scholarly journals Clinical Heterogeneity of Acquired Idiopathic Isolated Adrenocorticotropic Hormone Deficiency

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasunori Fujita ◽  
Hironori Bando ◽  
Genzo Iguchi ◽  
Keiji Iida ◽  
Hitoshi Nishizawa ◽  
...  

ObjectiveHeterogeneous clinical characteristics are observed in acquired isolated adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) deficiency (IAD); however, its classification remains to be established because of its largely unknown pathophysiology. In IAD, anti-pituitary antibodies have been detected in some patients, although their significance remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to classify patients with IAD and to clarify the significance of anti-pituitary antibodies.Design and MethodsWe analyzed 46 consecutive patients with IAD. Serum anti-pituitary antibodies were analyzed via immunofluorescence staining using a mouse pituitary tissue. Principal component and cluster analyses were performed to classify IAD patients based on clinical characteristics and autoantibodies.ResultsImmunofluorescence analysis using the sera revealed that 58% of patients showed anti-corticotroph antibodies and 6% of patients showed anti-follicular stellate cell (FSC) antibodies. Principal component analysis demonstrated that three parameters could explain 70% of the patients. Hierarchical cluster analysis showed three clusters: Groups A and B comprised patients who were positive for anti-corticotroph antibodies, and plasma ACTH levels were extremely low. Groups A and B comprised middle-aged or elderly men and middle-aged women, respectively. Group C comprised patients who were positive for the anti-FSC antibody and elderly men; plasma ACTH levels were relatively high.ConclusionsPatients with IAD were classified into three groups based on clinical characteristics and autoantibodies. The presence of anti-corticotroph antibody suggested severe injury to corticotrophs. This new classification clearly demonstrated the heterogeneity in the pathogenesis of IAD.

Author(s):  
Hossein Shahinfar ◽  
Farhang Djafari ◽  
Nadia Babaei ◽  
Samira Davarzani ◽  
Mojdeh Ebaditabar ◽  
...  

Abstract. Background: The association between dietary patterns and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is not well established. Objective: We sought to investigate association between a posteriori dietary pattern and CRF in middle-aged adults. Design: Adults (n = 276), aged 20–74 years, who were residents of Tehran, Iran were recruited. Diet was assessed by using a validated 168-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Principal component analysis was used to derive dietary patterns. Socio-economic status, anthropometric measures, body composition, and blood pressure were recorded. CRF was assessed by using a graded exercise treadmill test. Analysis of variance and linear regression models were used to discern the association between dietary patterns and CRF. Results: Higher scores of the healthy dietary pattern had no association with VO2max (p = 0.13 ). After controlling for potential confounders, VO2max was positively associated across tertiles of healthy dietary patterns (p < 0.001). Higher adherence to the “mixed” dietary pattern was inversely related to VO2max (p < 0.01). After adjusting for confounders, the significant association disappeared (p = 0.14). Higher scores of the “Western” dietary pattern was not associated with VO2max (p = 0.06). However, after controlling for potential confounders, VO2max was positively associated with the “Western” dietary pattern (p = 0.01). A positive linear association between the “healthy” dietary pattern and CRF for the total sample (R2 = 0.02; p < 0.01) were presented. Conclusions: Overall, our findings suggest that higher adherence to a “healthy” and “Western” dietary pattern was positively associated with CRF. However, further studies are required to examine and clarify the causal relationship between dietary patterns and CRF.


