Validity of Queen's College step test for use with young Indian men

Objectives: To assess the suitability of the Queen's College step test (QCT) to predict maximum oxygen uptake in Indian men.

Methods: Thirty sedentary male university students from West Bengal, India, with the same socioeconomic background and mean (SD) age, height, and weight of 22.6 (0.2) years, 166.4 (0.5) cm, and 53.8 (0.2) kg, respectively, were randomly sampled from University of Calcutta. VO₂max of each participant was determined by direct procedure involving incremental bicycle exercise and also by applying indirect QCT method with a gap of 4 days between the tests.

Results: The difference between the mean (SD) VO₂max values directly measured (VO₂max = 39.8 (1.03) ml/min/kg body mass) and indirectly predicted (PVO₂max = 39.3 (1.07) ml/min/kg body mass) was statistically insignificant (p>0.10). PVO₂max and VO₂max values expressed as ml/min/kg body mass corroborated with previous studies in the same laboratory involving the same population, and also exhibited significant statistical correlation (r = 0.95, p<0.001) between them.

Conclusion: The results suggest that QCT can be applied in the studied population to produce a good estimation of maximum oxygen uptake, especially in the field where large numbers of participants are to be evaluated without a well equipped laboratory.

     

Bengali adaptation of brief patient health questionnaire for screening depression at primary care

Depression is a common mental disorder quite prevalent at the primary care level and needs proper identification and prompt treatment. Bengali adaptation and validation of such an instrument (BPHQ) is aimed to provide a sensitive screening instrument that can help primary care physicians in the identification of depression correctly and easily.     

An unusual presentation of tuberculous lymphadenitis

A 43 years male presented with recurrent epistaxis and had generalised lymphadenopathy on examination. No haematological disorder could be established even after bone marrow aspiration and biopsy but the patient was found to have tuberculosis of the lymph node on histopathology, with severe thrombocytopenia in the peripheral blood and increased platelet precursor in the marrow suggesting peripheral platelet destruction. Anti-tuberculous therapy was started but the patient died due to subarachnoid haemorrhage.     

Advancement of knowledge in the field of diabetes mellitus and related metabolic diseases

The European Association for the Study of Diabetes held its 40th annual meeting September 5-9, 2004, in Munich, Germany. This scientific program presented the results of extensive research on various issues of diabetes and the related disorders, which gave a broader insight into the pathophysiology of the metabolic process. It also focused on a broad range of new therapeutic possibilities and advances in the management of diabetes and its complications.     

Beta-blockers in left ventricular systolic dysfunction--from evidence to practice

Five percent of all hospital medical admissions are patients with heart failure. The incidence is about one new case per 1000 of the general population per year, increasing to >10 per 1000 in those aged >or=85 years. Although the evidence that beta-blockers reduce mortality by about 36% when added to angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors is overwhelming, clinicians are still reluctant to use beta-blockers in heart failure, especially in older patients. Here, we examine the evidence for the use of beta-blockers in heart failure in older people and explore the practicalities of their use.     

PKC-zeta mediates insulin effects on glucose transport in cultured preadipocyte-derived human adipocytes

Insulin-stimulated glucose transport is impaired in the early phases of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Studies in rodent cells suggest that atypical PKC (aPKC) isoforms (zeta, lamda, and iota) and PKB, and their upstream activators, PI3K and 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase-1 (PDK-1), play important roles in insulin-stimulated glucose transport. However, there is no information on requirements for aPKCs, PKB, or PDK-1 during insulin action in human cell types. Presently, by using preadipocyte-derived adipocytes, we were able to employ adenoviral gene transfer methods to critically examine these requirements in a human cell type. These adipocytes were found to contain PKC-zeta, rather than PKC-lamda/iota, as their major aPKC. Expression of kinase-inactive forms of PDK-1, PKC-zeta, and PKC-lamda (which functions interchangeably with PKC-zeta) as well as chemical inhibitors of PI 3-kinase and PKC-zeta/lamda, wortmannin and the cell-permeable myristoylated PKC-zeta pseudosubstrate, respectively, effectively inhibited insulin-stimulated glucose transport. In contrast, expression of a kinase-inactive, activation-resistant, triple alanine mutant form of PKB-alpha had little or no effect, and expression of wild-type and constitutively active PKC-zeta or PKC-lamda increased glucose transport. Our findings provide convincing evidence that aPKCs and upstream activators, PI 3-kinase and PDK-1, play important roles in insulin-stimulated glucose transport in preadipocyte-derived human adipocytes.