BACKGROUND IGF-1 and the major serum IGF-1 binding protein, IGFBP-3, are under extensive investigation as potential prognostic markers of specific malignancies and vascular diseases. However, there is conflicting evidence that tobacco smoking may influence systemic concentrations of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Serum concentrations of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 were measured in 20 smokers a...

BACKGROUND Cell adhesion may play a pivotal role in the development, progression and metastasis of solid malignancies. We evaluated the serum concentration of four adhesion molecules and their prognostic significance in patients with Hodgkin's Disease (HD). PATIENTS AND METHODS Serum samples from 20 HD patients were collected at diagnosis, after 3 cycles of chemotherapy and at completion of t...

Migration inhibitory factor (MIF) has been shown to be critical in the pathology of early artherosclerosis; this article aim to investigate the plasma levels of MIF in hypertension plus hyperlipidemia patients.A total of 39 hypertension plus hyperlipidemia patients without any previous treatment were enrolled (HTN-HLP). Twenty-five healthy subjects were enrolled as the healthy control group (HE...

Raised leptin levels have been reported in the placentae and serum of women with elevated blood pressure and proteinuria during pregnancy. The role of leptin in this however remains unknown. This study investigates the effect of leptin administration on systolic blood pressure (SBP) and proteinuria and serum markers of endothelial activation during pregnancy in Sprague Dawley rats. From day 1 o...

BACKGROUND IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the most common form of primary glomerulonephritis worldwide. Tonsillectomy plus steroid pulse therapy has been able to induce clinical remission in early-stage IgAN. However, its possible effect on systemic and local cytokines and tubular markers has not been fully investigated. METHODS We obtained serum and urine samples from 38 patients just before rena...

Previous studies have suggested that intercellular ad¬ hesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1, CD54) may be involved in the pathogenesis ofasthma. In addition, a soluble form of ICAM-1 (sICAM-1) has been detected in increased concentrations in the sera of patients with certain in¬ flammatory conditions. To determine whether bron¬ chial asthma is associated with increased levels of sICAM-1 in serum and to as...

The tumor microenvironment is generally hypoxic because of the limited oxygen supply from inefficient or insufficient vasculature. Hypoxic tumor tissues are also poorly supplied with serum components. We have previously demonstrated that expression of the FVII gene is induced in response to hypoxia in ovarian clear cell carcinoma (CCC) cells. This gene activation is synergistically enhanced whe...

BACKGROUND Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) is now considered to be one of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease. However, whether statins can alter GGT levels in arterial atheromatous plaque has not yet been studied. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine whether statins can effectively decrease the expression of GGT in arterial atheromatous plaques. METHODS We randomly di...

PURPOSE Atherosclerosis is a progressive process that initially involves endothelial dysfunction. We investigated the effects of atorvastatin on both lipid parameters, and VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 expression in apoE-deficient or wild type C57BL/6J mice. METHODS The C57BL/6J mice were fed with either chow or an atherogenic diet for 12 weeks. Male apoE-deficient mice were fed with the chow diet for 12...