Author(s):  
Nikunj D. Patel ◽  
Niranjan S. Kanaki

Background: Numerous Ayurvedic formulations contains tugaksheeree as key ingredient. Tugaksheereeis the starch gained from the rhizomes of two plants, Curcuma angustifoliaRoxb. (Zingiberaceae) and Marantaarundinacea (MA) Linn. (Marantaceae). Objective: The primary concerns in quality assessment of Tugaksheeree occur due to adulteration or substitution. Method: In current study, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) technique with attenuated total reflectance (ATR) facility was used to evaluate tugaksheeree samples. Total 10 different samples were studied and transmittance mode was kept to record the spectra devoid of pellets of KBR. Further treatment was given with multi component tools by considering fingerprint region of the spectra. Multivariate analysis was performed by various chemometric methods. Result: Multi component methods like Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA)were used to discriminate the tugaksheeree samples using Minitab software. Conclusion: This method can be used as a tool to differentiate samples of tugaksheeree from its adulterants and substitutes.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 1393
Author(s):  
Ralitsa Robeva ◽  
Miroslava Nedyalkova ◽  
Georgi Kirilov ◽  
Atanaska Elenkova ◽  
Sabina Zacharieva ◽  
...  

Catecholamines are physiological regulators of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism during stress, but their chronic influence on metabolic changes in obese patients is still not clarified. The present study aimed to establish the associations between the catecholamine metabolites and metabolic syndrome (MS) components in obese women as well as to reveal the possible hidden subgroups of patients through hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis. The 24-h urine excretion of metanephrine and normetanephrine was investigated in 150 obese women (54 non diabetic without MS, 70 non-diabetic with MS and 26 with type 2 diabetes). The interrelations between carbohydrate disturbances, metabolic syndrome components and stress response hormones were studied. Exploratory data analysis was used to determine different patterns of similarities among the patients. Normetanephrine concentrations were significantly increased in postmenopausal patients and in women with morbid obesity, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension but not with prediabetes. Both metanephrine and normetanephrine levels were positively associated with glucose concentrations one hour after glucose load irrespectively of the insulin levels. The exploratory data analysis showed different risk subgroups among the investigated obese women. The development of predictive tools that include not only traditional metabolic risk factors, but also markers of stress response systems might help for specific risk estimation in obesity patients.


Author(s):  
Anna Wójtowicz ◽  
Agata Mitura ◽  
Renata Wietecha-Posłuszny ◽  
Rafał Kurczab ◽  
Marcin Zawadzki

AbstractVitreous humor (VH) is an alternative biological matrix with a great advantage of longer availability for analysis due to the lack of many enzymes. The use of VH in forensic toxicology may have an added benefit, however, this application requires rapid, simple, non-destructive, and relatively portable analytical analysis methods. These requirements may be met by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy technique (FT-IR) equipped with attenuated total reflection accessory (ATR). FT-IR spectra of vitreous humor samples, deposited on glass slides, were collected and subsequent chemometric data analysis by means of Hierarchical Cluster Analysis and Principal Component Analysis was conducted. Differences between animal and human VH samples and human VH samples stored for diverse periods of time were detected. A kinetic study of changes in the VH composition up to 2 weeks showed the distinction of FT-IR spectra collected on the 1st and 14th day of storage. In addition, data obtained for the most recent human vitreous humor samples—collected 3 and 2 years before the study, presented successful discrimination of all time points studied. The method introduced was unable to detect mephedrone addition to VH in the concentration of 10 µg/cm3. Graphic abstract


Author(s):  
Mi Hyeon Seong ◽  
Eunyoung Shin ◽  
Sohyune Sok

The purpose of this study is to identify the types of perception of successful aging in middle-aged men and to analyze and describe the characteristics of each type of successful aging perception of middle-aged men in South Korea. This study uses an exploratory study design, applying the Q methodology, which is a subjective research method. The participants were 25 middle-aged men (40 to 60 years old) living in C, Y, and B cities, which were P-samples that were judged to best reveal the successful aging of middle-aged men. In this study, principal component analysis of the PQ method program was used. The five perception types of successful aging among middle-aged men are Type 1 for the “leisure type”, Type 2 for the “mature type”, Type 3 for the “health-oriented type”, Type 4 for the “patriarchal type”, and Type 5 for the “family-centered type”. The mature type had the highest variance among the five types, and the leisure type was the type that showed the second-highest variance. In nursing practice, nurses need to pay attention to the successful aging perceptions of middle-aged Korean men for their successful aging in the future.


Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1411
Author(s):  
José Luis P. Calle ◽  
Marta Ferreiro-González ◽  
Ana Ruiz-Rodríguez ◽  
Gerardo F. Barbero ◽  
José Á. Álvarez ◽  
...  

Sherry wine vinegar is a Spanish gourmet product under Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). Before a vinegar can be labeled as Sherry vinegar, the product must meet certain requirements as established by its PDO, which, in this case, means that it has been produced following the traditional solera and criadera ageing system. The quality of the vinegar is determined by many factors such as the raw material, the acetification process or the aging system. For this reason, mainly producers, but also consumers, would benefit from the employment of effective analytical tools that allow precisely determining the origin and quality of vinegar. In the present study, a total of 48 Sherry vinegar samples manufactured from three different starting wines (Palomino Fino, Moscatel, and Pedro Ximénez wine) were analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The spectroscopic data were combined with unsupervised exploratory techniques such as hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA), as well as other nonparametric supervised techniques, namely, support vector machine (SVM) and random forest (RF), for the characterization of the samples. The HCA and PCA results present a clear grouping trend of the vinegar samples according to their raw materials. SVM in combination with leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) successfully classified 100% of the samples, according to the type of wine used for their production. The RF method allowed selecting the most important variables to develop the characteristic fingerprint (“spectralprint”) of the vinegar samples according to their starting wine. Furthermore, the RF model reached 100% accuracy for both LOOCV and out-of-bag (OOB) sets.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. e243093
Author(s):  
Koichi Hata ◽  
Chikara Sakaguchi ◽  
Michiko Tsuchiya ◽  
Yukio Nagasaka

Used for a wide range of cancers, nivolumab has been reported to cause immune-related adverse events, including isolated adrenocorticotropic hormone deficiency (IAD). We report an 81-year-old woman with malignant mesothelioma who presented with abdominal pain after eight courses of nivolumab therapy, leading to the diagnosis of nivolumab-induced IAD. We should consider adrenal insufficiency (AI) when a patient on nivolumab complains of abdominal pain and has no other explanatory findings. Infusion-resistant hypotension and hyponatraemia can further suggest AI.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katiuska Satué ◽  
Esterina Fazio ◽  
Ana Muñoz ◽  
Pietro Medica

In cycling females, the periovulatory period is characterized by stimulation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis. The aim of present study was to analyze the pattern and interrelationships among adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), cortisol (CORT), aldosterone (ALD) and electrolytes (sodium—Na+, potassium—K+ and chloride—Cl−) during periovulatory period in cycling mares. Venous blood samples were obtained daily from a total of 23 Purebred Spanish broodmares, aged 7.09 ± 2.5 years, from day −5 to day +5 of estrous cycle, considering day 0, the day of ovulation. Plasma ACTH was measured by a fluorescent immunoassay kit, serum CORT and ALD by means of a competitive ELISA immunoassay, and plasma Na+, K+ and Cl− were quantified by an analyzer with selective electrodes for the three ions. ACTH showed higher concentrations at day 0 compared to days −5 to −1 and +1 to +3 (p < 0.05). CORT showed higher concentrations at day 0 compared to days −5 to −2 and +1 to +5 (p < 0.05). ALD showed higher concentrations at day 0 compared to days −5 to −2 (p < 0.05) and +2 (p < 0.05). Na+ and Cl− showed higher concentrations at day 0, compared to day −5 and +5. K+ showed lower concentrations at day 0 compared to day +1 (p < 0.05). The significant correlations obtained between ACTH and CORT (r = 0.20) and between ACTH and ALD (r = 0.32) suggest that although ACTH may have an effect both on CORT and ALD, there are other very important determinants that could be considered. Hence, it is possible to presume that the pituitary adrenocortical response and ALD may be involved in the ovulatory mechanisms without a direct relation with electrolyte pattern.


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