Artherosclerosis

BACKGROUND: Osteoprotegerin (OPG), an inhibitor of osteoclastogenesis, has recently been under the spotlight in studies regarding the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis. AIM: To evaluate the value of serum OPG in the diagnosis and severity in patients with stable angina pectoris (SA) and unstable angina pectoris/non ST elevation myocardial infarction. METHODS: This study involved 160 patients, SA (n = 65), acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS; n = 65), and a control group (n = 30)...

Uncontrolled hypertension is well- known to give rise to systemic complications involving multiple central organs. Artherosclerosis leads to damage of the retinal vessels wall, contributing to venous stasis, thrombosis and finally, occlusion. Retinal vein occlusions compromise vision through development of ischaemic maculopathy, macular oedema, and rubeotic glaucoma. Laser photocoagulation remains the definitive treatment for ischaemic vein occlusion with secondary neovascularization. Timely treatment with anti- vascular endothelial growth factor prevents development of rubeotic glaucoma...

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Total saponin extracted from Tribulus terrestris (TSETT) has been reported to protect against atherosclerosis. We here investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms of TSETT underlying protection against atherosclerosis. METHODS: Cell proliferation was measured with Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT); Intracellular H2O2 was measured with DCFH-DA, a fluorescent dye; Intracellular free Ca(2+) was measured with a confocal laser scanning microscopy; Genes expression was measured with gene array and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR); Phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (phospho-ERK1/2) was measured with cell-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and western blotting...

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a genetic disorder of lipoprotein metabolism characterized by high plasma concentrations of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc), tendon xanthomas, and increased risk of premature coronary heart disease. FH is one of the most common inherited disorders; there are 10,000,000 people with FH worldwide, mainly heterozygotes. The most common FH cause is mutations along the entire gene that encode for LDL receptor (LDLR) protein, but it has been also described that mutations in apolipoprotein B (APOB) and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 genes produce this phenotype...

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) transmit extracellular signals across the plasma membrane via intracellular activation of heterotrimeric G proteins. The signal transduction pathways of Gs, Gi and Gq protein families are widely studied, whereas signaling properties of G12 proteins are only emerging. Many GPCRs were found to couple to G12/13 proteins in addition to coupling to one or more other types of G proteins. G12/13 proteins couple GPCRs to activation of the small monomeric GTPase RhoA. Activation of RhoA modulates various downstream effector systems relevant to diseases such as hypertension, artherosclerosis, asthma and cancer...

UNLABELLED: BACKGROUND: Advanced age results in crucial alterations of the innate and adaptive immune system leading to functional defects resulting in infection and chronic diseases. Toll-like receptors (TLR) recognize pathogenic structures and are important in the immune response to infections and vaccination. However, the role of TLR single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) is poorly understood in the setting of human ageing. This study investigated the impact of the TLR1 SNPs A743G and T1805G on ageing in different age groups from two European populations...

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is frequent and often coexists with other diseases. The aim of this study was to quantify the prevalence of COPD and related chronic comorbidity among patients aged over 40 years visiting family practices in an area of Madrid. METHODS: An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in a health area of the Madrid Autonomous Region (Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid). The practice population totalled 198,670 persons attended by 129 Family Physicians (FPs), and the study population was made up of persons over the age of 40 years drawn from this practice population...

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients are two to five times more likely to develop premature cardiovascular disease, thus shortening their life expectancy by five to 10 years. This risk has risen to approximately 12.6% in the urban population and 7.4% in the rural population of India. The Framingham risk score (FRS) identifies patients at increased cardiovascular risk and helps determine the need for preventive interventions. An investigation of the patients' coronary arteries and coronary artery calcification (CAC) - a measure of atherosclerotic plaque - has been found to be a strong predictor of cardiovascular disease...

OBJECTIVE: To observe the protective effect of serum containing Tanyu Tongzhi formula (TYTZF) on ox-LDL-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) injury and detect its mechanism on anti-artherosclerosis. METHOD: HUVECs were pretreated with serum containing TYTZF and simvastatin respectively for 2 hours and then added with 100 mg x L(-1) of ox-LDL and laid aside for 24 hours. The activity of HUVECs were measured by the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTF) method and the NO content in cell culture supernatants were examined by the Griess method...

Atherosclerosis, a chronic degenerative disease mainly attacks the middle-aged and the aged population as they grow old. Anti-angiocellular aging has gradually become a new strategy for atherosclerosis. In the process of atherosclerosis developing, endothelial cell renewing is speeding. Various biological function disorders that induce blood vessel aging emerge, which leads to changes of the telomere and telomerase, resulting in aged endothelial cells and dysfunction. Telomere and telomerase may play key roles in the etiological factors such as inflammation and AS plaque...

