BACKGROUND Transplant arteriosclerosis is a hallmark of chronic rejection and is still the major limiting factor affecting the success of long-term organ transplants. Development of transplant arteriosclerosis is refractory to conventional immunosuppressive drugs, and adequate therapy is not yet available. The aim of this study was to determine the role of Cordyceps sinensis extracts in reducin...

OBJECTIVE Our aim was to investigate the protective effects of a Lipoxin A(4) analogue (LXA4) in the early phase of acute pancreatitis in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) was induced by injection of 5% sodium taurocholate into the pancreatic duct. Rats with SAP were treated with LXA4 (0.1 mg/kg), 10 min after the 5% sodium taurocholate injection, after which LXA4 wa...

AIM The purpose of the study was the simultaneous measurement of all the different components of the AGE-RAGE axis as well as several non-invasive markers of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a cohort of newly diagnosed diabetic patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS In 80 newly diagnosed diabetic patients we measured serum carboxymethyllysine (CML), soluble RAGE (sRAGE) and peripheral mononuclear (PM...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES The acute inflammatory response is an important phenomenon in the pathogenesis of myocardial damage during acute coronary syndrome. Endothelial dysfunction has been found in unstable angina and acute myocardial infarction, although the results are controversial. The purpose of this study was to determine the levels of the soluble endothelial adhesion molecules ICAM-1...

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Cardiovascular diseases, in turn, are responsible for mortality of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). We investigated whether a single parenteral dose of 25(OH) Vit D could improve the endothelial function in T2D patients with ischemic heart disease. A randomized, placebo-controlled, and double-blind trial was perf...

Coxsackievirus A21 (CAVATAKTM) is a bio-selected oncolytic immunotherapy virus. Following intratumoral (i.t) injection, CAVATAK selectively infects ICAM-1expressing tumor cells, resulting in tumor cell lysis and a systemic immune-mediated anti-tumor response. A Phase II trial of i.t delivered CAVATAK (NCT01227551) in advanced melanoma patients has highlighted antitumor activity in both injected...

The ability of leucocytes to adhere to endothelium is essential for leucocyte migration into inflammatory sites. Some of these adhesion molecules are released from the cell surface and can be detected in serum. The soluble adhesion molecules intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), E selectin, and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) were studied in the serum of patients with Crohn's d...

BACKGROUND The effect of smoking on leptin regulation is controversial. Smoking may induce low-grade inflammation. Recent series of studies indicated the critical role of macrophage migration in the establishment of adipose tissue inflammation. In this study, we aimed to see the effects of smoking and inflammation on leptin regulation both at cellular and epidemiological levels. METHODS We co...

Advances in the understanding of the molecular basis of inflammation, atherogenesis, and plaque instability have led to the identification of a number of molecules that are posited to play a critical role in various aspects of atherosclerotic lesions and/or their lability, which can be measured quantitatively in plasma. Intercellular cell adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion ...

OBJECTIVES Cadmium exposure has been found to be associated with atherosclerotic plaques in the carotid arteries and with circulating levels of the proatherogenic intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). The research questions were (1) if blood and urinary cadmium levels are associated with low ankle-brachial index (ABI) as a measure of peripheral artery disease in a longitudinal study and (...