scholarly journals Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) in COVID-19 infection

Author(s):  
Zeki Yumuk ◽  
Elif Okumuş

Abstract We examined correlates of antinuclear antibody (ANA) positivity in individuals with COVID-19 infection. Sera from 156 patients were evaluated by indirect immunofluorescence on Hep-2 cells for ANA pattern and semi-quantitative titer. There was a significant difference in the prevalence of ANA (1:100) by gender (P = 0.0294). Male gender was correlated with ANA positivity and association persisted in multivariable analyses (OR = 0.354; CI: 0.139–0.816; P = 0.0200). Age (OR = 1.932; CI: 0.929–4.121; P = 0.0814), warm weather (OR = 1.307; CI: 0.611–2.921; p = 0.4989), geographic location (or = 0.886; CI:0.353–2.442; P = 0.8042), and diabetes mellitus (OR = 1.765; CI:0.513–5.477; P = 0.3369) were not correlated with ANA positivity. In this analysis, hospitalization was used as indicator for a more severe course. Of the 156 COVID-19 patients, 18 (11.5%) were hospitalized. Among 18 hospitalized patients, 4 (22.2%) were ANA positive (Table 2), although this did not reach statistical significance (OR = 0.841; CI: 0.227–2.527; p = 0.7725). In conclusion, although males were more prone to produce ANA during COVID-19 infection, this was not correlated with severe course.

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-22
Author(s):  
Melania Macarie ◽  
Simona Maria Bataga ◽  
Monica Pantea ◽  
Razvan Opaschi ◽  
Simona Mocan ◽  
...  

AbstractObjective: This study aims to determine the correlation between risk factors and erosive esophagitis development.Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study on a consecutive series of 19.672 patients who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy between 01.01.2011-31.12.2017. A total of 3005 patients, diagnosed with erosive esophagitis, were included in the present study and stratified according to Los Angeles classification.Results: During the studied period we found 3005 patients with erosive esophagitis, sex ratio male to female was 1.3/1, the most common forms of esophagitis being grade A and B: 74.54% patients with esophagitis grade A, 14.80% patients with grade B; 5.29% patients were with grade C and 5.35% patients with esophagitis grade D. In severe esophagitis the male predominance was more prevalent (249 males, 71 female), with a sex ratio 3.50/1. The correlation of male gender with severe esophagitis was highly statistically significant (p < 0.0001, OR 2.97; 95% CI 2.25-3.91). Hiatal hernia was diagnosed in 1171 patients, the presence of large hiatal hernias, being an important predictor, with statistical significance (p < 0.0001, OR 3.41; 95% CI 2.22-5.21), for severe esophagitis development. Incidence of Helicobacter pylori infection was 11.51%, in the entire study group, with no statistical significant difference between patients with mild or severe esophagitis (12.02% vs 7.18%).Conclusion: Erosive esophagitis is a frequent disease, the most common forms being grade A and B. Male gender and the presence of hiatal hernia are the most important risk factors for erosive esophagitis development, in our study group.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 237-244
Author(s):  
Youssef EL Hassouni ◽  
Mohammed Bourhia ◽  
Ahmed Bari ◽  
Riaz Ullah ◽  
Hafiz Majid Mahmood ◽  
...  

Abstract Autoimmune diseases are pathological conditions in which the immune system mistakenly attacks its own tissues. This study evaluates the performance of two techniques, which are identifiers of autoantibody specifics: immunoblot and immunodot. This study was conducted in 300 patients of whom 62 were tested positive for antinuclear antibodies. The patients were initially screened for antinuclear antibodies using indirect immunofluorescence. Then, the identification of specific autoantibodies such as anti-extractable nuclear antigens (ENAs) was carried out using the immunoblot and immunodot techniques. The results showed that immunoblot and immunodot did not present a significant difference in their sensitivity against anti-SSA/52, SSB, CENP-B, PCNA, U1-snRNP, Jo-1, Pm-scl, and Mi-2 (p > 0.05). However, the two techniques showed a significant difference in their sensitivity toward autoantibodies anti-DNAn, anti-histone, anti-SmD1, and anti-ds-DNA (p < 0.05). The immunoblot data were in complete accordance with the immunodot data (100%) regarding the detection of autoantibodies such as anti SSA/52, SSB, CENP-B, PCNA, U1-snRP, Jo-1, Pm-scl, and Mi-2, 80% regarding SmD1, and 75% concerning ds-DNA. We should certainly pay closer attention to the efficiency of the techniques used in the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases.


