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Biomedical subjects

S Ljunghall

Publications and source records attributed to S Ljunghall.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Metabolic cardiovascular risk factors and sodium sensitivity in hypertensive subjects.

Hypertension has previously been suggested to be a part of a metabolic syndrome also involving hyperlipidemia, hyperinsulinemia, and decreased insulin sensitivity. In the present study, 10 untreated hypertensive subjects were challenged with a high-salt diet (20 g NaCl) for 1 week after 7 days on a low-salt diet (less than 3 g). The difference in mean blood pressure (MBP) at the end of the high-salt diet v the low-salt diet was denoted salt sensitivity. We related the salt sensitivity to indices of glucose and lipid metabolism and studied the effect of salt deprivation on these metabolic variables. Salt sensitivity was found to be significantly correlated to HDL cholesterol (r = 0.79, P less than .007), insulin sensitivity (M value at the euglycemic clamp, r = 0.68, P less than .003), and fasting serum insulin (r = 0.69, P less than .04). Salt deprivation induced an increase in fasting insulin (P less than .03), but did not significantly affect any other indices of glucose and lipid metabolism. In conclusion, our study shows that hyperinsulinemia, decreased sensitivity to insulin, and low levels of HDL cholesterol were most commonly seen in hypertensive subjects with a low sodium sensitivity. A putative mechanism might be an increased activity in pressor systems also affecting glucose and lipid metabolism.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Serum osteocalcin concentrations in patients with multiple myeloma--correlation with disease stage and survival.

Multiple myeloma affects bone, and enhanced bone resorption is a characteristic finding. In the present study the serum concentration of osteocalcin, serum bone gla-protein, which is a protein specific for bone turnover and reflects osteoblast activity, was analysed at diagnosis in 48 patients with multiple myeloma. At that time there was a significant relationship between disease stage (Durie-Salmon) and osteocalcin levels, lower levels being found in patients with more advanced disease. No relationship was found between osteocalcin and serum calcium levels. To date, 33 patients have died. There was a significant correlation between initial osteocalcin levels and patient survival. These findings suggest that serum osteocalcin could be a marker of prognostic significance for survival in multiple myeloma.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Low plasma levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in male patients with idiopathic osteoporosis.

Experimental studies in vitro indicate that insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) could be of importance for normal bone growth and remodelling, but the clinical relevance of these observations is unknown. In 12 consecutive young to middle-aged male patients (mean age (+/- SD) 46 +/- 8 years, range 30-57 years) with symptomatic idiopathic osteoporosis, the plasma concentrations of IGF-1 were significantly lower than in healthy subjects (0.51 +/- 0.25 vs. 0.73 +/- 0.23 U ml-1; P less than 0.01). The bone mineral densities in the spine, the femoral neck, and the forearm were significantly different between patients and control subjects. There were positive correlations between the plasma IGF-1 concentrations and the bone densities of the spine and the forearm. Three of the patients received a 5-d course of human recombinant growth hormone (GH). During this short period significant increases in plasma IGF-1 levels and in biochemical indices of bone turnover (serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, urinary calcium excretion) were recorded. These observations indicate that circulating IGF-1 could have an important role in maintaining bone mass, and suggest that impairment of IGF-1 production is involved in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Fasting insulin, calcium metabolism and the electrocardiogram in hypertensive subjects.

Changes in both calcium and insulin metabolism have been described in essential hypertension. Low levels of plasma ionized calcium (Ca2+) and high levels of insulin have previously been associated with vascular complications and coronary heart disease. In the present study, indices of calcium metabolism and fasting serum insulin were related to electrocardiographic (ECG) variables in 58 patients with untreated hypertension. Fasting insulin was found to be related to heart rate (r = 0.47, P < 0.001), diastolic interval (r = -0.39, P < 0.004) and electrical axis (r = -0.29, P < 0.03) while Ca2+ was found to be correlated with the QRS amplitude (r = -0.32, P < 0.03) and diastolic interval (r = 0.37, P < 0.02). Furthermore, non-ionized serum calcium was correlated with the QRS duration (r = 0.36, P < 0.02), ST-segment interval (r = -0.49, P < 0.002) and QT interval (QoT, r = -0.42, P < 0.008). These correlations were still significant when the influences of age, sex, obesity, blood pressure and heart rate were taken into account in the multiple regression analysis. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that calcium and insulin metabolism are related to several basic characteristic functions of the heart, such as the systolic and diastolic function, as well as to signs of left ventricular hypertrophy.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

The bone mineral density in acquired growth hormone deficiency correlates with circulating levels of insulin-like growth factor I.

Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) is an important anabolic factor for osteoblasts in vitro. Low plasma levels of IGF-I have been observed in young men with osteoporosis. In the present study, we have studied bone mineral density (BMD) and the circulating levels of IGF-I and growth hormone (GH) in adults with acquired GH deficiency. BMD was determined by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry in 17 men and 12 women (age 27-54 years). Spinal BMD was positively correlated with the plasma levels of IGF-I (r = 0.43, P = 0.019), with the median of GH values obtained by repeated sampling at night (r = 0.43, P = 0.0019), and with the peak of GH values during GHRH provocation test (r = 0.49, P = 0.039). The total BMD was positively related to plasma IGF-I and median of GH values, but not to peak GH by GHRH provocation. In a multiple regression analysis model, IGF-I, peak GH by GHRH provocation test and duration of GH deficiency explained 49% of the variation in spinal BMD. As compared to healthy controls, total, but not spinal, bone mass was lower in men with GH deficiency, but no clinical symptoms of osteoporosis were observed. The positive relationships between BMD and circulating IGF-I and other indices of GH secretion suggest that IGF-I has an endocrine effect on bone mass.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed1992

Screening for antibodies against gliadin in patients with osteoporosis.

Intestinal disease might contribute to osteopenia. Measurements of IgA antibodies to gliadin have been established as an accepted screening procedure for detection of coeliac disease. When we applied these measurements to 92 patients with verified osteoporosis, 11 subjects (12%) were found to have elevated levels. This is markedly higher than the incidence in healthy subjects (3%). However, the patients with raised levels of IgA antibodies displayed no clinical symptoms and no laboratory evidence of calcium malabsorption. Thus their values for serum calcium, phosphate, parathyroid hormone (PTH), alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin, as well as the fasting urinary excretion of hydroxyproline and calcium, were similar to those found in other patients with osteoporosis. Intestinal biopsy verified coeliac disease in three patients and was normal in another three. This gives an incidence of verified coeliac disease in this patient group that is approximately tenfold higher than that in the healthy population. Subclinical coeliac disease appears to be unusually over-represented among patients with idiopathic osteoporosis, and screening for gliadin antibodies might therefore be a valuable addition to the routine assessment of the osteopenic patient. The mechanisms underlying the relationship are not clear, but calcium malabsorption is not evident.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Plasma ionized calcium and cardiovascular risk factors in mild primary hyperparathyroidism: effects of long-term treatment with active vitamin D (alphacalcidol).

Primary hyperparathyroidism (HPT) has been associated with hypertension, hyperinsulinaemia, hypertriglyceridaemia and hyperuricaemia. In the present study, plasma ionized calcium (Ca2+) was studied in relation to cardiovascular risk factors in 20 subjects with mild hypertension. Plasma Ca2+ was found to be negatively correlated with fasting serum insulin, triglycerides and urate, and with diastolic blood pressure (DBP). However, after the interaction of the different risk factors had been taken into account in the multiple regression analysis, only the relationship between Ca2+ and serum insulin was significant (r = 0.55, P less than 0.01). In a previous double-blind, placebo-controlled study 1 micrograms alphacalcidol, a synthetic analogue of 1,25 dihydroxy-vitamin D3, induced a decrease in blood pressure in mild HPT subjects. In the present study, the highest dose that did not further aggravate the hypercalcaemia was given in a long-term study over a 12-month period to 18 mild HPT subjects (average dose, 1.75 micrograms daily). The treatment induced a reduction in body weight of 0.9 kg (P less than 0.05) and an increase in serum urate from 330 +/- 92 to 380 +/- 104 mmol l-1 (P less than 0.01). A reduction in blood pressure was only observed at the end of the study, from 142 +/- 17/86.6 +/- 9.1 to 139 +/- 13/82.9 +/- 8.9 mmHg (P less than 0.05 for DBP). The reduction in systolic blood pressure was significantly correlated with the reduction in body weight induced by treatment (r = 0.63, P less than 0.02). No consistent changes in glucose or lipid metabolism were induced by treatment.

Blood Glucose↗
PubMed1992

Parathyroid function in relation to intestinal function and renal calcium reabsorption in patients with nephrolithiasis.

