Body fatness and sex steroid hormone concentrations in US men: results from NHANES III

Objective

Obesity is associated with a variety of chronic diseases, including cancer, which may partly be explained by its influence on sex steroid hormone concentrations. Whether different measures of obesity, i.e., body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and percent body fat were differentially associated with circulating levels of sex steroid hormones was examined in 1,265 men, aged 20?C90+ years old, attending the morning examination session of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III).

Materials and methods

Serum hormones were measured by immunoassay. Weight, height, and waist circumference were measured by trained staff. Percent body fat was estimated from bioelectrical impedance. Multivariate linear regression was used to estimate associations between body fatness measures and hormone levels.

Results

Total and free testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin concentrations decreased, whereas total and free estradiol increased with increasing BMI, waist circumference, and percent body fat (all p trend < 0.05). The magnitude of change in these hormones was similar for a one-quartile increase in each body fatness measure.

Conclusion

Measured BMI, waist circumference, and percent body fat led to similar inferences about their association with hormone levels in men.     

预防和治疗抗生素相关性腹泻的药学体会

目的:促进抗生素相关性腹泻的有效预防和治疗。方法:选用临床实例对以益生菌酸奶、活菌制剂及益生元等多种微生态制剂预防和治疗抗生素相关性腹泻的结果进行分析和总结。结果:实例表明,有抗生素相关性腹泻危险因素的患者给予益生菌酸奶和益生元后,能有效预防抗生素相关性腹泻的发生;已发生抗生素相关性腹泻的患者,应用微生态制剂后取得显著疗效。结论:合理应用微生态制剂能预防和治疗抗生素相关性腹泻。     

大连市乙肝疫苗查漏补种情况调查

[目的]了解大连市乙肝疫苗漏种的情况及其影响因素。[方法]2006年10月至2007年5月开展了大连市2002年7月1日至2006年9月3013出生儿童的乙肝疫苗查漏补种工作,对于在补种过程中新发现的漏种儿童,按照“随时发现,随时补种”的原则进行补种。[结果]本次“查漏补种”工作共摸底调查263727名儿童,查出漏种儿童2017人,漏种率为0．76％,应补种针次4198针次;实补种1933人,补种率为95．84％。大连市乙肝疫苗近5年平均接种率为99．9％,漏种率较低;流动儿童较本地常住儿童漏种率高（P〈0.05）,补种率低（P〈0．05）。[结论]流动儿童中仍存在免疫空白现象。     

Phosphoinositide 3-kinase is involved in the induction of the human sperm acrosome reaction downstream of tyrosine phosphorylation

In somatic cells phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) is activated upon interaction with both receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) and G- proteins resulting in the production of moieties involved in the inositol phospholipid signalling pathway. As G proteins, RTK and the inositol phospholipids have all been implicated in the human sperm acrosome reaction, experiments were carried out to determine whether PI 3-kinase was also involved in this phenomenon. Wortmannin is a selective inhibitor of PI 3-kinase and was shown to significantly inhibit the acrosome reaction induced by both mannose-bovine serum albumin (mannose-BSA) (10, 50 and 100 nM) and a polyclonal antibody raised against an extracellular region of the sperm zona receptor kinase (ZRK, at 100 nM only). Wortmannin did not inhibit the A23187- or progesterone-induced acrosome reaction. These results suggest that PI 3- kinase is involved in the human sperm acrosome reaction. The levels of tyrosine phosphorylation of sperm proteins as detected by Western blotting using antiphosphotyrosine antibodies was not affected by wortmannin in agonist (A23187 and mannose-BSA)-stimulated spermatozoa. This indicated that PI 3-kinase operates downstream of tyrosine phosphorylation in the signal transduction cascade which leads to the human sperm acrosome reaction.      

Randomised controlled trial of the impact of guidelines, prioritized review criteria and feedback on implementation of recommendations for angina and asthma.

BACKGROUND: Guidelines are frequently used in an attempt to influence the performance of health professionals, and a national agency has been established in England and Wales to develop and disseminate guidelines. Professionals prefer short guidelines that highlight key recommendations, but whether such guidelines are more likely to be implemented is unknown. AIM: To determine the relative impact of the dissemination of full guidelines, reduced guidelines in the form of prioritized review criteria, and review criteria supplemented by feedback. DESIGN OF STUDY: Cluster randomised controlled trial, with an incomplete block design. SETTING: Eighty-one general practices in Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, North Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire. METHOD: The practices received one of the study interventions, either for care of adults with asthma or for care of people with angina. Data were collected before and after the interventions, the process measures being adherence to ten recommendations about asthma and 14 about angina, and outcome measures being scores in response to an asthma symptom questionnaire or the Seattle Angina Questionnaire, and levels of patient satisfaction. RESULTS: There were no consistent differences between the interventions in stimulating improvements in performance as indicated by adherence to the recommendations for asthma or angina. Patients with angina in practices that had received criteria or criteria plus feedback reported better symptom control. CONCLUSION: The dissemination of guidelines in the format of prioritized review criteria does not increase adherence to recommendations in comparison with the traditional guideline format, and the further provision of feedback has minimal additional effect.     

