Pheochromocytoma with markedly abnormal liver function tests and severe leukocytosis.

Pheochromocytoma is a rare neuroendocrine tumor arising from the medulla of the adrenal glands, which causes an overproduction of catecholamines. The common symptoms are headache, palpitations, and sweating; however, various other clinical manifestations might also be present. Accurate diagnosis of pheochromocytoma is important because surgical treatment is usually successful, and associated clinical problems are reversible if treated early. A 49-year-old man with a history of uncontrolled hypertension and diabetes mellitus presented with chest pain, fever, and sweating. His liver function tests and white blood cell counts were markedly increased and his echocardiography results suggested stress-induced cardiomyopathy. His abdominal computed tomography showed a 5×5-cm-sized tumor in the left adrenal gland, and laboratory tests confirmed catecholamine overproduction. After surgical resection of the left adrenal gland, his liver function tests and white blood cell counts normalized, and echocardiography showed normal cardiac function. Moreover, his previous antihypertensive regimen was deescalated, and his previously uncontrolled blood glucose levels normalized without medication.

Low vitamin D status is associated with nonalcoholic Fatty liver disease independent of visceral obesity in Korean adults.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) independent of visceral obesity in Koreans and to examine whether the associations differ according to the presence of diabetes or insulin resistance. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 1081 adults were enrolled from a population-based cohort in Ansan city. Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were measured in all subjects. Insulin resistance was measured by homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Using computed tomography, NAFLD was diagnosed if the liver attenuation index (LAI, the difference between the mean hepatic and splenic attenuation) was <5 Hounsfield Units. RESULTS: In subjects with diabetes (n = 282), 25(OH)D levels were negatively associated with waist circumference, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, triglyceride levels, and visceral abdominal fat, and were positively associated with LAI after adjusting for age, sex, season, exercise, and vitamin supplementation. In subjects without diabetes, only triglyceride level was negatively associated with 25(OH)D. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for NAFLD increased sequentially across decreasing quartiles of 25(OH)D in subjects with diabetes even after adjusting for visceral fat [Q1 vs. Q4; OR for NAFLD 2.5 (95% CI:1.0-6.2)]. In contrast, no significant difference in OR was observed in subjects without diabetes. When we classified non-diabetic subjects by HOMA-IR, an increase in the OR for NAFLD across decreasing quartiles of 25(OH)D was observed in the high HOMA-IR (≥2.5) group [n = 207, Q1 vs. Q4; OR 3.8(1.4-10.3)], but not in the low HOMA-IR (<2.5) group [n = 592, OR 0.8 (0.3-1.9)]. CONCLUSIONS: Low vitamin D status is closely associated with NAFLD, independent of visceral obesity in subjects with diabetes or insulin resistance.

Short sleep duration combined with obstructive sleep apnea is associated with visceral obesity in Korean adults.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To determine whether short sleep duration alone or combined with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with regional body fat including abdominal visceral fat area (VFA) among Korean adults. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Ansan, South Korea. PARTICIPANTS: There were 838 community participants age 40-69 y from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Subjective habitual sleep duration and OSA were defined based on a structured sleep questionnaire and a home portable sleep study, respectively. Abdominal VFA and hepatic fat components were assessed by computed tomography. Adjusted mean VFA and hepatic fat were highest in the shortest sleep duration group (< 5 h) and decreased linearly with increasing sleep duration. Individuals with OSA (apnea-hypopnea index ≥ 5) had a higher body mass index, waist circumference, percent body fat, VFA, and hepatic fat than those without OSA after adjusting for age and sex. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for visceral obesity (VFA ≥ 100 cm2) was 2.05 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09-3.86) in individuals sleeping less than 5 h compared with those sleeping longer than 7 h, and 1.57 (95% CI, 1.08-2.26) in individuals with OSA compared with those without OSA, after adjusting for all confounding factors including body mass index. A combination of short sleep duration (< 5 h) and OSA substantially increased the OR for visceral obesity (OR, 4.40, 95% CI, 1.80-10.77) compared with those who slept longer (≥ 7 h) without OSA. CONCLUSION: Short sleep duration and OSA are independently associated with visceral obesity in adults. The association is particularly strong in short sleepers with OSA.

Effect of eplerenone, a selective aldosterone blocker, on the development of diabetic nephropathy in type 2 diabetic rats.

