Introduction:

Hypomagnesemia is reported in type 2 diabetes; magnesium deficiency may play a role in the development of endothelial dysfunction and altered insulin function.

Objective:

To assess the incidence of hypomagnesemia among noncritically ill patients of Type 2 diabetes mellitus and to evaluate the relation of hypomagnesemia to glycemic control and various long-term complications of diabetes mellitus.

Materials and Methods:

One hundred and fifty, noncritically ill (APACHE score < 10) type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, who were admitted in the Departments of Medicine and Endocrinology, GMCH for uncontrolled hyperglycemia and/or various diabetic complications were studied. Serum magnesium was assessed at admission and rechecked in those found to be deficient.

Results:

Hypomagnesemia (Se magnesium < 1.6 mg/dl) was documented in 17 (11.33%) patients with a female:male ratio of 9:8. Mean HbA1c was 11.9% in the hypomagnesemic patients compared with 9.8% in controls (P =0.0016). Retinopathy, microalbuminuria, macroalbuminuria, foot ulceration, and neuropathy was present in 64%, 47%, 17.64%, 58.8%, and 82.35%, respectively, of the patients with hypomagnesemia as compared with 45.8% (P =0.118), 38.34% (P =0.704),15.03% (P =0.566), 22.55% (P =0.011) and 82.7% (P =0.976) without hypomagnesemia. Coronary artery disease was less common in the hypomagnesemia group (17.6% vs 39%), but comparable in the subgroup < 50 years (27% vs 25%) (P =0.796).

Conclusion:

Hypomagnesemia in diabetes was associated with poorer glycemic control, retinopathy, nephropathy, and foot ulcers.

Objective:

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may represent a large underappreciated segment of female population who is at increased cardiovascular risk because of the presence of cluster of metabolic abnormalities. The aim of our study was to assess atherosclerotic risk factors in women with PCOS.

Materials and Methods:

In a cross-sectional study, 50 women with PCOS and 50 age and weight-matched healthy controls were enrolled. Endothelial dysfunction by flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) of brachial artery, highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hs CRP), and carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) were measured in both cases and control groups.

Results:

The mean age of women with PCOS was 26.82 ± 3.26 years and Body-mass index (BMI) of 26.2 ± 4.8 kg/ m2. Thirty-six (72%) patients were overweight or obese,54% had central obesity and 12% had impaired glucose tolerance. Among the markers of atherosclerosis, hsCRP levels were nonsignificantly higher in patients with PCOS than in controls. The FMD was 12.18 ± 2.3% vs 8.3 ± 2.23% in patients with PCOS and controls respectively (P=0.01). CIMT was significantly different in two study groups (0.68 ± 0.11 in PCOS vs 0.52 ± 0.02 in normal subjects, (P=0.01). FMD had significant negative correlation with homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) index (r = −0.32, P=0.02) and hs CRP (r = −0.37, P=0.04) while hs CRP was correlated with BMI (r = 0.54, P=0.005), HOMA (r = 0.38, P=0.02) and FMD (r = -0.33, P=0.01). CIMT was significantly different in women with PCOS and control subjects, and it had significant correlation with age (r = 0.42, P=0.03), BMI (r = 0.36, P=0.01), waist circumference (r = 0.52, P=0.001) and HOMA (r = 0.31, P=0.04).

Conclusion:

Women with PCOS definitely have increased risk for future cardiovascular events. Clinicians should consider early cardiovascular screening and interventions to control all modifiable cardiovascular risk factors.

Renal artery stenosis (RAS) often coexists with pheochromocytoma (Pheo)/paraganglioma (PGL) and often alters the management of patients with Pheo/PGL. We have studied the prevalence of RAS in our Pheo/PGL patients. The study included 70 consecutive, histopathologically proven Pheo/PGL patients from a tertiary health care center. In 60 patients, tumors were limited to adrenal glands (54 unilateral and 6 bilateral) while other 10 patients had extra-adrenal abdominal tumors. Five patients had RAS with an overall prevalence of 14%. Only two out of 60 patients with Pheo had RAS with a low prevalence of 3.3% while three out of 10 patients with extra-adrenal abdominal PGL had RAS with a prevalence of 30%. To conclude, RAS commonly coexists with Pheo/PGL, more often with extra-adrenal PGL.

Introduction:

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and the metabolic syndrome, and can progress to chronic liver disease. We examined the incidence of elevated (>35 iu/l) alanine transaminase (ALT), as a surrogate marker for NAFLD, in patients with newly diagnosed T2DM.

Materials and Methods:

Retrospective analysis of ALT with metabolic parameters, in 606 consecutive patients presenting to district wide education sessions for newly diagnosed T2DM.

Results:

ALT was elevated in 155 patients (25.6% (95% CI 22.1, 29.2)), who tended to be older (mean difference 7.3 years (5.2, 9.5), P < 0.001), heavier (body mass index (BMI) mean difference 2.0 kg/m2 (1.0, 3.0), P < 0.001), and more likely to be male (M:F raised ALT 104:51, normal ALT 219:232, P < 0.001), with higher triglycerides (median difference 0.2 mmol/l, P = 0.001) and lower HDL cholesterol (mean difference 0.09 mmol/l (0.02, 0.15), P = 0.001). There were no statistically significant differences in HBA1C or total cholesterol.

Conclusions:

In a well-defined population of newly diagnosed people with T2DM, there is a high incidence of abnormal ALT levels, which is associated with features of the metabolic syndrome (obesity and lipid abnormalities), but not glycemic control.

