Objective: To test the working hypothesis that inflammation underlying precocious and severe coronary atherosclerotic disease in familial hypoalphalipoproteinaemia (FH) can be mediated by up regulation of the innate immune response. Methods and results: 52 patients with FH were compared with 52 healthy controls with regard to immune system markers such as C reactive protein (CRP), soluble inter...

The filarial parasite Onchocerca volvulus is the causative agent of river blindness. The adult worms produce microfilariae (mf), which are responsible for the disease pathogenesis; mf activate the complement system, but the activation stops before the formation of terminal complement complexes. Because of the arrest of complement activation, this study analyzed binding of the main alternative p...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to verify the concordance of the measurement values when the same cephalometric analysis method was used for two-dimensional (2D) cephalometric radiography and three-dimensional computed tomography (3D CT), and to identify which 3D Frankfort horizontal (FH) plane was the most concordant with FH plane used for cephalometric radiography. MATERIALS AND METHOD...

INTRODUCTION Complement activation is involved in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS). Autoantibodies to complement inhibitor factor H (FH), particularly in association with deletions of the gene coding for FH-related protein 1 (CFHR1), are associated with aHUS. METHODS Autoantibodies against FH, factor I (FI) and C4b-bin...

BACKGROUND The prevalence of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) in Russia has not previously been evaluated. The aim of our study was to investigate the prevalence of FH in the population of the West Siberian region of Russia, and then estimate the frequency of coronary artery disease (CAD) and treatment with cholesterol-lowering medication in FH patients. METHODS The sample of our study cons...

Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is the most common autosomal dominant condition, with a prevalence of between one in 200 and one in 350 people in the general population. Untreated FH is associated with premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD). The prevalence of homozygous or compound heterozygous FH is now considered to be about one in 300 000 people. Treating children with FH...

BACKGROUND Elevated LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in childhood predict cardiovascular disease (CVD) later in life. Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) represents the paradigm of this relation. METHODS AND RESULTS The objectives of this study were to (1) establish the LDL-C level that provides the most accurate diagnosis of FH in children from families with known FH and (2) assess whether lipo...

BACKGROUND Family history (FH) is considered an important factor to detect individuals at increased risk developing type 2 diabetes (T2D). Moreover, FH information could be used to personalise risk messages, which are assumed to increase risk-reducing behaviours. In this study, we aimed to explore Dutch health care professionals' attitudes regarding current or future uptake of a more extensive ...

Pathogenic microbes acquire human complement inhibitors to circumvent the innate immune system. In this study, we identify two novel host-pathogen interactions, factor H (FH) and factor H-like protein 1 (FHL-1), the inhibitors of the alternative pathway that binds to Hib. A collection of clinical Haemophilus influenzae isolates was tested and the majority of encapsulated and unencapsulated boun...

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a disease characterized by a triad: elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, tendon xanthomas, and premature coronary heart disease. Thus, it can be considered as a model disease for hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). For the diagnosis of hetero-FH, the detection of Achilles tendon xanthomas by palpation or o...