Dynamics of changes of blood inflammatory-oxidative biomarkers in acute coronary syndrome

Some inflammatory cytokines and parameters of low density lipoproteins (LDL) oxidative modification were studied in blood of 250 acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients--Siberian inhabitants, men and women with myocardial infarction (MI) or unstable angina on first, tenth and thirtieth days of disease. The inflammatory biomarkers in men and women with MI are: increased concentrations of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8 and C-reactive protein (CRP), especially on the first day of disease. The most significant inflammatory biomarker of ACS is increased CRP level, especially in women. Oxidative biomarkers in men with ACS are increased basal level of LDL lipid peroxidation (LPO) products and decreased LDL resistance to oxidation. Inflammatory-oxidative biomarkers IL-6, IL-8, CRP and basal level of LDL LPO products are correlated and independently associated with MI.     

Specific antigenic preparations as inducers of blood leukocyte respiratory burst in chemiluminescent analysis

Functional activity of blood leukocytes of normal subjects and patients with herpesvirus infection was studied by the chemiluminescent method in vitro with specific antigenic preparations (tick-borne encephalitis vaccine, ADPT vaccine, and herpetic vaccine). Functional response of blood leukocytes to vaccine preparations is specific and depends on the antigen and metabolic status of cells of recipients. The range of chemiluminescent response of blood leukocytes is wide: no changes in tick-borne encephalitis vaccine, weak response to herpetic vaccine, and pronounced changes in functional activity in response to ADPT vaccine. Testing with different doses of specific inducers helps additionally evaluate the metabolic reserve of blood leukocytes. A pronounced response of leukocytes to specific antigenic preparations in vitro (e.g. to ADPT vaccine) prompts development of methods for predicting the reaction of nonspecific reactivity system to vaccination.     

Procedure for determination of oxidative modification of plasma fibrinogen

The purpose of the present study was to develop a new procedure for determining the oxidative modification of plasma fibrinogen. The procedure was developed to use blood plasma from 96 males aged 35-60 years who had cardiovascular diseases: 49 patients with coronary heart disease (CHD), including 16 patients with sub-acute myocardial infarction (MI), and 47 patients with arterial hypertension without CHD. The new procedure is as follows: a rapid fibrin isolating method, a reaction with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine in 2 M HCl solution, by subsequently rinsing in the ethanol : ethyl acetate (1:1) solution, dissolving the precipitate in 8 M urea, and by determining the level of the resultant dinitrophenylhydrazones by spectrophotometry at 363 nm, followed by conversion to the plasma concentration of fibrinogen. The procedure is of informative value for the degree of oxidative fibrinogen modification under oxidative stress; it is technically simple, takes little time, and shows a good reproducibility. The values of determined oxidized plasma fibrinogen by the developed procedure show a high positive correlation with the estimates of oxidized total blood protein fraction and with the values of blood lipid peroxidation. The detected elevated level of oxidized fibrinogen in CHD and MI suggests that this index is a new diagnostic marker of oxidative stress in cardiovascular diseases of atherosclerotic genesis.     

Multipotent primary bone sarcoma]

The results of clinical and roentgen-morphological studies on 17 cases of multipotent primary sarcoma of the bone are presented. The difficulties of the tumor recognition are due to the fact that it occurs rarely, has no specific clinical-roentgenological picture and shows marked tissue polymorphism. Most frequent are differentiations of the type of osteogenic sarcoma, chondrosarcoma, reticulosarcoma with simultaneous combination with areas having the structure of Ewing's tumor, or extensive fields of undifferentiated primitive tumor cells. Further studies are necessary to decide whether or not this tumor is an independent form among other known skeletal neoplasias.     

Key laboratory diagnostic biomarkers of coronary atherosclerosis

Laboratory lipid and lipoprotein biomarkers (total cholesterol - CH, triglycerides - TG, low-density and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol- LDL-CH, HDL-CH, apolipoproteins B and A1 - apoB, apoA1), carbohydrate biomarkers (plasma glucose, basal insulin), high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and oxidative biomarkers (basal level of lipid peroxidation [LPO] products in LDL, LDL resistance to oxidation in vitro, oxidative modification of apoLDL and level of LDL lipophilic antioxidants) were studied in 388 men aged 42-70 years: 96 citizens of Western Siberia with angiographically documented coronary atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease (CHD); 292 men of population sample of citizens of Novosibirsk, including 44 men with CHD confirmed by standardized criteria and methods. Significant associations were found of coronary atherosclerosis and CHD with laboratory diagnostic biomarkers like blood levels of HDL-CH, TG, apoB, apoA1, basal insulin, hsCRP and basal level of LPO products in LDL and LDL resistance to oxidation.     

BRK/Sik expression in the gastrointestinal tract and in colon tumors.

Clones encoding the breast tumor kinase BRK were isolated from a normal human small intestinal cDNA library that was screened with the cDNA encoding the mouse epithelial-specific tyrosine kinase Sik. Although BRK and Sik share only 80% amino acid sequence identity, Southern blot hybridizations confirmed that the two proteins are orthologues. Sik was mapped to mouse distal chromosome 2, which shows conservation of synteny with human chromosome 20q13.3, the location of the BRK gene. BRK expression was examined in the normal gastrointestinal tract, colon tumor cell lines, and primary colon tumor samples. Like Sik, BRK is expressed in normal epithelial cells of the gastrointestinal tract that are undergoing terminal differentiation. BRK expression also increased during differentiation of the Caco-2 colon adenocarcinoma cell line. Modest increases in BRK expression were detected in primary colon tumors by RNase protection, in situ hybridization, and immunohistochemical assays. The BRK tyrosine kinase appears to play a role in signal transduction in the normal gastrointestinal tract, and its overexpression may be linked to the development of a variety of epithelial tumors.     

Inflammatory-destructive biomarkers of atherosclerotic plaques instability. Study of arterial wall and blood

Concentrations of tumor necrosis factor, interleukin 1- and its receptor antagonist, IL-6, IL-8, IL-18, IL-2, ligand of CD40 receptor (CD40L), high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), monocyte chemotactic protein -1, endothelial monocyte activating protein II, adhesive molecules (sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-3, MMP-7, MMP-9), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP-1) and endothelin-1 were studied in blood and in coronary artery intima/media of men with coronary atherosclerosis without acute coronary syndrome. Blood levels of hsCRP, IL-8, IL-6 and CD40L were higher, while blood levels of sVCAM and TIMP-1 were lower in men with prevalence of unstable atherosclerotic plaques compared to men with prevalence of stable atherosclerotic plaques in coronary arteries. Blood levels of hsCRP, IL-6 and IL-8 correlated with characteristics of coronary artery atherosclerotic plaques instability. Correlation between hsCRP blood level and hsCRP concentration in coronary artery intima/media material was also revealed.