OBJECTIVES To evaluate the plasma atherosclerotic biomarkers in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and arteriosclerosis obliteran (ASO) when treated with Probucol plus Cilostazol in combination and individually. METHODS In this open-label study, patients aged 40-75 years were randomized to receive conventional therapy alone, or with Cilostazol 100 mg bid, or with Probucol 250 mg bi...

Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) has been shown to be a powerful regulator of gene expression in monocyte-derived macrophage. To determine the effects of oxidized LDL on macrophage gene expression, macrophages incubated with native or oxidized LDL were analyzed by differential display technique. The differentially expressed cDNA (387 bp) fragment by oxidized LDL showed 100% homology to th...

Results from several recent reports have linked high serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels to atherosclerotic disease and its complications. The aims of the present study were to investigate the relationship between CRP levels and subclinical atherosclerosis, as measured by ultrasound in the carotid and femoral arteries; and also to examine whether CRP levels are associated with antibodies to o...

Age-related macular degeneration is the most common cause of vision loss in the elderly, which starts from aging processes of retinal pigment epithelial cells. Among variable risk factors in occurrence and progression of age-related macular degeneration, oxidized low density lipoprotein could be causally involved in pathobiological changes of RPE cells. Herein we showed that oxidized low densit...

Macrophages, unlike most other cells, possess both low density lipoprotein (LDL) and scavenger receptors. The scavenger receptor has been shown to mediate the uptake of oxidized LDL (ox-LDL), which ultimately leads to cholesterol loading of the macrophages. The present study was undertaken to define epitopes on ox-LDL that are important for lipoprotein binding to macrophages and to ascertain wh...

The early atherosclerotic lesion is comprised of foam cell macrophages filled with cholesteryl ester (CE), unesterified cholesterol (UC), and cholesterol oxides. Upon incubation of macrophages with oxidized low density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL), they accumulate UC rather than CE, which was shown to accumulate after incubation of cells with acetylated LDL (Ac-LDL). Using lipoproteins that were doubly...

Endothelial cell derived relaxing factor (EDRF) mediated relaxation of blood vessels is impaired in vessels exposed to lipoproteins in vitro and in arteries of hyperlipidemic humans and animals. To investigate the mechanism by which lipoproteins impair the effects of EDRF, which is likely nitric oxide (NO) or a related molecule, we have bioassayed EDRF/NO activity by measuring its ability to in...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Oxidized HDL (oxHDL) may behave as proinflammatory HDL because of reduced anti-inflammatory capacity and is considered a risk factor for mortality in patients on maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). The study presented here assessed the effect of oxHDL on protein-energy wasting (PEW) in MHD patients. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS This prospective study exa...

Objective: Coronary heart disease (CAD) is the commonest complication in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) under hemodialysis (HD). Coronary risk biomarkers, namely, plasma levels of lipids, apo(lipo)proteins, oxidized (ox)-lowdensity lipoprotein (LDL), and adiponectin were compared between HD patients and age, sex, and body mass index-matched controls. Methods and results: Eighty HD p...