Expanded Network of Inflammatory Markers of Atherogenesis: Where Are We Now?

Inflammatory biomarkers play a pivotal role in atherosclerotic lesions. The plasma levels of these markers are predictive of adverse outcomes such as myocardial infarction and cardiovascular death. The immune system is involved at all stages of atherogenesis via activation of monocytes/macrophages and T lymphocytes. Circulating proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines produced by these cells interact with specific receptors on various cells and activate specific signaling pathways, leading to inflammation-induced atherosclerotic lesions. Recent studies have focused on predictive value of inflammatory biomarkers such as C-reactive protein and interleukin-6. These biomarkers were shown to be associated with poor quality of life and predictive of adverse events in coronary atherosclerosis and left ventricular dysfunction. Vascular predictive value of other numerous inflammatory markers is being investigated. We herein analyze the role of several mediators of inflammation, affecting vascular functions and leading toward atherosclerotic lesions

Marketing methods for electronic resources in medical libraries: a study on the application of the analytical hierarchy process

Paired with the high cost of providing access to electronic resources in medical libraries, the inefficient use of these resources highlights the need for more efforts to promote these resources than ever before. In this study, electronic resource marketing methods were prioritized and the best strategies were determined using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Using an analytical survey of officials of medical libraries, the most common methods for marketing electronic resources in libraries were determined and divided into categories of strategies. Five important criteria for marketing strategies were also selected. Using AHP, pairwise comparisons were performed between the alternatives (i.e., strategies), which were evaluated against the selected criteria. Data analysis was performed using Expert Choice 11 software. A total of 44 electronic resource marketing methods were identified and categorized into 4 strategies. On average, 43.9% of these methods were used by the surveyed libraries. The AHP showed that simplicity was the most important criterion and that communication networks were the best electronic resource marketing strategy. Home/off-campus access, group training, library search stations, and marketing by individual librarians were the most preferred methods of marketing electronic resources. With the availability of a variety of different methods for marketing electronic resources, medical libraries must select strategies based on important criteria depending on the characteristics of the library, librarians, and users. Thus, the AHP can be an effective and practical solution to decision-making by mathematically prioritizing the selection of the best strategies from a set of alternatives based on differentially weighted criteria

Effect of opium on glucose metabolism and lipid profiles in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes

Wstęp: To eksperymentalne badanie przeprowadzono w celu określenia wpływu stosowania opium na profil lipidowy i metabolizm glukozy u szczurów z cukrzycą wywołaną podaniem streptozotocyny. Materiał i metody: Aby ocenić wpływ opium, 20 samców podzielono na dwie grupy: kontrolną (n = 10) i otrzymującą opium (n = 10). Po wywołaniu cukrzycy przez 35 dni codziennie mierzono stężenie glukozy we krwi zwierząt. Profil lipidowy i odsetek hemoglobiny A1c (HbA1c) określono na poczatku badania (przed wywołaniem cukrzycy) i w 35. dniu obserwacji. Wyniki: Poziom glikemii u szczurów, którym podawano opium i w grupie kontrolnej był podobny (544,8 ± 62,2 mg/dl v. 524,6 ± 50,0 mg/dl, P = 0,434). Ponadto, nie stwierdzono różnic między grupą leczoną i kontrolną w zakresie wartości HbA1c (6,5 ± 0,5% v. 6,6 ± 0,2%, P = 0,714). Również stężenia cholesterolu całkowitego, cholesterolu frakcji HDL, triglicerydów i lipoproteiny (a) były podobne w obu grupach. Wnioski: Stosowanie opium nie ma istotnego wpływu na metabolizm glukozy i profil lipidowy u szczurów z eksperymentalnie wywołaną cukrzycą.Background: This experimental study was performed to determine the impact of opium use on serum lipid profile and glucose metabolism in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes. Material and methods: To determine the effect of opium, 20 male rats were divided into control (n = 10) and opium-treated (n = 10) groups. After diabetes induction, the animals were investigated for daily glucose measurements for 35 days. Serum lipid profile and haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were assayed at the baseline (before induction of diabetes) and at 35-day follow-up. Results: The glycaemia levels in the rats treated with opium were similar to the levels measured in the control rats (544.8 ± 62.2 mg/dl v. 524.6 ± 50.0 mg/dl, P = 0.434). In addition, there was no difference between the opium-treated rats and control rats in HbA1c (6.5 ± 0.5% v. 6.6 ± 0.2%, P = 0.714). Compared to the control rats, the serum total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL), triglyceride and lipoprotein (a) in the test animals were similar. Conclusion: Opium use has no significant effect on glucose metabolism and serum lipid profile in rats with induced diabetes

Orphan GPR26 Counteracts Early Phases of Hyperglycemia-Mediated Monocyte Activation and Is Suppressed in Diabetic Patients

Diabetes is the ninth leading cause of death, with an estimated 1.5 million deaths worldwide. Type 2 diabetes (T2D) results from the body's ineffective use of insulin and is largely the result of excess body weight and physical inactivity. T2D increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, retinopathy, and kidney failure by two-to three-fold. Hyperglycemia, as a hallmark of diabetes, acts as a potent stimulator of inflammatory condition by activating endothelial cells and by dysregulating monocyte activation. G-protein couple receptors (GPCRs) can both exacerbate and promote inflammatory resolution. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) indicate that GPCRs are differentially regulated in inflammatory and vessel cells from diabetic patients. However, most of these GPCRs are orphan receptors, for which the mechanism of action in diabetes is unknown. Our data indicated that orphan GPCR26 is downregulated in the PBMC isolated from T2D patients. In contrast, GPR26 was initially upregulated in human monocytes and PBMC treated with high glucose (HG) levels and then decreased upon chronic and prolonged HG exposure. GPR26 levels were decreased in T2D patients treated with insulin compared to non-insulin treated patients. Moreover, GPR26 inversely correlated with the BMI and the HbA1c of diabetic compared to non-diabetic patients. Knockdown of GPR26 enhanced monocyte ROS production, MAPK signaling, pro-inflammatory activation, monocyte adhesion to ECs, and enhanced the activity of Caspase 3, a pro-apoptotic molecule. The same mechanisms were activated by HG and exacerbated when GPR26 was knocked down. Hence, our data indicated that GPR26 is initially activated to protect monocytes from HG and is inhibited under chronic hyperglycemic conditions

Serum Uric Acid Level and Metabolic Syndrome in Patients Undergoing Coronary Angiography

ABSTRACT Background and Objectives: The association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and hyperuricemia has been formerly studied mostly in healthy people in western countries. We tried to examine the relationship between hyperuricemia and MetS in an Iranian population undergoing coronary angiography. Materials and Methods: From March 2008 to September 2008, we studied 465 patients (260 men, 55.9%) undergoing elective coronary angiography due to symptoms related to coronary artery disease. The MetS was defined according to the adapted Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP-III A), and hyperuricemia was defined as serum uric acid concentrations ≥ 7.0 mg/dl in men and ≥ 6.0 mg/dl in women. For the statistical analysis, the statistical software SPSS version 13.0 and the statistical package SAS version 9.1 were applied Results: The mean age of the study population was 59.66 ± 10.04, ranging from 31 to 85 years. Hyperuricemia was detected in 231 (49.7%) of total population, in 126 (54.5%) of men, and in 105 (45.5%) of women. In the multivariable adjusted model, subjects with MetS and subjects with 5 components of the MetS compared to those without any components of the MetS, had 1.56-fold and 4.19-fold increased odds of hyperuricemia, respectively. Hyperuricemia was significantly associated with elevated BP and low level of HDL-cholesterol but not with other components of MetS. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that hyperuricemia was strongly associated with the prevalence of MetS according to adapted ATP III guidelines in an Iranian sample of patients undergoing coronary angiography

Association between R353Q polymorphism for coagulative factor VII and severity of coronary artery disease in Iranian population

Background: Recent research has supported the central role of coagulative factors in advancing atherosclerosis and causing coronary artery disease (CAD). The present study, for the first time, aimed to clarify the relationship between R353Q polymorphism for factor VII and the occurrence and severity of CAD in a large sample of Iranian population.Methods: Nine hundred and nineteen consecutive patients with suspected CAD, who candidated for coronary angiography in the Tehran Heart Center between January 2006 and March 2007, were examined. The number of diseased coronary vessels was determined, and the severity of CAD was assessed by the Gensini score. Genotyping was done via the PCR-RFLP method.Results: The frequency of Q and R alleles was 74.1% and 25.9% in the patients with CADand 75.2% and 24.8% in those without CAD, with an insignificant difference (p = 0.625). The frequency of Q allele in the patients with single-vessel, two-vessel, and three-vessel diseases was 72.8%, 71.5%, and 76.4%, respectively; the difference was also insignificant (p = 0.379). No relationship was observed between the distribution of the genotypes and the number of the involved coronary vessels. The average of the Gensini score was 43.39 ± 46.18 in the patients with QQ genotype, 38.87 ± 42.89 in those with QR genotype, and 55.61 ± 53.80 in the ones with RR genotype, with the difference not constituting any statistical significance (p = 0.084).Conclusions: The results suggest no association between R353Q polymorphism for factor VII and the presence or progression of CAD in the Iranian population

