OBJECTIVES This study sought to determine whether noninvasive quantification of coronary calcium is comparable to selective coronary angiography in measuring the effect of cardiovascular risk factors on coronary atherosclerosis. BACKGROUND Electron beam computed tomography (EBCT) allows the delineation of anatomic coronary atherosclerotic disease and may be useful for noninvasively defining t...

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Western countries and current research is still focusing on optimizing therapeutic approaches in the battle against this multifactorial disease. Concepts regarding the pathogenesis of many cardiovascular diseases originate from observations of human atherosclerotic tissue obtained from autopsies or during vascular surgery. These observatio...

Rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque is the major underlying cause of adverse cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction or stroke. Therapeutic interventions should therefore be directed towards inhibiting growth of atherosclerotic lesions as well as towards prevention of lesion destabilization. Interestingly, the presence of mast cells has been demonstrated in both murine and human pl...

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease proceeding from an imbalance in lipid metabolism and immune responses. Since leukocytes, especially monocytes and monocyte-derived macrophages, play pivotal roles in the progression of atherosclerosis, it is possible that monocyte count is a beneficial marker for predicting cardiovascular disease (CVD). Many epidemiologic and clinical studies ha...

Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is an established marker of subclinical atherosclerosis and an independent predictor of future coronary heart disease in the asymptomatic primary prevention population, particularly in the intermediate risk cohort. CAC also helps in reclassifying those patients and their risk of cardiovascular events into higher or lower risk categories. MESA (Multi-Ethnic St...

BACKGROUND Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients carry a high risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The excess of cardiovascular disease cannot be entirely explained by traditional risk factors and the immune system contributes to the development of atherosclerosis. Moreover, post-translational modifications such as citrullination and carbamylation have been linked to inflammation and at...

The importance of the gut microbiota (GM) in disease development has recently received increased attention, and numerous approaches have been made to better understand this important interplay. For example, metabolites derived from the GM have been shown to promote atherosclerosis, the underlying cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and to increase CVD risk factors. Popular interest in the ro...

Numerous epidemiological studies have demonstrated that hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) is a strong and independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. HHcy can result from a deficiency in the enzymes or vitamin cofactors required for homocysteine metabolism. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the cellular mechanisms by which HHcy promotes cardiovascular disease, including oxidati...

Nitric oxide (NO) is the main substance regulating vascular tone. Endothelial dysfunction and decreased production of NO is a well-known phenomenon in adults with cardiovascular disease and especially when concomitant disorders such as diabetes and atherosclerosis are present. However, there are only few data on NO, polymorphisms of endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) and endogenous inhibitors of eN...