Association of a SLC30A8 Genetic Variant with Monotherapy of Repaglinide and Rosiglitazone Effect in Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes Patients in China

Objective To investigate a potential relationship between Solute carrier family 30 （zinc transporter） member 8 （SLC3OAS） rs13266634 variant and efficacy of rosiglitazone or repaglinide in treating newly diagnosed Chinese type 2 diabetes patients. Methods A total of 209 diabetic patients without any antihyperglycemic history were recruited and treated with repaglinide or rosiglitazone randomly for 48 weeks （104 and 105 patients, respectively）. Anthropometric measurements and clinical laboratory tests were carried out before and after the treatment. An non-synonymous variant rs13266634 was genotyped by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectroscopy. Results Ninety-one patients in repaglinide group and ninety-three patients in rosiglitazone group completed the study. 6 value of homeostasis model assessment of beta cell function （HOMA-B） and 6 value of fasting proinsulin levels were statistically significant between three genotype groups （P=0.0149 and 0.0246, respectively） after rosiglitazone treatment. However, no genotype association was observed in the repaglinide or rosiglitazone group with other parameters. Conclusion The SLC3OA8 variant was associated with the efficacy of insulin sensitizer monotherapy on insulin secretion in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus in Shanghai, China.

Relationship between Waist Circumference and Elevation of Carotid Intima-media Thickness in Newly-diagnosed Diabetic Patients

Objective Waist circumference, as a brief indicator of visceral obesity, is associated with multi-metabolic disorders and cardiovascular diseases. The present study was aimed to find out the relationship between waist circumference and carotid intima media thickness （C-IMT）, as well as the best waist circumference cutoff for identifying C-IMT elevation in Chinese male patients with newly-diagnosed diabetes. Methods Five hundred and seventy-eight patients from Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism in Shanghai Sixth People＇s Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University were enrolled. Both physical examination （for measurement of waist circumference） and carotid ultrasonography （for measurement of C-IMT） were performed. Results After grouping according to the quartiles of C-IMT, the waist circumference increased across all its quartiles. The waist circumference in 3rd and 4th quartiles （90.7_＋9.8 cm and 90.8＋9.6 cm） was significant higher than in 1st and 2nd quartiles （P〈0.05）. When subjects were divided into 4 groups according to waist circumference, the C-IMT of subjects with waist circumference 90-95 cm was significant higher than that of subjects with waist circumference 85-90 cm and less than 85 cm respectively （P〈0.05）. Both spearman and partial correlation analysis showed that C-IMT was positively correlated with waist circumference （P〈0.01）. C-IMT was found significantly elevated with the increase of waist circumference. Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that waist circumference was one of the independent risk factors of C-IMT. After an average of 2.23_＋0.85 years follow up, there was a significant elevation of C-IMT in the group with baseline waist circumference over 90 cm P〈0.05）, while no significant difference was detected in the group with baseline waist circumference less than 90 cm （P=0.27）. Logistic regression showed that baseline waist circumference over 90 cm was associated with a relative risk to C-IMT elevation of 1.132 （95% CI 1.043-1.431, P〈0.05）. Conclusion Among newly-diagnosed diabetic male patients, waist circumference over 90 cm not only reflects sub-clinical atherosclerosis in early stage, but also predicts the progression of atherosclerosis.

Screening for Melanocortin 4 Receptor Mutations in Chinese Extremely Obese Individuals

Accumulating evidence indicates that overweight and obesity are the major international public health concern. Obesity is a major independent risk factor for chronic diseases, such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and certain cancer. Disease burden due to obesity has been dramatically increasing in many countries including China in the past years. According to the Nationwide Health and Nutrition Survey （CHNS）, the prevalence of overweight and obesity among men and women in China increased by 27.6% and 8.8%, respectively, from 1993 to 2009.