Air enema for diagnosis and reduction of intussusception: clinical experience and pressure correlates

Air enema was used for exclusion, diagnosis, initial movement, and complete reduction of intussusception in 186 pediatric patients. Average pressure needed for initial movement of intussusception was 56.5 mm Hg; average maximum pressure of 97.8 mm Hg was required for complete reduction. Average fluoroscopy time required for intussusception reduction was 94.8 seconds; an average of 41.8 seconds was required to exclude intussusception. Intussusception was diagnosed in 75 patients, and reduction was accomplished in 65 (87%). Of 100 consecutive patients that underwent hydrostatic reduction of intussusception at the authors' institution, reduction was successful in 55. Compared with hydrostatic enema, air enema involves shorter fluoroscopy time and lower radiation dose to the patient. Air enema is safe and effective for diagnosis and treatment of intussusception in infants and children and has replaced hydrostatic enema for such procedures at the authors' institution.     

Adverse cardiac effects of salt with fludrocortisone in hypertension

The effect of salt on blood pressure (BP) is controversial. A more important question is whether salt can produce cardiac target-organ damage, irrespective of its effect on BP. We assessed the effect of salt with fludrocortisone on QT dispersion and echocardiographic left ventricular diastolic function in a prospective interventional study involving 29 hypertensive subjects with a raised aldosterone/renin ratio who were hospitalized for investigation of possible primary aldosteronism. Each subject over 4 days was given a total of 28.8 g (480 mmol) of sodium chloride and 1.5 mg of fludrocortisone with potassium supplementation. Baseline and posttreatment 12-lead ECGs and echocardiograms were obtained. There were no significant changes in body weight, pulse rate, or BP after treatment with salt and fludrocortisone. Plasma sodium was significantly increased from 141.4 (SD 2.1) to 142.6 (SD 2.4) mmol/L (P:=0.001). QT and QTc dispersion both significantly increased: +19.6 (SD 16.5) ms (95% CI, 13.4 to 25.9) (P:<0.001) and +19.8 (SD 20.9) ms (95% CI, 11.8 to 27.7) (P:<0.001), respectively. There were no significant changes in (n=15) left ventricular dimensions or systolic function, but all diastolic filling indexes, including the preload-independent index, flow propagation velocity (55.49 [SD 10.91] to 48.96 [SD 11.40] cm/s, P:=0.018) worsened, suggesting significant deterioration of left ventricular diastolic function with salt and fludrocortisone. In conclusion, a combination of salt with fludrocortisone increased QT dispersion and impaired left ventricular diastolic relaxation in hypertensive patients with high aldosterone/renin ratios. This raises the possibility that salt may have BP-independent adverse cardiac effects in susceptible hypertensive subjects.     

Frequency and significance of concurrent hepatitis B surface antigen and antibody in acute and chronic hepatitis B

Of 228 consecutive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive patients who had simultaneous hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) determinations, HBsAg and anti-HBs were found concurrently in 73 (32%). Concurrence was found with greater frequency in patients with chronic active hepatitis than in those with acute hepatitis (36/57 vs 13/38, p less than 0.02). Patients with chronic active hepatitis had concurrent markers more commonly than those with chronic persistent hepatitis or asymptomatic carrier state (36/57 vs. 24/133, p less than 0.001). No major risk factors were identified. Hepatitis B e antigen was detected more frequently in patients with concurrence (68% vs. 42%, p less than 0.01). Subtyping was possible in 30 patients with chronic infection, including 18 with chronic active hepatitis, 7 with chronic persistent hepatitis, and 5 with a carrier state. In 25 patients, HBsAg subtype ad was found with antibody to subdeterminant y and in four instances, HBsAg subtype ay was found with antibody to subdeterminant d. Only 1 patient had homotypic HBsAg and anti-HBs. Of 38 patients who had successive determinations, concurrence was constant in 29. In 9 others, anti-HBs was detected intermittently and the heterotypia of the recurrent antibody remained constant. Antibody to hepatitis delta-virus was not detected. We conclude that concurrent HBsAg and anti-HBs are found frequently in acute and chronic hepatitis B. The markers are commonly heterotypic in chronic disease. The presence of heterotypic markers is not associated with specific risk factors or delta-infection. Concurrence is associated with evidence of viral replication and features of active inflammation.     

The binding of ouabain to normal and chronic lymphocytic leukemic lymphocytes

The binding of the cardiac glycoside, ouabain, to cells had been used to quantify the number of active cation pumps. In this study, lymphocytes were incubated with 3H-ouabain and the equilibrium binding analyzed for the maximal number of specific binding sites. Lymphocytes from normal peripheral blood bound 44,200 +/- 9920 molecules/cell, compared with 29,200 +/- 8370 molecules/cell for the lymphocytes of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) subjects. This difference was significant (p less than 0.01) and did not reflect a lower number of sites on B cells than T cells, since B-cell-enriched lymphocytes from normal peripheral blood showed the same ouabain binding characteristics as the standard T-cell-rich preparation. Although monocytes bind threefold more ouabain than lymphocytes, the small monocyte contamination (3.0%) in normal lymphocyte preparations could not account for the difference between normal and CLL. The fewer ouabain binding sites on CLL lymphocytes may reflect both their smaller size (by 10%) and lower mitotic activity compared with lymphocytes from normal peripheral blood.