ACE gene polymorphism in peripheral vascular disease.

Peripheral vascular disease is an atherosclerotic process. It has been suggested that angiotensin converting enzyme insertion/deletion polymorphism is associated with atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the insertion/deletion polymorphism of the angiotensin-converting enzyme in Turkish patients with peripheral vascular disease in Western part of Turkey. We also investigated the relationship between serum angiotensin converting enzyme activity and distribution of genotypes in both patients and control group. The study group consisted of 78 patients with peripheral vascular disease. The control group consisted of 73 healthy adults. Serum angiotensin converting enzyme activities in patients were higher than those of the control group (p<0.05). Angiotensin converting enzyme genotype frequencies in patients were observed as 28.2%, 18% and 53.8% for DD, II and ID polymorphism, respectively. These frequencies in controls were 42.5%, 20.5% and 37% for DD, II and ID, respectively. Serum angiotensin converting enzyme activities in both groups with II genotype were significantly lower than those with ID and DD genotype (p<0.05). Although conflicting results have been reported about this polymorphism in patients with peripheral vascular disease, we suggest that the angiotensin converting enzyme ID genotype may be a risk factor for peripheral vascular disease.

The diagnostic value of troponin T and myoglobin levels in acute myocardial infarction: a study in Turkish patients.

This study compares the diagnostic value of troponin T (TnT) and myoglobin with creatinine kinase (CK) for myocardial infarction (MI) in a tertiary care centre in a developing nation. The study group comprised 33 acute myocardial infarction patients and 27 healthy controls. Receiver operating characteristic curves for TnT, myoglobin and CK were drawn and areas under the curve calculated. At admission, myoglobin levels had greater diagnostic sensitivity than TnT or CK levels. After 2 h, myoglobin and TnT had equal sensitivity and specificity, whereas CK still had lower sensitivity than myoglobin and TnT. After 4 h there was no difference between the tests. It was concluded that myoglobin levels on admission and TnT at 2 h had the greatest diagnostic rate, whereas all the tests were similar after 4 h for MI.

The role of thymosin F5 on anemia in hypercholesterolemic rabbits.

New Zealand White rabbits were made hypercholesterolemic by feeding a high cholesterol diet (20 g/kg diet) for 3 months. Plasma cholesterol concentrations were monitored as a function of time. At the end of 3 months, the plasma lipid levels, the whole blood, erythrocyte and haemoglobin-bound 2,3-DPG levels and leucocyte counts increased, whereas erythrocyte counts, hematocrit and haemoglobin levels decreased significantly in hypercholesterolemic rabbits. At the end of 3 months, the rabbits in the experimental group were divided into two groups. The first group was fed a standard diet for 21 days. The second group received 0.5 mg/kg thymosin F5 injection i.p. every other day for 21 days. After this period, the plasma lipid levels, the whole blood, erythrocyte and haemoglobin-bound 2,3-DPG levels, erythrocyte and leucocyte counts, hematocrit and haemoglobin levels were measured. Rabbits fed diets supplemented with thymosin F5 had markedly lower plasma lipid levels, erythrocyte counts, hematocrit and haemoglobin levels and enhanced leucocyte counts, but did not have significantly less whole blood, erythrocyte and haemoglobin-bound 2,3-DPG levels. We conclude that thymosin F5 has lipid-lowering effects in hypercholesterolemic rabbits. The data further suggest that effects of thymosin F5 on haematological parameters are due to the cholesterol decrease and not to the direct regulatory mechanism.

Serum lipids and apolipoprotein concentrations and plasma fibronectin concentrations in renal transplant patients.

In those cases where hypertriglyceridaemia was present before renal transplantation, it persisted after transplantation, and hypercholesterolaemia also developed. We studied serum lipid, lipoprotein, and apolipoprotein concentrations and plasma fibronectin concentrations in 57 renal transplantation patients and 29 healthy controls. We concluded that atherosclerosis in renal transplantation patients might be related to alterations in the constitutions of lipoproteins and apolipoproteins, but fibronectin synthesized by vascular endothelial cells seemed not to be associated with the atherosclerotic process.