BACKGROUND: Increased concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP) became widely accepted as a risk factor of the higher incidence of coronary events, and rapid lowering CRP by administration of drugs may produce early benefit to the coronary endothelium in patients with coronary heart disease and reduce angina and coronary events after ...

Clinical, laboratory, and echocardiographic data were retrospectively analyzed in 112 patients with acute Kawasaki disease who received high-dose (2 g/kg) intravenous gamma-globulin (IVIG) treatment within 2 days and were compared for those who were responsive and non-responsive to initial IVIG treatment. Coronary arteries adjusted for body surface area (BSA) were ...

AIMS: To investigate whether patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) possessed high levels of platelet-monocyte aggregates (PMAs) and related circulating biomarkers. METHODS: 74 ACS patients, 58 stable angina pectoris (SAP) patients and 46 control patients without coronary artery disease were selected and their PMAs were measured by flow cytometry. Their ...

The diagnostic value of procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and interleukin-10 levels in differentiating sepsis from severe sepsis and the prognostic value of these levels in predicting outcome were evaluated and compared in patients with community-acquired sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock in the first 72 h of admission ...

OBJECTIVE: Approximately 30% of patients with depression fail to respond to a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Few studies have attempted to define these patients from a biological perspective. Studies suggest that overall patients with depression show increased production of proinflammatory cytokines. We examined pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine levels in ...

BACKGROUND: Carnitine loss through dialysis membranes is shown to be related to the lack of carnitine in long-term haemodialysis patients. It has been previously reported that haemodialysis patients might have benefited from carnitine supplementation. METHODS: A total of 21 chronic haemodialysis patients maintaining carnitine supplementation and 21 controls (haemodialysis patients ...

Inflammation is an important predictor of increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), but the mechanisms behind the chronic activation of the immune system are not clearly understood. CKD patients develop fluid overload, which has been proposed to be a stimulus for inflammatory activation due ...

BACKGROUND: Elevated plasma concentrations of the C-reactive protein (CRP) are frequently found in patients with malignant diseases. Discrimination between infection and noninfectious acute-phase reactions is essential for therapeutic decisions. METHODS: Because increased procalcitonin (PCT) concentrations have been described predominantly in patients with a systemic infection, PCT plasma concentrations were measured ...

Although previous studies have shown systemic inflammatory activation the relation with the local plaque inflammatory activation has not been extensively studied. The present study investigated the relation between local and systemic inflammatory activation in patients with coronary artery disease and the impact of atorvastatin treatment. We included 215 patients undergoing ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of the novel proinflammatory cytokine high mobility group box chromosomal protein 1 (HMGB-1) in the salivary glands of patients with Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and patients with sicca symptoms. METHODS: Biopsy samples from the minor labial salivary glands of patients with SS, patients with sicca symptoms ...

BACKGROUND: Inflammation plays a crucial role in atherosclerotic processes and in acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Strong evidence of this is the elevation of C-reactive protein (CRP) serum levels during an ACS and its short- and long-term prognostic potency. The present study aimed to assess the relation between CRP serum levels ...

BACKGROUND: For elderly patients, the consideration of prognostic factors is very important, but there have been few reports about the potential use of vasoactive substances as prognostic markers in the elderly. OBJECTIVE: We assessed endocrinological substances, such as plasma NO(x) (metabolites of NO), as the prognostic marker in elderly. We ...

AIM: C-reactive protein (CRP) is an acute-phase reactant and a known indicator of the malignant potential of the tumour. The aim of this study was to investigate the significance of preoperative CRP as a parameter of the perioperative course and long-term prognosis in patients with squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma ...

BACKGROUND: The concept of inflammation in the acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is today well established. Interleukin-6 (IL-6), a pleiotropic, proinflammatory cytokine, seems to play an important role in the development and progression of ACS. AIM: The aim was to investigate whether IL6 polymorphisms are associated with patient/control status, outcome in ...

AIM: To investigate the relationship between ulcerative colitis (UC) clinical activity index (CAI) and circulating levels of IL-1ra, IL-10, IL-6 and IL-18. METHODS: Blood levels of IL-1ra, IL-10, IL-6 and IL-18 were measured in 31 patients with active UC, the mean CAI was 11.1, ranging from 5-25; and 12 healthy ...

We investigated the effects of fenofibrate on C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in patients with hypertriglyceridemia. Patients with a triglyceride level >or=200 mg/dL were randomly assigned to receive either 200 mg of fenofibrate (n = 54) or general measures (n = 54). A third group of patients with hypercholesterolemia received a ...

