24-Hour Glycemic Variations in Drug-Na?ve Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM)-Based Study

Objective

To investigate a 24-hour glycemic variation in drug-naïve, type 2 diabetic patients by using CGM.

Methods

A total of 30 inpatients with type 2 diabetes were included in the study to analyze the 24-hour CGM data.

Results

The patients’ median age was 58 years old (interquartile range: 42–66 years), and their median HbA1c value was 7.6 (6.7–8.8)%. The median time to postprandial peak glucose levels(Peak Time) for each meal was 70–85 minutes, with the range of postprandial glucose increases(Increase Range) for each meal being 83–109 mg/dL. There was a significant positive correlation between the HbA1c values and Increases Range, Peak Time observed after breakfast and dinner, respectively. When the patients were stratified by a median HbA1c value of 7.6% into 2 groups, Increases Range and Peak Time, after breakfast, were shown to be significantly higher in the high-HbA1c group (H) than in the low-HbA1c (L) group. When the subjects were divided into four groups according to HbA1c levels:1 (<7.0%, n = 8), 2 (7.0–7.9%, n = 8), 3 (8.0–8.9%, n = 8), and 4 (≥9%, n = 6), the average glucose level, pre-meal glucose level and postprandial peak glucose level increased steadily from group 1 to 4 in a stepwise manner.

Conclusions

In drug-naïve, Japanese type 2 diabetic patients, the Peak Time and the Increase Range were maximal after dinner. It was shown that the greater the HbA1c values, the longer Peak time and the higher Increase Range after breakfast and dinner. The average glucose level, pre meal glucose level and postprandial peak glucose level increased steadily as HbA1c level increased.     

Stereoselective Synthesis of Optically Active Dictyopterenes A and B and Their Geometrical Isomers

Optically active dictyopterenes A and B and their geometrical isomers were stereoselectively synthesized by condensation of acrolein with carboethoxymethyl dimethylsulfonium bromide and by the Wittig reaction between (+)-2-vinylcyclopropylcarbaldehyde, which was derived from partially resolved (+)-(1,S, 2R)-2-vinylcyclopropanecarboxylic acid, and phosphonium salts in liquid-solid two-phase systems using crown ethers.     

Volatile C6-Aldehyde Formation via Hydroperoxides from C18-Unsaturated Fatty Acids in Etiolated Alfalfa and Cucumber Seedlings

1. Etiolated seedlings of alfalfa and cucumber evolved n-hexanal from linoleic acid and cis-3-hexenal and trans-2-hexenal from linolenic acid when they were homogenized.

2. The activities for n-hexanal formation from linoleic acid, lipoxygenase and hydro-peroxide lyase were maximum in dry seeds and 1~2 day-old etiolated seedlings of alfalfa, and in 6~7 day-old etiolated seedlings of cucumber.

3. n-Hexanal was produced from linoleic acid and 13-hydroperoxylinoleic acid by the crude extracts of etiolated alfalfa and cucumber seedlings. cis-3-Hexenal and trans-2-hexenal were produced from linolenic acid and 13-hydroperoxylinolenic acid by the crude extracts of etiolated alfalfa and cucumber seedlings. But these extracts, particulariy cucumber one, showed a high isomerizing activity from cis-3-hexenal to trans-2-hexenal.

4. When the C₈-aldehydes were produced from linoleic acid and linolenic acid by the crude extracts, formation of hydroperoxides of these C₁₈-fatty acids was observed.

5. When 9-hydroperoxylinoleic acid was used as a substrate, trans-2-nonenal was produced by the cucumber homogenate but not by the alfalfa homogenate.

6. As the enzymes concerned with C₆-aldehyde formation, lipoxygenase was partially purified from alfalfa and cucumber seedlings and hydroperoxide lyase, from cucumber seedlings. Lipoxygenase was found in a soluble fraction, but hydroperoxide lyase was in a membrane bound form. Alfalfa lipoxygenase catalyzed formation of 9- and 13-hydroperoxylinoleic acid (35: 65) from linoleic acid and cucumber one, mainly 13-hydroperoxylinoleic acid formation. Alfalfa hydroperoxide lyase catalyzed n-hexanal formation from 13-hydroperoxylinoleic acid, but cucumber one catalyzed formation of n-hexanal and trans-2-nonenal from 13- and 9-hydroperoxylinoleic acid, respectively.

7. From the above results, the biosynthetic pathway for C₆-aldehyde formation in etiolated alfalfa and cucumber seedlings is established that C₆-aldehydes (n-hexanal, cis-3-hexenal and trans-2-hexenal) are produced from linoleic acid and linolenic acid via their 13-hydroperoxides by lipoxygenase and hydroperoxide lyase.     

Simultaneous Preparation of a DNA Ligase and Restriction Endonucleases from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens N

An N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc)-specific Ca²⁺-dependent lectin (C-type lectin), isolated from the marine invertebrate Holothuroidea (Cucumaria echinata), CEL-I, showed potent mitogenic activity toward normal mouse spleen cells. The mitogenic activity of CEL-I, which reached a maximum at 100 μg/ml, was inhibited by GalNAc in a concentration-dependent manner. The mitogenic effect of CEL-I at 10 μg/ml on T cell- enriched splenocytes was at a similar level due to a well-known T cell mitogen, concanavalin A (Con A), at 10 μg/ml. Furthermore, CEL-I evoked a mitogenic response from nude mouse spleen cells, while no significant effects of Con A on this cell population were observed over a wide range of concentrations. These results suggest that CEL-I is a potent mitogenic lectin with the ability to stimulate both T and B cells.     

Hyperproduction of Proteinase and Some Hydrolytic Enzymes by Mutants of Aspergillus sojae

Mutant strains of Aspergillus sojae exhibited coordinate increases of acid proteinase, α-amylase, and cellulase and a decrease of pectin trans-eliminase accompanied with the hyperproduction of alkaline proteinase in wheat bran koji culture. The production of these enzymes in the wheat bran solid medium, liquid wheat bran-defatted soybean medium, and liquid glucose-peptone medium were surveyed. The analyses on the production patterns of these enzymes under the different cultural conditions suggest that mutation in these mutants producing elevated levels of the above enzymes is due to a more complex alteration than a single gene mutation.     

Comparison of Alkaline Proteinase from Hyperproductive Mutants and Parent Strain of Aspergillus sojae

Physico-chemical properties of alkaline proteinase from the parent strain were compared with those from hyperproductive mutants of Aspergillus sojae. All the results on behavior of enzyme protein to ion exchange resin and celluloses, gel filtration, ultracentrifugal sedimentation, disc electrophoresis and isoelectrofocusing on polyacrylamide gel column, specific activity, substrate specificity, and kinetic constants provided evidence in favor of the conclusion that the parent and mutant strains produced the chemically identical enzymes and that superactivity of alkaline proteinase in culture extracts or filtrates of mutant strains was not attributed to alteration of catalytic property of the enzyme, but to hyperproduction of the identical enzyme resulting from the genetic change in the regulatory mechanism of enzyme synthesis.