The authors discussed disorders in adipocytokines' function in chronic renal failure (CRF) and their clinical implications. Adipocytokines' concentrations in CRF are in most cases elevated, which is associated with decreased level of their excretion. This may cause number of clinical implications such as inflammation, loss of appetite, development of protein energy wasting (PEW) syndrome and the progress of artherosclerosis, what leads to increased mortality in a group of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD)...

Asymmetric di-methylarginine, an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, is increasingly recognized as vascular risk factor. Elevated ADMA levels have been described not only in 'typical' vascular diseases like congestive heart failure, artherosclerosis and diabetes but also for major depression and Alzheimer's disease. As homocysteine increases ADMA levels and elevated homocysteine serum levels are present in patients with alcohol dependence, the aim of the present study was to examine plasma ADMA levels in patients with alcohol dependence during withdrawal...

Adiponectin is one of the most bioactive substances secreted by adipose tissue and is involved in the protection against metabolic syndrome, artherosclerosis and type II diabetes. Research into the use of adiponectin as a promising drug for metabolic syndromes requires production of this hormone in high quantities considering its molecular isoforms. The objective of this study is to produce recombinant human adiponectin by Pichia pastoris (P-ADP) as a cheap and convenient eukaryotic expression system for potential application in pharmaceutical therapy...

In this paper, we present a dual-modality imaging system combining three-dimensional (3D) continuous-wave transillumination fluorescence tomography with 3D ultrasound (US) imaging. We validated the system with two phantoms, one containing fluorescent inclusions (Cy5.5) at different depths, and another varying-thickness semicylindrical phantom. Using raster scanning, the combined fluorescence/US system was used to collect the boundary fluorescent emission in the X-Y plane, as well as recovered the 3D surface and position of the inclusions from US signals...

White adipose tissue is known to be involved in numerous physiological processes such as insulin-mediated functions, lipid and glucose metabolism, vascular changes and coagulation. These processes are mainly mediated by adipokines that are secreted either from adipocytes or cells of the stromal-vascular fraction of adipose tissue. In obesity, a shift in the production of adipokines can mediate the development of associated diseases, such as metabolic syndrome, and vascular complications, such as artherosclerosis, myocardial infarction or stroke, which are known comorbidities of psoriasis too...

Within a day of gastrulation, the embryonic heart begins to beat and creates blood flow in the developing cardiovascular system. The onset of blood flow completely changes the environment in which the cardiovascular system is forming. Flow provides physiological feedback such that the developing network adapts to cue provided by the flow. Targeted inactivation of genes that alter early blood fluid dynamics induce secondary defects in the heart and vasculature and therefore proper blood flow is known to be essential for vascular development...

BACKGROUND: Adlay (Coix lacryma-jobi L. subsp. ma-yuen (Romanet) T. Koyama (family Poaceae)) seed has been used as a dietary supplement for its therapeutic effects for thousands of years. This study was designed to investigate the effects of adlay seed oil, obtained by supercritical CO₂ extraction, on blood lipids and antioxidant capacity in hyperlipidemic rats. RESULTS: Adlay seed oil could reduce the abdominal fat tissue and low-density lipoprotein concentration, and increase the total antioxidant capacity in hyperlipidemic rats...

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the combination of traditional risk factors and quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) assessment could provide accurate prognostic information on a population-based study including 1137 adults with subclinical artherosclerosis and with coronary risk factors. METHODS: Participants underwent coronary angiography examination before the minimal stenotic diameters, segment diameters, percent stenosis, plaque areas. Other parameters were analyzed by the computer-assisted Coronary Angiography Analysis System...

BACKGROUND: The atherosclerotic process starts at an early age and is linked to obesity. However, the exact pathophysiological mechanism is poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between serum adiponectin and metabolic syndrome and early arteriosclerosis. SUBJECTS: 176 obese and 88 normal children. METHODS: Ultrasound measurement was performed to investigate IMT, FMD, carotid artery compliance (CAC)...

Development of artherosclerosis is associated with participation of various cell types of the immune system such as: granulocytes, B and T lymphocytes, mast cells, dendritic cells and progenitor cells. Cytokines and growth factors have a great impact on activation of the atheromatous plaque. This pathological process results in increase of artery's tunic intima thickness, leading to coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction or stroke. It is suggested that a closer look at participation of the immune system cells in artherosclerosis may contribute to a change in the profile of therapy of this disease...