Blood ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 136 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 36-36
Author(s):  
Sara M.A. Mohamed ◽  
Keith Sia ◽  
Karl-Heinz Friedrich ◽  
Andreas Wohlmann ◽  
Savvas Savvides ◽  
...  

Introduction: Philadelphia-like acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (Ph-like ALL) is a high-risk ALL subtype characterized by an inferior survival rate and chemotherapeutic drug resistance (Tasian et al, Blood 130: 2064-2072, 2017). Around 50% of Ph-like ALL cases harbour gene rearrangements leading to the overexpression of cytokine receptor-like factor 2 (CRLF2) (Loh et al, Blood 121: 485-488, 2013). CRLF2 (also known as thymic stromal lymphopoietin receptor, TSLPR) heterodimerizes with the interleukin-7 receptor alpha (IL-7Rα) subunit to form the functional TSLPR. Upon TSLP binding, CRLF2 activates the JAK/STAT signalling pathway, leading to enhanced proliferation and survival of leukemia cells resulting in poor outcomes in patients (Harvey et al, Blood 115: 5312-5321, 2010). The extracellular overexpression of CRLF2 and association with poor prognosis suggest the translational value of designing precision-based therapeutics targeting CRLF2 in Ph-like ALL. Although conventional immunotherapy using full-sized antibodies is a promising treatment strategy that can improve treatment efficiency and minimize off-target toxicity, their clinical translation is challenging due to the high production cost and large size affecting targeting efficiency (Holliger et al, Nat Biotech 23: 1126-1136, 2005). Herein, we validated a novel single-chain variable fragment against CRLF2 (CRLF2-ScFv) for targeting Ph-like ALL cells. Methods: A CRLF2-rearranged Ph-like ALL cell line (MHH-CALL-4) was lentivirally transduced with a CRLF2-targeting shRNA driven by an inducible promoter, enabling the inducible knockdown of CRLF2. CRLF2 expression in MHH-CALL-4 cells after shRNA induction (KD-CALL-4) was evaluated using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). The cellular association of the CRLF2-ScFv was determined in MHH-CALL-4 and KD-CALL-4 at 4° and 37°C using an indirect immunofluorescence assay. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to visualize and compare the cellular association of CRLF2-ScFv in MHH-CALL-4 and KD-CALL-4. The cellular association of CRLF2-ScFv was also investigated ex vivo using a small panel of Ph-like and non-Ph-like ALL patient-derived xenografts (PDXs), representing similar immunophenotype and genetic characteristics to their original disease subtypes (Liem et al, Blood 103: 3905-3914, 2004), and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to investigate the non-selective association. CRLF2 expression in MHH-CALL-4 and Ph-like ALL PDX cells was quantified using indirect immunofluorescence assay. The downstream impact of CRLF2-ScFv on STAT5 phosphorylation (pSTAT5) was determined by FACS either with or without TSLP stimulation. The statistical significance was tested using Unpaired unequal variances t-test or one-way ANOVA followed by multiple comparisons test. Statistical significance was considered when P ≤ 0.05. All experiments were performed in triplicate. Results: KD-CALL-4 showed a 75% reduction in CRLF2 expression compared with MHH-CALL-4 cells (P = 0.0009). CRLF2-ScFv exhibited a 94% higher association with MHH-CALL-4 compared with KD-CALL-4 cells at 37°C (P = 0.0013). The association of CRLF2-ScFv with MHH-CALL-4 cells was reduced by 75% at the non-proliferating state of cells at 4°C compared to 37°C (P = 0.006). Orthogonally viewed confocal microscopy images showed 82% higher intracellular uptake of CRLF2-ScFv in MHH-CALL-4 compared to KD-CALL-4 cells (P = 0.0003). CRLF2-ScFv showed &gt;80% higher association with a Ph-like PDX sample compared with a control CRLF2low PDX and PBMCs (P &lt; 0.001). Of note, a Ph-like ALL PDX exhibited only one-third of the association with CRLF2-ScFv compared with MHH-CALL-4 cells (P = 0.04), corresponding to the significant difference in CRLF2 surface expression (P = 0.01). CRLF2-ScFv significantly reduced pSTAT5 expression in MHH-CALL-4 cells (P = 0.05) and prevented TSLP-induced STAT5 phosphorylation (P = 0.01), suggesting competition with the TSLP binding site. Conclusion: CRLF2-ScFv is a selective targeting moiety for CRLF2 with a significant internalization potential and receptor antagonistic effect, highlighting the therapeutic implications for targeting Ph-like ALL. Keywords: CRLF2, ScFv, STAT5 phosphorylation, Patient-Derived Xenografts. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (17) ◽  
pp. 3866
Author(s):  
Nada Tomić Sremec ◽  
Ana Kozmar ◽  
Josip Sremec ◽  
Branimir Anić ◽  
Drago Batinić

