Plasma levels of resistin and ghrelin before and after treatment in patients with hyperthyroidism.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate ghrelin and resistin concentrations in patients with hyperthyroidism before and after restoration to a euthyroid state and to correlate the 2 peptides with anthropometric and insulin resistance parameters. METHODS: The study included hyperthyroid patients and euthyroid healthy participants as a control group. Hyperthyroid patients were evaluated at the start of the study and after normalization of thyroid function with appropriate antithyroid drugs. Anthropometric parameters, insulin resistance parameters (fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin, and homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance), thyroid function tests, and measurement of ghrelin and resistin were assessed in patients and control participants. RESULTS: The study included 40 hyperthyroid patients (32 women and 8 men, aged 26-42 years) and 30 euthyroid healthy participants (20 women and 10 men, aged 25-43 years) as a control group. In hyperthyroid patients, serum resistin levels and insulin resistance parameters were higher and plasma ghrelin levels were lower than in control participants (P<.001), and all normalized after treatment. Ghrelin levels were correlated only with insulin resistance parameters, but no correlations with any anthropometric or laboratory data were found. Resistin levels did not correlate with any clinical or laboratory data of hyperthyroid patients. CONCLUSION: In hyperthyroid patients, resistin was increased and ghrelin was decreased, they were not related to anthropometric parameters, and they normalized after treatment of hyperthyroidism.

Correction of hemodialysis anemia is associated with significant increase in serum concentration of IGF-I in patients treated with erythropoietin: a randomized controlled study.

BACKGROUND: The effect of erythropoietin (EPO) therapy on the serum level of IGF-I among hemodialysis patients is debated. The aim of this study is to study the effect of EPO on the erythropoiesis and the change of serum level of IGF-I among adequately hemodialyzed patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty patients (25 males and 15 females) who had an adequate level of both hemodialysis and nutrition were randomly allocated into two equal groups. Besides parenteral iron, the first group of patients received a conventional EPO dose regimen of 2000 U subcutaneously (SC) thrice weekly, the second group of patients remained on parenteral iron and ranked as a control group. The patients were subjected to thorough laboratory investigations. IGF-I concentration was measured before and at the end of the study. RESULTS: Both groups were comparable in their demographic, laboratory, dialysis level, and nutritional status. There was no statistical differences in hemoglobin, hematocrit %, iron store indices and serum level of IGF-I at the study entry. We found a significant rise of both hemoglobin and hematocrit as well as IGF-I serum level in the EPO group at the end of the study in comparison to their values at the starting points in comparison to the control group (P< 0.001). CONCLUSION: Erythropoietin therapy enhances erythropoiesis and modulates the serum concentration of IGF-I.