Role of 24-hour monitoring in assessing blood pressure changes in polycystic ovary syndrome

INTRODUCTION: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases including higher incidence of hypertension later in life. Absence of circadian blood pressure fluctuations is considered as a marker of pre-hypertensive state and correlates highly with target organ damage in hypertension. AIM: Characterization of the circadian blood pressure rhythms as well as comparison of the results from the clinical measurements and Holter-monitored blood pressure data in women with PCOS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study comprised 35 women (mean age 22.6 +/- 5.9 years, mean BMI 31.4 +/- 7.1 kg/m2) with proven diagnosis. 24-hour ambulatory Holter-monitoring using Oscar device (Sun Tech Medical Instruments, USA) was performed in parallel with clinical measurements of blood pressure. RESULTS: There were 25.7% of the subjects diagnosed with hypertension according to the criteria of ambulatory monitoring observing discrepancy with the criteria for normal clinically measured blood pressure in 7 cases (20%). The "white coat" effect was observed in 11.4%. Physiological nocturnal drop in the systolic pressure was not observed in 51.4% of the patients and in the diastolic pressure - in 22.9% of the cases. CONCLUSIONS: The results confirm the advantages and the importance of the 24-hour monitoring as a diagnostic and predictive method for assessment of blood pressure alterations even in the absence of overt hypertension. PCOS is characterized by higher incidence of unstable blood pressure that is an additional risk factor for further development of cardiovascular diseases in this relatively young age group.     

Optical imaging of apoptosis as a biomarker of tumor response to chemotherapy

A rapid and accurate assessment of the antitumor efficacy of new therapeutic drugs could speed up drug discovery and improve clinical decision making. Based on the hypothesis that most effective antitumor agents induce apoptosis, we developed a near-infrared fluorescent (NIRF) annexin V to be used for optical sensing of tumor environments. To demonstrate probe specificity, we developed both an active (i.e., apoptosis-recognizing) and an inactive form of annexin V with very similar properties (to account for nonspecific tumor accumulation), and tested the agents in nude mice each bearing a cyclophosphamide (CPA) chemosensitive (LLC) and a chemoresistant LLC (CR-LLC). After injection with active annexin V, the tumor-annexin V ratio (TAR; tumor NIRF/background NIRF) for untreated mice was 1.22+/-0.34 for LLC and 1.43+/-0.53 for CR-LLC (n=4). The LLC of CPA-treated mice had significant elevations of TAR (2.56+/-0.29, P=.001, n=4), but only a moderate increase was obtained for the CR-LLC (TAR=1.89+/-0.19, P=.183). The in vivo measurements correlated well with terminal deoxyribosyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling indexes. When inactive Cy-annexin V was used, with or without CPA treatment and in both CCL and CR-CCL tumors, tumor NIRF values ranged from 0.91 to 1.17 (i.e., tumor were equal to background). We conclude that active Cy-annexin V and surface reflectance fluorescence imaging provide a nonradioactive, semiquantitative method of determining chemosensitivity in LLC xenografts. The method maybe used to image pharmacologic responses in other animal models and, potentially, may permit the clinical imaging of apoptosis with noninvasive or minimally invasive instrumentation.     

Blood flow in ocular vessels in 2 types of ocular ischemic syndrome

Ultrasonic triplex scanning of the orbit (gray scale two-dimensional ultrasonic examination, color Doppler mapping (CDM), and dopplerography) was carried out in 148 patients with ocular ischemic syndrome (OIS) aged 35-70 years, 104 of these with acute and 44 with primary chronic course. Signs of disordered bloodflow in the orbital and central retinal arteries were detected in patients with acute disease: 2-fold decreased maximum systolic bloodflow velocity, 5-fold decreased end diastolic bloodflow velocity, and 1.5 times increased resistance index in comparison with the norm. Chronic course of OIS was characterized by decreased maximum systolic velocity (by 1.5 times) and end diastolic bloodflow velocity (3-fold) in comparison with the norm in both arteries. Studies of ocular bloodflow by CDM timely detected angiological disorders in OIS and help define (in cooperation with angiosurgeon) the indications for angioreconstructive operations.     

Doppler ultrasonography of penile vessels in combination with various methods of erectile stimulation in diagnosis of erectile dysfunction

Ultrasonic dopplerographic investigation (Ultramark-9, USA) was made in 227 males. 50 males with normal erection served controls. Stimulation of erection with an individual LOD-device is a low-invasive, convenient to standardize technique in ultrasonic dopplerographic examination of penile vessels for diagnosis of erectile dysfunction. Erection stimulation by different methods in the same patient during penile vessel dopplerography raises diagnostic value of this method.     

Surgical anatomy of the posterior tibial veins]

An investigation of the posterior tibial vascular plexus has established certain specific features of its structure both in normality and in patients with postthrombotic disease. The alterations found require an individual approach to choice of surgical measures which is finally determined intraoperatively. At the present time surgical interventions on the posterior tibial veins in patients with postthrombotic disease are thought to be of three types: extended resection, extravasal correction and plasty of the posterior tibial veins.     

Thyroid-stimulating autoantibodies in the blood of patients with diffuse toxic goiter

The level of thyrostimulating autoantibodies (TSA) in IgG fraction isolated from the blood serum by precipitation of (NH4)2SO4 was determined in 36 patients with diffuse toxic goiter (DTG) and in 8 healthy donors. TCA which were assessed by a rise of the level of cAMP in human thyroid sections (obtained at operation from extranodal tissue of patients with nodal euthyroid goiter) after 2 h-incubation at 37 degrees C with IgG, were determined in 32 DTG patients (89%). The patients were divided into 2 groups with respect to their clinical and thyroid status: with a high and normal or subnormal content of the blood thyroid hormones. In the 1st group the frequency of detection (96%) and the level of TSA (570.64 +/- 109.63%) were much higher than in the 2nd group of patients (70 and 186.29 +/- 23.06%, respectively). The highest levels of TSA (1085.25 +/- 551.27%) were found in 4 of 26 patients (the 1st group) who had not received specific therapy.     

Determination of the value of Na+/H+-metabolism in erythrocytes of patients with arterial hypertension of endocrine origin]

The paper is concerned with the results of determination of a value of Na+/H(+)-metabolism in 66 patients with arterial hypertension of different genesis, including 21 patients with stage 11 essential hypertension, 8 patients with renal hypertension, 25 patients with Itsenko-Cushing syndrome or disease, 7 patients with pheochromocytoma, and 5 patients with primary hyperaldosteronism. The control group consisted of 11 healthy persons without predisposition to essential hypertension. It was shown that a value of Na+/H(+)-metabolism in patients with essential hypertension exceeded a 3.8-fold the control values. In patients with hyperglucocorticism, pheochromocytoma, arterial hypertension of renal genesis, the rate of Na+/H(+)-metabolism was significantly decreased as compared to that of a group of patients with essential hypertension. It could be used in differential diagnosis of the hypertensive syndrome. The problem of the diagnostic value of this indicator in primary hyperaldosteronism needs further investigation.