Pleiotropic effects of ursodeoxycholic acid in patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis with impaired glycemic control

The goal was to determine the effect of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) with impaired glycemic control.Materials and methods. 67 patients NASH were examined: prediabetes — 38 (56.7%), type 2 diabetes mellitus 29 (43.3%), men — 39 (58.2%), women — 28 (41.8%), age — 45.1 ± 10.2 years. The UDCA dose was 9.4 ± 2.0 mg / kg / day during 59.7 ± 77.6 weeks. Fragments of cytokeratin-18 (FCK-18) (TPS ELISA, Biotech, Sweden), TNF-α (Human TNFα Platinum ELISA, eBioscience, Austria), IL-6 (“Interleukin-6-IFA-Best”, Vector-Best, Russia), insulin (“Insulin TEST System”, Monobind Inc., USA), HOMA-IR were determined.Results. There was a decrease in the levels of FCK-18 — from 238.1 ± 93.7 to 170.7 ± 79.2 U / l (p <0.05), ALT — 61.3 ± 19.0 to 38.9 ± 19.1 U / l (p <0.05), glucose 5.9 ± 1.3 to 5.5 ± 0.7 mmol / l (p <0.05), insulin 21.9 ± 18.2 to 13.7 ± 9.7 MkU / l, HOMA-IR — 5.8 ± 2.2 to 3.1 ± 0.8 (p <0.05), cholesterol — 6.2 ± 0.9 to 5.3 ± 0.3 mmol / l, LDL — 3.9 ± 0.9 to 3.2 ± 0.6 mmol / l (p <0.05), TNF-α 6.3 ± 1.5 to 5.4 ± 2.1 pg / ml (p <0.05), IL-6–7.1 ± 3.4 to 4, 1 ± 3.2 pg / ml (p <0.05).Conclusion. UDCA had pleiotropic effects in NASH with impaired glycemic control, reducing cellular apoptosis, necrosis, inflammation, improving insulin sensitivity and lipid homeostasis.

New Insights in Growth Hormone Stimulation Tests Protocols

Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze the performance of 2 stimulation tests used in the diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency.Method: A retrospective study was conducted on a non-random sample of 310 patients, between 2 and 20 years old, who were hospitalized in the Mureș County Hospital’s Endocrinology Department and in the National Institute of Endocrinology C.I. Parhon with short stature between 2009-2015. Inclusion criteria: all subjects who underwent growth hormone stimulation tests in accordance with the national protocol. Microsoft Office Excel was used for data collection and MedCalc v 12.5 was used for statistical analysis.Results: From the total of 310 patients, 102 were diagnosed in Târgu Mureș and 208 in Bucharest. Sex ratio favored boys (boys:girls 1.64:1). In 173 subjects growth hormone deficiency was confirmed. For both tests the percentage of maximum response was the highest for the 60 minutes blood sample regardless if the test were positive or not. Both tests have 100% sensitivity and negative predictive value, with the highest specificity for the 60 minutes clonidine and 30 minutes insulin. The false positive rate was 60% for the insulin test and 27.2% for clonidine for Târgu Mureș sample and 86.9% for the insulin test and 62.5% for clonidine for Bucharest sample. The concordance of the 2 tests was 49.36%.Conclusions: Stimulating growth hormone testing has a number of limitations but is still needed in some auxological circumstances. We recommend performing the clonidine test first to exclude idiopathic short stature and then the insulin tolerance test for the diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency.

Insulin sensitization with a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ agonist prevents adrenocortical lipid infiltration and secretory changes induced by a high-sucrose diet

It has been hypothesized that deviations in glucocorticoid secretion and/or action may contribute to somatic and biochemical changes observed in patients with and animal models of insulin resistance (IR). In this study, we analyzed changes in rat adrenocortical function and morphology associated with the development of IR, generated in male adult rats by the addition of 30% sucrose to the drinking water. Caloric intake, body and adipose tissue weights, and biochemical parameters associated with IR were determined. Expression levels ofStar,Cyp11A1,Mc2r,Pparγ(Pparg), andCd36were evaluated by real-time PCR, histochemical analysis of the adrenal cortex was performed using Masson's trichrome and Sudan III staining, and corticosterone levels were measured by RIA. After 7 weeks of sucrose administration, higher serum glucose, insulin, and triglyceride levels and an altered glycemic response to an i.p. insulin test were detected. Adrenal glands showed a neutral lipid infiltration. An increase inStar,Cyp11A1,Mc2r,PpargandCd36and a decrease inMc2rlevels were also found. Furthermore, sucrose-treated animals exhibited higher basal corticosterone levels and a blunted response to ACTH injection. Noteworthy, the adrenocortical (functional and histological) abnormalities were prevented in sucrose-treated rats by the simultaneous administration of an insulin-sensitizing PPARγ agonist. In conclusion, sucrose-induced IR affects adrenocortical morphology and function possibly via the generation of adipokines or lipid metabolites within the adrenal gland. These abnormalities are prevented by the administration of a PPARγ agonist by mechanisms involving both extra- and intra-adrenal effects.