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Background: Latent autoimmune diabetes of adults (LADA) is a slowly progressive form of diabetes managed with diet and oral hypoglycemic agents before becoming insulin requiring. Islet autoantibodies are used for differential diagnosis between LADA and Type 2 diabetes mellitus. The aims of this study were to investigate the frequency of LADA using islet autontibodies in population with T2DM and characterize clinical and biochemical characteristics of them. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, 86 T2DM patients aged between 28-67 years were tested for the presence of autoantibodies by ELISA technique. The Glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody, Islet Cell Antibody and Insulinoma Antigen2 Antibody were evaluated for diagnosis of LADA patients. Results: Of 86 T2DM, 35 (40.70%) were antibody positive and 51 (59.30%) persons were negative for any antibody. A significant difference was found between groups in age at study, insulin therapy, C- peptide levels and family history of autoimmune diseases. On the other hand, no significant difference was found between the two groups in other risk factors. Conclusions: Among our T2DM subjects, the number of LADA patients were not high. Also, multiple autoantibodies were more frequent than single autoantibodies in LADA patients

Objective(s): Regulation of pro-inflammatory factors such as TNF-α which are secreted by the immune cells through induction of their several receptors including dopamine receptors (especially DRD2 and DRD3) is one of the noticeable problems in diabetic severe foot ulcer healing. This study was conducted to evaluate the alteration of TNF-αin plasma as well as DRD2 and DRD3 changes in PBMCs of diabetics with severe foot ulcers. Materials and Methods: Peripheral blood samples were collected from 31 subjects with ulcers, 29 without ulcers, and 25 healthy individuals. Total mRNA was extracted from PBMCs for the study of DRD2, DRD3, and TNF-α gene expression variations. Expression patterns of these genes were evaluated by real-time PCR. Consequently, concentration of TNF-α was investigated in plasma. Results: Significant decrease in gene expression and plasma concentration of TNF-α in PBMCs was observed in both patient groups at P

Purpose: Central fat distribution is significantly associated with an increased cortisol levels. We hypothesized that men with metabolic syndrome have a higher serum cortisol levels compared to women. The purpose of this study was to compare serum cortisol levels, and its correlation with serum leptin levels, between men and women with and without metabolic syndrome. Methods: A cross sectional study was performed with 120 untreated patients with metabolic syndrome and 165 healthy volunteers as controls. Serum lipid profile, fasting blood sugar, insulin, cortisol and leptin levels were measured for both groups. Results: Men with metabolic syndrome had a higher serum cortisol levels, while serum leptin levels were significantly higher in women. The higher serum cortisol level in men with metabolic syndrome was significant after multiple adjustments for age, BMI and waist circumference (17.74±5.1 vs 14.07±4.3; p < 0.05) using general linear model; however, these difference were no longer significant when the waist-to-hip ratio was added as one of the adjustment factors (16.7±1.2 vs. 14.9±0.5; p < 0.2). Serum cortisol levels was significantly correlated with serum leptin (r=0.33, p < 0.05), cholesterol (r=0.35, p < 0.05), triglyceride (r=0.25, p < 0.05), waist circumference (r=0.41, p < 0.01) and waist-to-hip ratio (r=0.32, p < 0.01) in women with metabolic syndrome, after controlling for age and BMI. Conclusion: Serum cortisol levels are significantly higher in men with metabolic syndrome. This effect is independent of waist circumference.

The relationship between insulin resistance (IR) and essential hypertension (HTN) is controversial. The aim of this study was to determine the association of IR estimated by homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and HTN in a large sample of Iranian diabetic and non-diabetic population. A total of 2047 diabetic and non-diabetic individuals with or without HTN, aged 30-75 yrs, who were referred to a university general hospital between November 2004 and April 2007 were included in this study. Demographic data and anthropometric characteristics of participants were recorded. Fasting blood samples were collected, and fasting plasma glucose (FPG), serum creatinine, lipids, insulin, C-peptide and HbA1c were measured. HOMA-IR and HOMA derived Beta-cell function (HOMA-B) were also calculated. Age, sex and waist girth adjusted HOMA-IR values were compared between hypertensive and normotensive subjects. Hypertensive patients had significantly higher HOMA-IR than age-, sex-, and waist girth-adjusted normotensive individuals in both non-diabetic (2.163 +/- 0.08 and 1.75 +/- 0.03, p < 0.001) and diabetic (3.40 +/- 0.10 and 3.07 +/- 0.09, p < 0.05) groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that after adjustment for age, sex, waist girth, BMI, triglyceride, total cholesterol, FPG, and C-peptide, HOMA-IR was a significant independent predictor of HTN in all subjects (odds ratio = 1.117, CI 95% = 1.026-1.216, p < 0.05) and in diabetic and non-diabetic subjects separately (odds ratio = 1.102, CI 95% = 1.009-1.203, p < 0.05 and odds ratio = 1.328, CI 95% = 1.116-1.580, p < 0.01, respectively). In conclusion, this study showed that IR is associated with HTN in Iranian diabetic and non-diabetic subjects.