In this study, we aimed to assess the prevalence of uncommon staining patterns found during testing for the presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and to determine their association with certain antibodies and clinical diagnoses. Presence of ANA and the staining pattern was determined in 10955 samples using indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) on HEp-2 cells. ANA-positive samples were assessed for presence of 14 specific antibody types using a microbead based system. Demographic data (age, sex) and clinical diagnoses were collected from the referral documentation. Particular staining patterns were then compared with a representative comparison group comprised of samples with common staining patterns using these criteria. There were 22 patterns present in less than 3% of samples each and these were jointly present in 42.43% of ANA-positive samples. Specific antibodies were found in proportions similar to the comparison group (46.06%) and varied significantly between patterns. Likewise, there were significant differences in antibody distribution in particular patterns. Some patterns were associated with presence of rheumatic diseases or inflammatory arthropathies, while in others there was a concurrent diagnosis of liver disease, or a neoplastic process. Many of the uncommon IIF patterns have distinctive characteristics that warrant further investigation in order to determine their role in diagnosing various diseases, not limited only to the illnesses of the rheumatic spectrum. IIF on HEp-2 cells remains an irreplaceable method because of the diversity of ANA, only a number of which can be detected using other standardised methods.


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1108.1-1109
Author(s):  
M. Hui ◽  
J. Zhou ◽  
L. Zhang ◽  
X. Duan ◽  
M. Li ◽  
...  

