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Our aim was to assess the clinical course and outcome of ANCA-positive, pauci-immune renal limited vasculitis, their correlation with laboratory and histopathologic parameters recorded at initial and follow up testing, and to identify the possible outcome predictors. The study included 17 patients with renal biopsy, clinical, serologic and histopathologic parameters meeting the criteria for pauci-immune ANCA-positive glomerulonephritis without extrarenal manifestations of the disease. Creatinine clearance, 24-hour proteinuria and ANCA titer by ELISA method were determined at disease onset, during treatment and at the end of follow up. In 15 patients, the diagnosis was verified by kidney biopsy. Data were processed by Spearman correlation coefficient and Mann-Whitney test, and survival by Kaplan-Meier test. Lower percentage of glomeruli affected with vasculitis, better initial renal function as measured by serum creatinine or creatinine clearance, and lower chronicity on biopsy were identified as favorable indicators of kidney function outcome. Therapy responders had highest initial and lowest final 24-h proteinuria. The highest level of final 24-h proteinuria was recorded in dialysis dependent patients. The cumulative one-year and two-year patient and kidney survival rate was 64% and 50%, and 64% and 38%, respectively.

In order to estimate the degree of glucose tolerance impairment, oral glucose tolerance test was conducted in the group of 15 schizophrenic patients taking olanzapine, the group of 15 schizophrenic patients taking risperidone and in the group of 14 healthy volunteers. In the olanzapine group the tolerance was impaired in 33% of the patients, contrary to the risperidone group in which impairment amounted to 20% of the patients. The authors discuss possible mechanisms responsible for impaired glucose tolerance in patients taking newer antipsychotic drugs.

We have been determining the GGT IE isoenzyme in patients with hepatitis A and B with decomposed liver cirrhosis, with obstructive hepatitis caused by the gall stones. In patients with hepatitis A and B the IE is located between albumin and betaglobulin, as well as in patients with obstructive hepatitis caused by the gall stones; in the latter partly between Alpha 1 and Alpha 2 globulin. In patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis (37.7% of the patients) there was IE activity 100% in Alpha 2 globulin area; in 6.25% of patients the activity was in the prealbumin area. In patients with secondary liver tumors we got a rather high increase of the GGT IE activity in Alpha 1 globulin area, in 77.7% of the patients even 80 to 100%. In some patients with disease progression we noticed the GGT IE activity in Beta globulin area. The results in primary liver malignomas were different. In 68.5% of the patients the GGT IE activity dominated in Alpha 1 globulin area.