Bone mineral density in Iranian adolescents and young adults with beta-thalassemia major.

The authors investigated the prevalence of low bone mass in patients from Tehran, Iran, with beta-thalassemia major (n = 203), aged 10-20 years, and the potential risk factors for osteoporosis in this patient population. Prevalence of osteoporosis was 50.7% in lumbar spine, 10.8% in femur, and 7.9% in both regions with no significant difference between the two genders. The following factors were associated with low BMD: height for age and weight for age below 3rd percentile, delayed puberty or hypogonadism, age when Desferal (for iron chelation) was started, duration of Desferal therapy, and serum zinc. Low serum copper and 25(OH)D were not associated with low BMD.

Impaired fibrinolytic activity in type II diabetes: correlation with urinary albumin excretion and progression of renal disease.

Progression of renal disease and cardiovascular complications in type II diabetes mellitus have been shown to correlate with control of blood glucose, lipids, blood pressure, and smoking. These factors, however, do not appear to totally explain these diabetic complications. Renal disease and cardiovascular complications in type II diabetes are associated with vascular abnormalities and fibrosis, both of which may occur with impaired fibrinolysis. A cross-sectional study was therefore performed in 107 type II diabetic patients recruited from the Denver Metropolitan Area to examine the effect of impaired fibrinolysis, as assessed by the ratio of plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) to tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA). With urinary albumin excretion (UAE) as a risk factor for both renal disease progression and cardiovascular complications, the patients were analyzed with respect to UAE less than and greater than 1 gm/day. The age, blood glucose, hemoglobin A1C, duration of diabetes, lipids, body mass index, and smoking were no different between the groups. As expected, the group with greater UAE had worse renal function, the serum creatinine (1.98 +/- 0.24 vs 1.21 +/- 0.05 mg/dl, P < 0.001) and creatinine clearance (55.5 +/- 6.0 vs 76.8 +/- 2.7 ml/min, P < 0.001) were significantly different. The type II diabetic patients with greater UAE exhibited significantly higher PAI-1/t-PA (2.43 +/- 0.26 vs 1.85 +/- 0.07, P < 0.03). The past history of cardiac complications was also higher (87.5 vs 72.3%, P < 0.07) in the diabetic patients with more impaired fibrinolysis and greater UAE. Thus a prospective, randomized clinical trial in type II diabetes with PAI-1 inhibitors is needed.