Medical Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2010

Mentor: Ugis Gruntmanis
Department: Internal Medicine/Endocrinology
Room number: Y5.322
Mail Code: 8557
Phone number: 8-2215
E-mail: ugis.gruntmanis@utsouthwestern.edu
Project title: What predicts low BMD in men on dialysis/

Human subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable): study has been compleated

Animal subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable):

Project Type (patient-based research, animal-based research, or basic research; this characterization is only to permit a general classification for grouping similar types of projects): patient based study

Brief Description of Project:
In previous studies as many as 60% of men on hemodialysis (HD) are found to be hypogonadal.
Yet role of low testosterone in complex pathogenesis of renal bone disease has not been defined.
In this cross-sectional study our primary goal was to determine if men on HD with low total testosterone (testosterone below 300 ng/dl) have lower BMD than eugonadal men.
Second goal was to find out if there is a difference between serum bone formation and resorption markers (bone specific alkaline phosphatase (BSAP), osteocalcin (OC), type 5b tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP5b)) between hypogonadal and eugonadal men on HD.
Only BSAP and TRAP5b are not dialyzable and therefore are good markers of bone turnover for this population.
We analyzed data on 83 men, 52 African Americans, 20 Hispanic, 9 Caucasians and one Indian American. 50 and 33 men were eugonadal and hypogonadal, respectively.

Previous Research Activities or Publications with Medical Students:
1.Gruntmanis U, Leach B, Odvina CV, Zerwekh JE, Sakhaee K
High Rate of Hypogonadism and Vitamin D Insufficiency in Males on Dialysis.
J Bone Miner Res. 2005; 20 (suppl 1): M468
2. Kaloyanova P, Patel V, Ghayee H, Gruntmanis U. No Difference in Prevalence of Pituitary Imaging Abnormalities in Secondary Hypogonadal Men Presenting with Osteoporosis versus Erectile Dysfunction.
Presented at 88th Endocrine Society meeting in Boston 6/2006
3. Fontenot A and Gruntmanis U. Comparison of Alendronate and Zoledronic Acid Treatments in Men with Low Bone Mineral Density. Abstract presented at 46th UT Southwestern Annual Medical Student Research Forum 11/22/2008. Dallas, TX
4. Sum-Ping O, Fontenot A, Chang AY, Gruntmanis U. Comparison of Alendronate and Zoledronic Acid in Treatment of Osteoporotic Men.
Abstract selected as oral presentation at AFMR 2009 Southern Regional Meeting 2/12/2009, New Orleans, Louisiana