Visfatin and chemerin levels correspond with inflammation and might reflect the bridge between metabolism, inflammation and fibrosis in patients with systemic sclerosis.

INTRODUCTION: Adipokines are regulatory molecules which act as mediators of the inflammatory, fibrotic and metabolic processes by interacting with the immune system. AIM: We hypothesized that chemerin and visfatin by pro-inflammatory properties play a significant role in inflammation in systemic sclerosis. To address this hypothesis, we determined serum chemerin and visfatin levels in SSc patients, compared with the control group and defined the correlations with clinical and laboratory parameters in SSc patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 48 Caucasian female patients with SSc and 38 healthy subjects of the control group. Serum concentrations of selected adipokines were measured using commercially available ELISA Kits. RESULTS: Patients with SSc had higher chemerin levels (209.38 ±55.35 ng/ml) than the control group (182.71 ±33.94 ng/ml) and the difference was statistically significant (Z = 2.14, p = 0.032). The highest chemerin levels were found in dcSSc patients (242.46 ±95.82 ng/ml). We indicated a positive correlation of chemerin and visfatin with levels of inflammatory markers: CRP (r = 0.35, p = 0.013 for chemerin; r = 0.41, p = 0.003 for visfatin) and ESR (r = 0.31, p = 0.03 for chemerin; r = 0.30, p = 0.03 for visfatin). What is more, chemerin manifested a statistically significant positive correlation with the concentration of complement component C3 (r = 0.47, p = 0.001) and C4 (r = 0.29, p = 0.049), whereas visfatin correlated with C4 levels (r = 0.32, p = 0.029). CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study indicate that chemerin and visfatin as pro-inflammatory cytokines might represent new markers corresponding with inflammation in systemic sclerosis and might reflect the bridge between metabolism, inflammation and potentially, chemerin may also link inflammation with skin and lung fibrosis.

Clinical associations of serum leptin and leptin/adiponectin ratio in systemic sclerosis.

INTRODUCTION: Leptin and adiponectin have recently received the attention of researchers as attractive biomarkers in systemic sclerosis (SSc) because of their role in the inflammatory process, vascular function and fibrosis. We hypothesized that leptin and adiponectin may be associated with disease activity and severity in patients with SSc. AIM: To compare serum leptin, adiponectin and leptin/adiponectin levels in patients with SSc and healthy controls and to evaluate their possible relationship with frequently used laboratory markers and clinical findings. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 48 Caucasian female patients with SSc and 38 healthy controls. Serum concentrations of leptin and adiponectin were measured in patients and controls using commercially available ELISA Kits (Quantikine ELISA Kit R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN, USA). The results were assessed by the Mann-Whitney U-test and Spearman's correlation test. RESULTS: Leptin and adiponectin levels correlated with body mas index in SSc patients (r = 0.495, p = 0.000398 and r = -0.306; p = 0.0342) in contrast to healthy controls (p = 0.070 and p = 0.256, respectively), and, in SSc patients only, a strong negative correlation was observed between leptin and adiponectin serum levels (r = -0.314; p = 0.0312). Diffuse form of the disease (dcSSc) was associated with significantly lower serum adiponectin levels (8638.62 ±10382.62). Active disease was associated with significantly lower leptin concentration (13700.49 ±18293.32) and there was a significant negative correlation between leptin serum level and activity index score (r = -0.342; p = 0.0185). CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study indicate that leptin levels might correlate with disease activity and subtype in SSc patients.

Resistin: a possible biomarker of organ involvement in systemic sclerosis patients?

OBJECTIVES: Resistin has strong pro-inflammatory and profibrotic properties, which are key pathogenetic processes in systemic sclerosis. We hypothesised that resistin may be associated with organ involvement and inflammatory process in SSc patients. To address this hypothesis, the aim of this study was to define serum resistin levels in SSc patients and control group and determine the correlation between this adipokine and internal organ involvement in SSc patients. METHODS: The study enrolled 48 Caucasian female patients with SSc and 38 healthy subjects of control group. Serum concentrations of resistin were measured using commercially available ELISA Kits (Quantikine ELISA Kit R & D Systems, Minneapolis, MN, USA). RESULTS: Patients with SSc had higher resistin levels [mean (SD): 10.2, (4.87)] than the control group [7.64, (4.43)] and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.017, p<0.05). We found statistically significant association between serum resistin and ILD, arthralgia and oesophageal involvement (r=0.31, p=0.042; r=0.48, p=0.001; r=0.32, p=0.034; respectively). Moreover, the assessment of the relation between plasma concentrations of resistin and inflammatory parameters in SSc patients indicated a positive correlation between resistin and C-reactive protein levels (r=0.37; p=0.011). CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study indicate that resistin levels might correlate with organ involvement and inflammatory process in SSc patients.

Adipokines in connective tissue diseases.

Adipokines, pleiotropic molecules produced by white adipose tissue (WAT) have attracted the attention of scientists since 1994. The role of adipokines in metabolic syndrome is known and fixed. Adipokines exerting a variety of metabolic activities have contributed to the ethiopathogenesis and the consequences of metabolic syndrome. Furthermore, adipokines are involved in the regulation of inflammatory processes and autoimmunity in the light of pathogenesis of connective tissue diseases. Given some evidence for the influence of adipokines in metabolic syndrome, there may be a link between CVDs and rheumatic diseases. This review provides an overview of the literature focusing on the role of adipokines in rheumatic diseases by putting special emphasis on the potential role of leptin, resistin, adiponectin, chemerin, visfatin and novel adipokines in connective tissue diseases.

[The anatomy of plastic arts nowadays]. / Anatomia a sztuki plastyczne w czasach nowozytnych.

The main subject of the present paper is to illustrate some aspects of the relation between art and medicine in early modern Europe. The aim of this research is to show how the human body was perceived by the people at that time, and what changes in presentation of the human body appeared during this long period of time and what factors evoked them. The basic sources for this research are the popular and medical ilustrations which were the basis of medical knowledge in early modern Europe and influenced the consciousness and intellectual development of the widest circles of readers. At the beginning the author delt with the issue of the image of the female body in the discourse of medicine and science. Than she tried to show to what extant the way human body was presented in arts was corelated with the development in medicine and focuses on different ways of presenting the human body from the middle ages to the end of 18th century.