Myeloperoxidase (MPO) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) as inflammatory biomarkers of endothelial and leukocyte activation in overweight hypertensive patients

Background: Low-grade inflammation mediates the relation between overweight and the development of cardiovascular diseases. The study aimed to examine if myeloperoxidase (MPO) and hsCRP (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein) in overweight hypertensive patients can be used as biomarkers of endothelial and leukocyte activation. Material and methods: Seventy-five subjects were included in the study; 38 had essential arterial hypertension (AH) and 37 were normotensive controls (NC), subsequently divided into overweight (OW; BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) and normal weight subgroups (NW; BMI < 25 kg/m2). Body mass index (BMI), inflammatory markers concentrations, association of MPO and hsCRP with AH and/or overweight were assessed. Results: AH patients had higher MPO (median 132.5 pmol/L, IQR: 53.8–691.9) (p < 0.001), while hsCRP did not significantly differ compared to normotensive controls (NC). NW-AH patients had higher MPO (p = 0.02) than normotensive NW patients. MPO was similar between normotensive patients OW and NW, while hsCRP concentration was significantly higher in the OW (median 1.85 mg/L, IQR: 0.47–7.19) (p = 0.01) compared to NW. OW-AH patients had significantly higher MPO (median 137.4 pmol/L, IQR: 53.80–703.4) (p = 0.002) compared to normotensive NW and OW (p < 0.001) patients, likely reflecting neutrophilic activation in hypertension. Additionaly, OW-AH patients had significantly higher hsCRP (median 1.71 mg/L, IQR: 0.22–14) (p = 0.005) than normotensive NW patients. hsCRP significantly positively correlated with BMI in both AH (r = 0.41, p = 0.009) and NC groups (r = 0.38, p = 0.01), while MPO did not correlate, supporting inflammation in OW, particularly in OW with AH. Conclusions: All together, the results suggest that inflammation may mediate mutual association of AH and OW, suggesting MPO as inflammatory biomarker for AH and hsCRP for overweight

Art, Technique and Ideology: between Italian and Croatian New Tendencies.

The aim of this essay is to show how, from the 1950s to early 1970s, arts and technologies evolved side by side owing to the new practices borrowed from the legacy of abstract art. Both in Italy and Croatia, several left-wing scholars wrote on the relations between art and technology as an important factor of social progress. On this basis, it was implied that the leftist ideology had a decisive effect on the new artistic attitudes. These took place in Zagreb during the Nove tendencije exhibitions, held in 1961 and 1963 respectively, where several kinetic and so-called "programmed" artworks were displayed. However, just after the 1965 edition of Nove tendencije, Italian artistic research was changed by the Arte Povera movement in 1967. As a consequence, the gap between "programmed" art the Left increased. Although in Italy such changeover caused a complete break in the relationship between art and technology, in Zagreb the last Tendencije exhibitions, held in 1969 and 1973 respectively, combined the computer-based and conceptual art trends with left-wing radicalism