Recently a technique to measure intact parathyroid hormone (PTH), i.e. the biologically active hormone, has been available. The aim of the present study was to apply this method to evaluate the parathyroid function in a material of recurrent renal stone formers (n = 324). Intact PTH was found to be inversely related to both urinary calcium (r = -0.15; p less than 0.01) and serum calcium (p less than 0.02) indicating that in the majority of the patients with hypercalciuria this was accounted for by intestinal hyperabsorption and not by high serum PTH. Hyperabsorption was also the likely explanation for the finding of a positive relationship between the urinary calcium and oxalate excretions (r = 0.22; p less than 0.001) in medication-free patients without intestinal disorders, i.e. without enteric hyperoxaluria. Altogether 25 patients (7%) had elevated serum PTH concentrations. They were followed up with fasting serum and urinary electrolytes and an oral calcium loading test (1 g of calcium) in order to evaluate the importance of renal and intestinal factors responsible for the elevated serum PTH concentrations. The investigation was carried out on a free diet and on low and high calcium intakes, respectively. The incidence of intestinal malfunction, which was sometimes present without clinical symptoms, was found to be approximately the same as that of impaired renal conservation of calcium. The findings in the patients with intestinal malfunction were a reduced intestinal absorption of calcium and an enhanced tubular reabsorption of calcium (TRCa), with greater reabsorption of calcium for higher PTH values. In patients with impaired renal conservation of calcium despite the raised PTH there was no correlation between PTH and TRCa. When PTH was suppressed during the oral calcium load the TRCa was found to be inappropriately low and the renal defect obvious. The intestinal calcium absorption was secondarily increased to compensate for the renal losses.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Colles' fracture associated with reduced bone mineral content. Photon densitometry in 74 patients with matched controls.

In a prospective population-based investigation, we measured bone mineral density (BMD) of the forearm using single-photon absorptiometry at both a distal and a more proximal site in 74 Colles'-fracture patients who were compared with controls matched for age, sex, and years after menopause. For both groups there was a marked inverse relationship between age and bone mass. However, over the entire age range, the probands had 11 percent reduced BMD when compared with the controls. Our findings confirm that patients with fracture of the distal forearm have reduced BMD. They constitute an appropriate group for studies aimed at prevention of fracture in the elderly.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed1992

Incidence of Colles' fracture in Uppsala. A prospective study of a quarter-million population.

In a prospective study in Uppsala County (Sweden), certain characteristics of distal forearm fractures (DFFs) were investigated during a 1-year period in a mixed rural-urban population comprising all 214,000 persons above the age of 15 years. During the study period, 625 DFFs occurred, with a female/male ratio of 3.2:1. There was an age-related increase in DFFs among females that started as early as 40 years of age. In the males the incidence of DFFs was constant up to 70 years of age, and thereafter there was only a slight increase. The annual incidence of DFFs for women above aged 70 years was 115/10,000 and that for men 29/10,000.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Long-term effects of parathyroid operation on serum calcium and parathyroid hormone values in sporadic primary hyperparathyroidism.

BACKGROUND: This study investigates 410 persons (median age, 67 years) who underwent parathyroid operation for sporadic primary hyperparathyroidism 6 to 32 years (mean, 14.2 years) before 1991. METHODS: Patient records and operative specimens were scrutinized, the patients answered a questionnaire, and fasting serum samples were analyzed for calcium, albumin, creatinine, and intact parathyroid hormone (PTH) values. RESULTS: After primary parathyroid operations were performed with a conservative surgical approach, persistent and recurrent hypercalcemia were noticed in 3.7% and 1.7% of patients, respectively, whereas 4.7% of patients required vitamin D substitution or had essentially mild hypocalcemia. The PTH values were generally increased in patients with postoperative hyperparathyroidism, low in those with vitamin D substitution, and normal to elevated in the patients with hypocalcemia and in those with postoperative normocalcemia. The mean serum creatinine concentration was just below the upper reference range and correlated strongly with serum PTH value. No significant differences in serum PTH values were present between the normocalcemic patients and matched control patients after operation (n = 107), but the patients who underwent operation exhibited greater variation in the PTH concentration. CONCLUSIONS: The results substantiate the efficacy of parathyroid operation in sporadic primary hyperparathyroidism. Biochemical derangements compatible with secondary hyperparathyroidism may evolve during long-term follow-up and contribute to decreases in serum calcium values and increases in serum PTH values of these patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Metabolic cardiovascular risk factors and the renin-aldosterone system in essential hypertension.

Impairment of glucose and lipid metabolism is common in hypertensive subjects. In the present study the relationships between indices of lipid and glucose metabolism and the renin-aldosterone system were studied in 37 untreated hypertensive subjects (DBP greater than 95 mmHg). Fasting insulin and the early insulin response at an intravenous glucose tolerance test were both correlated to plasma renin activity (r = 0.48, P less than 0.003 and r = 0.55, P less than 0.002, respectively) while HDL-cholesterol was found to be inversely related to the urinary excretion of aldosterone (r = 0.35, P less than 0.03). These relations were still significant when influences of age, sex, obesity (BMI) and serum creatinine were taken into account in the multiple regression analysis. In conclusion, hyperinsulinaemia and low levels of HDL-cholesterol were found in hypertensive subjects with a high activity of the renin-aldosterone system and might explain the high incidence of cardiovascular diseases found in this group.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Bradykinin induces formation of inositol phosphates and causes an increase in cytoplasmic Ca2+ in the osteoblastic cell line MC3T3-E1.

