Effects of simvastatin on angiogenic growth factors released at the site of microvascular injury.
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Adult↗
Biomedical subjects
Ewa Stepień
Publications and source records attributed to Ewa Stepień.
Folic acid administration and antibodies against homocysteinylated proteins in subjects with hyperhomocysteinemia.
Growing evidence indicates that elevated total homocysteine (tHcy) levels can elicit autoimmune response in vivo. Antibodies against Nepsilon-Hcy-proteins have been shown to be associated with stroke and premature myocardial infarction. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of treatment with folic acid on anti-Nepsilon-Hcy-albumin and -hemoglobin antibodies. We recruited 20 apparently healthy men and 12 male patients with documented coronary artery disease (CAD). All participants had plasma fasting tHcy levels >15 microM. At baseline, and after three and six months of treatment with folic acid 1 mg daily, we determined tHcy, serum folate and vitamin B12 levels, along with serum anti-Nepsilon-Hcy-albumin and -hemoglobin IgG antibodies using the home-made immunoenzymatic assays. Both groups did not differ with regard to age, tHcy, folate, lipid profile, and CRP. The only significant difference between healthy subjects and CAD patients was levels of antibodies against Nepsilon-Hcy-albumin. As expected, folic acid administration led to significant decreases in tHcy and increases in folate levels in both groups. Levels of both anti-Nepsilon-Hcy-albumin and -hemoglobin antibodies fell markedly following a three-month folic acid administration in healthy subjects, but not in CAD patients, without any changes at six months in either group. Folic acid administration resulted in a loss of significant correlations between tHcy and antibodies both following three and six months of the therapy in healthy subjects, in contrast to CAD patients. Carriers of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677T allele with CAD had significantly higher levels of anti-Nepsilon-Hcy-albumin before and during folic acid administration as compared to healthy subjects. In conclusion, our findings suggest that Hcy-related autoimmune response is resistant to folic acid administration in CAD patients, while in healthy subjects reduced tHcy levels are associated with suppressed production of antibodies against Nepsilon-Hcyproteins. These observations might explain at least in part the failure of vitamin therapy to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events as recently reported.
Alleles↗
Evaluation of the relationship between selected markers of the inflammatory process and aortic valve calcifications.
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Aged↗
[Herpes encephalitis at children].
Significant mortality, high incidences of complications and permanent neurological sequel are still noted in patients suffering fro herpetic encephalitis. They result mainly from delayed diagnosis and treatment of the specific cause. The aim of our paper was the analysis o a clinical course of patients with Herpes simplex encephalitis. From 1999 to 2001 7 patients aged 2 weeks to 15 years, treated in Children' Neurology Department of Silesian School of Medicine, were diagnosed to have herpetic encephalitis. Fever, headache, vomiting, as well as alteration of consciousness, all typical for neuroinfection were main clinical symptoms present on admission. Three children presented with respiratory distress requiring admission to Intensive Care Unit. On examination "cold sores" were found in 2 patients, in remaining 5 the history of exposition to herpes labialis was obtained. On neurological examination we found either right or left hemiparesis in all patients, motor aphasia in 2 and left sided central facial nerve palsy in 1. Lumbar puncture revealed lymphocytosis in 5 patients. Anti-HSV type IgG an IgM antibodies were found in serum of all 6 patients, while only in 2 of them were detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). These were the 2 most severely ill children. In 2 patients DNA HSV using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) method was found in CSF and in serum. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head confirmed diagnosis. Although herpetic encephalitis is an uncommon, sporadic disease, the diagnosis should be considered in any child with neuroinfection and early treatment started before laboratory confirmation.
Adolescent↗
Impact of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection on survival rate after heart transplantation.
BACKGROUND: As Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cp), a common cause of respiratory infection, is of vasotropic character, chronic infection may be associated with the development of coronary disease, although there have been few reports on the impact of Cp infection on the post-orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) survival rate. MATERIAL/METHODS: A total of 41 patients (4 females) were followed up for one year after OHT. Serology investigations for IgM, IgG and IgA antibodies against Cp were performed using the enzyme immunoassay (EIA) method. Univariate and multivariate analyses were carried out with respect to IgA, IgG, gender and type of cardiomyopathy. The IgA-IgG joint effect was also studied. RESULTS: The one-year survival rate was reported for patients with IgA < 8 EIU to be 72.2%, whereas those with IgA >or= 8 EIU accounted for only 43.5% (Kaplan-Meier analysis, p = 0.0548). In multivariate analysis IgA /IgG status proved to be a highly significant factor in survival. IgA positive outcome combined with IgG negative outcome showed that the relative risk of death equaled 12.08 versus other combinations of IgA/IgG status. In the Cox multivariate model ischemic cardiomyopathy showed a relative risk of 2.79 (p=0.0594), although it was not significant in univariate CONCLUSIONS: Chronic Cp infection, as expressed through a high IgA level, seems to have adverse impact on the survival rate in one-year follow-up after OHT. IgA titers against Cp in heart transplant recipients should therefore be assessed, as the high values might be a predictive risk factor within the first post-operative year.
Adult↗
[Chlamydia pneumoniae infections--diagnostic methods].
Gram-negative bacteria Chlamydia pneumonia was found in 1989 to cause acute and chronic respiratory tract infections. This agent has been as well associated with other disease: atherogenesis and coronary heart disease. This study is aimed both at making an introduction to the issues related to C. pneumoniae diagnosis and presenting contemporary laboratory methods. Given the limitations of traditional diagnostics methods, serodiagnosis (EIA) and nucleic acids amplification (PCR, hybridisation) provide the most convincing evidence of C. pneumoniae infections. Culture and direct fluorescence antibody (DFA) may be useful in confirming these results. A variety of methods applied can provide an opportunity to detect bacteria in different clinical samples--incl. sputum, nasopharyngeal and throat swabs, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and tissues from biopsy and autopsy.
Arteriosclerosis↗