Researchers at the Clinical Diabetes and Nutrition section at the National Institutes of Health, and associates in Phoenix, Arizona from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases have found that a higher than normal white blood cell count is associated with the development of diabetes and a decline in insulin sensitivity in individuals with normal glucose tolerance.
Source: Diabetes, February 2002.

Scientists at Stanford University. Palo Alto, CA. have found that high blood levels of ADMA, a naturally occurring enzyme involved in blood vessel function may be the missing link between insulin resistance, a precursor to type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. The study findings also suggest drugs that improve insulin sensitivity may reduce levels of the compound, ADMA, and ultimately lower a person's heart disease risk. Elevated blood levels of ADMA reduce the ability of the blood vessels to widen, and are also linked to an increased risk of heart and blood vessel disease.

Researchers at Phillipps University in Marburg, Germany, have discovered that lung cancer patients had concentrations of a molecule called pleiotrophin in their blood up to 11 times higher than healthy people. Pleiotrophin is thought to be an important factor in the spread of cancer because it promotes cell division and the growth of the tumor's blood supply.

Researchers at the National Reference Centre for Staphylococcal Toxaemia, Lyon, France, have found that the strain of Staphylococcus aureus that carries the gene for Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is associated with a rapidly progressive, hemorrhagic, necrotizing pneumonia found in children and young adults.
Source: The Lancet, March 2, 2002