A rare familiar case of hereditary bisalbuminemia and diabetic predisposition: A possible predictive link?

We present a case report of hereditary bisalbuminemia in an Italian family with three affected members. Bisalbuminemia represents a genetic variant of the albumin, it will then be permanent, or acquired and then be transient. It is characterized by the presence of two albumin bands in electrophoresis: the first band with the same mobility of the normal albumin, the second band with a fast variable or a slow variable. The double band of albumin was detected fortuitously on a routine analytical study of an adult woman who was referred to our laboratory with an increase of fasting glucose value, this originated the study of the rest of the members of the family. Finally, it is like the genetic peculiarity of this family core show a possible predictive link between bisalbuminemia on one hand and the predisposition to type II diabetes mellitus on the other hand. As a result of such high probability we are eager to continue further search at our medicine predictive centre. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

IS THERE A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HIGH C-REACTIVE PROTEIN (CRP) LEVELS AND DEMENTIA?

Inflammation is believed to play a pivotal role in dementia, but its role is still unclear. The aim of our study was to analyze the interplay among markers of inflammation, such as fibrinogen and high CRP levels, and dementia. First, we performed a cross-sectional study comparing markers of inflammation between 99 patients affected by dementia (mean age:. 83.0 +/- 0.6 years) and 99 controls (mean age: 83.9 +/- 0.7 years). Then, we analyzed the relationship between inflammation and dementia in the same population composed by 34 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients (mean age: 83.4 +/- 0.8 years), 64 vascular dementia (VaD) patients (mean age: 82.7 +/- 0.8 years) and 99 controls. Patients affected by dementia had higher CRP levels than controls (2.6 +/- 0.2 vs. 0.7 +/- 0.1 p < 0.001, respectively). AD patients had higher CRP levels than VaD patients (4.2 +/- 0.6 vs. 1.7 +/- 0.2, p < 0.001, respectively). Stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis showed that dementia (odds ratio = OR = 4.965, 95% confidence interval = CI = 1.402-13.23, p = 0.04), fibrinogen (OR = 1.011, CI = 1.007-1.015, p < 0.001), and age (OR = 1.158, CI = 1.063-1.261, p < 0.001) are independently correlated with high levels of CRP. The study suggests that inflammation may have a pathogenetic role in AD

Diabetes and metabolic syndrome (MS)

The MS is associated with increased morbidity and mortality for cardiovascular disease (CVD). MS is represented not only by metabolic alteration such as hyperglycemia, and hyperlipemia but also by a chronic pro-inflammatory state. Another responsible in the formation and progression of CVD is the so-called endothelial dysfunction, which is linked to insulin resistance itself. The common denominator of the MS is insulin resistance. The most convincing evidence for the existence of MS comes from the cluster analysis which outlines four main factors: the "metabolic factor", the "pressure factor", the "lipid factor" and the "obesity factor". It is clear that the presence of the MS appears to identify a substantial additional cardiovascular risk on top of the individual risk factors. The studies available in the literature have pointed out the beneficial effects, in terms of cardiovascular mortality, of the treatment with inhibitors of the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (statins): this reduction of risk has been observed despite the fact that high triglyceride and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol levels, but not hypercholesterolemia, are the main features of the dyslipidemia observed in patients with MS. Yet, despite a normal low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol level, patients with MS are at high risk for future CVD. For this reason, their treatment with statins is mandatory. © 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved