Effect of atorvastatin therapy on oxidant-antioxidant status and atherosclerotic plaque formation

PubMed ID: 21731885Background: The aim of this study was to determine the oxidant-antioxidant status and lipid peroxidation products, as well as paraoxonase and atherosclerotic plaque formation, in a hypercholesterolemic atherosclerosis rabbit model to investigate the effects of atorvastatin in the atherosclerotic process. Methods: Forty male New Zealand rabbits were divided into four groups, ie, a control group receiving standard pellets, a group receiving atorvastatin therapy, a hypercholesterolemic group receiving an atherogenic diet, and a group receiving both an atherogenic diet and atorvastatin. Results: The atherogenic diet increased the levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (1.84 vs 3.79 nmol/mg protein) and LDL-conjugated diene (147 vs 318 µmol/mg protein) after induction of oxidation by Cu2+, despite an increase of superoxide dismutase activity. Treatment with atorvastatin limited LDL oxidation significantly (LDL thiobarbituric acid reactive substances 2.19 nmol/mg protein, LDL-conjugated diene 222 µmol/mg protein). Paraoxonase, which prevents LDL oxidation and inactivates LDL-derived oxidized phospholipids, showed a pronounced decrease in the group receiving the atherogenic diet (110 U/L to 28 U/L), and atorvastatin treatment increased paraoxonase activity. Histological examination of arcus aorta tissues from the hypercholesterolemic group showed abundant plaque formation surrounding and obstructing the lumen, whereas treatment with atorvastatin prevented or limited plaque formation, keeping the plaque thin and localized. Conclusion: Atorvastatin has dramatic antiatherosclerotic effects, part of which seems to be due to the antioxidant features of the parent drug and/or its metabolites, favoring inhibition of LDL oxidation. © 2011 Sezer et al, publisher and licensee Dove Medical Press Ltd

Molecular testing for the clinical diagnosis of fibrolamellar carcinoma.

Fibrolamellar carcinoma has a distinctive morphology and immunophenotype, including cytokeratin 7 and CD68 co-expression. Despite the distinct findings, accurate diagnosis of fibrolamellar carcinoma continues to be a challenge. Recently, fibrolamellar carcinomas were found to harbor a characteristic somatic gene fusion, DNAJB1-PRKACA. A break-apart fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay was designed to detect this fusion event and to examine its diagnostic performance in a large, multicenter, multinational study. Cases initially classified as fibrolamellar carcinoma based on histological features were reviewed from 124 patients. Upon central review, 104 of the 124 cases were classified histologically as typical of fibrolamellar carcinoma, 12 cases as 'possible fibrolamellar carcinoma' and 8 cases as 'unlikely to be fibrolamellar carcinoma'. PRKACA FISH was positive for rearrangement in 102 of 103 (99%) typical fibrolamellar carcinomas, 9 of 12 'possible fibrolamellar carcinomas' and 0 of 8 cases 'unlikely to be fibrolamellar carcinomas'. Within the morphologically typical group of fibrolamellar carcinomas, two tumors with unusual FISH patterns were also identified. Both cases had the fusion gene DNAJB1-PRKACA, but one also had amplification of the fusion gene and one had heterozygous deletion of the normal PRKACA locus. In addition, 88 conventional hepatocellular carcinomas were evaluated with PRKACA FISH and all were negative. These findings demonstrate that FISH for the PRKACA rearrangement is a clinically useful tool to confirm the diagnosis of fibrolamellar carcinoma, with high sensitivity and specificity. A diagnosis of fibrolamellar carcinoma is more accurate when based on morphology plus confirmatory testing than when based on morphology alone

Differential expression of Caveolin-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma: correlation with differentiation state, motility and invasion

WOS: 000264914000001PubMed ID: 19239691Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [SBAG-107S026]; Dokuz Eylul University Research FoundationDokuz Eylul University [05.KB.SAG.071]We thank Prof. Mehmet Ozturk for providing us HCC cell lines and for his critical reading of the manuscript; and Prof. Aykut Uren for his helpful discussions on the manuscript. We also thank to Evin Ozen for her technical assistance. This work was supported by grants to Nese ATABEY from the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (TUBITAK, SBAG-107S026) and Dokuz Eylul University Research Foundation (05.KB.SAG.071)

X-ray emission from the Sombrero galaxy: discrete sources

We present a study of discrete X-ray sources in and around the bulge-dominated, massive Sa galaxy, Sombrero (M104), based on new and archival Chandra observations with a total exposure of ~200 ks. With a detection limit of L_X = 1E37 erg/s and a field of view covering a galactocentric radius of ~30 kpc (11.5 arcminute), 383 sources are detected. Cross-correlation with Spitler et al.'s catalogue of Sombrero globular clusters (GCs) identified from HST/ACS observations reveals 41 X-rays sources in GCs, presumably low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). We quantify the differential luminosity functions (LFs) for both the detected GC and field LMXBs, whose power-low indices (~1.1 for the GC-LF and ~1.6 for field-LF) are consistent with previous studies for elliptical galaxies. With precise sky positions of the GCs without a detected X-ray source, we further quantify, through a fluctuation analysis, the GC LF at fainter luminosities down to 1E35 erg/s. The derived index rules out a faint-end slope flatter than 1.1 at a 2 sigma significance, contrary to recent findings in several elliptical galaxies and the bulge of M31. On the other hand, the 2-6 keV unresolved emission places a tight constraint on the field LF, implying a flattened index of ~1.0 below 1E37 erg/s. We also detect 101 sources in the halo of Sombrero. The presence of these sources cannot be interpreted as galactic LMXBs whose spatial distribution empirically follows the starlight. Their number is also higher than the expected number of cosmic AGNs (52+/-11 [1 sigma]) whose surface density is constrained by deep X-ray surveys. We suggest that either the cosmic X-ray background is unusually high in the direction of Sombrero, or a distinct population of X-ray sources is present in the halo of Sombrero.Comment: 11 figures, 5 tables, ApJ in pres

Transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions of charged hadrons in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV

This is the pre-print version of the Published Article which can be accessed from the link below.Charged-hadron transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions in proton-proton collisions at √s=7  TeV are measured with the inner tracking system of the CMS detector at the LHC. The charged-hadron yield is obtained by counting the number of reconstructed hits, hit pairs, and fully reconstructed charged-particle tracks. The combination of the three methods gives a charged-particle multiplicity per unit of pseudorapidity dNch/dη||η|<0.5=5.78±0.01(stat)±0.23(syst) for non-single-diffractive events, higher than predicted by commonly used models. The relative increase in charged-particle multiplicity from √s=0.9 to 7 TeV is [66.1±1.0(stat)±4.2(syst)]%. The mean transverse momentum is measured to be 0.545±0.005(stat)±0.015(syst)  GeV/c. The results are compared with similar measurements at lower energies

Measurement of the charge ratio of atmospheric muons with the CMS detector

This is the pre-print version of this Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2010 ElsevierWe present a measurement of the ratio of positive to negative muon fluxes from cosmic ray interactions in the atmosphere, using data collected by the CMS detector both at ground level and in the underground experimental cavern at the CERN LHC. Muons were detected in the momentum range from 5 GeV/c to 1 TeV/c. The surface flux ratio is measured to be 1.2766 \pm 0.0032(stat.) \pm 0.0032 (syst.), independent of the muon momentum, below 100 GeV/c. This is the most precise measurement to date. At higher momenta the data are consistent with an increase of the charge ratio, in agreement with cosmic ray shower models and compatible with previous measurements by deep-underground experiments

Search for supersymmetry in pp collisions at 7 TeV in events with jets and missing transverse energy

