Hypercholesterolemia During Pregnancy is Caused by Increased Endogenous Cholesterol Synthesis: Let's Use it for Screening of Familial Hypercholesterolemias Too!

Abstract: Aims: To demonstrate the origin and the diagnostic significance of non-cholesterol sterols (NCSs) in healthy pregnant women with gestational hypercholesterolemia. Patients and Methods: Based on a total of 21,000 clinical biochemistry tests of healthy pregnant women with hypercholesterolemia observed during pregnancy, a group of 84 women with TC (total cholesterol) >7.0 mmol/L was recruited to analyze their NCSs using Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry. The NCSs under examination comprised lathosterol (Lat) and desmosterol (Des) as markers of endogenous cholesterol synthesis, and campesterol (Cam) and sitosterol (Sit) as markers for intestinal absorption. Results: In the total of 21,000 pregnant women, the median values were: TC 6.8 mol/l, LDL-C 4.6 mmol/L, and HDL-C 2.2 mmol/L. In the testing group of 84 women, the average values were: Lat 7.8+/-1.7 μmol/L, Des 4.7+/-0.9 μmol/L, Cam 9.8+/-2.6 μmol/L, and Sit 9.6 +/-3.8 μmol/L. Lat was found to correlate with TC (r = 0.53), LDL-C (r = 0.36), and non-HDL-C (r = 0.35). No such correlations were observed for Sit (r = 0.162) or Cam (r = 0.153). Conclusion: Our findings show that the high incidence of hypercholesterolemia during pregnancy is caused by increased endogenous cholesterol synthesis via lathosterol. The enormous rise of TC levels during pregnancy can be effectively used to detect familial hypercholesterolemia in women

Software-Defined Optics in Last Mile for Research and Education in the Czech Republic

The Software Defined Networking (SDN) gained recognition due to its improvements at the packet switching and routing layers. The benefits of programmable, remotely controllable networking devices can be applied to the optical layer of contemporary networks as well. This work introduces CESNET's Czech Light~® family of devices and their role in enabling the SDN approach within the CESNET's production network. As a case study, an upgrade of the Cheb node in CESNET's network from a hard-spliced add-drop multiplexers to SDN-capable Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexers (ROADM) is presented. The upgrade improved operational capabilities of the network, including remote channel equalization, and the possibility to deploy new channels or lambdas without physical intervention. The deployment of ROADM also improved the optical properties of the network

The Good soldier svejk : end his fortunes in the world war

xlv, 800 p. : il.; 21 cm

Hypercholesterolemia During Pregnancy is Caused by Increased Endogenous Cholesterol Synthesis: Let’s Use it for Screening of Familial Hypercholesterolemias Too!

Aims: To demonstrate the origin and the diagnostic significance of non-cholesterol sterols (NCSs) in healthy pregnant women with gestational hypercholesterolemia. Patients and Methods: Based on a total of 21,000 clinical biochemistry tests of healthy pregnant women with hypercholesterolemia observed during pregnancy, a group of 84 women with TC (total cholesterol) >7.0 mmol/L was recruited to analyze their NCSs using Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry. The NCSs under examination comprised lathosterol (Lat) and desmosterol (Des) as markers of endogenous cholesterol synthesis, and campesterol (Cam) and sitosterol (Sit) as markers for intestinal absorption. Results: In the total of 21,000 pregnant women, the median values were: TC 6.8 mol/l, LDL-C 4.6 mmol/L, and HDL-C 2.2 mmol/L. In the testing group of 84 women, the average values were: Lat 7.8+/-1.7 μmol/L, Des 4.7+/-0.9 μmol/L, Cam 9.8+/-2.6 μmol/L, and Sit 9.6 +/-3.8 μmol/L. Lat was found to correlate with TC (r = 0.53), LDL-C (r = 0.36), and non-HDL-C (r = 0.35). No such correlations were observed for Sit (r = 0.162) or Cam (r = 0.153). Conclusion: Our findings show that the high incidence of hypercholesterolemia during pregnancy is caused by increased endogenous cholesterol synthesis via lathosterol. The enormous rise of TC levels during pregnancy can be effectively used to detect familial hypercholesterolemia in women

Gestational hypercholesterolemia helps detect familial hypercholesterolemia and prevent late pregnancy complications

Introduction: In this retrospective study, we comment on the cause and diagnostic potential of the elevated serum total cholesterol and some non-cholesterol sterols in a population of healthy pregnant women from Prague, Czech Republic. Methods: Based on a total of 21,000 clinical biochemistry tests of healthy pregnant women with hypercholesterolemia observed during pregnancy, a testing group of 84 women with a total cholesterol (TC) above 7.0 mmol/l was established to analyze their non-cholesterol sterols (NCS) by Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry. Lathosterol (Lat) and desmosterol (Des) were evaluated as markers of endogenous cholesterol synthesis, whereas campesterol (Cam) and sitosterol (Sit) were analysed as markers of intestinal absorption. Results: In the basic population, the frequency of gestational hypercholesterolemia with the serum TC levels > 7.0mmol/l was 1 to 136.The mean values were: TC 6.8 mmol/l, LDL-C 4.6 mmol/l, and HDL-C 2.2 mmol/l. In the selected testing group of 84, the mean values were: Lat 7.8+/-1.7 μmol/l, Des 4.7+/-0.9 μmol/l, Cam 9.8+/-2.6 μmol/l, and Sit 9.6+/-3.8 μmol/l. Lat correlated with TC (r = 0.53), LDL-C (r = 0.36), and non-HDL-C (r = 0.35). No such correlations were observed for Cam or Sit. Conclusion: Our findings prove that gestational hypercholesterolemia is caused by increased endogenous cholesterol synthesis via lathosterol. Subsequently, we demonstrate how a single cholesterol test taken in the fifth to sixth month gestation can efficiently help detect familial hypercholesterolemia, and prevent related late pregnancy circulatory complications

Transmission delay stabilization using commercial pluggable small form factor transceiver based on V-cavity laser

In this paper, we introduce and verify direct wavelength tuning of V-cavity laser based transceiver as a method for optical stabilization of the end-to-end delay of an optical fiber link. Other mostly deployed methods of optical stabilization are briefly overviewed together with particular lasers available in commercial transceivers. Fine tuning procedure for chosen V-cavity laser based transceiver is proposed, and such process is verified, increasing finesse at least 13 times (40 times on selected intervals).</p