Do children with primary nocturnal enuresis have a retarded bone age? A cross‐sectional study

OBJECTIVE: Nocturnal enuresis is a common pediatric problem, the etiology of which is unclear. In recent years, various studies have been published stating that children with nocturnal enuresis exhibit growth and skeletal maturation retardation. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we included 27 patients (16 boys, 11 girls) between the ages of 6 and 14 years who had presented with primary nocturnal enuresis (PNE) complaints. We included in the evaluation 19 healthy subjects (12 boys, 7 girls), who were the siblings of the children with PNE, as the control group. RESULTS: The patients in both groups were similar in chronological age, bone age, height and weight, with no significant difference between groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The two groups in our study consisted of the same genetic background. Thus, our results were found to be different from the previous studies. We have concluded that there is no direct relationship between enuresis nocturnal and skeletal maturation.     

Serum ionic fluoride levels in haemodialysis and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients

High serum fluoride (F-) in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is associated with risk of renal osteodystrophy and other bone changes. This study was done to determine F- in normal healthy controls and patients with ESRD on haemodialysis (HD) or peritoneal dialysis (PD). Seventeen healthy controls (12 males, 5 females) and 39 ESRD patients on dialysis (17 males, 22 females) were recruited in the study in a community with 47.4 +/- 3.28 microM/l (range 44-51 microM/l) of F- content in drinking water. Control subjects showed a mean serum F- concentration of 1.08 +/- 0.350 microM/l. Males in control group showed slightly higher F- levels (1.15 +/- 0.334, range 0.55-1.9 microM/l) than females (0.92 +/- 0.370, range 0.6-1.5 microM/l). Mean serum F- concentration did not correlate significantly with age and sex among control subjects, whereas such correlation was observed in patients with ESRD on dialysis. Mean serum F- concentration was significantly higher in patients on dialysis (2.67 +/- 1.09, range 0.8-5.2 microM/l) than normal controls. When grouped according to sex, the mean serum F- concentration in males (3.05 +/- 1.04, range 1.8-5.2 microM/l) was significantly higher than females (2.38 +/- 1.08, range 0.8-5.2 microM/l). When patients were grouped according to age, it was observed that F- concentration was significantly higher in patients with age groups 21-70 (2.86 +/- 1.05) than those with age group 13-20 years (1.42 +/- 0.531). Thus F- concentration correlated with age and sex, being higher in males and above 20 years. Despite appreciable clearance of F- (39-90%) across the peritoneum, patients on CAPD showed higher serum F- concentration than those on HD (3.1 +/- 1.97 vs 2.5 +/- 1.137 microM/l). Of the total 39 patients on dialysis 39% had their serum F- concentration above 3.0 microM/l, posing the risk of renal osteodystrophy.      

THE IMPACT OF PRE-CLERKING CLINICS ON SURGICAL OPERATION CANCELLATIONS: A PROSPECTIVE AUDIT

Pre-clerking of all patients undergoing elective general surgical operations was introduced at our hospital in an attempt to reduce an unacceptably high operation cancellation rate. A prospective audit has been performed on the effect of this policy on the cancellation rate. Before the introduction of pre-clerking there was a marked seasonal variation in the number of patients who failed to attend for surgery, which could be explained by absence on holiday. This seasonal variation disappeared after the start of pre-clerking clinics, but there has been no reduction in the number of cancellations for medical reasons.     

Androgen receptor YAC transgenic mice carrying CAG 45 alleles show trinucleotide repeat instability

