BACKGROUND The relationship between osteocalcin and atherosclerosis remains unclear. This might be due to different degrees of confounding from factors that are associated with serum osteocalcin level, such as metabolic-related variables. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum osteocalcin level and carotid intima-media thickness (C-IMT) in a metabolically healthy populat...

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES Controversy exists regarding the relationship between atherosclerosis and osteoporosis. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between intima-media thickness (IMT) of the common carotid artery (CCA), presence of calcified atherosclerotic plaques and bone mineral density (BMD) evaluated by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), in postmenopausal women. ...

BACKGROUND The role of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25 (OH) D) in atherogenesis is unclear. We investigated whether the 25 (OH) D is independently associated with the carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and carotid plaques in normotensive and euglycemic postmenopausal women. METHODS A total of 671 normotensive and euglycemic postmenopausal women (mean age, 58.8 years) were enrolled from the C...

Although initial experimental data and results of observational studies suggest that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is associated with a reduction in the risk of heart disease, the results for events such as stroke or thromboembolism are less clear. Randomized secondary and primary prevention studies have found that HRT is not protective against the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke or ...

background: lipid peroxidation is a free radical-generating process which occurs on every membranous structure of the cell. free radicals are known to be involved in a number of human pathologies including atherosclerosis. the purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the association between pre-hypertension status and oxidative stress markers [total antioxidant capacity (tac) and ma...

introduction: increased levels of certain markers like fibrinogen and homocysteine are independently associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. considering the numerous favorable effects of healthful nutrition and physical activity on reducing the risk of atherosclerosis, in this study we intend to take into account fasting and physical activity during the month of ramadan an...

We examined the presence of estrogen receptors (ER) in vascular mast cells and a possible genomic effect of estrogens on the expression of mast cell (MC) mediators such as chymase, TNF alpha, NOS and IL-10, which are known to affect the course of atherosclerosis. Immunocytochemical detection of mast cell tryptase and the co-localization of ERs in MCs from abdominal aortic vessels from 10 fertil...

OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of endogenous estrogens on the bioavailability of nitric oxide (.NO) and in the formation of lipid peroxidation products in pre- and postmenopausal women. METHODS NOx and S-nitrosothiols were determined by gaseous phase chemiluminescence, nitrotyrosine was determined by ELISA, COx (cholesterol oxides) by gas chromatography, and cholesteryl linoleate hydroperoxid...

BACKGROUND After menopause, women exhibit a higher prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and higher risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the timing of changes in MetS severity over the menopausal transition and whether these changes differ by racial/ethnic group remain unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS We assessed data from 1470 women from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities cohort w...