The aim of the study was to investigate the association between elevated serum fetuin-A and increased urine albumin excretion in obese rats, and whether increased urine albumin excretion was modified by improving hepatic steatosis and lipid metabolism disorder. Male Wistar rats 4 weeks in age were randomly divided into three groups and fed with normal chow (control group), high-fat chow (obesit...

OBJECTIVES To determine the effect of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication on blood levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), macrophage migration inhibitory factor and fetuin-A in patients with dyspepsia who are concurrently infected with H. pylori. METHODS H.pylori infection was diagnosed based on the 14C urea breath test (UBT) and histology. Lansoprazole 30 mg twice da...

background: possible roles of anti-inflammatory factors as well as total antioxidative capacity in reproductive processes of women undergoing in vitro fertilization (ivf) are still being investigated and the contributions by some of them remain controversial. objective: the aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between anti-inflammatory parameters and total antioxidative capacity...

OBJECTIVE Recurrence of urolithiasis is frequent. There are no reliable markers able to indicate recurrent stone former patients. Fetuin-A inhibits hydroxyapatite crystals formation and expansion. This study aims at evaluating whether serum fetuin-A may predict recurrent urolithiasis in young adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS This is a multicentre study. Young adults patients with recurrent uroli...

Malaria infection is initiated when the insect vector injects Plasmodium sporozoites into a susceptible vertebrate host. Sporozoites rapidly leave the circulatory system to invade hepatocytes, where further development generates the parasite form that invades and multiplies within erythrocytes. Previous experiments have shown that the thrombospondin-related adhesive protein (TRAP) plays an impo...

INTRODUCTION Low fetuin-A and 1,25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (vitamin D) levels accompanied with high intact parathyroid hormone (PTH) contents are associated with cardiovascular disease in dialysis patients. The aim of present study was to evaluate the relationship between vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene FokI and ApaI polymorphisms with serum levels of fetuin-A, vitamin D, and intact PTH in hemodialysis...

Calcification is a detrimental process in vascular ageing and in diseases such as atherosclerosis and arthritis. In particular, small calcium phosphate (CaP) crystal deposits are associated with inflammation and atherosclerotic plaque de-stabilisation. We previously reported that CaP particles caused human vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) death and that serum reduced the toxic effects of the ...

BACKGROUND Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with vascular and tissue calcification. The extent of vascular calcification has been identified as an independent risk factor of cardiovascular death in patients on haemodialysis. METHODS We studied the role of fetuin-A in CKD-associated calcification using a mouse model of graded renal insufficiency generated by nephrectomy and high phos...

BACKGROUND Behçet's disease (BD) is a chronic, recurrent inflammatory systemic vasculitis. Evidence for increased atherosclerosis in BD has been observed. The relation between cardiovascular risk factors and increased atherosclerosis in patients with BD is still controversial. OBJECTIVE We performed this study to evaluate arterial stiffness in patients with BD by using noninvasive radiologica...

BACKGROUND Fetuin-A may be involved in the etiology of coronary heart disease (CHD) through opposing pathways (ie, promoting insulin resistance and inhibiting ectopic calcification). We aimed to explicitly examine whether systemic inflammation, a factor leading to elevated vascular calcification, may modify the association between fetuin-A and CHD risk. METHOD AND RESULTS During 16 years of f...