Relationship between adiponectin and testosterone in patients with type 2 diabetes

Introduction: This study was designed to investigate the relationship between serum adiponectin and testosterone in patients with type 2 diabetes. Materials and methods: Serum level of adiponectin and testosterone were prospectively measured in 65 patients with type 2 diabetes and in 20 healthy subjects. Testosterone was determined by the radio-immunoassay, whereas adiponectin levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: The average serum testosterone did not differ between the diabetes and the control group, but the average adiponectin in the diabetes group was lower (14.6 (14.2-15.0) vs. 24.3 (24.05-24.55) ng/mL, P = 0.001). In the diabetes group, the serum adiponectin level in patients with renal dysfunction (22.3 (21.5-23.1) ng/mL) was higher than in patients with no complications (12.1 (11.45-12.75) ng/mL) and than in patients with coronary artery disease (11.2 (10.25-12.15) ng/mL) (P = 0.009). Univariate correlation analysis showed an inverse weak correlation between adiponectin and testosterone concentrations in male diabetic patients (r = -0.27, P = 0.009). There was no significant correlation between adiponectin and testosterone in female patients (r = -0.05, P = 0.167). Conclusions: We conclude that patients with type 2 diabetes have lower serum adiponectin concen-tration than healthy individuals, and that there is a weak inverse correlation between adiponectin and testosterone serum concentrations in male diabetics

Self-Assembled 3D Flower-Like Hierarchical β-Ni(OH)2Hollow Architectures and their In Situ Thermal Conversion to NiO

Three-dimensional (3D) flower-like hierarchicalβ-Ni(OH)2hollow architectures were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal route. The as-obtained products were well characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM (HRTEM), SAED, and DSC-TGA. It was shown that the 3D flower-like hierarchicalβ-Ni(OH)2hollow architectures with a diameter of several micrometers are assembled from nanosheets with a thickness of 10–20 nm and a width of 0.5–2.5 μm. A rational mechanism of formation was proposed on the basis of a range of contrasting experiments. 3D flower-like hierarchical NiO hollow architectures with porous structure were obtained after thermal decomposition at appropriate temperatures. UV–Vis spectra reveal that the band gap of the as-synthesized NiO samples was about 3.57 eV, exhibiting obviously red shift compared with the bulk counterpart

The complete mitochondrial genome of invasive insect Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say 1824 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say 1824, an invasive and globally devastating beetle, inflicts great damage to potato crops worldwide. The complete mitogenome of L. decemlineata is described in this study. It is a 16,741 bp long circular DNA molecule with a high A + T content of 76.9%, containing a typical 37 gene pattern. All PCGs (protein-coding genes) initiate with typical ATN codons. Most PCGs use TAN as a stop codon, whereas ND4 and COX3 use the incomplete codon TA as the stop codon. The lengths of rrnL and rrnS genes are 1,337 bp and 811 bp, respectively. All 22 tRNAs ranged from 62 to 77 bp. Phylogenetic analysis of Chrysomelidae indicated that L. decemlineata clusteres with three other Chrysomelinae species, which is consistent with previous analyses