International Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism
Volume:20 Issue: 4, Oct 2022

Noninvasive risk prediction models have been widely used in various settings to identify individuals with undiagnosed diabetes.

We aimed to evaluate the discrimination, calibration, and clinical usefulness of the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) and Australian Diabetes Risk Assessment (AUSDRISK) to screen undiagnosed diabetes in Kerman, Iran.

We analyzed data from 2014 to 2018 in the second round of the Kerman Coronary Artery Disease Risk Factors Study (KERCADRS), Iran. Participants aged 35 - 65 with no history of confirmed diabetes were eligible. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) and decision curve analysis were applied to evaluate the discrimination power and clinical usefulness of the models, respectively. The calibration was assessed by the Hosmer-Lemeshow test and the calibration plots.

Out of 3262 participants, 145 (4.44%) had undiagnosed diabetes. The estimated AUROCs were 0.67 and 0.62 for the AUSDRISK and FINDRISC models, respectively (P < 0.001). The chi-square test results for FINDRISC and AUSDRISC were 7.90 and 16.47 for the original model and 3.69 and 14.61 for the recalibrated model, respectively. Based on the decision curves, useful threshold ranges for the original models of FINDRIS and AUSDRISK were 4% to 10% and 3% to 13%, respectively. Useful thresholds for the recalibrated models of FINDRISC and AUSDRISK were 4% to 8% and 4% to 9%, respectively.

The original AUSDRISK model performs better than FINDRISC in identifying patients with undiagnosed diabetes and could be used as a simple and noninvasive tool where access to laboratory facilities is costly or limited.

 The appropriate insulin injection skill is essential for optimal blood sugar control in patients with diabetes. However, the art of insulin injection is still not well understood in numerous medical centers.

 This study was designed to determine the association between appropriate insulin injection and blood glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes in Yazd, Iran.

 This cross-sectional study was conducted on 301 patients with type 2 diabetes who referred to Diabetes Research Center in Yazd within August 2020 to February 2021. Based on simple random sampling, the subjects with inclusion criteria, such as age >18 years, using an insulin pen for at least 3 months, and self-injection, were selected. The insulin injection technique was evaluated by a 13-item researcher-made questionnaire. The total score of this questionnaire was 26, and its validity and reliability were confirmed. The data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 20).

 The mean age of the participants was 59.83 ± 10.26 years, and 60.1% had primary school or less education. Most participants (87%) used a needle more than five times, and almost half of them (53.5%) did not rotate the injection sites properly. The patients who reported pain during injection had statically lower injection scores than others (17.90 vs. 19.38, P = 0.001). There was a significant negative correlation between insulin injection score with fasting blood sugar (β = -0.232, P < 0.001), two-hour postprandial glucose (β = -0.164, P = 0.005), and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level (β = -0.263, P < 0.001).

 None of the patients in this study fully followed the principles of a proper injection, which can lead to pain during injection, lipohypertrophy, hyperglycemia, and increased HbA1c levels.

Considering the close link between metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) and cardiovascular diseases, considerable attention has been devoted to the identification of their shared underlying pathological mechanisms in recent decades.

This study aimed to investigate the association between pro-inflammatory factors and newly-diagnosed MetSyn.

This case-control study recruited obese and nonobese individuals who were newly diagnosed with MetSyn (cases, n = 84) and healthy individuals (controls, n = 83). The medical and sociodemographic data of the participants were collected on enrollment. Serum analysis was performed to ascertain the concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), C-reactive protein (CRP), fasting blood sugar (FBS), total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and atherogenic coefficient (AC). Multiple regression analysis was carried out to explore the relationship between inflammatory markers and AC with MetSyn odds. The Pearson correlation test was also performed to investigate the correlations between metabolic and inflammatory parameters.

Positive relationships were observed between the serum levels of TNF-α and CRP with the odds of MetSyn following controlling for confounders (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.32; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01 - 1.72; AOR = 1.29; 95% CI: 1.18 - 1.41; respectively, P ≤ 0.03). Additionally, higher AC was accompanied by increased odds of MetSyn (AOR = 1.98; 95% CI: 1.31 - 2.98; P = 0.001). The Pearson correlation analysis also showed positive correlations between TNF-α levels and serum metabolic abnormalities, including elevated LDL-C, FBS, and AC and lowered HDL-C levels (P ≤ 0.02).

The present results revealed that higher serum concentrations of pro-inflammatory and atherogenic indices, including CRP, TNF-α, and AC, might be associated with elevated odds of newly diagnosed MetSyn regardless of potential confounders, particularly body mass index. The obtained findings might be moderated by the positive correlations observed between serum TNF-α, as the chronic inflammatory state indicator, and impaired lipid and glycemic markers.

 The current study aimed to compare fetal myocardial function and ventricular thickness in diabetic and normal pregnancies.

 Women with singleton pregnancies in the second or third trimester who were referred for routine prenatal or anomaly ultrasounds within March 2020 to February 2021 were enrolled in the study. Women with a positive history of overt or gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) were considered the case group (n = 50), and women without GDM were considered the control group (n = 50). The study did not include women with multifetal pregnancy, hypertension, intrauterine growth retardation, and polyhydramnios. A complete fetal Doppler echocardiography was performed to measure isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT), left myocardial performance index (MPI), E/A ratio, right and left ventricular wall thickness, and end-diastolic interventricular septal thickness (IVST). The data were analyzed using three types of decision tree (DT) algorithms, and the performance of each DT was measured on the testing dataset.