Recordings of fura-2 fluorescence from single osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells showed that bradykinin (BK, 1 microM) induced a rapid increase in cytoplasmic free Ca2+ (Cai2+, from 114 +/- 13 to 239 +/- 17 nM, mean +/- SEM). Following this initial transient (less than 1 minute) increase there was a second slow increase in Cai2+ (from 117 +/- 11 to 151 +/- 12 nM). Incubation in buffer with no Ca2+ did not affect the first rapid BK-induced increase in Cai2+ but eliminated the second slow increase. Addition of indomethacin or hydrocortisone to the incubation buffer did not inhibit the effect of BK on Cai2+. BK caused a dose-dependent initial rapid increase in Cai2+ with threshold at 1 nM and a maximal effect (241 +/- 30% of basal Cai2+ concentration) at 0.1 microM. The B1 BK receptor agonist des-Arg9-BK (1 microM) caused only a small increase in Cai2+ in MC3T3-E1 cells (from 101 +/- 20 to 140 +/- 4 nM). BK dose and time dependently stimulated the formation of inositol phosphates in MC3T3-E1 cells with EC50 at 2.4 nM and a significant increase in inositol trisphosphate already seen after 15 s. The Ca2+ ionophore ionomycin induced a rapid increase in Cai2+ and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) formation in MC3T3-E1 cells. Forskolin (10-30 microM) increased cyclic AMP accumulation but did not affect Cai2+ or PGE2 formation. Depletion of extracellular Ca2+ significantly reduced (but did not abolish) BK-induced PGE2 formation. The initial action of BK on Cai2+ is probably due to an inositol-(1,4,5)-trisphosphate-mediated rapid release of Ca2+ from intracellular stores in osteoblasts and is followed by an influx of extracellular Ca2+. The effect is due to B2 BK receptor occupancy and is not secondary to the prostaglandin synthesis. The BK-induced breakdown of phosphatidylinositol-(4,5)-bisphosphate with a subsequent increase in Cai2+ may be involved in BK-induced prostaglandin formation in osteoblasts.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Longitudinal studies of mild primary hyperparathyroidism.

In 1969, a health survey was offered to all inhabitants of a town district in Sweden. A clinical examination was carried out, and among other variables, a measurement was made of serum calcium. The same procedure was repeated in 1971. From these two investigations a cohort of 176 individuals (1.1%) with sustained hypercalcemia was identified who could be followed during the subsequent 15 years. Comparisons were made with an age- and sex-matched control group from the same health survey. Survival was significantly lower in the hypercalcemic cohort than in the control group. This reduction was related to the degree of hypercalcemia and apparently mainly due to diseases of the circulatory organs. There was no marked deterioration of renal function, and although there was in some patients a moderate progression of the hypercalcemia, none developed a hypercalcemic crisis during 15 years of follow-up. In consecutively referred patients with primary hyperparathyroidism, psychiatric disturbances of mainly a depressive character were found upon detailed analysis within a majority of the patients, and parathyroid surgery resulted in a clear improvement in mental health.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Synthetic human calcitonin in postmenopausal osteoporosis: a placebo-controlled, double-blind study.

A placebo-controlled, double-blind study was carried out over 4 months to evaluate two doses of synthetic human calcitonin (0.25 and 0.125 mg) given s.c. three times per week. Enrolled were 60 women, aged 56-82 years, who had experienced a vertebral fracture due to low-energy trauma within the preceding year. During active treatment there was within the first month a dose-dependent decrease of the indices of bone resorption (fasting urinary calcium and hydroxyproline excretions), whereas only the higher dose and a treatment period of 4 months produced a reduction of bone formation (serum osteocalcin). The bone mineral content (BMC) of the nondominant forearm was unchanged. Treatment with calcitonin also had significant, dose-dependent, analgetic effects. The amelioration of pain was, in multivariate analyses, related to a reduction in parameters felt to be markers for bone resorption. In the placebo group there was a significant reduction of the BMC of the forearm but no changes of any of the biochemical markers for bone turnover and no improvement of pain. In conclusion, treatment with two low doses of calcitonin induced changes of the biochemical markers of bone turnover in a dose-dependent manner. The analgetic properties of calcitonin were also of salient clinical importance. The knowledge derived from this study could be adapted to the dosage schedule in long-term trials in osteoporosis.

Aged↗