La Revue de médecine interne
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Exposure to deleterious processes of metabolic, infectious, autoimmune or mechanical origin, alters the endothelium which progresses towards a proinflammatory and procoagulant activation, senescence and apoptosis. This "response to injury" of the endothelium plays a key role in the initiation and progression of cardiovascular disorders. In the last 10 years, identification in peripheral blood of circulating endothelial cells (CEC) and endothelial-derived microparticles (EMP) reflecting endothelium damage has led to the development of new noninvasive methods for endothelium exploration. ⋯ Cardiovascular risk factors alter EPC number and function. Because the damage/repair balance plays a critical role in the endothelium homeostasis, CEC, EMP and EPC could be combined in an endothelium phenotype that defines the "vascular competence" of each individual. In the future, progress in standardization of available methodologies to measure these emerging biomarkers is a crucial step to establish their clinical interest for assessment of vascular risk and monitoring of vascular-directed therapeutics.
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Reactive arthritis following Escherichia coli urinary tract infection is very rare. We report a 25-year-old woman with acute oligoarthritis associated with bilateral anterior uveitis after an episode of urinary tract infection due to E. coli. ⋯ Disease course was rapidly successful and at 6-month follow-up the patient was asymptomatic. Reactive arthritis is associated with intestinal infection but also with common urinary tract infection.