BACKGROUND: Aldosterone antagonists are reported to have beneficial effects on diabetic nephropathy by effective blocking of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. We investigated the renoprotective effect of the selective aldosterone receptor blocker eplerenone, the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor lisinopril, and combined eplerenone and lisinopril treatment in type 2 diabetic rats. METHODS: ANIMALS WERE DIVIDED INTO SIX GROUPS AS FOLLOWS: Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rat control, OLETF rats treated with a low dose of eplerenone (50 mg/kg/day), OLETF rats treated with a high dose of eplerenone (200 mg/kg/day), OLETF rats treated with lisinopril (10 mg/kg/day), OLETF rats treated with a combination of both drugs (eplerenone 200 mg/kg/day and lisinopril 10 mg/kg/day), and obese non-diabetic Long-Evans Tokushima Otsuka rats for 26 weeks. RESULTS: Urinary albumin excretion was significantly lower in the lisinopril group, but not in the eplerenone group. Urinary albumin excretion was decreased in the combination group than in the lisinopril group. Glomerulosclerosis and renal expression of type I and type IV collagen, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, transforming growth factor-ß1, connective tissue growth factor, and fibronectin mRNA were markedly decreased in the lisinopril, eplerenone, and combination groups. CONCLUSION: Eplerenone and lisinopril combination showed additional benefits on type 2 diabetic nephropathy compared to monotherapy of each drug.

Depression is associated with sarcopenia, not central obesity, in elderly korean men.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the relationship between depression and various components of body composition, including fat and muscle, in elderly Koreans. DESIGN: A cross-sectional sample of a longitudinal cohort from the Ansan Geriatric (AGE) Study. SETTING: Elderly people living in urban area (Ansan City, South Korea). PARTICIPANTS: Eight hundred thirty-six participants (378 male, 458 female) aged 60 and older were recruited from April 2006 to January 2008. MEASUREMENTS: Depressive symptoms were examined using the Korean version of the 30-item Geriatric Depression Scale (KGDS). Participants taking antidepressant medications or with a KGDS score of 14 or greater were classified as having depression. Abdominal visceral fat area (VFA) and subcutaneous fat area were assessed using single-slice computed tomography, and appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) and percentage body fat (%BF) were determined using whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS: Elderly men with depression had a lower ASM than those without depression (P = .01) after adjusting for age, body weight, and height. In men, the risk of depression was lower with higher body mass index (BMI) (odds ratio (OR) per 1-standard deviation (SD) increase = 0.70, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.51-0.96) after adjusting for all confounding variables and higher ASM (OR per 1-SD increase = 0.49; 95% CI = 0.29-0.85) after controlling for age, height, and weight. Similarly, depression was negatively associated with BMI in women (OR per 1-SD increase = 0.73; 95% CI = 0.56-0.95). Waist circumference, %BF, and VFA were not consistently associated with depression in men or women. CONCLUSION: Depression in elderly Koreans is associated with low body mass and sarcopenia, especially in men.

Combined effect of high-normal blood pressure and low HDL cholesterol on mortality in an elderly Korean population: the South-West Seoul (SWS) study.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether prehypertension by the seventh Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC-7) criteria (systolic blood pressure (SBP) 120-139 or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 80-89 mm Hg) or high-normal blood pressure (HNBP) by the European Society of Hypertension and European Society of Cardiology (ESH/ESC) criteria (SBP 130-139 or DBP 85-89 mm Hg) predicts mortality in elderly Koreans. We compared the mortality risk between those with prehypertension and HNBP and evaluated whether the presence of components of metabolic syndrome (MetS) can improve the prediction of mortality in subjects with HNBP. METHODS: We analyzed all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality according to the JNC-7 and ESH/ESC categories using follow-up data of the South-West Seoul (SWS) Study, a prospective cohort study of 2,376 elderly Koreans, aged >60 years. RESULTS: During the median follow-up of 7.6 years, 353 deaths occurred from all causes, and 113 of these were attributed to CVD. Prehypertension was nonsignificantly associated with an increased risk of mortality (hazard ratio (HR): 1.06, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.68-1.64). Subjects with HNBP exhibited a nonsignificantly higher risk of mortality compared with those with optimal blood pressure by the ESH/ESC guideline (HR: 1.35, 95% CI: 0.84-2.18). However, the combination of low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and HNBP showed a twofold higher risk of all-cause mortality (HR: 2.01, 95% CI: 1.11-3.64) independent of other risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Although prehypertension was not associated with increased risk of mortality, individuals in the elderly Korean population with HNBP, especially when combined with low HDL cholesterol, showed a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality.