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Background: Sodium‐glucose co‐transporter‐2 inhibitors are novel antidiabetes drugs that act via inhibition of renal glucose reabsorption. This action causes osmotic diuresis, reduces intravascular volume and is associated with various adverse effects. In the present paper, we describe the first report on the unmasking of underlying polycythemia vera by canagliflozin in a person with Type 2 diabetes mellitus, which was temporally related to the use of the drug. Case report: A 51‐year‐old obese man with Type 2 diabetes was prescribed canagliflozin 100 mg for control of his glycaemia. He presented 6 months later with asymptomatic elevation of his haemogram measurements (haemoglobin: 16.9 g/dl; haematocrit: 55%; red cell number: 8.1 million/mm3; total leukocytes: 23010/mm3; platelet count: 9.7 *106/mm3). He had no history of smoking, exposure to high altitude or other drugs. Subsequent investigations revealed myeloproliferative neoplasm (polycythemia vera) on trephine biopsy of bone marrow, normal erythropoietin level and JAK2V617F positivity. Because of the possibility that the underlying condition had been unmasked by canagliflozin, the latter was stopped. This led to a remarkable improvement in the man's haematological profile, with no other significant intervention. The man subsequently restarted the drug of his own accord, causing his haematological profile to worsen again and thereby posing a challenge in monitoring of both polycythemia vera as well as diabetes mellitus. Conclusion: This report brings to light unmasking of a new adverse effect of sodium‐glucose co‐transporter‐2 inhibitors in clinical practice caused by volume loss, apart from hypotension and falls. What's new?: The use of sodium‐glucose co‐transporter‐2 (SGLT2) inhibitors is associated with a decrease in intravascular volume and a consequent increase in haematocrit levels.A rise in haematocrit level of >11% with the use of SGLT2 inhibitors should raise suspicion of myeloproliferative neoplasms.Discontinuation of the drug is then warranted in order to optimize monitoring of therapy for myeloproliferative neoplasms and to prevent thrombosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Testosterone replacement therapy is the mainstay of treatment in male patients with isolated hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism (HH) to achieve virilisation. However, responsiveness of pilosebaceous unit (PSU) to testosterone replacement therapy in these patients is quite variable. Androgen action is inversely proportional to the number of CAG repeats in exon 1 of androgen receptor gene; therefore, we hypothesised that CAG repeat length contributes to testosterone responsiveness in patients with HH. The CAG repeat length in 21 well-virilised men (hair score > 30, responders) and 25 poorly virilised men (hair score ≤ 30, non-responders) with HH on optimal testosterone replacement therapy at least for a period of 1 year was analysed. Serum LH, FSH, testosterone and 17 β oestradiol were estimated. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of exon 1 of androgen receptor gene was performed from genomic DNA, and these PCR-amplified products were sequenced for the number of CAG repeats. The difference between number of CAG repeats in responders and non-responders was statistically significant (19.19 ± 3.25 and 22.24 ± 2.65, P = 0.001) and showed a strong negative correlation with total body hair score ( r = −0.538 and P = 0.0001). In conclusion, these results suggest that the number of CAG repeats influences the responsiveness of PSU to testosterone treatment in patients with HH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on HbA1c alterations on persons with advancing age and normal glucose tolerance in Chandigarh, India. It says that 2,369 individuals aged ≥ 20 years had oral glucose tolerance test with HbA1c measured on Bio-Rad D-10 system certified from National Glycohemoglobin Standardization Program. Results show that in 1,972 persons, 1,317 of them had normal glucose tolerance indicating that HbA1c increases with age and is independent of glycaemia.

Acanthamoeba species are known to cause 2 well-described entities: (1) granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE), which usually affects immunocompromised hosts, and (2) keratitis, which typically follows trauma associated with contamination of water or contact lenses. Less common manifestations include pneumonitis and a subacute granulomatous dermatitis. We describe a case of granulomatous dermatitis secondary to Acanthamoeba infection in a lung transplant recipient and a successful outcome following treatment with lipid formulation of amphotericin B and voriconazole. We believe this is the second case report describing disseminated Acanthamoeba infection in a lung transplant recipient. We also describe successful outcome with a combination of lipid formulation of amphotericin B and voriconazole, drugs that have not been previously reported to treat Acanthamoeba. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of a 3-year-old girl was admitted to the cytology clinic for needle aspiration due to the swelling of parotid region. The patient eyes underwent histopathological examination that shows retinoblastoma. The patient was administered with chemotherapies along with radiotherapy. It cites the differential diagnosis of metastatic rretinoblastomain second primary malignancy, especially osteosarcoma.

