Behcet's disease (BD), also known as Behcet's syndrome, is a rare, chronic, autoimmune disorder of unknown origin. Its manifestations are thought to be caused by vasculitis, resulting in damage to blood vessels of all sizes throughout the body. We report a 25-year-old Pakistani male who is sexually active and presents with a one-year history of shortness of breath, cough, exertional dyspnea, and neck and facial swelling. On examination, he had severe anemia, mouth ulcers, distended neck and chest veins, prominent abdominal veins, and a scrotal ulcer. After going through mandatory investigations to evaluate the presenting signs and symptoms, thromboses were found in the major veins, including the superior vena cava (SVC) and external iliac vein, as well as a positive pathergy test. Accordingly, a diagnosis of Behcet's disease with cardiomyopathy and venous thrombosis was made. He was treated with anticoagulants, steroids, and azathioprine for six months and subsequently went into remission.
Objective: To compare insulin resistance and beta-cell function in nondiabetic, prediabetic, and diabetic subjects in a subset of obese Pakistani population.
Materials and Methods: Two hundred and ten obese subjects underwent anthropometric measurements. After overnight fasting for 8 hours, 6 cc blood was drawn for fasting blood glucose level, fasting insulin level. Blood glucose samples were taken after drinking 75 gm glucose in 260 ml water. HOMA IR and HOMA BETA% were calculated by the formula. Subjects were divided into obese nondiabetic, obese prediabetic and obese diabetic according to WHO criteria.
Results: Out of 210 obese subjects, 53 (25.2%) were males and 157 (74.8%) were females. The mean BMI was 32.39±5.21. Mean abdominal circumference was 102.78±10.16. There were 101(48%) obese nondiabetic, 51(24%) were found to be obese prediabetic, 58(28%) were found to be obese diabetic. Mean insulin resistance in obese nondiabetic subjects was 2.8 ±3.7, in prediabetic 8.5± 12.3, in diabetic was 17.7±24.6. Mean HOMA beta was 245.3±267.4 in obese nondiabetic subjects, 290.5±298.4 in prediabetic, and 16.6±57 in diabetic.
Conclusion: There was a significantly increased incidence of prediabetes and diabetes in obese subjects. Prediabetic and diabetic subjects were found to have marked insulin resistance. Beta-cell function was markedly reduced in diabetic subjects having a family history of diabetes, emphasizing the genetic predisposition to develop beta-cell exhaustion.
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