Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0019158 (hepatitis)
 30,205 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Metformin is a widely used drug in the therapy of patients affected by diabetes mellitus. Although some caution is needed in the very old, advanced age per se does not represent a contraindication to metformin use. Despite the fact that its precise mechanism of action it is not completely elucidated, long-term treatment with this drug in monotherapy, improves glycaemic control and reduces cardiovascular mortality in overweight type 2 diabetic patients. Experimental evidence produced over the years suggests that metformin may be useful in some clinical conditions different from diabetes mellitus. In the present review we have examined currently available data about the possible use of metformin as an effective therapeutical agent in pathological conditions different from type 2 diabetes mellitus. On the basis of our investigation, the use of metformin can be suggested in overweigth patients affected by impaired glucose tolerance and/or fasting hyperglycaemia and in subjects affected by polycystic ovary syndrome, while further data are needed in order to prescribe such a drug in patients affected by non-alcoholic steato-hepatitis and in HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy.
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PMID:Metformin beyond diabetes: new life for an old drug. 1822 Jun 35

This article explores the surprising finding that bariatric surgery can produce full and durable remission of the metabolic syndrome as well as other comorbidities of obesity including type II diabetes, hypertension, polycystic ovary syndrome, gastroesophageal reflux disease, nonalcoholic steatotic hepatitis, adult asthma and improvement in weight-bearing arthropathy. Such an outcome was previously deemed impossible. One effect of the surgery is the correction of hyperinsulinemia, a common denominator in the various expressions of the metabolic syndrome. Basal insulin levels return to normal levels within a matter of days following surgery, allowing a return of the first phase of insulin secretion. This effect is 'dose related' to the extent of the reduction of contact between food and the gut. The resolution of the spectrum of diseases that comprise the metabolic syndrome following bariatric surgery suggests that hyperinsulinemia may be the common cause that is corrected by lowering contact between food and the gut. If this concept is true, then the cause of the syndrome, including diabetes, could be a diabetogenic signal from the gut that forces the islets to produce excessive and harmful levels of insulin, or the cause could be the removal of a signal that blocks excessive insulin secretion. If either of these mechanisms is proven correct, the current treatment of diabetes with long-term insulin administration deserves review.
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PMID:Surgical treatment of metabolic syndrome. 2222 61

The Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI) has recently proven to be an indicator of adipose distribution and function that indirectly expresses cardiometabolic risk. In addition, VAI has been proposed as a useful tool for early detection of a condition of cardiometabolic risk before it develops into an overt metabolic syndrome. The application of the VAI in particular populations of patients (women with polycystic ovary syndrome, patients with acromegaly, patients with NAFLD/NASH, patients with HCV hepatitis, patients with type 2 diabetes, and general population) has produced interesting results, which have led to the hypothesis that the VAI could be considered a marker of adipose tissue dysfunction. Unfortunately, in some cases, on the same patient population, there is conflicting evidence. We think that this could be mainly due to a lack of knowledge of the application limits of the index, on the part of various authors, and to having applied the VAI in non-Caucasian populations. Future prospective studies could certainly better define the possible usefulness of the VAI as a predictor of cardiometabolic risk.
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PMID:Visceral adiposity index: an indicator of adipose tissue dysfunction. 2482 77

Most of the complications of juvenile obesity are due to metabolic disturbances induced by an excessive accumulation of fat which leads to chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Finding effective ways of identifying obese paediatric patients who are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular and metabolic complications has been recognised to be a promising strategy to improve prevention of complications of early obesity. Moreover, correctly identifying obese children who are already affected by metabolic co-morbidities should be a clinical priority. According to the state of the art summarised in this review, traditional metabolic variables included in the definitions of metabolic syndrome (MS), pre-diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)/non-alcoholic steato-hepatitis and, in obese girls, the presence of polycystic ovary syndrome are the best available longitudinal predictors of CVD and T2DM among obese children and adolescents. In clinical practice, traditional metabolic variables included in the definitions of MS should be assessed in all obese children and adolescents; fasting metabolic variables have been proposed to identify obese patients likely to be affected by impaired glucose tolerance or T2DM, and ultrasound has proved to be a valid surrogate for biopsy in the diagnosis of NAFLD. Further large longitudinal and cross-sectional studies are needed to improve our chances of identifying obese youth at the highest metabolic risk.
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PMID:Predictors of metabolic risk in childhood obesity. 2492 89