Non-genetic surrogacy: no cure but problems for infertility?

Non-genetic surrogacy characterizes a situation where the gestational mother is not the genetic mother. It further widens a circle that started with the introduction of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and creates problems in defining motherhood and identifying at birth the mother who will have the rights and responsibilities of rearing the child.     

Drug-protein binding kinetics in patients with Type I diabetes

Summary Sera from 17 patients with Type I diabetes and 19 healthy volunteers have been examined to evaluate whether the kinetics of the binding of drugs to Site II of serum albumin is altered in diabetes. Stopped-flow measurements showed that the association velocity and the affinity constants of the fluorescent marker dansylsarcosine were significantly lower in diabetics (160 s^–1 and 2.0 × 10⁵ l·mol^–1) than in non-diabetics (196s^–1 and 4.0 × 10⁵ l·mol^–1). The dissociation velocity was not different [20.3 s^–1 vs. 19.4 s^–1]. Although patients with a reduced albumin concentration were excluded the diabetics had significantly lower concentrations than the healthy volunteers. There was a significant correlation between decreased glycosylation of albumin and increased association velocity. The dissociation velocity constants were correlated with the molar concentration ratio of free fatty acids/human serum albumin. Thus, the extent of glycosylation and the amount of fatty acids bound per mole albumin can both affect the kinetics of drug binding to Site II. The lower affinity in patients with Type I diabetes is due to the increased in the glycoalbumin concentration.     

Sudden cardiorespiratory arrest after renal transplantation in a patient with diabetic autonomic neuropathy and prolonged QT interval

A 31–yr male with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus for 20 years underwent general anaesthesia for renal transplantation. During transfer from operating theatre to ICU he developed bradycardia advancing to ventricular fibrillation and had to be resuscitated. Bradycardia did not respond to atropine. Postoperative autonomic nervous function tests showed advanced autonomic neuropathy. He was found to have constantly prolonged QTc interval in his pre– and postoperative ECGs (462–503 ms). Prolongation of QTc interval could be used as a valuable predictor of postoperative cardiac complications in diabetic patients with autonomic neuropathy.     

Cross reactivity between IA-2 and phogrin/IA-2β in binding of autoantibodies in IDDM

Summary Patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) possess antibodies to the cytoplasmic domains of two closely related tyrosine phosphatase-like proteins, IA-2 and phogrin, previously detected as 40 kDa and 37 kDa tryptic fragments, respectively. A higher proportion of IDDM patients possess antibodies to IA-2 than to phogrin, and autoimmunity to phogrin might arise through cross-reactivity with the highly homologous IA-2. In this study, we have investigated the major regions of IA-2 recognized by antibodies in IDDM patients and examined the ability of phogrin to block antibody binding to these regions as a measure of cross-reactivity. Analysis of antibody binding to in vitro transcribed and translated polypeptides representing different regions of the cytoplasmic domain of IA-2 identified five different patterns of reactivity with antibodies in IDDM. Protein footprinting analysis, whereby polypeptide fragments generated on protease treatment of immune complexes are studied, indicated considerable heterogeneity in antibody recognition of IA-2, even between sera with similar reactivity to deletion mutants. Blocking studies with recombinant phogrin indicated that IA-2 antibodies recognize epitopes that are both unique to IA-2 and shared with phogrin. The amino-terminal 150 amino acids of the cytoplasmic domain of IA-2 encompass epitopes that are not represented on phogrin, whereas shared epitopes are localized within the carboxy-terminal 220 amino acids. The results demonstrate considerable heterogeneity between IDDM patients in autoantibody recognition of IA-2 in IDDM, whereas antibody recognition of phogrin is restricted in most patients to epitopes also present on IA-2. [Diabetologia (1997) 40: 1327–1333] Received: 4 April 1997 and in revised form: 2 July 1997     

一种胰岛素抵抗的糖尿病特殊类型报告

报告５例对胰岛素抵抗的糖尿病特殊类型病例，其均具有胰岛素应用指征，但使用胰岛素后血糖却反而上升，逐渐增加胰岛素用量，则血糖值亦呈上升趋势。对该类病人的治疗，首先停用胰岛素，改用自制中药制剂及优降糖、降糖灵治疗，取得了良好效果。     

