Involvement of circulating inflammatory factors in prognosis and risk of cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an inflammatory disease that different factors play a crucial role in the development of clinical outcome of this disease. Inflammation could have effects on initiation, progression, and clinical complications of CVD. Previous studies have indicated that delineating the underlying mechanisms of inflammatory factors involved in this disease should be considerably beneficial both as predictive markers and targets for advancement of appropriate therapeutic approaches in offsetting development and progression of cardiovascular complications. Mechanisms of inflammatory factors involved in CVD combined with the development of atherosclerosis, reperfusion injury, and myocardial infarction caused by changes in processes such as endothelial cells function and hemostasis can contribute to the development of clinical outcome in CVD. Therefore, it can be stated that recognition of inflammatory mechanisms involved in this disease can be a promising tool for evaluation of prognosis in CVD patients. In this article, our goal is to evaluate the possible role of changes in the expressions of inflammatory factors in CVD as well as their relationship with prognosis of this disease. © 2019 Elsevier Lt

Effect of gemfibrozil on cardiotoxicity induced by doxorubicin in male experimental rats

Cardiotoxicity is an adverse effect of the anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX). Gemfibrozil (GEM) is a lipid-lowering drug with a number of biological properties such as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. Therefore, we decided to investigate the effect of GEM on DOX-induced cardiotoxicity in rats. Twenty-eight adult male Wistar rats were divided into four experimental groups as follows: Group I received normal saline (2 ml/kg) orally for 14 days, group II received DOX (2.5 mg/kg; in six injections; accumulative dose: 15 mg/kg) intraperitonially for 14 days, group III received DOX + GEM (100 mg/kg) orally for 14 days concomitantly with DOX administration, and group IV received GEM orally for 14 days. Lipid panel, various biochemical biomarkers, and histological observations were evaluated in serum and heart samples. According to our results, DOX significantly increased the levels of lipid panel (triglycerides, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoproteins cholesterol) as well as markers of cardiac dysfunction (Aspartate aminotransferase, Creatine kinase-muscle/brain, Lactate dehydrogenase and Cardiac Troponin I). Moreover, DOX significantly increased malondialdehyde and nitric oxide levels in cardiac tissue. Furthermore, administration of DOX reduced the level of glutathione as well as the superoxide dismutase, catalase, and Glutathione peroxidase activities. DOX-treated rats showed significantly higher tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β. GEM administration significantly attenuated the lipid panel and biochemical biomarkers in DOX-treated rats. Our results were confirmed by histopathological evaluations of the heart. Based on our findings, GEM is a promising cardioprotective agent in patients treated with DOX through mitigative effects on biochemical markers and oxidative stress indices. © 2018 Elsevier Masson SA