Assessment of body composition of male patients with type 2 diabetes by bioelectrical impedance analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder and as such should affect the components of body composition of diabetics. The changes it induces in patients complement the anthropological characteristics of this disease. The AIM of the present study was to assess the effect type 2 diabetes has on some of the body composition components in male diabetics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 169 male patients with type 2 diabetes. All patients (ethnical Bulgarian) were allocated into two age groups: group 1--patients aged 40-60 years and group 2--patients aged 61-80 years. Direct measurements of parameters were performed with a Tanita body composition analyser. The bioimpedance parameters we measured were body fat percentage (%BF), total body water percentage (%TBW), muscle mass (MM), bone mass (BM), and visceral fat (VF). The derived parameters were total body fat (TBF) (kg), active body mass (ABM) (kg), active body mass percentage. RESULTS: Body composition of male diabetics aged 40-60 years: %BF, VF and TBF were statistically significantly higher in diabetics than in healthy controls. Body composition of male diabetic patients aged 61-80 years: BM and VF were significantly higher in diabetic patients than in controls. %BF and MM did not have a high statistical significance. Inter-age comparison of body composition in male diabetics: we found that %BF, %TBW, MM and BM tend to be higher in 40-60-year-olds. Visceral fat was increased in the 61-80-year-olds, the difference reaching high statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Bioimpedance analysis (BIA) of body composition showed the total body fat in male diabetics of both age groups to be greater than that in controls. TBF was greater in the younger age group at the expense of the subcutaneous fat, while in the more elderly patients it was the visceral fat that was increased, which makes their body composition correlate rather adversely with the prognosis, course and outcome of the disease. The relative percentage of active body mass was greater in the healthy individuals than in diabetic patients. This parameter was higher in the younger age group of diabetic patients than in the more elderly patients; this finding is probably due to the longer duration of the disease and also to aging changes such as osteoporosis, muscle atrophy and decreased quantities of body water.

Serotonin-producing cells in human gastric mucosa--immunohistochemical and electron microscopic study.

UNLABELLED: The great many hormones released by the endocrine cells of the glands and lining epithelium of gastric mucosa determine its significance for the processes in the gastrointestinal tract. One of these hormones, serotonin, plays an important role in the regulation of the motility, secretion and sensation in the gastrointestinal tract. The aim of the present study was to conduct immunohistochemical and electron microscopic studies of serotonin-producing EC cell of gastric mucosa. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Gastric mucosa biopsies were obtained and studied immunihistochemically for serotonin expression in the mucosa endocrine cells. Electron microscopic study was performed to specify the processes of synthesis, accumulation and release of secretory product by those cells. RESULTS: The immunohistochemical study revealed a considerable number of serotonin-containing EC cells scattered in the lining epithelium and between the glands in the corpus and pyloric region of the stomach. The electron microscopic study followed the stages of formation of the secretory granules from the initial accumulation of granular substance, its membrane packing and formation of mature granules to their disintegration in the secretory process. CONCLUSIONS: Serotonin as a neurotransmitter and gastrointestinal hormone appears to be a key to understanding a number of symptoms of gastrointestinal disorders like nausea, vomiting, pain, diarrhea and constipation. A detailed study of serotonin functions in the gastrointestinal tract realised through different types of receptors, and of the development of specific antagonists and agonists to these receptors would open up new opportunities for a more efficient treatment of gastrointestinal disorders.