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) usually exhibits a good clinical response to glucocorticoid (GC) treatment, but early clinical symptoms may create some difficulties in the differential diagnosis with elderly onset rheumatoid arthritis (EORA), particularly in patients complaining of shoulder and pelvic girdle involvement at onset (PMR-like clinical onset) (EORA/PMR). Since neuroendocrine mechanisms ...

PURPOSE: Cytokines and other growth factors such as interleukins play an important role in the pathogenesis of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). Interindividual variations in cytokine production seem to correlate with some cytokine gene polymorphisms. The purpose of this study was to analyse the distribution of these cytokine gene variants in patients ...

Previous studies have demonstrated that patients with heart failure have increased myocardial heat production. Coronary sinus (CS) thermography is a new method for the evaluation of left ventricular heat production. We investigated whether the CS blood temperature is increased in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) compared to a control ...

Increased levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) have been reported in patients with a history of venous thromboembolism (VTE); however, prospective studies did not confirm an association between inflammatory markers that are highly correlated with IL-6 and the risk ofVTE. It was the aim of our study to investigate the association of ...

OBJECTIVE: Complex regional pain syndromes (CRPS) involve neuropathic limb pain and localized circulatory abnormalities. The authors hypothesized that (1) pediatric CRPS patients exhibit systemic autonomic symptoms and orthostatic and/or cardiac sympatho-vagal dysregulation and (2) their orthostatic regulation differs from healthy controls and pediatric patients with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). ...

AIM: To evaluate the immunohistochemical localization of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-6 receptor (IL-6R) on tumor tissue specimens from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the serum levels of IL-6 and sIL-6R in a group of patients with HCC as well as liver cirrhosis (LC) in a group of patients with ...

OBJECTIVE: Patients with giant-cell arteritis (GCA) usually respond dramatically to corticosteroid treatment. However, recurrences are frequent and corticosteroid requirements are highly variable among patients. The aim of our study was to identify genes potentially involved in disease persistence. METHODS: Gene expression was explored with cDNA arrays in temporal artery biopsies ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: After acute stroke, an increased level of C-reactive protein (CRP) measured at discharge predicts unfavorable outcome. We sought to investigate whether CRP measured before tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) treatments may add prognostic information to guide stroke thrombolysis. METHODS: Our target was 151 consecutive patients with an ischemic ...

Rare patients are left with chronic pain, vasodysregulation, and other symptoms that define complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), after limb traumas. The predisposing factors are unknown. Genetic factors undoubtedly contribute, but have not yet been identified. We report four CRPS patients also diagnosed with the classical or hypermobility forms of ...

BACKGROUND: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic suppurative condition which is poorly responsive to treatment and is characterized by significant morbidity. Successful treatment of HS in patients treated with infliximab for concomitant Crohn's disease has been reported. More recent reports of positive responses to infliximab [an antitumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha ...

In the present study, we evaluated circulating pro-inflammatory mediators and markers of oxidative stress in patients with decompensated CHF (congestive heart failure) and assessed whether clinical recompensation by short-term inotropic therapy influences these parameters. Patients with worsening CHF (n=29, aged 61.9+/-2.7 years), NYHA (New York Heart Association) class III-IV, and ...

OBJECTIVE: Plasma adrenomedullin (AM) levels are elevated in several inflammatory rheumatic diseases. The aims of the present study were: a) to assess whether plasma AM levels are abnormal in patients with polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis (PMR and GCA) and b) to investigate if this parameter is related to ...

BACKGROUND: Far from all patients with exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) benefit from antibiotic treatment. However, as these patients are often colonized with bacteria, even in a stable phase, there is no reliable method for establishing whether the patients have a significant bacterial infection and would benefit from ...

Previous studies have shown that matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) degrades basement membrane components in inflammation, but the change of serum MMP-9 level in the progression of acute pancreatitis remains unclear. The aim of our study was to assess the value of MMP-9 as a prognostic marker in acute pancreatitis. The ...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of an imbalance between proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory mediators in patients affected by acute coronary syndromes (ACS). We considered two groups of 26 and 28 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and unstable angina (UA) respectively, compared with a group of ...

OBJECTIVE: Clinical interest in C-reactive protein (CRP) -- a component of the innate immune system -- has focused mainly on its worth as an indicator of disease activity. There has been a resurgence of interest in CRP in the Crohn's disease (CD) literature because several trials of new treatments for ...

We investigated the role played by cytokines in the mortality of patients with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF). Serum levels of several cytokines were measured in 3 patients with fatal CCHF and in 27 patients with nonfatal CCHF. Levels of interleukin (IL)-6 (P< or = .001) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha ...