Mesenchymal stem cell therapy in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients: A comprehensive review of disease information and future perspectives

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare deadly progressive neurological disease that primarily affects the upper and lower motor neurons with an annual incidence rate of 0.6 to 3.8 per 100,000 people. Weakening and gradual atrophy of the voluntary muscles are the first signs of the disease onset affecting all aspects of patients’ lives, including eating, speaking, moving, and even breathing. Only 5-10% of patients have a familial type of the disease and show an autosomal dominant pattern, but the cause of the disease is unknown in the remaining 90% of patients (Sporadic ALS). However, in both types of disease, the patient’s survival is 2 to 5 years from the disease onset. Some clinical and molecular biomarkers, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), blood or urine test, muscle biopsy, and genetic testing are complementary methods for disease diagnosis. Unfortunately, with the exception of Riluzole, the only medically approved drug for the management of this disease, there is still no definitive cure for it. In this regard, the use of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) for the treatment or management of the disease has been common in preclinical and clinical studies for many years. MSCs are multipotent cells having immunoregulatory, anti-inflammatory, and differentiation ability that makes them a good candidate for this purpose. This review article aims to discuss multiple aspects of ALS disease and focus on MSCs’ role in disease management based on performed clinical trials

Asymptomatic bacteriuria in type 2 Iranian diabetic women: a cross sectional study

BACKGROUND: The risk of developing infection in diabetic patients is higher and urinary tract is the most common site for infection. Serious complications of urinary infection occur more commonly in diabetic patients. To study the prevalence and associates of asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) in women with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Iranian population, this study was conducted. METHODS: Between February 10, 2004 and October 15, 2004; 202 nonpregnant diabetic (type 2) women (range: 31 to 78 years old) with no abnormalities of the urinary tract system were included in this clinic based study. We defined ASB as the presence of at least 10(5 )colony-forming units/ml of 1 or 2 bacterial species, in two separated cultures of clean-voided midstream urine. All the participants were free from any symptoms of urinary tract infection (UTI). Associates for developing bacteriuria was assessed and compared in participants with and without bacteriuria. RESULTS: In this study, the prevalence of ASB was 10.9% among diabetic women. E. coli was the most prevalent microorganism responsible for positive urine culture. Most of the isolated microorganisms were resistant to Co-trimoxazole, Nalidixic acid and Ciprofloxacin. Pyuria (P < 0.001) and glucosuria (P < 0.05) had a meaningful relationship with bacteriuria but no association was evident between age (P < 0.45), duration of diabetes (P < 0.09), macroalbuminuria (P < 0.10) and HbA(1c )level (P < 0.75), and the presence of ASB. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of ASB is higher in women with type 2 diabetes, for which pyuria and glucosuria can be considered as associates. Routine urine culture can be recommended for diabetic women even when there is no urinary symptom

FLCSS: A fuzzy-based longest common subsequence method for uncertainty management in trajectory similarity measures

The large quantity of movement data collected from various sources can be inherently uncertain and heterogeneous. In the movement data analysis and mining spectrum, computing the similarity of trajectories while considering the uncertainty and heterogeneity has been less addressed. Generally, two factors of sampling and positioning error cause uncertainty in trajectory databases. Therefore, in this research, a method based on the longest common subsequence (LCSS), named FLCSS, is proposed that uses fuzzy theory and the bead model to consider the uncertainty of trajectories originated from positioning and sampling errors. The performance of FLCSS is evaluated by implementations on real and synthetic datasets, and compared with six important and commonly used similarity measurement methods, namely, LCSS, edit distance on real sequence (EDR), dynamic time warping (DTW), edit distance with real penalty (ERP), Hausdorff distance (HD), and Fréchet distance (FD). The results show that FLCSS has a better performance compared to other methods, in terms of sensitivity to point displacement, noise, and different sampling rates. Furthermore, the high correlation between FLCSS and LCSS (ρ = 0.91) confirms the robustness of the proposed method in considering uncertainty in the trajectory databases