Serum fibroblast growth factor-21 levels are associated with carotid atherosclerosis independent of established cardiovascular risk factors.

OBJECTIVE: Serum levels of fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF21), a metabolic hormone, have been shown to be elevated in subjects with adverse lipid profiles, obesity, metabolic syndrome, impaired glucose tolerance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. Recently, elevated serum FGF21 levels have also been reported in subjects with coronary heart disease or carotid artery plaques. However, whether serum FGF21 is independently associated with atherosclerotic diseases remains unclear. In this study, we examined the relationship between serum FGF21 levels and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in a large cohort of Southern Chinese subjects. APPROACH AND RESULTS: The cohort consisted of 670 subjects who underwent carotid IMT measurement. Serum FGF21 levels were measured with an ELISA kit. Serum FGF21 levels positively correlated with carotid IMT in women (r=0.32; P<0.001), but not in men (r=0.06; P=0.305). On multiple linear regression analysis, elevated serum FGF21 level in women was an independent risk factor for increased carotid IMT (P=0.039), together with age (P<0.001) and hypertension (P=0.011), in a model comprising also waist circumference, smoking history, serum creatinine, high sensitive C-reactive protein, dysglycemia, and dyslipidemia (adjusted R(2)=35.8%; P<0.001). Elevated serum FGF21 levels were also a significant independent risk factor of carotid IMT on multiple stepwise regression analysis (P=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The present study is the first demonstration that elevated serum FGF21 levels are associated with carotid atherosclerosis in humans, independent of established risk factors including adverse lipid profiles and C-reactive protein. The role of FGF21 as a biomarker or therapeutic target of atherosclerotic diseases warrants further investigation.

Cycle-to-cycle variation in utero-ovarian hemodynamic indices in ovarian stimulation and natural cycles of the same women and its effect on the outcome of assisted reproduction treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the blood flow parameters between cycles of the same women to assess whether parameters predicting a successful pregnancy in a stimulation cycle could be used to determine the outcome of subsequent natural cycles. DESIGN: A prospective study. SETTING: Assisted reproduction unit, the University of Hong Kong. PATIENT(S): Fifty-eight IVF cycles and 40 natural cycles were evaluated. INTERVENTION(S): Assessments of the utero-ovarian pulsatility indices (PIs), resistance indices (RIs), and endometrial color signals. RESULT(S): In IVF cycles, the pregnancy rate (27%) was similar to that in frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) (28%) cycles. The utero-ovarian PIs and RIs in IVF cycles were significantly lower than those in the natural cycles. There was a significant correlation between the uterine PI in stimulation cycles and that in natural cycles. In IVF cycles, the pregnancy rate declined significantly when the uterine PI was >2.70 and the RI was >0.9. In FET cycles, no decline in pregnancy rate was seen. Conceptional FET cycles showed significantly higher uterine PI, uterine RI, and endometrial color signals compared with conceptional IVF cycles. CONCLUSION(S): Hemodynamic parameters in stimulation cycles are different from those in natural cycles, and the values of various parameters in predicting pregnancy are also different.

Hypoadiponectinemia as an independent predictor for the progression of carotid atherosclerosis: a 5-year prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Hypoadiponectinemia predicts the development of diabetes and hypertension, both being potent atherosclerotic risk factors. Whether adiponectin predicts the progression of early atherosclerosis remains unclear. In this 5-year prospective study, we examined the relationship between serum adiponectin and carotid intima media thickness (CIMT), a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis. METHODS: A total of 265 subjects from the population-based Hong Kong Cardiovascular Risk Factor Prevalence Study, with no known cardiovascular disease, underwent CIMT measurement at baseline and at 5 years. RESULTS: In all, 129 men and 136 women, aged 54.6±12.3 years, were studied. Median CIMT at baseline was 0.63 mm (interquartile range 0.52-0.73 mm) and increased to 0.67 mm (0.56-0.78 mm) after 5 years (P<0.001). CIMT increment correlated with baseline adiponectin, age, and smoking (all P<0.05) and baseline CIMT (P<0.001), but not with sex, fasting glucose, lipid profiles, hypertension, or diabetes. In multiple linear regression analysis, baseline serum adiponectin level was an independent predictor of CIMT increment ß (standardized beta)=-0.17, P=0.015], after adjusting for age, smoking, baseline CIMT, hypertension, body mass index, fasting glucose, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides. CONCLUSION: Hypoadiponectinemia predicted CIMT progression, independent of known predictive factors such as age, smoking, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension.

Hepatic arteriogram for gestational trophoblastic tumor: is it useful?

The presence of liver metastasis will be staged as IV in the FIGO 1992 Gestational Trophoblastic Tumor (GTT) staging. This study was to determine the role of hepatic arteriogram (HAG) in the management of GTT. It is a retrospective analysis of 309 patients treated from 1981 to 2001. Patients were restaged according to the FIGO 1992 classification with or without taking into account the HAG result. Outcome measures including mortality, drug resistance and recurrence of disease, as well as treatment with and without the HAG result were compared. Eighty-one (26.2 percent) patients had HAG and 11 (3.6 percent) also had ultrasound (USG) features of liver metastasis. Interval between diagnosis and treatment were significantly different between USG and HAG positive groups (Mann-Whitney U test, P < 0.05). Seventeen (5.5 percent) of the 309 patients died of the disease and 7 (41.2 percent) of them had liver metastasis. Three (27.3 percent) of the 11 patients who had USG features of liver metastasis died of the disease; mortality is significantly higher than those without USG features of metastasis (Chi-square test, P < 0.05). Patients classified as medium to high risk with or without taking HAG as a feature of liver metastasis were associated with higher mortality and recurrent rate (Chi-square test, P < 0.05). On the other hand, the chance of drug resistance was higher in the medium to high risk group after reclassifying all HAG positive patients as negative for liver metastasis (Chi-square test, P < 0.05). HAG evidence of liver metastasis did not correlate with patient mortality. HAG was not an appropriate investigation in the management of GTT.

Coexisting epithelioid trophoblastic tumor and choriocarcinoma of the uterus following a chemoresistant hydatidiform mole.

The epithelioid trophoblastic tumor is an unusual type of trophoblastic tumor. Herein, we describe a patient with coexisting epithelioid trophoblastic tumor and choriocarcinoma in the uterus. The patient had a history of hydatidiform mole with recurrent elevation of human chorionic gonadotrophin level that is resistant to chemotherapy. Histopathologic and immunohistochemical examination showed distinctive differences between the 2 trophoblastic tumors. The development of epithelioid trophoblastic tumor may be related to the persistence of locally invasive disease, which was unresponsive to chemotherapy. The patient responded well to surgery. The presence of an epithelioid trophoblastic tumor should be considered in chemoresistant gestational trophoblast tumor.