六味地黄汤对实验性糖尿病大鼠心、肝、肾组织中过氧化氢酶活性和过氧化脂质含量的影响

用四氧嘧啶诱导雄性Ｗｉｓｔａｒ大鼠为模型进行研究．结果发现，四氧嘧啶大鼠血糖明显升高，且心、肝、肾组织中过氧化氢酶活性较正常组明显降低，过氧化脂质含量在心、肝组织中明显增高，过氧化脂质与过氧化氢酶比值在心、肝、肾组织中均明显高于正常组，表明糖尿病状态下大鼠心、肝、肾组织中均自由基生成增多，氧化损伤加重．经六味地黄汤治疗后，血糖明显下降，但心、肝、肾组织中的过氧化氢酶活性无改变；而心肌中过氧化脂质含量和过氧化脂质与过氧化氢酶比值则明显降低，过氧化脂质含量和过氧化脂质与过氧化氢酶比值在肝、肾组织中无变化，表明六味地黄汤能明显清除心肌中自由基，抑制心肌中脂质过氧化，且此作用并不是通过提高过氧化氢酶活性来达到．     

Diabetes mellitus and hearing loss

A prospective hearing survey was performed in a sample of 102 diabetic patients. The hearing data were compared with the hearing thresholds of three control population groups. A significant difference was found in the average hearing thresholds between the diabetic patients and all of the three control populations. Diabetic patients have worse hearing threshold levels especially at low and mid frequencies (P < 0.001). There was also a correlation between the duration of diabetes and hearing loss. No significant correlation was found between the different stages of diabetic retinopathy and the degree of hearing loss.     

Terminal transverse limb defects and early chorionic villus sampling: Evaluation of 4,300 cases with completed follow-up

Data from 4,300 consecutive cases following prenatal diagnosis by transcervical (TC) CVS (n = (1,570) and transabdominal (TA) CVS (n = 2,370) were evaluated. In the follow-up study only infants examined by a physician were included. Gestational age varied between 8.5 and 11.6 weeks (mean 10.3 weeks) for TC-CVS and between 9.3 and 20 weeks (mean 12.3 weeks) for TA-CVS 98% of TC-CVS was performed at 9–10 weeks, 80.7% of TA-CVS procedures were carried out at 12–15 weeks. Selective termination took place in 97 cases of TC-CVS (6.1%) and in 72 cases of TA-CVS (2.6%). Another 8 Women had a termination for psychosocial reasons, resulting in 4,123 (1,469 TC, 2,645 TA) continuing pregnancies. The overall fetal loss rare <28 weeks was 5.4% (n = 80) for TC-CVS and 2.6% (n = 70) for TA-CVS. The overall incidence of congenital abnormalities after birth was 0.9%. Two terminal transversal limb defects were detected in the TC-CVS group (0.14%) against one (0.04%) in the TA-CVS group. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

A randomized, blinded trial of uncooked cornstarch to diminish nocturnal hypoglycemia at Diabetes Camp

Objective: To determine if uncooked cornstarch, as part of the evening snack, can avert nocturnal hypoglycemia in type 1 diabetes. Research Design and Methods: Fifty-one campers and counselors at the American Diabetes Association Camp in San Bernardino, CA were randomly assigned to receive 5 g of uncooked cornstarch as part of the 21:00 evening snack vs. a standard snack of equivalent carbohydrate content. Each snack was given for five nights and the participants and medical personnel were blinded as to assignment. Midnight and 07:00 finger stick blood glucose levels were compared with values <60 mg/dl defined as hypoglycemia and values >250 mg/dl defined as hyperglycemia. Results: There were 218 midnight and 222 07:00 values for comparison. There were six episodes of hypoglycemia at midnight and nine episodes of hypoglycemia at 07:00 for the cornstarch snack nights vs. 30 hypoglycemia episodes at midnight and 21 at 07:00 for the standard snack nights (P < 0.001 and < 0.05, respectively). There was no difference in the number of hyperglycemic events at midnight or 07:00 for the cornstarch vs. standard snack nights. At midnight, 12% of campers had hypoglycemia after the cornstarch snack vs. 46% after the standard snack (P < 0.001), and at 07:00, 16% had hypoglycemia after cornstarch vs. 26% after the standard snack (P = 0.327). Conclusions: These data suggest that uncooked cornstarch, as part of the evening snack, can diminish the nighttime and morning hypoglycemia associated with type 1 diabetes, without causing hyperglycemia.