001). Finally, G-CSF has been shown to cause neutrophilia by acting as a releasing factor for mature marrow neutrophils in diabetic rats. These results suggest that G-CSF may be used to improve nonspecific immunity in diabetic patients.

Echocardiographic features and QT dispersion in borderline isolated systolic hypertension in the elderly

The aim of our study was to examine the structure of left ventricle, diastolic filling indexes and QT dispersion in elderly patients (aged 60 years and over) with borderline isolated systolic hypertension in a population screening program and to compare them with age matched controls. One hundred and four subjects (66 female, 38 male, mean age 66+/-5) and 110 normotensive age and sex matched controls (64 female, 46 male, mean age 66+/-5) were included in the study. Echocardiographic features of left ventricle, left atrium and cardiac valves, diastolic filling indexes and QT dispersion in 12 lead electrocardiographic examination were studied. In borderline hypertensive elderly, left ventricular hypertrophy was a more frequent finding compared with the controls (33% versus 15% respectively). Diastolic filling indexes were impaired, presence of left atrial enlargement and cardiac valve calcification were also more frequent in the patients group. In the electrocardiographic examination, the duration of QT and corrected QT interval and dispersion of QT and QTc were significantly prolonged compared with the controls. It is concluded that patients with borderline isolated systolic hypertension have more unfavourable echocardiographic and electrocardiographic findings compared with the normotensive elderly and especially those with end organ damage should be treated as defined for isolated systolic hypertension.

Abnormal QT dispersion in Behçet's disease

Behçet's disease, which was originally described by Hulusi Behçet in 1937, is a generalized chronic inflammatory disease characterized by recurrent oral and genital ulcerations, ocular and dermal manifestations. Cardiac manifestations include pericarditis, myocarditis, conduction system disturbances, coronary arteritis, mitral valve insufficiency, dilated cardiomyopathy, ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. There is little knowledge about the mechanism of ventricular arrhythmias in Behçet's disease. In this study, we examined the value of dispersion of ventricular repolarization as a diagnostic tool to assess the risk for ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in Behçet's disease. We examined 38 patients (age: 34 +/- 4.6 years, 20F, 18M) with Behçet's disease and 30 age-matched healthy subjects were selected to serve as the control group. Repolarization dispersion parameters were calculated as the difference between maximal and minimal values of QT, QTc, JT and JTC from 12-lead ECG recordings at 25 or 50 mm/s. We found QTd, QTc-d, JTd and JTc-d intervals of 60.65 +/- 16.1, 78.45 +/- 11.4, 71.51 +/- 18.3 and 92.33 +/- 15.4 ms in Behçet's disease patients, these values in control subjects were 40.1 +/- 9.7, 56.36 +/- 7.5, 41.66 +/- 4.3 and 53.92 +/- 9.2 ms respectively (p < 0.001). Striking increases in QT and JT dispersion indicating regional inhomogeneity of ventricular repolarization were noted in patients with Behçet's disease. This new finding suggests a possible explanation for the presence of ventricular arrhythmias in patients with Behçet's disease.

Prevalence and risk factors of varicose veins in an elderly population

The prevalence of and risk factors for varicose veins (VV) were studied in elderly persons over 60 years of age who had visited the Tonya and Farabi Hospitals in Trabzon, a city in northeastern Turkey. VV were defined as dilated, tortuous and elongated veins of the lower extremities and were classified into four types. The total prevalence of VV was 36.7% (14.6% in males and 22.1% in females). Segment type varices were observed in 16.5%, saphenous type in 5.6%, reticular type in 4.7%, web type in 2.3%, and combined types in 7.5%. The prevalence of VV increased with age and was greater among those with a family history of the condition in 154 of 312 patients with VV (49.4%). Other factors, such as congestive heart failure, angina pectoris, hypertension, cigarette smoking, diabetes mellitus, height, weight, obesity, or hyperlipidemia, were not found to be associated with the prevalence of VV. However, the factors of age, work posture and childbirth did show an association with prevalence, as reported by others.