This is the Pre-print version of the Article. The official published version of the paper can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2011 ElsevierA search for supersymmetry with R-parity conservation in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35 inverse picobarns collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The search is performed in events with jets and significant missing transverse energy, characteristic of the decays of heavy, pair-produced squarks and gluinos. The primary background, from standard model multijet production, is reduced by several orders of magnitude to a negligible level by the application of a set of robust kinematic requirements. With this selection, the data are consistent with the standard model backgrounds, namely t t-bar, W + jet and Z + jet production, which are estimated from data control samples. Limits are set on the parameters of the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model. These limits extend those set previously by experiments at the Tevatron and LEP colliders.This work is supported by FMSR (Austria); FNRS and FWO (Belgium); CNPq, CAPES, FAPERJ, and FAPESP (Brazil); MES (Bulgaria); CERN; CAS, MoST, and NSFC (China); COLCIENCIAS (Colombia); MSES (Croatia); RPF (Cyprus); Academy of Sciences and NICPB (Estonia); Academy of Finland, ME, and HIP (Finland); CEA and CNRS/IN2P3 (France); BMBF, DFG, and HGF (Germany); GSRT (Greece); OTKA and NKTH (Hungary); DAE and DST (India); IPM (Iran); SFI (Ireland); INFN (Italy); NRF and WCU (Korea); LAS (Lithuania); CINVESTAV, CONACYT, SEP, and UASLP-FAI (Mexico); PAEC (Pakistan); SCSR (Poland); FCT (Portugal); JINR (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan); MST and MAE (Russia); MSTD (Serbia); MICINN and CPAN (Spain); Swiss Funding Agencies (Switzerland); NSC (Taipei); TUBITAK and TAEK (Turkey); STFC (United Kingdom); DOE and NSF (USA)

Search for a W ' boson decaying to a muon and a neutrino in pp collisions at √s =7 TeV

This is the Pre-Print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2011 ElsevierA new heavy gauge boson, W', decaying to a muon and a neutrino, is searched for in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass of 7 TeV. The data, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns. No significant excess of events above the standard model expectation is found in the transverse mass distribution of the muon-neutrino system. Masses below 1.40 TeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level for a sequential standard-model-like W'. The W' mass lower limit increases to 1.58 TeV when the present analysis is combined with the CMS result for the electron channel.This work is supported by the FMSR (Austria); FNRS and FWO (Belgium); CNPq, CAPES, FAPERJ, and FAPESP (Brazil); MES (Bulgaria); CERN; CAS, MoST, and NSFC (China); COLCIENCIAS (Colombia); MSES (Croatia); RPF (Cyprus); Academy of Sciences and NICPB (Estonia); Academy of Finland, ME, and HIP (Finland); CEA and CNRS/IN2P3 (France); BMBF, DFG, and HGF (Germany); GSRT (Greece); OTKA and NKTH (Hungary); DAE and DST (India); IPM (Iran); SFI (Ireland); INFN (Italy); NRF and WCU (Korea); LAS (Lithuania); CINVESTAV, CONACYT, SEP, and UASLP-FAI (Mexico); PAEC (Pakistan); SCSR (Poland); FCT (Portugal); JINR (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan); MST and MAE (Russia); MSTD (Serbia); MICINN and CPAN (Spain); Swiss Funding Agencies (Switzerland); NSC (Taipei); TUBITAK and TAEK (Turkey); STFC (United Kingdom); DOE and NSF (USA)

Observation of a new Xi(b) baryon

The first observation of a new b baryon via its strong decay into Xi(b)^- pi^+ (plus charge conjugates) is reported. The measurement uses a data sample of pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.3 inverse femtobarns. The known Xi(b)^- baryon is reconstructed via the decay chain Xi(b)^- to J/psi Xi^- to mu^+ mu^- Lambda^0 pi^-, with Lambda^0 to p pi^-. A peak is observed in the distribution of the difference between the mass of the Xi(b)^- pi^+ system and the sum of the masses of the Xi(b)^- and pi^+, with a significance exceeding five standard deviations. The mass difference of the peak is 14.84 +/- 0.74 (stat.) +/- 0.28 (syst.) MeV. The new state most likely corresponds to the J^P=3/2^+ companion of the Xi(b).Comment: Submitted to Physical Review Letter

Dijet azimuthal decorrelations in pp collisions at √s = 7TeV

This is the pre-print version of the Published Article which can be accessed from the link below.Measurements of dijet azimuthal decorrelations in pp collisions at √s=7  TeV using the CMS detector at the CERN LHC are presented. The analysis is based on an inclusive dijet event sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.9  pb-1. The results are compared to predictions from perturbative QCD calculations and various Monte Carlo event generators. The dijet azimuthal distributions are found to be sensitive to initial-state gluon radiation