Comparison of Salivary and Serum Glucose Levels in Diabetic Patients

Background:Diabetes mellitus is a noncommunicable disease with a rising prevalence worldwide and in developing countries. The most commonly used diagnostic biofluid for detection of glucose levels is blood, but sample collection is an invasive and painful procedure. Thus, there arises a need for a noninvasive and painless technique to detect glucose levels.Results:The findings of present study revealed a significant correlation between salivary and serum glucose levels in both diabetic and nondiabetic subjects. No significant relationship was observed between salivary glucose levels and gender or age in both diabetics and nondiabetics and between salivary glucose levels and duration of diabetes in diabetics.Conclusion:On the basis of the findings, it was concluded that salivary glucose levels could serve as a potentially noninvasive adjunct to monitor glycemic control in diabetic patients.     

Acute and chronic hemodynamic effects of xamoterol in mild to moderate congestive heart failure.

Xamoterol, a new beta 1 partial agonist, has the potential to modulate cardiac response to variations in sympathetic tone in patients with heart failure. Its properties should result in beta-receptor stimulatory effects at low levels of sympathetic tone and beta-receptor protective effects at higher levels of sympathetic tone. The acute effects of intravenous (i.v.) xamoterol on hemodynamics at rest and during exercise were studied in 30 patients with mild to moderate heart failure (13 patients in New York Heart Association class II; 17 in class III) due to ischemic (n = 24) or cardiomyopathic (n = 6) heart disease. Cardiac index, stroke volume and stroke work index at rest were significantly improved after i.v. administration of xamoterol and consistent with net agonist effects. During exercise, heart rate and double product were significantly reduced (net antagonist effects), but with preservation of the expected increases in cardiac index and systolic blood pressure. These hemodynamic findings confirm the ability of xamoterol to modulate cardiac response to variations in sympathetic tone. Tachyphylaxis and arrhythmogenicity limit the chronic use of drugs with full beta-agonist properties as positive inotropes in heart failure. The patients were therefore entered into a 6-month double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study of chronic oral xamoterol therapy, 200 mg twice daily, and the hemodynamic responses to i.v. xamoterol were repeated at the end of the trial. No impairment in either resting or exercise effects was observed, indicative of a maintained response and absence of tachyphylaxis after chronic therapy. Furthermore, 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring showed no change in ventricular arrhythmias during oral treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Agonist-specific regulation of mu-opioid receptor desensitization and recovery from desensitization

Agonist-selective actions of opioids on the desensitization of mu-opioid receptors (MORs) have been well characterized, but few if any studies have examined agonist-dependent recovery from desensitization. The outward potassium current induced by several opioids was studied using whole-cell voltage-clamp recordings in locus ceruleus neurons. A brief application of the irreversible opioid antagonist beta-chlornaltrexamine (beta-CNA) was applied immediately after treatment of slices with saturating concentrations of opioid agonists. This approach permitted the measurement of desensitization and recovery from desensitization using multiple opioid agonists, including [Met](5)enkephalin (ME), [d-Ala(2),N-Me-Phe(4),Gly(5)-ol]-enkephalin (DAMGO), etorphine, fentanyl, methadone, morphine, morphine-6-glucuronide, oxycodone, and oxymorphone. The results indicate that desensitization protects receptors from irreversible antagonism with beta-CNA. The amount of desensitization was measured as the decrease in current during a 10-min application of a saturating agonist concentration and was a good predictor of the extent of receptor protection from irreversible inactivation with beta-CNA. After desensitization with ME or DAMGO and treatment with beta-CNA, there was an initial profound inhibition of MOR-induced current that recovered significantly after 45 min. There was, however, no recovery of MOR-mediated current with time after treatment with agonists that did not cause desensitization, such as oxycodone. These results demonstrate that desensitization prevents irreversible inactivation of receptors by beta-CNA.     

Generation of reactive oxygen species by Kupffer cells and blood monocytes during intestinal amebiasis in guinea pigs

The reactive oxygen species generation capacity of Kupffer cells and blood monocytes was studied through chemiluminescence (CL) in guinea pigs, infected intracecally with Entameba histolytica, on days 0, 3, 7, 14 and 21 post infection. There was an elevated response up to the 14th post-infection day. The CL response of these cells was diminished on the 21st post infection day though it was significantly higher than up the controls. The CL response increased exponentially with the severity of cecal lesions. A direct correlation was observed between the CL response of phagocytic cells and cecal lesions of animals. The role of oxygen species in causation of tissue injury during intestinal amebiasis is postulated.