Background:The presence of circulating antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) is a hallmark of immune dysregulation and malfunction in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc)[1]. A variety of ANAs[2], including anti-centromere antibody, anti-topoisomerase I antibody, and anti-RNA polymerase III antibody, are associated with unique sets of disease manifestations and widely used in routine clinical practice for diagnosis, clinical subgrouping, risk stratification and prediction of future organ involvements and prognosis in SSc patients[3,4].Objectives:This study aimed to investigate the clinical features of SSc patients with negative ANAs in a European League Against Rheumatism Scleroderma Trials and Research Group (EUSTAR) and Chinese Rheumatism Data Center (CRDC) multi-center cohort in China.Methods:Patients were prospectively recruited between April 2008 and June 2019 based on the EUSTAR database and CRDC multi-center cohort from 154 clinical centers nationwide, all of whom fulfilled the 2013 ACR/EULAR classification criteria for systemic sclerosis. Antinuclear antibody testing result was intensively collected. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were compared between ANA-positive SSc patients and those with negative ANAs. T-test and chi-square analysis were performed in the comparisons.Results:Antinuclear antibodies were detected in 2129 out of 2809 systemic sclerosis patients enrolled in the multi-center cohort and 4.2% of them were negative. There was significant difference between patients with negative and positive ANAs based on gender (29/60 vs 294/1746, p<0.001). The presence of Raynaud’s phenomenon is less common (71.8% vs 99.8%, p<0.001) in the ANA-negative patients. In addition, compared with ANA-positive patients, the incidence of certain critical organ involvements, including gastroesophageal reflux (5.6% vs 18.5%, p=0.002), interstitial lung disease (65.2% vs 77.9%, p=0.015) and pulmonary arterial hypertension (11.5% vs 29.0%, p=0.006) were significantly lower in ANA-negative patients than in the positive group. The proportion of IgG elevation, an indicator of disease activity and severity of inflammation, was significantly lower in the ANA-negative patients than that in the positive group (14.3% vs 41.2%, p<0.001), while no significant differences were found in other inflammatory indicators and skin scores.Conclusion:This study describes the clinical features of SSc patients with negative ANAs, which have been rarely mentioned or focused in existing studies. Antinuclear antibody is proved to be strongly associated with the clinical manifestations of systemic sclerosis patients and ANA-negative SSc patients tend to be in relatively milder conditions, including a less common involvement of critical organs and a more temperate inflammatory severity.References:[1]Seri, Jeong, Dahae, et al. Diagnostic value of screening enzyme immunoassays compared to indirect immunofluorescence for anti-nuclear antibodies in patients with systemic rheumatic diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis. [J]. Seminars in arthritis and rheumatism, 2018.[2]Hesselstrand, R. The association of antinuclear antibodies with organ involvement and survival in systemic sclerosis[J]. Rheumatology, 2003, 42(4):534-540.[3]Behmanesh F, Amin R, Khajedaluee M, et al. Autoantibody Profile in Systemic Sclerosis[J]. Acta Medica Iranica, 2010, 48(1):12-20.[4]Hachulla E, Dubucquoi S. Nuclear auto-antibodies: a useful tool for the diagnosis, the classification and the prognosis of systemic sclerosis. [J]. La Revue de Médecine Interne, 2004, 25(6):442-447.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Jun X ◽  
Yanan Z ◽  
Zhijie C ◽  
Zhihui D ◽  
Danhua S ◽  
...  

Objective: To explore the relationship between serum plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) level and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) accompanied by overweight or obesity by observing not only the changes of PAI-1 level in T2DM patients with overweight or obesity, but also glucose and lipid metabolism related indicators, the changes of the inflammatory cytokines secreted by adipocytes, and then making an analysis on the correlation to PAI-1.Methods: 36 cases of healthy examinees were selected as normal control group (NC group), and the experimental group can be divided into T2DM group (54 cases), Overweight/Obesity group (35 cases) and T2DM + Overweight/Obesity group (48 cases). Glucose and lipid metabolism related indicators such as fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting insulin (FINS), insulin resistance index (IR), body weight index (BMI) and inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and PAI-1 were observed and compared between groups, and then made an analysis to explore the correlation of these factors to PAI-1.Results: (1) Compared with NC group, the levels of FBG, HbA1c, FINS and IR were increased in T2DM group, and the difference was of statistical significance. However, there was no statistically significant difference in TG, TC, LDL-C and BMI between NC group and T2DM group; the levels of FINS, IR, TG, LDL-C, TC and BMI were elevated in Overweight/Obesity group, and the difference was of statistical significance. However, there was no statistically significant difference in FBG and HbA1c; the levels of FBG, HbA1c, FINS, IR, TG, LDL-C, TC and BMI were up-regulated in T2DM + Overweight/Obesity group, and the difference was of statistical significance. Compared with T2DM group, the levels of TG, TC, LDL-C and BMI were increased in Overweight/Obesity group, and the difference was of statistical significance, however, the levels of FBG, HbA1c, FINS and IR were decreased, and the difference was statistically significant; The levels of FINS, IR, TG, TC, LDL-C and BMI were elevated in T2DM + Overweight/Obesity group, and the difference was of statistical significance, however, there was no statistically significant difference in FBG and HbA1c. Compared with Overweight/Obesity group, the levels of FBG, FINS, IR, HbA1c and LDL-C were increased in T2DM + Overweight/Obesity group, and the difference was of statistical significance. However, the difference in TG, TC and BMI was not statistically significant. (2) Compared with NC group, the levels of IL-6, TNF-α and PAI-1 were increased in T2DM group, Overweight/Obesity group and T2DM + Overweight/Obesity group, and the difference was statistically significant. Compared with T2DM group, the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were elevated in Overweight/Obesity group, and the difference was of statistical significance, but there was no statistically significant difference in PAI-1; the levels of IL-6, TNF-α and PAI-1 were up-regulated in T2DM + Overweight/Obesity group, and the difference was statistically significant. Compared with Overweight/Obesity group, there was no statistically significant difference in IL-6 and TNF-α between T2DM + Overweight/Obesity group and Overweight/Obesity group, but the level of PAI-1 was increased in T2DM + Overweight/Obesity group, and the difference was of statistical significance. (3) Multivariate Logistic Regression Analysis showed that HbA1c, IR, TG, BMI, IL-6 and TNF-α were independently associated with the level of PAI-1 (all p < .05).Conclusions: (1) The level of PAI-1 is higher in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with overweight or obesity than that in patients only with type 2 diabetes mellitus, and it is one of causes that result in vascular complications. (2) The increase in the level of PAI-1 is considered to be associated with IL-6 and TNF-α secreted by adipocytes.