 The frequency of IVRT > 41 milliseconds was significantly higher in the case group than in the control group. The mean MPI values were 0.53 ± 0.15 and 0.43 ± 0.09 (P < 0.05), respectively, and the mean IVST values were 3.3 ± 1.11 and 2.49 ± 0.55 mm (P < 0.05) in the case and control groups, respectively, but not different between the subjects with overt or GDM (P > 0.05). Additionally, in the case group, the mean left MPI values were 0.57 ± 0.18 and 0.49 ± 0.12 in participants with poor and good glycemic control, respectively (P = 0.12).

 Complete prenatal echocardiography performed in the second or third trimester is an appropriate tool for the diagnosis of fetal cardiac dysfunction in diabetic mothers and is suggested to perform for diabetic mothers, even those with good glycemic control.

 Thyroid hormones are essential in the growth and maintenance of hair follicles. Numerous studies have evaluated the relationship between thyroid disorders and hair loss. However, no study has assessed the dermoscopic results in patients with hypothyroidism and hair loss.

 This study aimed to investigate dermoscopic findings of alopecia in patients with hypothyroidism and its probable relevance in the future.

 This analytic cross-sectional study was performed on patients with hair loss referred to dermatology clinics of Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Hypothyroid patients and an equal number of euthyroid individuals were compared. After recording the demographic and clinical characteristics, all patients were subjected to hair dermoscopy.

 A total of 164 patients with and without hypothyroidism with hair loss were studied. The frequency of hair shaft abnormalities (P < 0.001) and vellus hair (P < 0.001) significantly differed between the two groups. Dermoscopic findings related to scale abnormalities (P = 0.002) and their perifollicular type (P < 0.001) significantly differed between the groups. Vascular changes (P < 0.001), perifollicular concentric type (P = 0.012), and interfollicular red loops type (P = 0.005) were significantly higher in patients with hypothyroidism. Also, based on the multiple logistic regression model, the chance of abnormalities of the hair shaft, scales, and vascular changes increased by 3.24, 2.73, and 3.53, respectively, in hypothyroidism compared to euthyroidism.

 Regarding the promising results of this study, we could detect possible dermoscopic signs of inflammation in hypothyroid patients with hair loss. Further investigations are needed because there is a shortage of evidence on this novel diagnostic method.

 Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) screening should be performed continuously at the primary care level in order to prevent disabling complications. Due to the high prevalence of undiagnosed T2DM in the Republic of Uzbekistan, a decision was made to implement a nationwide screening program aimed at T2DM patients.

 The current study, taking into account the limited resources of Uzbekistan's health care system, aimed to offer the most effective, simple, and economical option required for the actual implementation of regular T2DM screening in the country’s primary care.

 The screening was conducted from December 2018 to March 2019. There were four different scenarios, which differed in terms of eligibility criteria and the methodology adopted for detecting dysglycemia.

 A total of 2,430 patients were examined in four months. The T2DM diagnosis was established by an endocrinologist in 9.3% of the cases with one eligibility criterion and 15.9% of the cases with three eligibility criteria. The diagnosis of T2DM was established by an endocrinologist in 11.7% of the cases with HbA1c screening and 13.5% of the cases with glucose screening.

 The screening was feasible in Uzbekistan only in limited conditions. The reasonable strategy was found to be the screening for incidental glycemia in all patients with at least one T2D risk factor. It was recommended that patients with incidental glycemia ≥ 7.8 mmol/L should be tested for fasting glycemia.

 Adrenal lymphoma is a rare condition which may occur in one of two forms; either as primary adrenal lymphoma (PAL), or secondary to a systematic lymphoma. Primary adrenal lymphoma is a very rare diagnosis and the most common histological pattern is diffuse large B-cell non‑Hodgkin lymphoma.

 In this study, we represent two examples of adrenal lymphoma, primary and secondary. In addition, we have included a mini-review of the literature regarding this rare presentation.

 We retrospectively reviewed all patients who were diagnosed with adrenal lymphoma in our hospital. We represent mainly the most two challenging cases where adrenal surgery was required to confirm the diagnosis. We have included a mini-review of the literature (PubMed data base: 1990 - 2020) on the clinical presentation and management of adrenal lymphoma cases.

 Seventeen patients had adrenal lymphoma in our hospital; 16 of them had secondary involvement of the adrenal gland, while the last one had primary adrenal lymphoma. Patients with adrenal lymphoma mainly present with fever, lumbar pain, and/or symptoms of adrenal insufficiency. Primary adrenal lymphoma usually appears as heterogeneous complex large masses with low density on computerized tomography (CT) scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); however, there is no pathognomonic features to diagnose PAL. The diagnosis is confirmed only with tissue biopsy. Chemotherapy is generally the standard treatment for lymphoma, while the role of surgery is limited.

 The prognosis of these rare cases is generally poor with only about a third of patients achieving partial or complete remission following treatment.