Effect of anticholesterol therapy on soluble ICAM-1 in chronic stroke patients with hyperlipidemia.

OBJECTIVE: We examined the effects of drug therapy with pravastatin (P) or bezafibrate (B) and diet (D) therapy on serum lipids and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) in hyperlipidemic cerebrovascular disease (CVD) patients in the chronic stage. METHODS: This study included 36 patients (28 with cerebral infarction and hyperlipidemia and eight with cerebral hemorrhage and hyperlipidemia) divided into three groups: Group P (12 patients), Group B (10 patients), and Group D (14 patients). Before and after treatment, total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and sICAM-1 levels were measured. RESULTS: In Group P, Group B and Group D, TC levels were decreased by 30% (p < 0.005), 21% (p < 0.01), and 21% (p < 0.001), LDL-C levels were decreased by 38% (p < 0.005), 18% (not significant), and 25% (p < 0.005) and TG levels were decreased by 27% (p < 0.05), 53% (p < 0.005) and 22% (p < 0.05), respectively. sICAM-1 levels were decreased by 20% (p < 0.005) in Group P, but were not decreased in Group B or Group D. There was no correlation between deltaTC and delta sICAM-1 (r = 0.172). CONCLUSION: Administration of pravastatin significantly reduced sICAM-1 levels, independently of its decreasing effect on TC and TG in chronic CVD patients. Pravastatin may exert anti-atherosclerotic activity via two distinct mechanisms.

Evaluation of microbial diversity in sulfite-added and sulfite-free wine by culture-dependent and -independent methods.

The difference in microbiota including non-lactic acid bacteria, non-acetic acid bacteria, and wild yeast during winemaking and in the end-products between sulfite-added and sulfite-free wine, was investigated using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) and a culture-dependent method. There were differences between the microorganisms detected by PCR-DGGE and those detected by the culture-dependent method, probably because of the selectivity of culture medium and the characteristics of PCR-based method. In both the red wine and white wine, the microbial diversity of the sulfite-added wine was lower than that of the sulfite-free wine during fermentation. Tatumella terrea was detected from the fermenting must by PCR-DGGE and by the culture-dependent method, even though sulfite inhibited its growth to some extent. We confirmed that the addition of sulfite plays an important role in winemaking by inhibiting the growth of unexpected microorganisms, but on the other hand, it was revealed that some microorganisms can survive and grow in sulfite-added fermenting must. We also analyzed 15 samples of commercial wines by the PCR-DGGE method and detected various microorganisms. Among them, Sphingomonas sp., Pseudozyma sp., Ochromonas sp. and Methylophilus sp. were found for the first time in wine as far as we know. We did not identify a specific microorganism that was detected only from wines without sulfite addition. Thus, the microbiota of end-products seemed to be influenced by other factors, such as filtration before bottling, the production equipment and the storage environment.