Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0020672 (hypothermia)
 17,327 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The purpose of this study was to determine if the ketone body beta-hydroxybutyrate (beta-HBA) is a useful positive marker for sudden deaths in chronic alcoholics, thought to be due to hypoglycemia. Beta-HBA can be reliably measured in postmortem samples of vitreous humour and urine. In fatalities where there is a history of chronic alcoholism and routine investigations, including autopsy and routine toxicology, yield only a fatty liver as positive findings, a raised level of beta-HBA can be used as an indicator for alcoholic ketosis. Alcoholic ketosis is often associated with antemortem hypoglycemia. Caution should be observed in attributing the significance of ketosis exclusively to alcohol in those conditions where it would otherwise be expected (i.e. diabetic ketoacidosis and chronic starvation). A measurement of this marker of alcoholic ketosis may also help in the investigation of cases where hypothermia or alcohol withdrawal fits are suspected.
 ...
PMID:The investigation of beta-hydroxybutyrate as a marker for sudden death due to hypoglycemia in alcoholics. 830 32

Our previous studies demonstrated the usefulness of screening determinations of acetone as an initial diagnostic criterion in deaths due to hypothermia, alcoholic ketoacidosis, diabetes mellitus, starvation and some poisonings. In alcoholemia, particularly in cases of prolonged ethanol consumption, the above-mentioned conditions may not result in acetonemia, despite marked concentrations of beta-hydroxybutyrate acid (beta-HBA). Therefore, for the purpose of the present study, the method of beta-HBA determination was modified using GC-MS-EI and applied to analyze 47 autopsy blood samples of individuals who died suddenly due to unknown causes. In 15 cases, the concentration of beta-HBA was higher than 1000 micromol/l; in six subjects from this group, the acetone concentration was lower than 250 micromol/l. In some cases, thus, the use of beta-HBA as an additional diagnostic criterion allows for explaining the pathomechanism of premortal metabolic disturbances.
 ...
PMID:[Diagnostic usefulness of the beta-hydroxybutyrate/acetone ratio in medico-legal diagnostics of sudden deaths]. 1790 21