BACKGROUND The Cutting Balloon is a novel dilatation catheter for coronary angioplasty (InterVentional Technologies Inc). It produces longitudinal, microsurgical incisions in the vessel wall before the actual dilatation. It is assumed that these controlled surgical incisions relieve hoop stress and reduce vessel wall injury and eventually restenosis. However, no clinical indicator to support th...

Correspondence to: Prof. Brunello Wüthrich, Allergy Unit, Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Zurich, Gloriastrasse 31 CH–8091 Zurich (Switzerland) Dear Sir, We read with interest the letter by Yamada et al. [1]. Our experience is in contrast with the results of the Japanese colleagues. In fact, we have published in the January 1994 issue of Allergy [2] that the measurement of solubl...

The latest studies suggest that adhesion molecules are involved in the arising of malignant changes and in distant metastasis induction. The soluble forms of several adhesion molecules, have recently emerged as novel and potentially useful tumor markers. Among a number of identified, high interest wake soluble molecules similar to the immunoglobulin -- soluble intercellular adhesion molecules-1...

BACKGROUND The association of inflammatory biomarkers with clinical events after antiretroviral therapy initiation is unclear. METHODS A5202 randomized 1857 treatment-naive subjects to abacavir/lamivudine or tenofovir-DF/emtricitabine with efavirenz or atazanavir/ritonavir. Substudy A5224s measured inflammatory biomarkers on subjects with available plasma from baseline and week 24 or 96. An e...

BACKGROUND In experimental studies, traditional risk factors and proinflammatory processes alter the regulatory functions of the vascular endothelium to promote atherosclerosis. These alterations include expression of leukocyte adhesion molecules and decreased bioavailability of endothelium-derived nitric oxide, an important regulator of vascular homeostasis and tone. The precise relations amon...

BACKGROUND Untreated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with changes in blood lipids, inflammation, thrombotic activity, and increased risk for cardiovascular disease. METHODS We studied high-density lipoprotein particle (HDLp) concentrations and inflammatory (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [hsCRP] and interleukin [IL] 6), endothelial activation (E-selectin and so...

With Application to the Effects of Soluble Thrombomodulin and Soluble Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 on Coronary Heart Disease Wu et al1 estimated the relative risks of coronary heart disease (CHD), according to tertile of soluble thrombomodulin (sTM) and tertile of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM). High sTM and low sICAM were associated with lower risk, but there was an imp...

The effect of angiotensin type 1 receptor blockade on adhesion molecules in patients with IgA nephropathy Sir, Various studies have linked inflammation and endothe-lial dysfunction in patients with chronic renal disease [1]. Plasma levels of adhesion molecules [soluble intracellu-lar adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM) and soluble vascular adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM)] are markers of endothelial dysfunc...