Diabetes care in rural area: clinical and metabolic evaluation.

To evaluate the efficacy of conventional diabetes care in a rural area, metabolic control and the presence of late complications were studied in 622 diabetic patients treated by general practitioners beyond the reach of diabetic centers. Seventy-three (12%) of the patients were classified as type I diabetics (age, 38.0 +/- 16.1 yr; duration of diabetes, 12.8 +/- 9.3 yr) and 549 as type II diabetics (age, 67.0 +/- 10.8 yr; duration of diabetes, 7.3 +/- 5.8 yr). Fifty-eight percent of type I diabetic patients administered insulin once daily and 42% twice daily, whereas most (83%) type II diabetics on insulin received only one insulin injection per day. Treatment of type II diabetic patients consisted of sulfonylureas (58%), diet alone (22%), insulin (18%), and biguanides or a combination of sulfonylurea with biguanides (2%). Poor therapeutic efficacy was observed in all patients, and postprandial hyperglycemia (blood glucose greater than 160 mg/dl) was predominant both in type I diabetics (86%) and in type II diabetics on insulin (80%) as well as off insulin (55%). HbA1c above normal (greater than 5.8%) was seen in 96% of type I and in 90 and 73% of type II diabetics with or without insulin therapy, respectively. Accompanying glucosuria was present in type I (73%) and in type II diabetics (on insulin, 71%; off insulin, 33%). Mean prevalence of late diabetic complications was greatest for insulin-treated patients (type I, type II with, and type II without insulin treatment: retinopathy, 41, 56, 22%; proteinuria, 13, 14, 3%; peripheral neuropathy, 21, 51, 12%), whereas macroangiopathy (16, 53, 31%) predominated in type II diabetic patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Monitoring of urinary proteins by SDS electrophoresis in kidney transplant patients.

Sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) electrophoresis of urinary proteins was used routinely for monitoring more than 80 kidney transplant recipients as out-patients during one year. Special attention was paid to the question of whether this method can help the clinician to differentiate between a graft rejection reaction and Cyclosporin A-induced nephrotoxic damage. Two cases are presented showing the time course of proteinuric patterns together with serum creatinine, total urinary protein and, in one case, the blood level of Cyclosporin A. Changes of proteinuric patterns signalled the start of rejection and/or nephrotoxicity. A homogeneous collective of 33 kidney recipients (first transplantation) with chronic glomerulonephritis as a basic disease was specially selected. In this collective, the distribution of proteinuric patterns among patients and its dependence on immunosuppressive therapy was investigated. During the observation period of 7 months, two proteinuric patterns, "tubular" and "mixed weak", were found exclusively in Cyclosporin A-treated patients. We ascribe this finding to nephrotoxic effect of Cyclosporin A. We found the SDS electrophoresis of urinary proteins to be a useful, non-invasive method for monitoring Cyclosporin A-treated kidney transplant patients.

Hemodynamic, pulmonary, and renal reactions to inadvertent transfusion of outdated blood.

A patient who received an erroneous transfusion of outdated and partly homogenized blood is reported. Although marked hemoglobinemia was present, only transient hemodynamic, pulmonary, and renal alterations were observed. Massive embolism of microaggregates and norepinephrine release might explain our findings. Dopamine (3 micrograms/kg . min) might have beneficial effects on renal function in this pseudohemolytic transfusion reaction.

A simple routine method for SDS-electrophoresis of urinary proteins in kidney transplant patients.

The molecular weight analysis of urinary proteins can provide useful diagnostic information. For this purpose a routine method of sodium dodecylsulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-electrophoresis) is described. The main problem in the introduction of this method into the clinical laboratory lies in the availability of "ready-to-use" electrophoresis gels with good and reproducible quality. A device for gel production is therefore described, which is easily constructed from plastic package materials. Polyacrylamide gels are made batch-wise and in advance. They are suitable for various types and techniques of horizontal electrophoresis. Further, a method for analysis of urinary proteins is described, which permits the simultaneous analysis of 22 unconcentrated urine samples within a 3-hour-electrophoresis run. A specially optimized Coomassie blue staining method (overnight) ensures detection of proteins in the concentration range of milligrams per litre. Electrophoretic analyses were documented by photocopying the finished electrophoresis gels.

Failure and efficacy of insulin therapy in insulin dependent (type I) diabetic patients.

In order to determine the degree of metabolic control (HbA1c [normal less than 5.8%], mean blood glucose [MBG], glucosuria and lipids) and the prevalence of late diabetic complications in insulin-dependent diabetic patients treated by conventional insulin therapy both patients of a diabetes center (DC: n = 130; age 37.1 +/- 1.4 years) and a rural area (RA: n = 73; age 38.4 +/- 2.4 years) were examined within their local setting. Eighty such insulin-dependent diabetic patients were also taught a technique of near normal glycemic insulin substitution (NIS), which separates basal from prandial insulin replacement and instructs the patients to immediately correct self-controlled (3.8 +/- 0.1/day) aberrant blood glucose values. None of the groups on conventional insulin therapy was able to achieve satisfactory metabolic control or to avoid late diabetic complications, but rural patients were even worse off (BG 240 +/- 10 mg/dl; HbA1c 8.7 +/- 0.2% [normal: 3/73 = 4%]) than those of the DC (MBG 191 +/- 5 mg/dl; HbA1c 7.1 +/- 0.2% [normal: 27/130 = 21%]), while the prevalence of late diabetic complications was almost identical (RA/DC: neuropathy 22%/25%; retinopathy 41%/38%; macroangiopathy 15%/13%; but proteinuria 14%/5.4%). Metabolic control was improved by NIS with twice daily injections of basal (long acting) and separately of prandial (regular) insulin (total: 4.8 +/- 0.1 injections/day; MBG 130 +/- 2 mg/dl; HbA1c 5.8 +/- 0.1% [normal: 41/80 = 51%]. We conclude (1) that conventional insulin therapy just prevents metabolic catastrophe but in more than 79% of insulin-dependent diabetic patients lacks the ability to provide good metabolic control, while (2) NIS, a more physiological form of insulin therapy, improves this deplorable situation 5- to 12.4-fold.

The successful treatment of mycotic infections in immunosuppressed renal transplant recipients with ketoconazole.

Ketoconazole, a new broad-spectrum antimycotic drug, was administered to six renal transplant recipients with mucocutaneous and/or systemic candidosis. A beneficial clinical and microbiologic effect was seen in the treated patients. This orally administered drug was well tolerated, and side effects were not evident. Our results indicate that good treatment of mycotic infections can be expected even in patients with impaired graft function, since ketoconazole metabolism occurs mainly in the liver.

[Serum ferritin and its diagnostic significance in iron metabolism disorders]. / Der Serumferritinspiegel und seine diagnostische Bedeutung bei Eisenstoffwechselstörungen.

Aim of the study was the evaluation of the diagnostic value of the parameters of iron metabolism in normal adults and also in patients suffering from uncomplicated iron deficiency, iron overload due to repeated blood transfusions, malignant lymphoma and Crohn's disease. In these patients, the determination of serum ferritin increased the diagnostic efficiency only in poly-transfused patients with iron overload.

Creatine kinase isoenzymes in cerebrospinal fluid in a case of brain damage.

We present a case of a 11/2-year-old boy with toxic enteritis, consecutive consumption coagulopathy, and sever brain damage. During the acute phase we found high activity of the BB isoenzyme of creatine kinase in cerebrospinal fluid, but not in the serum. Isoenzyme MM could also be found in the spinal fluid (37.9% of the total activity). We conclude that analysis for creatine kinase isoenzymes in spinal fluid is of clinical importance.