study on the effect of hyperglycemia, glycosylated hemoglobin and duration of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus on the activity of antioxidant enzymes [superoxide dismutase and catalase]

This work was designed to study the activity of antioxidant enzymes [Superoxide Dismutase [SOD] and catalase [CAT]] with regard to the blood level of glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin [GHA1c] and duration of disease in insulin dependent diabetes mellitus [IDDM]. A total of 24 insulin dependent diabetic children and 15 healthy control non diabetic children were investigated. Their ages ranged from 6-15 years. Age and weight had no significant effect on the GHA1c nor the antioxidant enzymes [SOD and CAT]. But our results showed that there was a highly statistically significant decrease in SOD [142.2+35.7] and CAT [87.7 +40.1] of the group of IDDM when compared with the control group [SOD=194.8 + 18.8 and CAT = 137=28.5 P < 0.001]. These results showed a good negative correlation with the fasting blood sugar level but no statistical significant difference with GHA1C level Also the results of this study showed a good correlation between the antioxidant and the duration of the disease. And on studying the logistic regression we found that SOD is more significantly dependent and sensitive to the modal than the CAT. We conclude that the risk of the microangiopathy, which is the major cause of tissue damage disability and death in IDDM, appears to increase linear with the duration of diabetes, due to the positive correlation between antioxidant enzymes and the duration of the disease. Further more the short persistent episodes of hyperglycemia is responsible for the onset and progression of these abnormalities as the antioxidants significantly decreases with increase in F.B.S rather than with the GHA1c

Serum prolactin and cortisol in children with epilepsy and febrile convulsions

Serum prolactin and cortisol levels were estimated in 67 children having either febrile convulsions [group 1 of 24 cases], epilepsy [group 2 of 20 cases] and non-specific fever with no seizures [group 3 of 23 cases]. Their ages ranged from 1 to 8 years. These studied groups were matched with a control group [4] of 20 healthy children of same ages with no fever and non-epileptic. Blood samples were taken as soon as possible postictial [within 2 hours from the fit]. All serum levels were compared between the different studied groups. Mean serum prolactin levels [32.9 SD13.9 ng/ml] were significantly higher [P>0.001] in epileptic group than in the group with febrile convulsions [14.2 SD 6.4 ng/ml], group of non-specific febrile illness [13.7 SD 6.0 ng/ml]and normal controls [12.8 SD 6.l ng/ml]. It was thus also evident that postictial mean serum prolactin level was slightly higher in febrile convulsions than the non-specific febrile group and the control group,this increase was within the normal ranges for their ages and was thus statistically insignificant [P<0.05]. Mean serum cortisol levels were non-specifically elevated in children with epilepsy [13.1 SD 7.6 ug/dl], febrile convulsions [36.4 SD 8.9 ug/dl] and non-specific febrile illness [30.2SD9.0 ug/dl]. The mean of these three groups was highly statistically significantly increased than the control group [m=11.9 SD 4.7 ug/ml and P> 0.001]. Our observations suggests that elevated serum prolactin levels associated with afebrile true epileptic seizures may help in differentiating epilepsy from febrile seizures. But cortisol levels appear to be non -specifically elevated in all stressful conditions. Thus, we recommend the utility of diagnostic capillary blood collection kits to assist the diagnosis of febrile convulsions even in the out-patient clinic