ABSTRACT
We determined the serum levels of soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) in patients with chronic coronary artery disease (CAD) and acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Patients with unstable angina (UA) and myocardial infarction (MI) showed significantly higher levels (P < .001) of sCD40L compared with patients with stable angina (SA) and controls; particularly, high levels occurred in patients with UA (UA: 9.23 +/- 2.92, MI: 7.38 +/- 1.05, SA: 4.42 +/- 1.08; control: 4.01 +/- 0.87 ng/mL). There was no significant difference in sCD40L levels between patients with UA and MI or between patients with SA and controls. Levels of sCD40L did not show any significant correlation with peak creatine kinase (CK), CK-MB isoenzyme activity in patients with MI, troponin T serum levels in patients with UA or with culprit vessel (CV) complexity score (CVCS), type of CV lesion, or vessel score in patients with UA or MI. These results suggest that CD40L plays a pathogenic role in triggering ACS.
Subject(s)
Acute Coronary Syndrome/blood , Acute Coronary Syndrome/diagnostic imaging , CD40 Ligand/blood , Coronary Artery Disease/blood , Coronary Artery Disease/diagnostic imaging , Adult , Analysis of Variance , Case-Control Studies , Chronic Disease , Coronary Angiography , Creatine Kinase/blood , Creatine Kinase, MB Form/blood , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Female , Humans , Lipids/blood , Male , Middle Aged , Statistics, Nonparametric , Troponin T/bloodABSTRACT
UNLABELLED: We investigated the possible role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) on renal function in experimental diabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seven groups of male rats were studied. Group I consisted of control animals. Diabetes was induced (by streptozotocin) in the animals in the other groups and they received either insulin or vitamin E (300 or 600 mg/kg), both insulin and vitamin E, or no treatment for 4 weeks. At the end of the study, blood pressure was measured and parameters of kidney function and oxidative stress were evaluated in serum and kidney tissue samples. RESULTS: Diabetic animals had higher blood pressures; increased serum glucose, urea, creatinine, cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP); increased kidney tissue levels of malondialdehyde and inducible nitric oxide synthetase (iNOS); and reduced serum glutathione peroxidase when compared with control animals. Blood glucose levels in diabetic animals were controlled by insulin and not by any dose of vitamin E alone. However, all other measured parameters improved towards control levels with either insulin or vitamin E in either dose. An additive beneficial effect was observed on the levels of iNOS and cGMP when both forms of treatment were used in diabetic animals. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that ROS may play an important role in diabetes-induced nephropathy in this rat model. Vitamin E supplementation in addition to insulin can have additive protective effects against deterioration of renal function in this model.
Subject(s)
Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/physiopathology , Kidney/physiopathology , Oxidative Stress/physiology , Vitamin E/therapeutic use , Animals , Blood Glucose/metabolism , Creatinine/blood , Cyclic GMP/metabolism , Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/drug therapy , Glutathione Transferase/blood , Hypoglycemic Agents/therapeutic use , Insulin/therapeutic use , Kidney/drug effects , Kidney/physiology , Male , Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II/genetics , Oxidative Stress/drug effects , Rats , Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism , Reference Values , Urea/bloodABSTRACT
AIM: To investigate the possible role of oxidative stress as a common mediator of apoptosis and cardiac damage in diabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This experimental work was conducted on 5 groups of Wistar rats. Group I was the control group. Diabetes type 1 was induced in other groups (by streptozotocin) and animals received insulin or vitamin E (300 mg /kg body weight), both insulin and vitamin E, or no treatment for 4 weeks according to their group. At the end of the study, serum and cardiac tissues were examined for biochemical parameters of cardiac function, oxidative stress and apoptosis. Electron microscopy pictures of cardiac tissue were also evaluated for signs of cardiac damage RESULTS: Markers of oxidative stress, apoptosis, inflammation as well as manifestations of cardiac damage as assessed by electron microscopy were significantly decreased in rats treated with both insulin and vitamin E when compared with untreated diabetic rats or rats treated with either insulin or vitamin E alone CONCLUSION: Administration of both vitamin E and insulin was effective in reducing markers of oxidative stress and apoptosis and improving parameters of cardiac function in experiments animals. Antioxidants might prove beneficial as an adjuvant treatment in addition to insulin in type 1 diabetes associated with manifestations of cardiac complications.