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Hyperglycemia is not identified as a significant prognostic factor for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss in any literature. Therefore, we investigated the prognostic value of hyperglycemia in predicting hearing recovery.A retrospective cohort study.Tertiary university hospital.Patients were classified into 3 groups according to their glucose tolerance using the 75-gram oral glucose tolerance test and hemoglobin A1c test as follows: (1) a normal glucose tolerance group, (2) a prediabetes group, which included patients with impaired glucose tolerance and/or impaired fasting glucose levels, and (3) a diabetes mellitus group.Among 94 patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss, 45 were classified into the normal glucose tolerance group, 28 into the prediabetes group, and 21 into the diabetes mellitus group. The recovery rate of the normal glucose tolerance group was not higher than that of the diabetes mellitus group (P = .140). However, when the prediabetes and diabetes mellitus groups were collectively defined as the impaired glucose regulation (hyperglycemia) group, the hearing recovery rate of the normal glucose tolerance (normoglycemia) group was significantly better than that of the impaired glucose regulation group (P = .038).We suggest that hyperglycemia may be a potential negative prognostic factor for hearing recovery in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss. Further interventional studies should be followed to determine whether hearing outcomes of the impaired glucose regulation group may be improved to the same extent as those of the normal glucose tolerance group after strict glycemic control.

Body weight is a significant predictor of bone mass. Hormonal factors such as sex hormones, insulin, leptin and adiponectin are thought to play a role in the mechanisms controlling the association of body weight and fat mass with bone mass. However, contradictory results have been reported for the association between serum adipocytokines and bone mineral density (BMD). We therefore examined whether the serum adipocytokine and ghrelin levels, markers of fat metabolism, are associated with BMD in male adults.For 80 male adults (average age 54.5 +/- 6.4 years; average body mass index (BMI) 24.4 +/- 2.5 kg/m2), the correlations between serum resistin, leptin, adiponectin and ghrelin levels with BMD were investigated.Among the adipocytokines, serum resistin levels were negatively correlated with lumbar spine BMD (r = -0.237, P = 0.05). After adjustment was made for age and BMI, log-transformed serum leptin showed a significant negative correlation with lumbar spine BMD, which was not seen on bivariate analysis (r = -0.237, P = 0.039). Femoral neck BMD was marginally associated only with serum adiponectin levels (r = -0.226, P = 0.062). In multiple regression analyses, among the adipokines, only resistin was a significant determinant of lumbar spine BMD, although the variance was small (R2 = 0.256). Serum ghrelin levels were not correlated with the BMD of either body site.Serum resistin level showed a significant negative correlation with lumbar spine BMD, although the variance was small. Further studies are needed to elucidate the role of adipocytokines in bone metabolism.

Summary Objective Osteoporosis is a growing health problem in males as well as in females. Sex hormones and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) have been shown to be the major determinants in male bone metabolism. Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a recently identified cytokine that acts as a decoy receptor for the receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL). OPG and RANKL have been shown to be important regulators of osteoclastogenesis. However, the relationship between the OPG-RANKL system and male bone status in human populations are unclear. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the OPG-RANKL system and bone mineral metabolism in males. Patients and Measurements Serum concentrations of OPG, RANKL, oestradiol, total testosterone and IGF-I and bone mineral density (BMD) were measured in 80 Korean males aged 42–70 (mean age, 54·5 year). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were used to determine the serum concentrations of OPG and RANKL. Serum concentrations of oestradiol, total testosterone, IGF-I and bone turnover markers were determined using standard methods. BMD at the lumbar spine and femoral neck were measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results We observed a significant negative correlation between the serum OPG levels and lumbar spine BMD (r =−0·259, P

Summary objective Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a recently identified cytokine that acts as a decoy receptor for the RANK ligand. Moreover, OPG has been shown to be an important inhibitor of osteoclastogenesis in animal models. However, the relationship between circulating OPG levels and female bone status in human populations is unclear. In this study we undertook to investigate the relationship between circulating OPG levels and bone mineral metabolism in healthy women. patients and measurements Our subjects were 287 women aged 37–73 years (mean age 51·5 years). The serum concentrations of OPG were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The biochemical markers of bone turnover and FSH were measured using standard methods. Bone mineral densities at the lumbar spine and femoral neck were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. results Postmenopausal women had a significantly higher mean value of serum OPG than premenopausal women (1358·5 ± 32·5 pg/ml vs. 1228·8 ± 33·3 pg/ml, P