Arch Med Sci
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In the last several years there has been a large debate whether patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) should be treated as those with high or very high cardiovascular risk, and whether T2DM should be considered as equivalent to coronary heart disease (CHD). It all started in the 2001 in National Cholesterol Education Program - Adult Treatment Panel III recommendations, and the knowledge has changed on this issue at least several times. ⋯ In this review we discuss the above-mentioned topic, try to give some practical suggestions, and raise the issue of whether we should start a discussion on treating all patients with T2DM as those at very high cardiovascular risk, or to at least to try to unify the definition and find such variables/risk factors which are easy to measure to help physicians to treat those patients optimally. We have obviously discussed these issues in the context of new European Society of Cardiology (ESC)/European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Guidelines 2019.
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Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection persists in most infected individuals and can lead to the development of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have a crucial role in various liver diseases, especially HCC. The expression profiles of circulating microRNAs have been studied aiming at the identification of novel non-invasive biomarkers. This study aims to develop a non-invasive diagnostic tool based on measuring the serum levels of different miRNAs in order to detect HCV-induced HCC at the early stages of the disease. ⋯ These findings indicate that measurement of serum levels of miRNA-122a, miRNA-125a, miRNA-139, miRNA-145, and miRNA-199a can differentiate HCC from CHC and LC. Our results suggest that serum miR-122 might serve as a novel and potential noninvasive biomarker for HCV-induced HCC.
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Inflammatory mediators play an important role in development and progression of cardiovascular disease. Both adrenergic stimulation and high levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) indicate an unfavorable outcome in patients with myocardial infarction or heart failure. Understanding the interaction between β-adrenergic stimulation and IL-6 in the myocardium may contribute to developing more effective treatments. The aim of this study was to verify the role of IL-6 in the effects of β-adrenergic stimulation in activating selected intracellular signaling pathways in mouse myocardium. ⋯ IL-6 plays an important role in regulating the activation of MAPK pathways in the mouse myocardium in response to chronic β-adrenergic stimulation.
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The aim of the current study was to evaluate the association between lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in patients with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) treatment. ⋯ Baseline serum Lp(a) can be used to predict MACEs in patients after PCI treatment, which was independent of LDL-C.
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The hypothesis that relates atherosclerosis to traditional risk factors (TRF) seems to be not as adequate as previously thought; other risk factors (RF) need to be considered to prevent atherosclerosis progression. Although a family medical history of premature cardiovascular events (FHx) has been considered the putative RF for decades, it has not been incorporated routinely into cardiovascular risk evaluation along with another RF. The objective of this study was to investigate whether FHx is associated with a higher atherosclerotic burden, measured as carotid total plaque area (TPA) in a population having no traditional RF. ⋯ The FHx was associated with increased TPA burden and progression in the absence of other TRF. This supports ultrasound screening in FHx patients in order to detect high-risk patients who may benefit from early intervention.