DEAR EDITOR, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has recently emerged as a rapidly spreading disease, affecting more than 100 countries worldwide and reaching pandemic proportions. The severity of COVID-19 ranges from a mild, self-limiting flu-like illness to a devastating pneumonia culminating in respiratory failure and death. Individuals with diabetes are particularly vulnerable to some respiratory viral infections, such as influenza A (H1N1) infection ( ), the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) ( ), and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) ( […]

ABSTRACT Objective Autonomic nervous system, especially the sympathetic nervous system, may stimulate the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator-1α, which regulates irisin. This study aimed to explore whether there was any association between autonomic function as assessed by heart rate related indices and irisin release following acute exercise. Subjects and methods Seventeen healthy adults were asked to perform an incremental exhaustive cycling as well as an incremental exhaustive running separately on different days. Heart rate was monitored, and blood […]

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate changes in thyroid function after 5 years, the interval proposed for new assessment, in initially euthyroid adults. Subjects and methods: Initially, 1,426 apparently healthy adults considered low risk for thyroid dysfunction, were evaluated by measurement of TSH. After 5 years, 1,215 (85.2%) subjects were reevaluated. Results: After 5 years, four subjects were receiving levothyroxine (L-T4) replacement therapy and 25 others had TSH > 4 mIU/L, only two of them with TSH > 10 mIU/L. All of […]

ABSTRACT Objective: Graves’ ophthalmopathy (GO) is an autoimmune disease that leads to ocular proptosis caused by fat accumulation and inflammation, and the main treatment is corticosteroid therapy. Retinoid acid receptor-alpha (RARα) seems to be associated with inflammation and adipocyte differentiation. This study aimed to assess the effect of glucocorticoid treatment on orbital fibroblasts of GO patient treated or not with different glucocorticoid doses. Materials and methods: Orbital fibroblasts collected during orbital decompression of a female patient with moderately severe/severe GO […]

ABSTRACT Objective: This study aims to estimate the prevalence of insulin resistance (IR) among chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients and their related laboratory and demographic data. Subjects and methods: In this study, non-diabetic CHC patients referred to Viral Hepatitis Ambulatories from Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) donated blood samples. Insulin was measured using a chemiluminescence immunoassay. IR was determined by HOMA-IR, where HOMA-IR > 2 was defined as IR. Results: A total of 214 CHC patients were recruited (123 females aged […]

ABSTRACT Objective: The poor quality of sleep and the deprivation thereof have been associated with disruption of metabolic homeostasis, favoring the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2DM). We aimed to evaluate the influence of biliopancreatic diversion (BPD) surgery on sleep quality and excessive daytime sleepiness of obese patients with T2DM, comparing them with two control groups consisting of obese and normal weight individuals, both normal glucose tolerant. Subjects and methods: Forty-two women were divided into three groups: LeanControl […]