2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 9-10
Author(s):  
Damianos Tsitlakidis ◽  
P Sarafis

Background. The quality of life is very important and continuously medicine gives more weight to how one intervention can improve the quality of life of patients. Diabetes mellitus is a disease of modern lifestyle and is a chronic metabolic disease that affects the level of health and quality of life.Aim of this study is to investigate the quality of life of patients with diabetes and the factors affecting it.Materials and methods. The questionnaire used consists of two parts. The first concerns demographic questions for the patient and the condition of diabetes mellitus and the second questionnaire on diabetes-related quality of life ADDQoL 19. The study included 140 patients and was conducted from October to March 2015 the hospital Carl Thiem Klinikum of Cottbus, Germany. The statistical analysis will be done with statistical software «Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) for Windows» and level of statistical significance was set to p = 0.05.Results. Statistical significant difference showed in the present quality of life (Overview I) by gender of patients with p = 0,011. Based on the presence of complications of the disease there is a statistical significant difference in the average of responses for the 19 areas of life (AWI: Average Weight Impact) with p = 0,033. The diabetes school also shows statistical significant difference in the AWI with p = 0,018. Furthermore based on the type of diabetes and the treatment showed a statistical significant difference in quality of life (Overview I) for type 2 by treating with pills (Overview I: 1,117) than insulin treatment (Overview I: 0,471) with p = 0,008.Conclusions. Educating patients appears to improve the quality of life of patients and the adoption of the Diabetes school should be followed by other countries. An important factor affecting the quality of life is the treatment followed and especially positive effect shows the use of treatment with pills which also support our results.


2016 ◽  
pp. 78-85
Author(s):  
Thi Minh Phuong Phan ◽  
Dinh Thanh Truong

Background: Autoantibodies anti GAD and ICA associated to the autoimmune process of patients with diabetes. Detection of these antibodies in progessive diabeticpatients is very necessary because the presence of anti GAD and ICA can predict the progression of the disease to insulin-dependent diabetes in the future. This study was carried out with aims: (1) to define the positive rate, anti GAD and ICA level in patients with diabetes. (2) to evaluate the correlation between anti GAD and ICA with several clinical and paraclinical features of diabetic patients. Materials and method: 88 patients diagnosed of diabetes by the criteria of ADA 2014, withfasting glucose ≥ 126 mg/dL or≥ 7,0 mmol/L) and HbA1C> 6.5%. Indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure those autoantibodies of anti GAD and ICA, kits were supplied by DRG company, Germany. Results: the anti GAD positive rate was 10.2%; mean of level of anti GAD was 1.44±0.25 U/mL. ICA positive ratewas 9.1%; mean of level of ICA was 1.44±0.12 U/mL. Positive rate with anti GAD and/or ICA was 19.3%. About the correlation between level of anti GAD, ICA with some of clinical features, we found only the statistically significant difference with p<0.05 between blur vision in the group of ICA level > 1.25U/mL with group of ICA level< 1.25U/mL. About the paraclinical features, the difference with statistical significance (p<0.05) of HbA1C>6.5% was found between the group with anti GAD> 1.05U/mLand the one with anti GAD< 1.00U/mLand also betweenthe group of ICA > 1.25 U/mL and ICA < 1.25 U/mL. Key words: autoantibody anti glutamic acid decarboxylase, islet cell autoantibodies, diabetes mellitus.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 715-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mutiara Indah Sari ◽  
Zaimah Z. Tala ◽  
Dian Dwi Wahyuni

BACKGROUND: Hyperglycemia condition in diabetes mellitus (DM) influences proinflammatory cytokine levels and disrupts antioxidant balances. Glycated Hemoglobin is used as a biomarker of glycemic control in DM. AIM: This study aimed to analyse the association between glycated Hemoglobin with the levels of serum proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin (IL)-6) and antioxidants (glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione (GSH)) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) Hospital. METHODS: A total of eighty-nine T2DM patients were recruited at USU Hospital. Glycated Hemoglobin levels were measured using routine laboratory tests at USU Hospital. The IL-6, GPx, and GSH levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA) method. The statistical significance was determined using the Kruskal Wallis test, followed by Mann-Whitney test (p < 0.05). RESULTS: The mean of glycated hemoglobin (%), IL-6 (pg/ml), GPx (ng/ml), and GSH (ng/ml) levels in T2DM patients were 8.96 ± 2.28, 59.27 ± 16.04, 32.13 ± 12.10, and 7.42 ± 3.50, respectively. Regarding the glycated Hemoglobin levels, 28.09% of patients had controlled diabetes, 24.72% of patients had poorly controlled diabetes, and 47.19% of patients had uncontrolled diabetes. The IL-6 levels of the three study groups based on glycated Hemoglobin levels were related significantly (p < 0.05), but there was no statistically significant difference observed between the GPx and GSH levels (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that the glycated Hemoglobin was associated with the levels of serum IL-6 levels but not GPx and GSH levels in T2DM patients in USU Hospital.


2003 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 555-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Dragovic ◽  
Rajko Hrvacevic ◽  
Boris Ajdinovic ◽  
Svetlana Vujanic

Aim. To determine the efficacy of AT1 receptor antagonist (valsartan) in decreasing of urinary excretion of albumin in normotensive patients with type 1 diabetes and incipient diabetic nephropathy (DN). Methods. This was a prospective, randomised, placebo-controlled study, which included 20 patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, mean age 25.15, and the duration of diabetes of 13.95 years. All the patients were normotensive, with persistent microalbuminuria (incipient phase of DN). Patients were randomly divided into two groups (10 patients each): valsartan group treated with 80 mg valsartan daily during 6 months, and the group treated with placebo during the same period. Both groups were similar and comparable concerning the observed parameters at the beginning of the study. Results. After 6 months therapy, valsartan caused significant decrease of urinary albumin excretion rate (UEAR) by 69.1% from 64.8 to 21.1 mg/24 h, while in placebo group there was an insignificant increase of UEAR by 29.8%. During the follow-up of UEA in the observed groups, at the beginning and the end of the mentioned period highly significant decrease of albumine secretion (p<0.001) was observed. Valsartan significantly lowered mean systolic blood pressure (from 122.0 ? 10.1 to 110.0 ? 11.8 mmHg). After 6 months therapy, the reduced values of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol fraction were registered in the valsartan group, while the difference in serum trigliceride values reached statistical significance (1.42 ? 0.79 vs. 1.21 ? 0.89 mmol/L; p<0.05). Neither significant difference in glycoregulation quality between the two groups, nor the occurence of hyperkalemia was detected throughout the study period. Conclusion. Valsartan's efficacy in the decrease of microalbuminuria after 6 months of therapy could justify the use of this group of renin/angiotensin blockers in delaying the clinically manifested DN. Valsartan was well tolerated and did not influence the quality of glycoregulation. It did not increase the level of serum lipids and could be recomended in the treatment of diabetic patients.


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