Iron body status, ceruloplasmin levels and oxidative stress in pre- and postmenopausal women at baghdad city

Estimatiorfof different iron body status markers, ceruloplas-min and oxidative stress in pre- and postmenopausal women at Baghdad city. This study was performed at the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, College of medicine, AI-Nahrain University, Baghdad, Iraq from January 2009 to October 2009. The study consisted of 42 healthy women categorized into two groups premeno-pausal women [n= 22] aged 29.71 +/-8.92 years and postmenopausal women [n=20] aged 53.33 +/- 4.61 years. Iron, total iron binding capacity [TIBC] were measured colorimetrically, ferritin levels were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA], ceruloplas-min level was estimated by radial immunodiffusion technique whereas malondialdehyde was quantified colorimetrically. Non-significant increase [P>0.05] in iron, ferritin levels, transferrin saturation percents in sera of postmenopausal women and non- significant increase [P>0.05] in total iron binding capacity [TIBC] transferrin, iron stores in sera of premenopausal women. Malondialdehyde increased non- significantly [P=0.44] in premenopausal women whereas ceruloplasmin increased significantly [P=0.000] in postmenopausal women group. On the other hand ferritin was correlated positively and significantly with body mass index [BMI] [r= 0.696; P < 0.05] and with ceruloplasmin levels [r=0.725; P<0.05] in pre- and postmenopausal women. Hormonal changes which usually associated with menopause may be the cause of increased oxidative stress and consequent rise in ceruloplasmin levels, as an antioxidant response

Serum gamma-glutamyltransferase as oxidative stress marker in pre-and postmenopausal Iraqi women

The primary role of gamma-glutamyltransferase is to metabolize reduced glutathione by assimilating and utilizing precursor amino acids for intracellular glutathione synthesis. The aim of this study is to investigate the exact role of gamma-glutamyltransferase enzyme in the oxidative stress associated with menopause. This study was carried out at the Chemistry and Biochemistry department, Al Nahrain University from October 2009 to January 2010. The study participants were categorized into two groups; premenopausal group [n=17] and postmenopausal group [n=16]. Blood specimens were collected from each participant by vein puncture procedure. The g-glutamyltransferase enzyme was measured by kinetic spectrophotometric method while glutathione and malondialdehyde were measured by spectrophotometric methods. Serum glutathione levels in pre- and postmenopausal women were 0.62 +/- 0.17 and 0.47 +/- 0.11 mmol/L respectively. Serum g-glutamyltransferase levels increased significantly in the postmenopausal women group [p=0.025] compared to the premenopausal women group. Serum malondialdehyde levels were 1.04 +/- 0.06 and 1.32 +/- 0.05 mmol/L in pre- and postmenopausal groups respectively. Serum g-glutamyltransferase may be considered as an index of oxidative stress associated with menopause

Evaluation of albuim-cobalt binding as a specific test for assessment of myocardial infarction

The new biological marker, ischemia modified albumin [IMA] measured by albumin cobalt binding [ACB] test was introducted for the detection of myocardial ischemia. The aim of the present study was to describe the performance characteristics of the ACB test in suspected acute coronary syndrome patients who presented to the emergency myocardial infarction. Forty five patients presented to the emergency department [ED] with chest pain and 31 healthy controls were involved in the study. Serum albumin and ACB test were performed on all subjects, while serum CK-MB was done on patients with chest pain only. The patients were diagnosed to have either myocardial infarction, MI [30] or unstable angina, UA [15]. Thesensitivity and specificity of the ACB test for the detection of ischemia were evaluated by ROC curve analysis. ACB test could be considered as an early test for myocardial ischemia and could detect ischemia much earlier than other eardiac markers the significant negative predictive value of the test may play an important role in the rapid ride out of myocardial ischemia and will reduce the inappropriate admission of low risk patients. However it is a poor discriminator between patients with MI and those with UA

Increased serum sialic acids in depression

Total serum sialic acid [TSA] and lipid associated sialic acid [LSA] have not been measured yet in depressive disorders. The present study was undertaken to show if there is [lily change in the concentration of different forms of sialic acids in patients with depressive disorder TSA and LSA levels have been estimated in serum of 72 patients with depression, in addition to 50 healthy controls reflect a significant increase[p < 0.05] in the TSA aid BSA in the depressed patients as compared with healthy controls It could be concluded that TSA and BSA could reflect an immune like response to depression associated with increase in the siaylation of different glycoproteins

Beta-carotene, glycemic control and dyslipidemia in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is a stressful condition in which the increased production of free radicals impairs the generation of naturally occurring antioxidants like vitamins and carotenoids. The present study deals with the changes in serum fl'-carotene in type 2 diabetes mellitus, as modulated by glycemic control and oxidative stress. Multiple biochemical parameters were obtained from plasma of 57 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus [25 males and 32 females], on oral hypoglycemic with a disease duration of 1- 15 years and 37 healthy normal subject s of matching age and sex to serve as controls. The biochemical parameters measured in the present study included the glycated Hb [HbAlc], serum lipids [total cholesterol TC, triglycerides TG, high and low density lipoprotein cholesterols, HDL-C and LDL-C], lipid peroxides and serum beta-carotene. Results revealed a marked reduction of beta-carotene in the diabetics in a pattern proportional to that of the glycemic control, dyslipidemia and oxidative stress. Possible causes, mechanisms and suggestions underlining these changes are discussed

