This meta-analysis showed a 2-fold risk of arterial disease for patients with PCOS relative to women without PCOS. BMI adjustment did not affect this finding, suggesting the increased risk for cardiovascular events in PCOS is not completely related to a higher BMI in patients with PCOS.

BackgroundGut microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) have been associated with beneficial metabolic effects. However, the direct effect of oral butyrate on metabolic parameters in humans has never been studied. In this first in men pilot study, we thus treated both lean and metabolic syndrome male subjects with oral sodium butyrate and investigated the effect on metabolism.MethodsHealthy lean males (n = 9) and metabolic syndrome males (n = 10) were treated with oral 4 g of sodium butyrate daily for 4 weeks. Before and after treatment, insulin sensitivity was determined by a two-step hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp using [6,6-2H2]-glucose. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) uptake of glucose was visualized using 18F-FDG PET-CT. Fecal SCFA and bile acid concentrations as well as microbiota composition were determined before and after treatment.ResultsOral butyrate had no effect on plasma and fecal butyrate levels after treatment, but did alter other SCFAs in both plasma and feces. Moreover, only in healthy lean subjects a significant improvement was observed in both peripheral (median Rd: from 71 to 82 µmol/kg min, p < 0.05) and hepatic insulin sensitivity (EGP suppression from 75 to 82% p < 0.05). Although BAT activity was significantly higher at baseline in lean (SUVmax: 12.4 ± 1.8) compared with metabolic syndrome subjects (SUVmax: 0.3 ± 0.8, p < 0.01), no significant effect following butyrate treatment on BAT was observed in either group (SUVmax lean to 13.3 ± 2.4 versus metabolic syndrome subjects to 1.2 ± 4.1).ConclusionsOral butyrate treatment beneficially affects glucose metabolism in lean but not metabolic syndrome subjects, presumably due to an altered SCFA handling in insulin-resistant subjects. Although preliminary, these first in men findings argue against oral butyrate supplementation as treatment for glucose regulation in human subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

This study confirms that the best accuracy of Tg-guided follow-up in patients treated for differentiated thyroid carcinoma is obtained if treatment includes remnant ablation, and Tg testing is performed while off thyroxine.

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Uptake of iodide is a prerequisite for radioiodine therapy in thyroid cancer. However, loss of iodide uptake is frequently observed in metastasized thyroid cancer, which may be explained by diminished expression of the human sodium iodide symporter (hNIS). Strategies to restore iodide uptake in thyroid cancer include the exploration of hNIS gene transfer into hNIS defective thyroid cancer. In this study, we report the stable transfection of a hNIS expression vector into the hNIS defective follicular thyroid carcinoma cell line FTC133. Stablely transfected colonies exhibited high uptake of Na125I, which could be blocked completely with sodiumperchlorate. hNIS mRNA expression corresponded with iodide uptake in semiquantitative polymerase chain reaction. Iodide uptake was maximal after 60 minutes, whereas iodide efflux was complete after 120 minutes. hNIS transfected FTC133 and control cell lines injected subcutaneously in nude mice formed tumors after 6 weeks. Iodide uptake in the hNIS transfected tumor was much higher than in the nontransfected tumor, which corresponded with hNIS mRNA expression in tumors.