Endogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism may not lead to bone loss in premenopausal women.

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is defined as the decrease in bone mineral density. It is a serious health problem showing the predisposed person with increased bone fracture risk. Hyperthyroidism is one of the major causes of secondary osteoporosis. The aim of this study was to assess bone mineral density in premenopausal women with endogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism. METHODS: A total of 168 subjects were included in this case-control study, of whom 86 and 82 participants were premenopausal women with subclinical hyperthyroidism and healthy premenopausal subjects, respectively. The patients with subclinical hyperthyroidism who were not receiving L-thyroxine treatment were included. The women in postmenopausal state or having chronic disease were excluded. The bone mineral densities of all subjects with dual energy X-ray absorptiometry were examined. RESULTS: The Z scores (femur and L1-4) of the study group were -0.15 ± 1.15 and -0.23 ± 1.03, respectively. The Z scores of the control group were -0.39 ± 1.08 and -0.55 ± 0.98, respectively. The differences between the groups were not statistically significant (p=0.14, 0.34, respectively). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that contrary to exogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism, endogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism may not decrease bone mineral density in premenopausal women and it may not a risk factor for osteopenia or osteoporosis. Hippokratia 2014; 18 (3): 240-244.

Prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection in pregnant Turkish women and their families.

A total of 5,366 pregnant Turkish women were screened for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and 225 (4.2%) of them were found to be positive. Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) was detected in 6.2% of HBsAg-positive pregnant women. the overall prevalence of HBsAg and antibody to HBsAg (anti-HBs) among the spouses, previous children, mothers and first degree relatives of the HBsAg-positive pregnant women was 56%, 49%, 79% and 74% respectively. The prevalence of HBsAg is thus high in pregnant Turkish women with familial clustering of hepatitis B virus infection.

Results of vaccinated infants born to HBsAg-positive mothers with different hepatitis B vaccines and doses.

Seventy-eight infants born to HBsAg-positive women were randomly assigned to receive either the plasma-derived vaccine or 0.5 ml (10 micrograms HBsAg) yeast-derived recombinant hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth, simultaneously with hepatitis B hyperimmunoglobulin. In 67 infants who received the plasma-derived vaccine, one of the doses of 0.5 ml (25 micrograms HBsAg) was used randomly. In all of the infants, the second and third doses of both vaccines were given at one and two months of age, respectively. The booster doses were given at 12 month of age in all of the infants. These vaccinated infants were followed up until 13 months of age. There were differences in the seroconversion rates with different vaccines and doses. The recipients of the half-dose of plasma-derived vaccine showed lower seroconversion rates than the others, and the newborns in this group showed more seronegativity (13.2%) than the others (p < 0.05). The lowest anti-HBs geometric mean titers (GMTs) were obtained in newborns vaccinated with Hevac B 0.5 ml. Sixty percent of the anti-HBs GMTs in this group were under 100 mlU/ml. There were statistically significant differences between males and females in anti-HBs seronegativity rates, with males having lower anti-HBs GMTs than females. The difference was particularly significant among male newborns vaccinated with a half-dose of plasma-derived vaccine.