BACKGROUND The Cutting Balloon is a novel dilatation catheter for coronary angioplasty (InterVentional Technologies Inc). It produces longitudinal, microsurgical incisions in the vessel wall before the actual dilatation. It is assumed that these controlled surgical incisions relieve hoop stress and reduce vessel wall injury and eventually restenosis. However, no clinical indicator to support th...

BACKGROUND In experimental studies, traditional risk factors and proinflammatory processes alter the regulatory functions of the vascular endothelium to promote atherosclerosis. These alterations include expression of leukocyte adhesion molecules and decreased bioavailability of endothelium-derived nitric oxide, an important regulator of vascular homeostasis and tone. The precise relations amon...

Several abnormalities of cytokines have been shown to occur in systemic scleroderma; however their correlation with clinical parameters is controversial. Since serum concentrations of cytokine receptors have been shown to correlate with inflammatory processes, including systemic sclerosis, the aim of our study was to compare serum concentrations of TNF alpha receptor type 1 with the concentrati...

PURPOSE To investigate the association between soluble apoptosis and adhesion molecules and the development of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) after reattachment surgery for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD). METHODS A multiplex immunoassay was used to measure soluble Fas (sFas), sFas ligand (sFasL), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule (sICAM)-1, and soluble vascular cell adhe...

The latest studies suggest that adhesion molecules are involved in the arising of malignant changes and in distant metastasis induction. The soluble forms of several adhesion molecules, have recently emerged as novel and potentially useful tumor markers. Among a number of identified, high interest wake soluble molecules similar to the immunoglobulin -- soluble intercellular adhesion molecules-1...

BACKGROUND Endothelial activation may contribute to development of severe disease from Plasmodium falciparum infection, but optimal markers of endothelial activation in severe malaria, the extent of endothelial activation in asymptomatic infection, and the effect of blood group O on endothelial activation have not been defined. METHODS Serum levels of 3 markers of endothelial activation-von W...

INTRODUCTION Previous studies have shown an exercise-induced increase in circulating adhesion molecules (sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic role of changes in serum adhesion molecules in the setting of a dobutamine stress echocardiogram (DSE). METHODS Thirty patients (18 men and 12 women aged 63.3 ± 10.67 y...

BACKGROUND Untreated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with changes in blood lipids, inflammation, thrombotic activity, and increased risk for cardiovascular disease. METHODS We studied high-density lipoprotein particle (HDLp) concentrations and inflammatory (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [hsCRP] and interleukin [IL] 6), endothelial activation (E-selectin and so...