Skin diseases in the Da Qing Diabetes Study: a cross-sectional study / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUND@#The prevalence of skin diseases and diabetes mellitus (DM) are prominent around the world. The current scope of knowledge regarding the prevalence of skin diseases and comorbidities with type 2 DM (T2DM) is limited, leading to limited recognition of the correlations between skin diseases and T2DM.@*METHODS@#We collected 383 subjects from the Da Qing Diabetes Study during the period from July 9th to September 1st, 2016. The subjects were categorized into three groups: Normal glucose tolerance (NGT), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and T2DM. The prevalence and clinical characteristics of skin diseases were recorded and investigated.@*RESULTS@#In this cross-sectional study, 383 individuals with ages ranging from 53 to 89-year-old were recruited. The overall prevalence of skin diseases was 93.5%, and 75.7% of individuals had two or more kinds of skin diseases. Additionally, there were 47 kinds of comorbid skin diseases in patients with T2DM, of which eight kinds of skin diseases had a prevalence >10%. The prevalence of skin diseases in NGT, IGT, and T2DM groups were 93.3%, 91.5%, and 96.6%, respectively; stratified analysis by categories showed a statistically significant difference in "disturbances of pigmentation" and "neurological and psychogenic dermatoses". The duration of T2DM also significantly associated with the prevalence of "disturbances of pigmentation" and "neurological and psychogenic dermatoses". Subsequently, the prevalence of "disturbances of pigmentation" was higher in males than females in NGT (P < 0.01) and T2DM (P < 0.01) groups. In addition, the difference in the prevalence of "disturbances of pigmentation" was also significant in NGT and T2DM groups (P < 0.01).@*CONCLUSIONS@#There was a high prevalence of skin diseases in the Da Qing Diabetes Study. To address the skin diseases in the Da Qing Diabetes Study, increased awareness and intervention measures should be implemented.

Plasma miR-216a as a potential marker of pancreatic injury in a rat model of acute pancreatitis.

AIM: To study the potential value and specificity of plasma miR-216a as a marker for pancreatic injury. METHODS: Two rat models were applied in this article: L-arginine-induced acute pancreatitis was used as one model to explore the potential value of plasma miR-216a for detection of pancreatic injury; nonlethal sepsis induced in rats by single puncture cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) was used as the other model to evaluate the specificity of plasma miR-216a compared with two commonly used markers (amylase and lipase) for acute pancreatitis. Plasmas were sampled from rats at indicated time points and total RNA was isolated. Real-Time Quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was used to quantify miR-216a in plasmas. RESULTS: In the acute pancreatitis model, among five time points at which plasmas were sampled, miR-216a concentrations were significantly elevated 24 h after arginine administration and remained significantly increased until 48 h after operation (compared with 0 h time point, P < 0.01, Kruskal-Wallis Test). In the CLP model, plasma amylase and lipase, two commonly used biomarkers for acute pancreatitis, were significantly elevated 24 h after operation (compared with 0 h time point, P < 0.01 and 0.05 respectively, Pairwise Bonferroni corrected t-tests), while miR-216a remained undetectable among four tested time points. CONCLUSION: Our article showed for the first time that plasma miR-216a might serve as a candidate marker of pancreatic injury with novel specificity.