Association of apelin, endoglin and endocan with diabetic peripheral neuropathy in type 2 diabetic patients.

OBJECTIVE: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is a common complication of type-2 diabetes mellitus. Endocan, apelin and endoglin are thought to be associated with endothelial dysfunction, angiogenesis and inflammation. In this study, we planned to evaluate these markers in diabetic peripheral neuropathy patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This single-blind, controlled clinical study was conducted on 99 type 2 diabetic patients with or without diabetic peripheral neuropathy and 53 healthy volunteer controls. Physical and laboratory examinations were done in all groups. In these groups, Endoglin, apelin and endocan levels were measured with ELISA method. RESULTS: Endoglin, apelin and endocan concentrations in diabetic peripheral neuropathy patients were higher than other diabetes mellitus patients and healthy controls. Similarly, diabetes mellitus patient's endoglin, apelin and endocan levels were higher than healthy controls. The differences were statistically significant. We detected a significant positive correlation between endoglin, apelin and endocan levels in all groups. CONCLUSIONS: Endoglin, apelin and endocan may reflect angiogenesis and endothelial dysfunction in diabetic peripheral neuropathy and they may be used as a marker in the future.

Profile of bone marrow iron stores in childhood iron deficiency anemia.

To demonstrate the importance of bone marrow iron stores, we examined the complete hemogram, serum iron (SI), serum iron-binding capacity (SIBC), transferrin saturation (TS), serum ferritin and bone-marrow-stored iron in 31 children with iron deficiency (ID). The ages of the patients ranged from one to 14 years (mean 3.7 +/- 3.9). Laboratory findings of the 31 patients were as follows: hemoglobin (Hb) 8.5 +/- 2.4 g/dl, hematocrit (Hct) 27.8 +/- 6.3 percent, mean corpuscular volume (MCV) 58.6 +/- 8.6 fl, red blood cell count (RBC) 4 +/- 0.8 10(12)/L, red cell distribution width (RDW) 19.3 +/- 4.9, SI 17.2 +/- 9.3 microg/dl, SIBC 311 +/- 50.5 microg/dl, TS 5.5 +/- 2.8 percent and ferritin 6.7 +/- 7.3 ng/dl. In the bone marrow smears with iron stains, all patients' scores were zero for iron stores, which shows that bone-marrow-stored iron in childhood is easily affected. Because of the traumatic effect of bone marrow aspiration, it is recommended that it not be done routinely. The diagnosis of ID could be especially difficult in patients with low SI levels but normal SIBC levels and in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases. In those conditions, illustration of bone marrow stores could be of particular assistance for diagnosis of iron deficiency.