Bioimpedance: can its addition to simple clinical criteria enhance the diagnosis of osteoporosis?

There is a great need for a simple means to identify individuals at risk of osteoporosis. Because bioimpedance (BI) estimates body composition, which is highly related to bone mineral density (BMD), we aimed to define the usefulness of BI to assess BMD. The relationships between BI and BMD were quantified using partial correlations. Multiple linear regression with a forward selection method was used to examine the predictive abilities of various body measurements on BMD at lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip. The abilities of BI to discriminate low BMD or to discriminate osteoporosis were evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The relationships between BI and BMD at the spine and hip were evaluated in 345 Southern Chinese postmenopausal women and 390 men. After adjusting for age and weight, BI was inversely associated with BMD in both sexes (r = -0.053 to -0.195). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that BI is a significant independent predictor of BMD in men. This finding was not confirmed in women. The area under the ROC curves (AUC) for BI as a single predictor to diagnose osteoporosis was 0.658 and 0.655 in women and men, respectively. The AUC was improved slightly with the addition of BI in the model that consisted of age and weight alone. Although BI was significantly associated with BMD, addition of BI did not enhance the ability to diagnose osteoporosis significantly compared with simple clinical criteria such as age and weight.

The nephroprotective effects of the herbal medicine preparation, WH30+, on the chemical-induced acute and chronic renal failure in rats.

In this study, we evaluated the renal protective effects of a Chinese herbal preparation WH30+ in male Wistar rats with glycerol-induced acute renal failure and adenine-induced chronic renal failure. WH30+ is a Chinese herb preparation composed of Rheum Palmatum, Salvia Miltiorrhiza, Cordyceps Sinensis, Leonurus Sibiricus, Epihedium Macranthum, Radix Astragali, and Radix Codonopsis Pilosulae, which has been used to treat kidney deficiency in human. An acute renal failure and chronic renal failure rat model were introduced by glycerol injection (i.m.) and fed with adenine-excessive diet, respectively. WH30+ was administered to rats at the dose of 50 mg/kg/day from 10 days before the diseases were induced until the rats were sacrificed. A reduction in body weight (p < 0.01) was observed in rats with chronic renal failure, but there was no difference between treatment groups. However, the body weight of rats with acute renal failure without treatment was significantly lower than those treated with WH30+ (p < 0.05). Overall, serum creatinine and urea nitrogen were elevated significantly (p < 0.01) in renal failure rats compared to control. Treatment with WH30+ improved both serum creatinine and urea nitrogen slightly in both models. The WH30+-treated rats with acute renal failure had significantly (p < 0.05) greater creatinine clearance than those without treatment. The results of the study show that WH30+ is more effective in the prevention of acute renal failure than chronic renal failure.