Ischemic heart disease (IHD) and adverse events after coronary stent placement represent polygenic disorders. They correspond to complex traits induced not only by multiple genes but also by the interaction of these genes with the environment. Multiple loci likely to be implicated in IHD are polymorphic, such that there are two or more variant forms of the gene in the population. These variants...

Receptor Polymporphisms? Not in the Real World To the Editor: We read with interest the article by Pontiggia et al,1 discussing the possible functional implications of double homozygosity for two “prothrombothic” platelet glycoprotein receptor polymorphisms (Pl of GpIIIa and C807T of GpIa) in a family with a strong history of premature cardiovascular events. We would like to report our experien...

Glanzmann thrombasthenia is an inherited bleeding disorder due to a functional reduction or absence of platelet GPIIb/IIIa (alphaIIbbeta3) integrin receptors. Based on a prolonged bleeding time and absence of platelet aggregation in response to physiologic agonists, a 55-year-old white man was diagnosed as having Glanzmann thrombasthenia. The patient's platelet fibrinogen level was approximatel...

Receptor Polymporphisms? Not in the Real World To the Editor: We read with interest the article by Pontiggia et al,1 discussing the possible functional implications of double homozygosity for two “prothrombothic” platelet glycoprotein receptor polymorphisms (Pl of GpIIIa and C807T of GpIa) in a family with a strong history of premature cardiovascular events. We would like to report our experien...

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) plays a key role in Ca(2+) signalling through Ca(2+) release via inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors (InsP(3)-Rs) and Ca(2+) uptake by sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPases (SERCAs). Here, we investigated the organization of platelet ER and its biogenesis during megakaryocytopoiesis. First, erythro/megakaryoblastic MEG 01, UT7, M-O7e and CHRF 288-11 cell l...

In decalcified (5% nitric acid) and undecalcified (glycol-methacrylate or resin embedded) routinely processed bone specimens osteoclasts against resorbing surfaces were identified with monoclonal antibodies directed against leucocyte common antigen (LCA) (PD7/26, 2B11), CD68 (KP1), and gpIIIa (Y2/51) but not against HLA-DR (CR3/43 and Ta11B5). Mononuclear cells on resorbing surfaces and occasio...

BACKGROUND Variants of certain haemostatic genes (such as that encoding factor V Leiden) are involved in the development of venous thrombosis, but studies of such variants in coronary disease have reported apparently conflicting results. We did meta-analyses on seven such haemostatic genetic variants for which the available evidence on each comprises at least 5000 coronary disease cases and at ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate potential associations of the PlA1/A2 polymorphism of the platelet glycoprotein IIIa (GPIIIa) gene with susceptibility to, and clinical expression of, giant cell arteritis (GCA). METHODS One hundred forty patients with biopsy-proven GCA who were residents of Reggio Emilia, Italy, and 241 population-based healthy controls from the same geographic area were genotyped fo...