Relationship Between Serum Zinc Level and Microvascular Complications in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Background： Previous studies suggested that zinc level was related to relationship between zinc level and all the microvascular complications in a certain diabetic microvascular complication. However, the type 2 diabetic patients remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between zinc level and each diabetic microvascular complication and identify the features related to low serum zinc level. Methods： We included the hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes （T2D） at our department from May 30, 2013 to March 31,2014. We initially compared the serum zinc levels between patients with specific microvascular complications and those without. We then analyzed the association between zinc level and each microvascular complication. Furthermore, we identified the unique features of patients with high and low serum zinc levels and analyzed the risk factors related to low zinc level. Results： The 412 patients included 271 with microvascular complications and 141 without any microvascular complications. Serum zinc level was significantly lower in patients with diabetic retinopathy （P 〈 0.001）, diabetic nephropathy （DN, P 〈 0.001 ）, or diabetic peripheral neuropathy （P = 0.002） compared with patients without that specific complication. Lower zinc level was an independent risk factor for DN （odds ratio = 0.869, 95% confidence interval = 0.765-0.987, P 〈 0.05）. The subjects with lower serum zinc level had manifested a longer duration of diabetes, higher level of hemoglobin A I c, higher prevalence of hypertension and microvascular complications, and lower fasting and 2-h C-peptide levels. Conclusions： Lower serum zinc level in T2D patients was related to higher prevalence of diabetic microvascular complications, and represented as an independent risk factor for DN. Patients with lower zinc level were more likely to have a longer duration of diabetes, poorer glucose control, and worse β-cell function.

A Novel Mutation of PRKAR1A Caused Carney Complex in a Chinese Patient

Primary pigmented nodular adrenocortical disease （PPNAD） causes adrenocorticotropic hormone （ACTH）-independent Cushing＇s syndrome （CS）,which is the most frequent endocrine manifestation of Carney complex （CNC）.[1] In the disease process of PPNAD,both presadrenal glands are involved and feature small brown-black nodules separated by the atrophic adrenal cortex.

A Screening Approach for Mitochondrial tRNALeu（UUR） A3243G Mutation in a Hospital-Based Population with Diabetes

To the Editor：Diabetes caused by mitochondrial tRNALeu（UUR） A3243G mutation is one of the most common types ofmitochondrial diabetes mellitus （MDM）.Seventeen years ago,we reported that the prevalence of MDM was 0.4％ in clinically diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus （T2DM） patients （n =716）.[1] Recently,we reviewed all the studies reporting MDM cases from grade three and first-class hospitals in China （unpublished） and found that the prevalence of MDM in a pooled randomly selected T2DM population was 0.64％.MDM patients are usually characterized by early age at diagnosis,low beta-cell function,and lack of obesity,insulin resistance,and autoantibodies associated with type 1 diabetes mellitus （T1DM）.

A novel phenotypic assay of hepatitis B virus polymerase with extensive site-specific mutagenesis

Dear Editor,A common reason for drug failure during long-term treatment of chronic hepatitis B with nucleot(s)ide analogues(NUCs)is the emergence of drug resistance(Das et al.,2001).Most primary NUCs-resistant mutations identified in clinical samples have been limited to a minority of amino acids(usually less