Thyroid dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Jordan

To investigate the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction and autoimmunity in type 2 diabetic patients. The study was conducted at the National Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Genetics, Jordan University Hospital, Amman, Jordan, between March 2000 and September 2000. A group of 908 type 2 diabetic patients [T2DM] were recruited in the study and underwent investigations for thyroid functions; free thyroxine [FT4], free tri-iodothyronine [FT3] and thyroid stimulating hormone [TSH]. Six hundred had performed thyroid autoantibodies, thyroid peroxidase antibodies [TPOab] or antimicrosomal antibodies [AMA] and thyroglobulin antibodies [Tgab]. They were compared with 304 non-diabetics, of those 282 had performed thyroid antibodies. Fifty-three [5.9%] of diabetic patients were known to have thyroid disease. As a direct result of screening, new thyroid disease cases were diagnosed in 6.6% of the patients. Thus, the overall prevalence of thyroid disease was found to be 12.5%. The most common was subclinical hypothyroidism [4.1%]. In the control group, the prevalence of thyroid disease was 6.6%. The most common was subclinical hypothyroidism [5%]. There was a significant difference between diabetics and control subjects p=0.0064. Positive TPOab was found in 8.3% of T2DM patients [N=600] versus 10.3% in the control group [N=282] p=0.412. Positivity for both TPOab and Tgab was found to be 2.5% of T2DM versus 6% of the control subjects p=0.0155. This study suggests that diabetic patients should be screened for asymptomatic thyroid dysfunction

improved method for the preparation of poly [adenosine diphosphate-ribose] with twenty units length chain

Poly [adenosine diphosphate-ribose [Poly [ADP-ribose]] is a novel biopolymer with a promising application in clinical diagnostic procedures. Goat and calf thymus glands and severa' established cell lines were assessed as a source for the preparation of tritiated3 H-poly [ADP-ribose]. Comparing the perparations from the different cell sources with respect to yield and chain length, it was observed that Hela cell nuclei and calf thymus were better than nuclei prepared from goat thymus, CLA4, K562 and L1210 cell lines. Although Hela cell nuclei were slightly better, preparations from calf thymus nuclei were preferred as they are more readily available, cheap and easier to handle. In this preparation [3H] nicotinamide dinucleotide [NAD] was used as a precursor. The polymer was purified by enzymic digestion, phenol extraction and chromatography on aminoethyl cellulose, hydroxylapatite and Sephadex-G25. Thin layer chromatography, following digestion of the polymer with snake venom diesterase, showed that it has an average chain length of twenty units