Effects of Age and Biological Age-Determining Factors on Telomere Length in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients.

Background and Objectives: Telomere length (TL) undergoes attrition over time, indicating the process of aging, and is linked to a higher risk of diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM-2). This molecular epidemiological study investigated the correlation between leukocyte TL variations and determinants of molecular aging in 121 Pakistani DM-2 patients. Materials and Methods: The ratio of telomere repeats to the SCG copy number was calculated to estimate the TL in each sample through qPCR assays. Results: In this study, smaller mean TLs were observed in 48.8% of males (6.35 ± 0.82 kb), 3.3% of underweight patients (5.77 ± 1.14 kb), 61.2% of patients on regular medication (6.50 ± 0.79 kb), 9.1% with very high stress levels (5.94 ± 0.99 kb), 31.4% of smokers (5.83 ± 0.73 kb), 40.5% of patients with low physical activity (6.47 ± 0.69 kb), 47.9% of hypertensive patients (5.93 ± 0.64 kb), 10.7% of patients with DM-2 for more than 15 years, and 3.3% of patients with a delayed onset of DM-2 (6.00 ± 0.93 kb). Conclusion: This research indicated a significant negative correlation (R2 = 0.143) between TL and the age of DM-2 patients. This study demonstrated that the correlation of telomere length with age in DM-2 patients was also influenced by various age-determining factors, including hypertension and smoking habits, with significant strong (R2 = 0.526) and moderate (R2 = 0.299) correlations, respectively; sex, obesity, the stress level and age at the onset of diabetes with significant weak correlations (R2 = 0.043, 0.041, 0.037, and 0.065, respectively), and no significant correlations of medication routine, rate of physical activity, and the durations of DM-2 with age-adjusted telomere length. These results challenge TL as the sole marker of aging, thus highlighting the need for further research to understand underlying factors and mitigate the effect of aging or premature aging on diabetic patients.

Efficacy of endoscopic trans-papillary gallbladder stenting and drainage in acute calculous cholecystitis in high-risk patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background and aims: Acute calculous cholecystitis (ACC) represents about one-third of all surgical emergencies. The gold standard management of ACC is laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Although cholecystectomy is a safe procedure, it may be dangerous and contraindicated in patients with complex comorbidities. Endoscopic transpapillary gallbladder stenting (ETGBS) and drainage had been widely used to manage patients suffering from ACC with comorbidities. Methods: We searched PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library for relevant studies assessing the use of ETGBS in patients suffering from ACC with various comorbidities. Risk of bias assessment was performed using the National Institues of Health (NIH) tool. We included the following outcomes: clinical success, technical success, late complications, and pancreatitis. Results: We included seven studies that met our inclusion criteria. We found that the pooled proportion of clinical success, technical success, late complications, and pancreatitis was [91.3%, 95% confidence interval (CI) (86.8%, 95.9%)], [92.8%, 95% CI (89%, 96.5%)], [5.4%, 95% CI (2.9%, 7.9%)], and [3.5%, 95% CI (1.2%, 5.8%)], respectively. Conclusion: We found that an ETGBS was an effective and well-tolerated method for the treatment of cholecystitis, especially in high-risk individuals.

Effects of Aramchol in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) comprises a wide range of related liver disorders affecting mainly people who drink no or very little alcohol. Aramchol is a new synthetic molecule that has been shown to reduce liver fat content. There is little evidence supporting its efficacy in humans. Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of Aramchol in patients with NAFLD according to different randomized clinical trials. Material and methods: We searched PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library for relevant clinical trials assessing the use of Aramchol in patients with NAFLD. Risk of bias assessment was performed using Cochrane's risk of bias tool. We included the following outcomes: alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (AP), glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), HOMA-IR, and insulin level. Results: We included 3 clinical trials. We found that the Aramchol group did not show any significant difference from the control group regarding ALT (MD = 3.92 (-21.20, 29.04), p = 0.76), AP (MD = -0.59 (-8.85, 7.67), p = 0.89), HbA1c (MD = -0.11 (-0.32, 0.10), p = 0.29), TC (MD = 14.25 (-626, 34.77), p = 0.17), TG (MD = 2.29 (-39.30, 43.87), p = 0.91), HOMA-IR (MD = -0.11 (-1.58, 1.37), p = 0.89), and insulin levels (MD = -0.88 (-5.82, 4.06), p = 0.73). AST levels were significantly higher in the Aramchol group (MD =11.04 (4.91, 17.16), p = 0.04). Conclusions: Aramchol was a safe and tolerable drug to be used in patients with NAFLD. However, it was not superior to placebo in reducing the biochemical liver markers.

Estimating the optimum number of colon biopsies for diagnosing microscopic colitis: a systematic review.

Microscopic colitis (MC) is an inflammatory disease of the colon characterized by persistent watery, nonbloody diarrhea. Subtypes of MC include collagenous and lymphocytic MC. Microscopic examination of colon tissue is crucial to confirming the diagnosis because the colonic mucosa often appears normal during flexible sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy. We aim to determine the optimal sites and minimum number of colon biopsies required to diagnose MC from published studies. We systematically searched PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane databases from inception until October 2020 using the following keywords: microscopic, lymphocytic, collagenous, colitis, biopsy, and biopsies. We screened the search results for eligibility and extracted data from the included studies. We pooled the numbers of biopsies provided by each study to calculate the mean number of biopsies, SD, and SEM. We included three retrospective cohort studies with 356 patients (148 collagenous, 192 lymphocytic, and 16 mixed), and the total number of biopsies were 1854. The mean number of biopsies that were recommended by the included studies are 4, 4, and 9, respectively. The pooled mean ± SD is 5.67 ± 2.89. The included studies reported that biopsies from the ascending colon (AC) and descending colon (DC) had the highest diagnostic rates. To ensure a high level of certainty in diagnosing MC, a total of six biopsies should be taken from the AC and DC (3 AC and 3 DC). However, special care should be directed toward differentiating MC from other forms of colitis. In addition, detailed and comparative studies are needed to provide stronger recommendations to diagnose MC.

Plasma somatostatin and insulin like growth factor-1 levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate plasma somatostatin and insulin like growth factor-1levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome, and to compare it with healthy controls. METHODS: The cross-sectional comparative study was conducted at the University of Health Sciences (UHS), Lahore, Pakistan, from December 2016 to January 2018, and comprised patients of polycystic ovary syndrome selected from tertiary care hospitals of the city. A group of apparently healthy women was also raised from the local community to work as controls. Anthropometric measurements, general physical examination and fasting blood glucose levels were determined for each subject. Plasma insulin, somatostatin and insulin like growth factor-1levels were estimated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Data was collected using a predesigned questionnaire and was analysed using SPSS 20. RESULTS: Of the 80 subjects, 40(50%) were cases with a mean age of 22.63±4.47 years, and 40(50%) were controls with a mean age of 22.78±4.85 years (p>0.05). The cases had higher fasting blood glucose, insulin and insulin like growth factor-1levels (p<0.05) compared to the controls. CONCLUSIONS: Insulin resistance and lower somatostatin levels along with higher insulin like growth factor-1 levels were found in women with polycystic ovary syndrome compared to healthy women.