OBJECTIVE: To understand the use of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)alpha inhibitors in refractory dermatomyositis and polymyositis in an academic centre. METHODS: A retrospective study of eight patients with dermatomyositis or polymyositis refractory to corticosteroids and immunosuppressives who were treated with TNF inhibitors between 1998 and 2004. RESULTS: 8 patients with ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate in a follow-up study whether high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) predicts coronary heart disease (CHD) events in subjects with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The original study population consisted of 1,059 patients with type 2 diabetes (age 45-64 years). Mean duration of diabetes was 8 years. ...

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the major cause of morbidity and mortality in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. As traditional risk factors cannot alone explain the unacceptable high prevalence and incidence of CVD in this high-risk population, inflammation (interrelated to insulin resistance, oxidative stress, wasting and endothelial dysfunction) has been suggested ...

BACKGROUND: We examined the effect of atorvastatin on the expression of COX-2 in peripheral blood monocytes from patients with early stage of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and the plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations were also examined. METHODS: Patients with AMI (n = 40) and with stable coronary heart disease (CHD; ...

TNF-alpha mediated apoptosis of the hematopoietic cells has been thought to contribute to the ineffective hematopoiesis observed in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The combination of pentoxifylline (P) and ciprofloxacin (C) has been shown to reduce the serum levels of TNF-alpha, and an earlier trial of P and C with dexamethasone (D) ...

BACKGROUND: Single measurements of C-reactive protein (CRP) predict cardiovascular mortality in dialysis patients. However, CRP can be temporarily elevated due to infections. Therefore, we investigated the effect of single and repeatedly high concentrations of CRP on cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular mortality in incident dialysis patients. METHODS: In the Netherlands Cooperative Study ...

Complex regional pain syndromes (CRPS, type I and type II) are devastating conditions that can occur following soft tissue (CRPS type I) or nerve (CRPS type II) injury. CRPS type I, also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy, presents in patients lacking a well-defined nerve lesion, and has been questioned as ...

To study the associations of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) as a marker of inflammation, with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) as an independent risk factor for mortality in hemodialysis (HD) patients, a cross sectional study was conducted on maintenance hemodialysis patients. On the basis of septal thickness, the patients stratified into ...

BACKGROUND: To establish the baseline cutoff value of C-reactive protein (CRP) that would predict increased overall and cardiovascular mortality in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). METHODS: A cohort of 270 prevalent hemodialysis patients treated at Rijeka University Hospital was eligible for the study. Monthly CRP measurements were performed for ...

OBJECTIVES: Elevated plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) levels predict coronary events, but it is unclear whether CRP plays a role in thrombosis associated with these events. We investigated tissue factor (TF) induction by CRP on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with coronary disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: PBMC from 35 ...

OBJECTIVE: Levels of nitric oxide (NO) and cytokines were assessed in amniotic fluid obtained from patients with severe chorioamnionitis (CAM) and appropriate controls. METHODS: Amniotic fluid was obtained from 12 patients with CAM (17-24 weeks of gestation) and 89 patients undergoing diagnostic amniocentesis (16-18 weeks of gestation). The concentrations of ...

Beta2-glycoprotein I (beta2GPI) is a plasma protein suspected to have a role in inhibition of thrombosis. This suspicion is reinforced by the observation that beta2GPI is the major target for autoantibodies in the antiphospholipid syndrome. However, little is known about its circulating levels in common thrombotic diseases or inflammation. We ...

BACKGROUND: Vascular access thrombosis (VAT) is one of the most common morbidity in hemodialysis patients. The development of arteriovenous fistula thrombosis is associated with vascular intimal hyperplasia. Some studies suggested that serum C-reactive protein (CRP) predicts the development of vascular intima hyperplasia that conduces vascular access stenosis and thrombosis. This ...

BACKGROUND: Arteriovenous grafts (AVG) and tunneled permanent catheters (TPC) are increasingly being used in hemodialysis (HD) patients. However, their role in baseline inflammatory status has not been fully evaluated. Aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of the current kind of vascular access on the baseline inflammatory status, ...

Vascular calcification is common in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and it may affect almost every artery. It is associated with a significant increase in morbidity and mortality. Therefore, the detection, prevention and treatment of vascular calcification in CKD patients are critical for the overall approach for the management ...

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To characterize the early cytokine response of patients presenting to the emergency department with necrotizing fasciitis (NF) and to determine whether serum cytokine levels and white blood cell (WBC) counts may be useful in distinguishing NF from other severe soft-tissue infections. METHODS: White blood cell counts and cytokine ...

Previous studies indicated that interleukins may stimulate cancer cells growth and contribute to loco regional relapse as well as metastasis. The aim in this study was to investigate the level of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) in metastatic breast cancer patients and find out the relation between the levels of ...