Impaired mitochondrial autophagy (mitophagy) and NLRP3 inflammasome activation have been incriminated in the pathogenesis of T2DM. Metformin besides being an insulin sensitizer also induces autophagy; however, its effect on mitophagy and NLRP3 activation in patients with T2DM still remains elusive. Forty-five drug-naïve T2DM patients with HbA 1C 7%-9% (53-75 mmol/mol) were randomly assigned to receive either metformin, voglibose, or placebo for 3 months, and were also recommended for lifestyle intervention programme (n = 15 each). Mitochondrial oxidative stress (MOS) parameters, qPCR and immunoblotting of mitophagy-related markers (PINK1, PARKIN, MFN2, NIX, LC3-II, LAMP2), p-AMPKα (T172), and NLRP3 proteins, as well as transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for assessing mitochondrial morphology were performed in the mononuclear cells of study patients. Both metformin and voglibose showed a similar efficacy towards the reduction in HbA 1c and MOS indices. However, multivariate ANCOVA divulged that mRNA and protein expression of mitophagy markers, NLRP3 and p-AMPKα (T172), were significantly increased only with metformin therapy. Moreover, PINK1 expression displayed a significant positive association with HOMA-β indices, and TEM studies further confirmed reduced distortions in mitochondrial morphology in the metformin group only. Our observations underscore that metformin upregulates mitophagy and subsequently ameliorates the altered mitochondrial morphology and function, independent of its glucose-lowering effect. Further, restoration of normal mitochondrial phenotype may improve cellular function, including β-cells, which may prevent further worsening of hyperglycaemia in patients with T2DM., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine.)

Aim: Hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia (HH) is a very common cause of hypoglycaemia in small for gestational age (SGA) neonates. We compared using early oral diazoxide or a placebo for this patient group., Methods: This was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that focused on SGA neonates born at at least 32 weeks of gestation with HH during the first five days of life. Neonates with severe perinatal asphyxia, sepsis or contraindications for oral feeds were excluded. The primary outcome was the hours taken to achieve hypoglycaemic control, with a glucose infusion rate of ≤4 mg/kg/min. The secondary outcomes were the duration of intravenous fluids, sepsis episodes, time to achieve full feeds and mortality., Results: We screened 490 neonates and 30 neonates were eligible for randomisation and completed the trial. Half received diazoxide and half received a placebo. The median time to achieve hypoglycaemia control (40 vs 71.5 hours, p = 0.015), the total duration of intravenous fluids (114 vs 164 hours, p = 0.04) and time to achieve full feeds (74 vs 124 hours, p = 0.02) were significantly lower in the diazoxide group, with no adverse effects attributed to the drug., Conclusion: Using oral diazoxide for SGA neonates with HH provided early hypoglycaemic control with no apparent adverse effects., (©2018 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

In cases of pulmonary atresia (PA) with ventricular septal defect (VSD), the commonest source of pulmonary blood flow is via major aortoplumonary collaterals. Collaterals may also arise from the coronary arteries and the reported prevalence of such coronary-pulmonary artery fistulas (CPAF) in PA with VSD is 10%. However gross congestive heart failure (CHF) and ventricular dysfunction is extremely rare in such cases. We report a 17-year-old male with PA with VSD and a large CPAF from the anterior right aortic sinus connecting to the left pulmonary artery, who presented with severe CHF. The left anterior descending and the right coronary artery both arose from the proximal part of the CPAF, possibly leading to extensive coronary steal and biventricular dysfunction., (© 2011, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Pulmonary vein stenosis (PVS) is a rare condition, seen usually in association with congenital heart disease or secondary to various acquired causes. Isolated PVS, in adults, especially in absence of congenital heart disease is extremely uncommon. We report PVS of left sided pulmonary veins in an 18-year-old male, who had been till then diagnosed as primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH)., (© 2011, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)