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Biomedical subjects

B Vandeleene

Publications and source records attributed to B Vandeleene.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

An unusual cause of factitious mineralocorticoid excess.

The presence of hypokalaemia in hypertensive patient must prompt a search for increased mineralocorticoid activity. We describe and discuss the observation of a patient with biological markers of hypermineralocorticoidism, despite low plasma and urinary aldosterone levels, and suppressed plasma renin activity. This typical syndrome of apparent mineralocorticoid excess was secondary, in our patient, to prolonged administration of a mineralocorticoid-containing nasal spray.

Alkalosis

Determination by latex immunoassay of protein 1 in normal and pathological urine.

A sensitive latex particle assay has been developed to study the occurrence of protein 1 in human urine. The coefficients of variation (CVs) of the method which is fully automated vary between 3 and 11.5%. The assayable concentration range is 0.3 to 40 micrograms/l. Protein 1 is clearly a sex-dependent protein. In contrast to urinary retinol-binding protein (RBP) which shows no variation with age or sex, protein 1 is excreted in greater amounts in males from the puberty. In adults, the mean concentration of protein 1 in urine of men is approximately 5 times that of women. In the urine from both sexes, protein 1 occurs as a single component with a Mr around 21,000 and an pI of about 4.8. Protein 1 is correlated with RBP in the urine from female or male patients with impaired proximal tubular function, which suggests that it is handled by the kidney in a similar manner as RBP. Diabetics, however, show elevations of urinary protein 1 which do not correlate with the RBP excretion but with the albuminuria. A competition between albumin and protein 1 for renal tubular uptake might explain this paradoxical behaviour of protein 1 in the course of diabetic nephropathy.

Adolescent

Urinary proteins and red blood cell membrane negative charges in diabetes mellitus.

The nature and origin of proteinuria in diabetes mellitus have been investigated by measuring the urinary excretion of seven specific proteins of low (beta 2-microglobin, retinol-binding protein) or high molecular weight (albumin, transferrin, hemopexin and IgG). Using the Alcian Blue binding test, we also measured negative charges on red blood cell (RBC) membrane which according to recent studies might mirror the glomerular polyanion charge. A group of 190 diabetics was examined, including 90 patients with type I diabetes, 23 type II diabetics treated with diet and/or hypoglycaemic agents and 77 longstanding type II diabetics requiring insulin therapy. With the exception of beta 2-microglobulin all proteins measured were excreted in the urine of diabetics in significantly higher amounts than in controls. The assay of transferrin proved the most sensitive (58% positive) followed by albumin (49%), IgG (34%), hemopexin (28%) and retinol-binding protein (26%). Practically the same ranking was obtained when only type I diabetics were considered. RBC membrane negative charges were diminished in diabetics and negatively correlated with the urinary excretion of albumin (r = -0.61, n = 190). RBC charges were also negatively correlated with other urinary proteins of high molecular mass (r between - 0.5 and - 0.2) but presented no relation with urinary beta 2-microglobulin or retinol-binding protein. The loss of RBC charges in diabetics most likely reflects the concomitant depletion of the glomerular polyanion responsible for the increased glomerular leakage of high molecular mass plasma proteins. The preferential increase in transferrin excretion together with the progressive rise in the urinary excretion of IgG lead us to postulate that the loss of glomerular polyanion in diabetes is accompanied, from the early stage, by a progressive decrease in the size-selectivity of the glomerular filter. The urinary excretion of retinol-binding protein was weakly correlated with albuminuria (r = 0.26, n = 186). Eight % of diabetics showed an elevation of urinary retinol-binding protein without evidence of microalbuminuria, which clearly demonstrates that a proximal tubular impairment can occur independently of the glomerular alterations in the course of diabetic nephropathy.

Adult

Treatment of hypertension in diabetic patients.