Metformin is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for management of Type 2 diabetes mellitus. It has been in use for almost five decades. Now, pharmacological properties of this agent are being exapted for use in a number of other indications. New facets of its personality are coming up, generating more interest of the scientific community in this “middle-aged” molecule. This article explores the role of metformin in cardioprotection and its hepatoprotective properties. Nephroprotective, protection against excess body fat and gonadoprotective actions, properties have also been discussed. Additionally, this manuscript briefly reviews the thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)-lowering properties in diabetic and non-diabetic patients, besides reviewing its actions on different types of cancers. Some of these actions may become approved indications for use of metformin following generation of new evidence. Metformin still has many unexplored dimensions that deserve further exploration.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a leading cause of infertility. We studied the rheological properties of cervical-vaginal secretions in five PCOS patients during variable treatment intervals with metformin. Five ovulatory normal women for a total of thirteen cycles served as control patients. All subjects collected daily cervical-vaginal fluid(CVF) samples with an aspirator, and CVF samples were characterized by a flow metric, die swell ratio (B), which measured CVF elasticity. Ovulatory cycles were indexed to the day of positive urine or serum LH (luteinizing hormone). CVF B levels from ovulatory normal women had a characteristic concave parabolic pattern of a minimum near the day of ovulation with higher values outside the periovulatory phase. In contrast, the five PCOS patients with or without metformin treatment had no periodicity of CVF B, and their CVF B levels were typically less compared to those in the early preovulatory and luteal phases of normal patients.

Lipodystrophy is a clinical disorder characterized by maldistribution of body fat. Hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, and abnormalities of glucose homeostasis are commonly described among these patients. Hyperinsulinemia is also involved in the pathogenesis of polycystic ovarian syndrome, a condition, described rarely in patients with lipodystrophy. Here, we describe 2 females of partial lipodystrophy who presented with features of polycystic ovarian disease. Both had severe hyperinsulinemia and irregular periods, one had hyperandrogenism and hirsuitism while the other was non-hirsuite.

An 82-year-old male, a known case of severe osteoporosis with vertebral fracture and prostatic carcinoma, was treated with gonadotropin releasing hormone analogue, calcium carbonate, cholecalciferol sachet and injection teriparatide. His diet consisted of milk and curd. He developed altered behavior and generalized weakness, and on investigation, hypercalcemia, hypokalemia, and metabolic alkalosis with low parathyroid hormone levels were detected. Injection teriparatide was stopped and he was managed with forced saline diuresis and injection zoledronic acid. He was diagnosed as a case of milk alkali syndrome in whom teriparatide and prolonged immobilization played a permissive role in the development of hypercalcemic encephalopathy.

Pregnancy in a patient with acromegaly is a rare occurrence. Here in, we report a patient with acromegaly who presented to us in the 2nd trimester of pregnancy with visual loss in the right eye. Her vision improved after surgery. She went on to have an uneventful pregnancy and delivered a term baby, by caesarian section. One year following her delivery, she received stereotactic radiotherapy. Subsequent follow-up revealed that her tumor had regressed and her IGF-1 levels had normalized.

Kocher-Debre-Semelaigne (KDS) syndrome is a rare form of hypothyroid myopathy, with associated hypertrophy of muscles. Although cardiac manifestations of hypothyroidism are well known, reports of cardiac involvement in KDS have only described the occurrence of pericardial effusion as an association. This report describes an adolescent male presenting with typical features of this rare syndrome along with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia (ARVC/D), an association not yet described in the literature.

We report of an 18-year-old male who presented with an epileptiform disorder, features of hypocalcemia, and an extrapyramidal symptom in the form of choreoathetosis. On evaluation he had idiopathic hypoparathyroidism with extensive calcifications in the extrapyramidal system of the brain; basal ganglion, as well as in the cerebral cortex and cerebellum, which is a rare entity. We report the rare presentation of a common disorder, which requires to be considered in evaluating hypoparathyroidism.

Pituitary thyrotroph hyperplasia with hyperprolactinemia has been described as a rare presentation of primary hypothyroidism. Premenopausal females with this disorder can present with features of hypothyroidism, menstrual disturbances, galactorrhea, and visual field defects because of enlarged pituitary. Here we describe a 32-year-old female presenting to her gynecologist primarily with galactorrhea and secondary amenorrhea. She was found to have raised serum prolactin, and MRI brain showed enlarged pituitary. She was referred for pituitary surgery when she came to us. Clinical examination and biochemistry were suggestive of primary hypothyroidism. She was prescribed levothyroxine replacement. At 6 weeks follow-up, serum prolactin came down to normal, galactorrhea subsided, and spontaneous menstrual cycles resumed. In 12 weeks, pituitary enlargement completely regressed and in another month after that, she conceived. Hence, primary hypothyroidism can present with thyrotroph hyperplasia, where correct diagnosis and levothyroxine therapy can prevent unnecessary pituitary surgery. Hyperprolactinemia in this setting is of no clinical significance.

Primary hyperparathyroidism is a disease characterized by excessive secretion of parathormone. During the course of this disease, bone loss occurs, particularly depending on resorption of the skeletal system. One of the complications of primary hyperparathyroidism is fibrotic, cystic bony changes which is called Brown tumor. Skeletal manifestations in the form of Brown tumors are rare and according to literature occur in less than 2% of patients suffering from any form of hyperparathyroidism. Such rare and multiple benign lesions may simulate a malignant neoplasm and pose a real challenge for the clinician in its differential diagnosis. We present a case of a 23-year-old Indian woman who was evaluated for multiple lytic expansile lesions with a strong suspicion of malignancy and fibrous dysplasia but turned out to be a case of primary hyperparathyroidism.

A patient with microprolactinoma, who had two successful pregnancies, is described for management issues. First pregnancy was uneventful. During the second pregnancy, the tumor enlarged to macroprolactinoma with headache and blurring of vision which was managed successfully with bromocriptine. Post delivery, complete disappearance of the tumor was documented.