Studies on the age dependent changes in serum adenosine deaminase activity and its changes in hepatitis

Serum Adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity in normal healthy control subjects increases upto 30 years, remains steady between 31–60 years of age and shows a steep increase in the age group of 61–70 years. This was compared with serum aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) activity which also showed a gradual increase upto 40 years of age and decreased thereafter. The activities of serum ADA, AST and ALT increased in patients with hepatitis of all age groups compared to their respective controls. The degree of increase in the activities of the above enzymes in hepatitis, decreased with age. The present study also shows that while studying serum ADA activity in hepatitis for diagnostic purposes, the value obtained in a particular age group should be compared with normal range of values for the respective age group only.     

Changes in levels of serum glycoproteins in major depressive disorders

The present study deals with estimation of levels of fractions of serum glycoproteins, protein bound hexose (PBH), protein bound hexosamine (PBHex), protein bound fucose (PBF), protein bound sialic acid (PBS) and protein bound carbohydrate (PBC) in thirty patients of Major Depressive Disorders (MDD) in comparison with thirty normal subjects. In patients of MDD, the level of PBH, PBHex, PBF, PBS and PBC were significantly higher as compared to the normal subjects (p<0.05). In patients, of MDD, after one-month treatment with fluoxetine, the levels of PBH, PBHex, PBF, PBS and PBC were significantly decreased as compared to the levels of these fractions in same patients of MDD before beginning of the treatment (p<0.05). Based on findings of the present study, it can be concluded that changes in the level of serum glycoproteins level before and after treatment with fluoxetine can be correlated with clinical status of MDD.     

Serum lipids during pregnancy in relation to the risk of coronary heart disease

The serum lipid classes in 75 pregnant women (25 in each trimester) and 25 matched controls were investigated. The lipid classes studied were very low density lipoproteins (VLDLc), low density lipoproteins (LDLc), high density lipoproteins (HDLc), total triacylglycerols (Tg), phospholipids (PL) and total cholesterol (Tc). It was found that there is increase in HDLc during first trimester followed by decrease during second and third trimesters. All other lipid classed including Tc and PL showed a progressive increase. Analysis of data showed that Tc/HDLc ratio has an increasing trend with parity. LDLc/HDLc also showed similar correlation. The results of our study indicates that there is likely to be increased risk for CHD in multiparous women as predicted from serum lipid parameters.     

Modified assay procedure for the estimation of serum glucose using microwell reader

Determination of blood glucose levels is very important to know the physiological condition of the human beings as the hormonal imbalance may cause abnormalities in glucose metabolism. The traditional methods of glucose estimation by colorimetric and titrimetric methods were involved with huge expenditure and time. The modified colorimetric microwell reader method proposed in the present study was performed with small quantities of sample and reagents with the same linearity that was observed in the normal colorimetric analysis. The modified method not only reduces the cost of the test to almost one third of the normal colorimetric method but also provide an opportunity to screen the large number of samples in a short duration of time.     

Cystatin C—A novel marker of glomerular filtration rate: A review

Glomerular filtration rate is routinely assessed by measuring the serum markers such as urea nitrogen and serum creatinine. Although these markers are widely used to assess renal function but they do not perform optimally in certain clinical settings. There is thus a practical need for an easily automated alternative to plasma creatine, which would be more specific, sensitive and reliable from the analytical and clinical view point. Compared with the above endogenous markers, and time consuming laborious tests, Cystatin C facilitates the recognition of abnormal renal function in children, as its reference range is constant beyond the 1^st year of life. This review mainly focuses on the diagnostic performance of Cystatin C against other renal markers in the pediatric population and in specific subpopulations of patients.     

Evaluation of the changes in serum iron levels in pre-eclampsia

Serum iron levels were studied in 50 patients with pre-eclampsia and the results were compared with 50 control cases. Their serum iron levels were found to be higher than the controls. Increase in serum iron was directly proportional to the increased levels of uric acid, urea and creatinine. Mean reticulocyte counts, plasma free haemoglobin and unconjugated bilirubin levels were also higher in these patients. It is suggested that haemolysis may be a major contributory factor for the increased levels of serum iron in pre-eclampsia.     

柴达木黄牛血清淀粉酶同工酶的电泳研究

采用聚丙烯酰胺凝胺电泳法对９２头德令哈地区的柴达木黄牛血清淀粉酶同工酶进行了分析。结果发现：（１）柴达木黄牛的血清淀粉酶有ＡＭＹ１,ＡＭＹ２和ＡＭＹ３三种同工酶;（２）ＡＭＹ１同工酶因存在ＡＭＹ１ＢＢ,ＡＭＹ１ＢＣ和ＡＭＹ１ＣＣ三种基因型而表现出多态性;（３）公健牛组与母牛组ＡＭＹ１基因频率和基因型分布没有显著差异。     

Biochemical diagnosis of liver disease

It is important that clinicians and laboratorians, including clinical chemists and pathologists, recognize and understand the clinical significance of abnormal liver function tests. The liver regulates many important metabolic functions. Hepatic injury is associated with distortion of these metabolic functions. Hepatic disease can be evaluated and diagnosed by determining serum concentrations of a number of serum analytes. Many serum analytes exist to assist in the biochemical diagnosis of liver disease. The focus of this paper is on the analytes which are associated with hepatic necrosis, cholestasis, defects in excretion and end stage hepatic disease which results in decreased synthetic function. The abnormalities of these serum analytes will be correlated with the important types of liver disease.     

Development and Experimental Application of an HPLC Procedure for the Determination of Capsaicin and Dihydrocapsaicin in Serum Samples from Human Subjects

Total capsaicins are extracted from 2 mL aliquots of serum or plasma using methyl-isobutyl ketone, evaporation of the extract to dryness and reconstitution with 200 μL of acetonitrile. The HPLC mobile phase is 40:60 water:acetonitrile. The absorbance of the eluent is monitored at 205 nm. Standardisation uses a known mixture of pure capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin. Accuracies are 98.9 and 100.6 % for capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin respectively. Inter batch reproducibility for both is 15 %. The limits of detection are 2.6 and 3.8 ng/mL for capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin respectively. Analyses of sera obtained previously from human subjects who had eaten chilli containing meals showed that in those that absorbed capsaicins (N = 30) then the median, mean and SD of their serum capsaicin were: 13.4, 18.9 and 16.3 ng/mL. The corresponding data for those sera (N = 13) that had measurable levels of dihydrocapsaicin were: 6.9, 7.5 and 3.6 ng/mL. This procedure is suitable for use in prospective studies of the metabolism of orally ingested chilli.     

Comparison Between Serum Insulin Levels and Its Resistance With Biochemical,Clinical and Anthropometric Parameters in South Indian Children and Adolescents

There is a rising trend in the prevalence of insulin resistance among obese, overweight children and adolescents. The serum insulin and its correlation with biochemical, clinical and anthropometric parameters were evaluated in 185 children and adolescents (59 control, 52 obese, 49 overweight, 25 congenital heart disease) of age group 10–17 years. The levels of serum insulin were measured by ELISA. Serum insulin levels were found to be significantly increased in children who were obese, overweight and had congenital heart disease, than controls. Serum insulin levels positively correlated with BMI, WHR, and serum C-peptide, serum leptin, total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Fasting glucose levels were found to be negatively correlated with serum insulin levels. HDL-cholesterol levels were non-significant among the study groups. We identified nine obese children (five girls and four boys) with the features of metabolic syndrome and 69% of obese and overweight children were identified with insulin resistance. Insulin resistance was strongly associated with metabolic syndrome and its components, especially with central obesity and hypertriglyceridemia.