Effect of glycemic control and hypertension on Serum basic amino acids in type II diabetes mellitus

Abnormal insulin secretion has been considered the main cause of changes in carbohydrate lipid and protein metabolism in diabetes mellitus [DM] with increased muscle proteolysis and amino acid mobilization to study the effect of glycemic control and hypertension, on three basic amino acids arginine [Arg.] lysine [Lys] and histidine [His] in type II DM. Fifty five patients with type II diabetes mellitus [DM] were included in the study. They were 39 nortnotensive and 16 hypertensives with different grades of glycemic control as revealed by the level of glycated Hb [HbAk]. Thirty eight were with poor control; HbAlc > 8.5%, [27 normotensives and II hypertensives] while 17 were with acceptable range of control, HbAlc 6.8 - 8.5% [12 normotensives and 5 hypertensives]. Forty non diabetic subjects [28 normotensives and 12 hypertensives] were also included in the study as a control group. Glycatcd Hb [HbAk] was measured by affinity resin column chromatography and serum amino acid analysis was done by reversed high performance liquid chromatography. The results show that type II DM had caused a significant reduction in serum Arg [a precursor of nitric oxide which has an important role in the reduction of diabetic complications] with a significant elevation in serum Lys.while no change in serum His could be seen. Hypertension, on the other hand, has caused a significant elevation in serum His in both diabetics and non diabetics. Serum Arg was not changed while a significant elevation in serum Lys. was found in the non diabetic hypertensive subjects which disappeared in the diabetic hypertensive patients. No effect of the glycemic control on the concentration of any of the three amino acids could be detected in the diabetics of the present study. The possible suggestions and explanations for these events are mentioned

Serum lipid alterations in retinopathy of type II [non-insulin dependent] diabetes mellitus

Fasting serum glucose, fructosamine, lipids, and lipoproteins were measured in 49 non-insulin dependent diabetics. Of these, 15 were without retinopathy, 12 with exudative type, and 22 with proliferative retinopathy. The groups were closely matched for age, sex, and duration of diabetes. The increased serum fructosamin values were significant correlated with high serum glucose in diabetic retinopathy [P< 0.001] and non-retinopaths [P< 0.01]. Nevertheless, all diabetic groups had exhibited no s relationship of serum fructosamine and main lipids or lipoprotien fractions. The means of serum triglyceride [TG], total cholesterol [TCH], very low density lipoprotein cholesterol [VLDL-CH], and low density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-CH] were significantly increased with the severity of retinopathy. High density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-CH] concentrations in all diabetic groups were comparable to their corresponders of 22 healthy controls. A high ratio of LDL-CH/HDL-CH was observed only in proliferative type [P< 0.05]. Adjustment for different treatment modalities had revealed alteration in serum lipid fractions among other groups

Effect of metabolic control on serum lipids in non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus

Changes in serum lipids, as modulated by metabolic control, in non- insulin dependent diabetes mellitus were studied in 51 patients [17 males and 34 famales]. The results were compared to those obtained from a group of 34 healthy non-diabetic controls of matching age and sex. There is a significant difference in the level of serum lipids between the diabetics and non- diabetics. However no effect of the degree of metabolic control on these changes appears to exist in the present study. possible mechanisum underlying these changes are presented

Changes in serum zinc, copper, and magnesium during nephrotic syndrome, a possible role for copper in hyperlipidemia

Changes in serum Zn, Cu and Mg were studied in 20 patients who had nephrotic syndrome [NS],but normal renal function. On comparing the results with those obtained from 44 healthy subjects, a significant elevation in serum Zn and Mg with a significant reduction in serum Cu were noticed in the nephrotic patients. Serum Cu, only, showed a significant positive correlation with serum albumin and a significant negative correlation with the ratio of serum total cholesterol to high density lipoprotein cholesterol, Tc/ HDLC, This suggests the presence of a relation between serum Cu concentration and the severity of the NS, on one hand, and a possible role for Cu in the process of atherosclerosis as reflected by changes in serum lipids

Hyperlipidemia and severity of the nephrotic syndrome

The changes in the concentration of serum lipids in nephrotic syndrome [N.S.] have been studied on thirty eight patients. Percutaneous renal biopsy was performed on all of them. The results showed that: [1] Fredrickson type II b hyper lipoproteinemia was the predominant among those patients [65.8%]. [2] None of the patients showed type I or type V hyper lipoproteinemia, [3] an inverse correlation was found between the ratio of low density lipoprotein cholesterol to high density lipoprotein cholesterol and the severity of the disease as indicated by the degree of hypoalbuminemia, [4] No correlation could be found between changes in serum lipids and the cause of N.S. as assessed by renal histopathological study

Percentage incidence of lead intoxication in 35 clinically suspected patients

Percentage incidence of lead intoxication was investigated in 35 patients. All of them were clinically suspected for lead poisoning. The percentage incidence in the whole group was 8.2; being higher among children than adults [15.4 and 4.5 respectively]. The reason behind this finding and the possible sources of lead intoxication are discussed