X-linked spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the first exon of the androgen receptor (AR) gene. Disease-associated alleles (37-66 CAGs) change in length when transmitted from parents to offspring, with a significantly greater tendency to shift size when inherited paternally. As transgenic mice carrying human AR cDNAs with 45 and 66 CAG repeats do not display repeat instability, we attempted to model trinucleotide repeat instability by generating transgenic mice with yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs) carrying AR CAG repeat expansions in their genomic context. Studies of independent lines of AR YAC transgenic mice with CAG 45 alleles reveal intergenerational instability at an overall rate of approximately 10%. We also find that the 45 CAG repeat tracts are significantly more unstable with maternal transmission and as the transmitting mother ages. Of all the CAG/CTG repeat transgenic mice produced to date the AR YAC CAG 45 mice are unstable with the smallest trinucleotide repeat mutations, suggesting that the length threshold for repeat instability in the mouse may be lowered by including the appropriate flanking human DNA sequences. By sequence-tagged site content analysis and long range mapping we determined that one unstable transgenic line has integrated an approximately 70 kb segment of the AR locus due to fragmentation of the AR YAC. Identification of the cis - acting elements that permit CAG tract instability and the trans -acting factors that modulate repeat instability in the AR YAC CAG 45 mice may provide insights into the molecular basis of trinucleotide repeat instability in humans.      

Ameliorating effect of microdoses of a potentized homeopathic drug,Arsenicum Album,on arsenic-induced toxicity in mice

Background  

Arsenic in groundwater and its accumulation in plants and animals have assumed a menacing proportion in a large part of West Bengal, India and adjoining areas of Bangladesh. Because of the tremendous magnitude of the problem, there seems to be no way to tackle the problem overnight. Efforts to provide arsenic free water to the millions of people living in these dreaded zones are being made, but are awfully inadequate. In our quest for finding out an easy, safe and affordable means to combat this problem, a homeopathic drug, Arsenicum Album-30, appears to yield promising results in mice. The relative efficacies of two micro doses of this drug, namely, Arsenicum Album-30 and Arsenicum Album-200, in combating arsenic toxicity have been determined in the present study on the basis of some accepted biochemical protocols.     

A mathematical model of optimized radioiodine-131 therapy of Graves' hyperthyroidism

Background

The current status of radioiodine-131 (RaI) dosimetry for Graves' hyperthyroidism is not clear. Recurrent hyperthyroidism and iatrogenic hypothyroidism are two problems which interact such that trying to solve one leads to exacerbation of the other. Optimized RaI therapy has therefore begun to be defined just in terms of early hypothyroidism (ablative therapy) as physicians have given up on reducing hypothyroidism.

Methods

Optimized therapy is evaluated both in terms of the greatest separation of cure rate from hypothyroidism rate (non-ablative therapy) or in terms of early hypothyroidism (ablative therapy) by mathematical modeling of outcome after radioiodine and critically discussing the three common methods of RaI dosing for Graves' disease.

Results

Cure follows a logarithmic relationship to activity administered or absorbed dose, while hypothyroidism follows a linear relationship. The effect of including or omitting factors in the calculation of the administered I–131 activity such as the measured thyroid uptake and effective half-life of RaI or giving extra compensation for gland size is discussed.

Conclusions

Very little benefit can be gained by employing complicated methods of RaI dose selection for non-ablative therapy since the standard activity model shows the best potential for cure and prolonged euthyroidism. For ablative therapy, a standard MBq/g dosing provides the best outcome in terms of cure and early hypothyroidism.     

Meta-analysis of epigenome-wide association studies of carotid intima-media thickness

Common carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) is an index of subclinical atherosclerosis that is associated with ischemic stroke and coronary artery disease (CAD). We undertook a cross-sectional epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) of measures of cIMT in 6400 individuals. Mendelian randomization analysis was applied to investigate the potential causal role of DNA methylation in the link between atherosclerotic cardiovascular risk factors and cIMT or clinical cardiovascular disease. The CpG site cg05575921 was associated with cIMT (beta?=??0.0264, p value?=?3.5?×?10^–8) in the discovery panel and was replicated in replication panel (beta?=??0.07, p value?=?0.005). This CpG is located at chr5:81649347 in the intron 3 of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor gene (AHRR). Our results indicate that DNA methylation at cg05575921 might be in the pathway between smoking, cIMT and stroke. Moreover, in a region-based analysis, 34 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were identified of which a DMR upstream of ALOX12 showed the strongest association with cIMT (p value?=?1.4?×?10^–13). In conclusion, our study suggests that DNA methylation may play a role in the link between cardiovascular risk factors, cIMT and clinical cardiovascular disease.