Hypertension, common in diabetic patients, worsens not only the risk of cardiovascular complications, but also that of microangiopathic complications (nephropathy, retinopathy) of diabetes mellitus. It is thus important to ensure the perfect control of even mild hypertension in diabetic patients. However, treatment sometimes becomes difficult given that certain categories of antihypertensive drugs interfere with blood glucose control and/or lipid metabolism, interfere with the symptomatology of hypoglycemia, or promote orthostatic hypotension, a complication of autonomic neuropathy. A study was undertaken to determine the effects of rilmenidine, administered for 16 weeks, in 29 diabetic patients treated with insulin and experiencing mild-to-moderate hypertension (supine diastolic blood pressure, 96.7 +/- 0.5 mmHg). Administered as single-drug therapy, rilmenidine rapidly normalized blood pressure (systolic blood pressure, less than 160 mmHg; diastolic blood pressure, no more than 90 mmHg--supine) in 17 patients; this persisted throughout the trial period. Addition of a diuretic after 12 weeks in the remaining 12 patients led to normalization of blood pressure in nine additional patients. Blood glucose control (evaluated at home by weekly blood glucose measurements and by glycosylated hemoglobin levels) was unaffected by treatment. Plasma levels of cholesterol (total, high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein), triglycerides and proteinuria (or microalbuminuria) showed no change during the course of the trial. In conclusion, rilmenidine offers an effective and safe treatment for mild-to-moderate hypertension in diabetic patients treated with insulin and does not interfere with their blood glucose control.

Antihypertensive Agents

Treatment of systemic hypertension in insulin-treated diabetes mellitus with rilmenidine.

The effects of a new alpha 2 agonist (S 3341 or rilmenidine) on blood pressure (BP), glycemic control, lipid metabolism and renal function were investigated during a 16-week open study in 29 insulin-treated diabetic patients with mild to moderate hypertension. There were 17 men and 12 women aged 50.9 +/- 2.2 years (mean +/- standard error of the mean). Duration of diabetes and insulin therapy was 218 +/- 24 and 143 +/- 30 months. After 2 weeks of placebo, systolic and diastolic BP was 165 +/- 3 and 97 +/- 0.5 mm Hg, respectively (supine). Rilmenidine (S 3341) given alone at daily doses of 1 or 2 mg according to the clinical response led to a prompt and sustained decrease of systolic and diastolic BP (159 +/- 4 and 88 +/- 1 mm Hg after 2 weeks; 149 +/- 3 and 85 +/- 1 mm Hg after 12 weeks; p less than 0.01). Seventeen patients (59%) had normal BP (systolic BP less than 160; diastolic BP less than 90 mm Hg, supine) after 12 weeks of S 3341. Diuretics were associated with S 3341 for the nonresponders at week 12; this led to normalization of BP in 90% of the patients at the end of the study. Glycemic control was assessed by home glucose monitoring (5 determinations/1 day per week), 24-hour glucosuria and postprandial plasma glucose at the outpatient clinic (n = 7) as well as by the measurement of the glycosylated hemoglobin. None of these parameters was significantly affected by S 3341.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adrenergic beta-Agonists

Effect of an in-patient education programme upon the knowledge, behaviour and glycaemic control of insulin dependent diabetic patients.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of a diabetes education programme (5 days in hospital) in type I diabetic patients by comparing their diabetes-related knowledge, behaviour and the level of HbA1 before with that 6 months and 1 year after the teaching session. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to whether they answered a questionnaire after 6 months (group I; 41 "responder" patients) or not (group II; 38 "non-responder" patients). Their usual regime of insulin therapy (2 daily injections of a mixture of regular and intermediate-acting insulins) was not modified during their hospitalization for teaching; the total daily doses of insulin and the percentages of regular insulin were comparable before and after the teaching session. In group I, we observed an improvement in knowledge and behaviour indices (evaluated by a written questionnaire) from 69 +/- 3 and 67 +/- 4% (mean +/- SEM) before the teaching session to 86 +/- 2 and 85 +/- 2% 6 months after, respectively (p less than 0.001). HbA1 decreased from 12.1 +/- 0.3% to 11.2 +/- 0.3% (p less than 0.05) and to 10.7 +/- 0.4% (p less than 0.025) after 6 and 12 months respectively. This improvement was observed in patients with or without residual insulin secretion. In group II patients, the index of knowledge increased similarly from 67 +/- 4 to 85 +/- 2% (p less than 0.001). No significant decrease of HbA1 was observed in this group after 6 and 12 months, however whether the patients possessed residual insulin secretion or not.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult