Investigation of Blood Betatrophin Levels in Obese Children with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / 대한소아소화기영양학회지

PURPOSE: The prevalence of obesity has significantly increased among children and adolescents worldwide and is becoming an important health care problem in parallel with the increased prevalence of obesity pediatric non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Betatrophin is a newly define hormone that is commonly secreted by liver and plays role in glucose tolerance. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum betatrophin levels and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in obese children. METHODS: The study included 40 obese children with a body mass index (BMI) above 95th centile, and 35 non-obese subjects with a BMI 3-85th centile, whose age and gender were similar to those of the patient group. For the evaluation of metabolic parameters fasting serum glucose, insulin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, lipid profile and serum betatrophin levels were measured. Total cholesterol: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratios were calculated as “atherogenic indices.” RESULTS: Serum betatrophin levels of the obese subjects were similar to that of non-obese subjects (p=0.90). Betatrophin levels were not correlated with the metabolic parameters. CONCLUSION: In the present study, levels of betatrophin are not different between obese and insulin resistant children and non-obese subjects, and they are not correlated with atherogenic indices. To elucidate the exact role of betatrophin in obesity, further studies are required to identify the betatrophin receptor and/or other possible cofactors.

Role of oxidative stress on vaginal bleeding during the first trimester of pregnant women

Reactive oxygen species [ROS] are produced in many metabolic and physiologic processes. Antioxidative mechanisms remove these harmful species. Our aim was to assess whether serum total antioxidant capacity and total oxidant status altered during first trimester pregnancies with vaginal bleeding. In this cross-sectional study, A group of pregnant women at less than 10 weeks of gestation with vaginal bleeding [n=25] and a control group of healthy pregnancies with similar characteristics [n=25] were included. All of the patients in the two groups were matched for age, gestational age and body mass index. Serum total antioxidant capacity and total oxidant status levels were determined using a Hitachi 912 analyzer and compared between the two groups. Characteristics, including maternal age, parity, and gestational age were similar between the two groups. Serum total antioxidant capacity levels were significantly lower in the women with vaginal bleeding than in control women [1.16 +/- 0.20 vs.1.77 +/- 0.08 mmol Trolox Equiv. /L; p=0.001], whereas higher total oxidant status measurements were found in women with vaginal bleeding compared to the control group [4.01 +/- 0.20 vs.2.57 +/- 0.65 micromol H[2]O[2] Equiv. /L; p=0.001]. Increased total oxidant status might be involved in the pathophysiology of vaginal bleeding during early first trimester pregnancies

Serum thrombopoietin levels in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

To observe thrombopoietin [TPO] levels in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease [NAFLD]. The study was performed between November 2010 and March 2011 at the Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Fatih University, Ankara, Turkey. A total of 60 consecutive patients with ultrasound proven NAFLD [study group], and 28 healthy volunteers [control study] were included in the study. The patient group was divided into 3 subgroups according to the ultrasonographic images as follows: minimal, intermediate, and marked hepatosteatosis. The TPO levels of the patient subgroups were compared with the healthy controls. All the data were collected prospectively, and recorded in FUHIS data collecting system, which is produced by our data-knowledge team. Quantitative measurements of thrombopoietin level were carried out by using the Human Thrombopoietin Quantikine ELISA Kit [R and D Systems, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA]. Thrombopoietin levels were significantly increased in the patient subgroups compared with the controls. The TPO levels were also higher in the patient subgroup of grade 1-nonalcoholic fatty liver disease [grade 1- NAFLD] compared with the control group. The TPO increased in patients with NAFLD possibly as an acute phase reactant to decreased inflammation. In clinical practice, physicians should be alerted to increased TPO levels in patients