Serum YKL-40 levels as a novel marker of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction in patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome

WOS: 000321700800013PubMed: 23661157Purpose To evaluate serum levels of YKL-40 in patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PEX) in comparison with those of age-and sex-matched healthy subjects. Methods Forty patients with PEX (PEX group) and 40 age- and sex-matched control subjects (control group) were enrolled in the study. An enzyme immunoassay method using the commercially available test MicroVue YKL-40 was used to measure serum YKL-40 concentration. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures, serum levels of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), and triglycerides were also examined. Results the mean age was 54.4 +/- 7.6 (ranging 41-65) years in each group. the mean serum YKL-40 level of the PEX group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.001). in addition, the mean serum HsCRP, total cholesterol, LDL, and triglycerides levels were significantly higher, and mean serum HDL level was significantly lower in the PEX group than in the control group (all P<0.001, excluding both P = 0.002 for triglycerides and HDL levels). Further, the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly higher in the PEX group than in the control group (P-1 = 0.001 and P-2 = 0.01, respectively). Conclusion We have shown a relationship between PEX and elevated serum levels of YKL-40. We imply that a better understanding of the role of YKL-40 in the pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis is necessary to develop new therapies for preventing or treating PEX. Further studies are warranted to clarify the clinical relevance of these findings

Doğrusal olmayan diferansiyel denklemlerin çözümü üzerine

Sınır tabakaya sahip, ikinci mertebe doğrusal olmayan tekil pertürbe adi diferansiyel denklemler için bir yaklaşım metodu çalışıldı. Bölge, iç ve dış bölge olarak ikiye bölündü.Orijinal ikinci mertebe tekil pertürbe denklem, asimptotik olarak denk birinci mertebe denkleme dönüştürüldü ve iç ve dış bölgelerde çözüldü. Daha sonra, iç ve dış bölge problemlerinin çözümleri, orijinal probleme yaklaşık düzgün çözüm bulmak için eşlendi. An approximate method for the solution of non-linear singularly perturbed problems for second order ordinary differential equations with a boundary layer is studied. The region is divided into two parts as inner and outer region. The original second order singularly perturbed problem is replaced by an asymptotically equivalent first order problem and solved in the inner and outer regions. Then, the solutions of inner and outer region problems are matched to obtain an approximate uniform solution to the original problem

Stress-induced multiple organ damage in rats is ameliorated by the antioxidant and anxiolytic effects of regular exercise

Our aim was to investigate the effects of moderate load, regular swimming exercise on stress-induced anxiety, and associated oxidative organ injury. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 48) were either kept sedentary or submitted to swimming exercise for 8 weeks. Rats were then divided as non-stressed, acute stress, and chronic stress groups. After acute or chronic stress (electric foot shocks) applications, rats were placed on a holeboard and the exploratory behavior was recorded to assess the anxiety. Rats were decapitated after the stress application. Acute and chronic stress induction led to increased serum cortisol levels as compared to non-stressed groups. Plasma aspartate aminotransferase levels that were elevated in sedentary rats with both stress exposures were lower in trained rats. Malondialdehyde levels and myeloperoxidase activity were increased in the cardiac muscle, liver, stomach, and brain of the stressed rats with a concomitant reduction in the glutathione levels, while stress-induced changes in malondialdehyde, myeloperoxidase, and glutathione levels were reversed in the trained animals. Exercise, which led to increased malondialdehyde and reduced glutathione levels in the skeletal muscle of the non-stressed rats, also protected against stress-induced oxidative damage. Regular exercise with its anxiolytic and antioxidant effects ameliorates stress-induced oxidative organ damage by a neutrophil-dependent mechanism. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Diet-supported aerobic exercise reduces blood endothelin-1 and nitric oxide levels in individuals with impaired glucose tolerance

BACKGROUND: Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) forms an intermediate stage in the natural history of diabetes mellitus. Insulin-resistant states might be associated with dysfunction of the vascular endothelium. OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of chronic exercise and a low-calorie diet on plasma nitric oxide (NO) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) levels in patients with JOT and to elucidate the relationship between the oxidant stress markers and NO/ET-1 levels of blood before and after exercise. METHODS: Patients with IGT (n = 14) participated in a regular exercise program and exercised for 40 minutes each day, 3 days a week for 12 weeks. Physiological, anthropometric, and biochemical measurements were performed before, during the 6th week, and at the end of the program. RESULTS: There was a significant reduction in body mass index, body fat content, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, as well as NO and ET-1 concentrations after 12 weeks of exercise and diet program. Exercise training significantly elevated subjects' maximum oxygen consumption, whereas the resting metabolic rates of the patients did not change. The formation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were significantly reduced, whereas sulfhydryl groups were significantly increased on the 6th week (P < .05) and at the end of program (P < .01). CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that exercise, along with low-calorie diet, induced reductions in the plasma of both ET-1 and NO. Beneficial effects were observed on anthropometric measurements and plasma oxidant stress markers, indicating weight loss associated with exercise training and calorie restriction may effectively improve endothelial dysfunction in patients with IGT. (C) 2010 National Lipid Association. All rights reserved

Effect of Axial Length on Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness in Children

WOS: 000335377100021PubMed: 23918073Purpose: To investigate the effect of axial length on peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in myopic, hyperopic, and emmetropic eyes in children by Cirrus HD spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT). Methods: Subjects were divided into 3 groups according to their refractive status: myopic (n = 36), emmetropic (n = 30), and hyperopic (n = 28) eyes. the RNFL thickness measurements were taken from the superior, inferior, nasal, and temporal quadrants in the peripapillary region by Cirrus HD OCT. Axial length was also determined for each patient. Results: the myopic eyes had thinner average RNFL and RNFLs of temporal, superior, nasal, and inferior quadrants than the hyperopic eyes (p1 0.05). Conclusions: We have shown that axial length and accordingly refractive status influenced peripapillary RNFL thickness measurements by Cirrus HD OCT in children. Therefore, to make a correct diagnosis of glaucoma or other optic neuropathies in children, either axial length-induced magnification effect should be corrected by ophthalmologists or the current Cirrus HD OCT database should be revised taking axial length into consideration

On the Inverse Problem of the Fractional Heat-Like Partial Differential Equations: Determination of the Source Function

The study in this paper mainly concerns the inverse problem of determining an unknown source function in the linear fractional differential equation with variable coefficient using Adomian decomposition method (ADM). We apply ADM to determine the continuous right hand side functions fx and ft in the heat-like diffusion equations Dtαux,t=hxuxxx,t+fx and Dtαux,t=hxuxxx,t+ft, respectively. The results reveal that ADM is very effective and simple for the inverse problem of determining the source function