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Comment 2012; 33(7): 689-696 PubMed PMID: 23391878 Citation  Keywords:  Brain Ischemia:epidemiology, Coronary Artery Disease:epidemiology, Female, Humans, Male, Stroke:epidemiology,.   

: In this issue of Neuroendocrinology Letters Kováčik et al. reported that coronary artery disease is not associated with stroke recurrence. Although the data were analyzed by statistical methods and the analysis was extremely encouraging, the conclusion should be interpreted with caution....

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Journal Article 2012; 33(Suppl 2): 32-37 PubMed PMID: 23183507 Citation  Keywords:  Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Ankle Brachial Index, Cerebrovascular Disorders:epidemiology, Coronary Artery Disease:epidemiology, Cross-Sectional Studies, Czech Republic:epidemiology, Dyslipidemias:epidemiology, Female, Humans, Hypertension:epidemiology, Male,.   

OBJECTIVES: It has been demonstrated that the deleterious effect of smoking on the cardiovascular system is mediated through a decrease in protective HDL cholesterol. In addition, women are more sensitive to the negative effects of smoking, although the exact mechanism underlying this phenomenon is currently unknown. In this study, we evaluated whether smoking habits could modify the association of HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) with reverse cholesterol transport (RCT), as measured by cholesterol efflux (CHE), in middle-aged women.

DESIGN: The study group consisted of 39 healthy middle-aged women, 21 non-smokers (age 51.8±2.5 years, BMI 25.1±2.8 kg/m2) and 18 smokers (age 50.5±3.2 years, BMI 24.8±3.5 kg/m2). In addition to all traditional cardiovascular risk factors, CHE from macrophages, labelled during a 48-hour incubation in a medium containing [14C] cholesterol, to plasma acceptors in study subjects was established as a marker of reverse cholesterol transport.

RESULTS: CHE was significantly higher in non-smokers than in smokers (14.22±1.75% vs. 13.17±1.33%; p<0.05). Smoking habit had no effect on the association of HDL with ApoA1 or HDL with CHE. However, in contrast to the strong association of ApoA1 with CHE in non-smokers (r=0.62; p<0.01), no such strong association was found in smokers (r=0.38; n.s.).

MAIN FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION: Based on our results, smoking can alter ApoA1-mediated reverse cholesterol transport in women....

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Journal Article 2012; 33(3): 294-297 PubMed PMID: 22635087 Citation  Keywords:  Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Brain Ischemia:epidemiology, Coronary Artery Disease:epidemiology, Female, Humans, Logistic Models, Male, Middle Aged, Recurrence, Retrospective Studies, Risk Factors, Stroke:epidemiology,.   

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading cause of long-term mortality in Europe and it negatively influences the outcome after stroke. However, its influence on stroke recurrence which endangers stroke patients mostly in the first months following stroke, is unclear. Previous studies have found no association between CAD and ischemic stroke recurrence. However, assessment of the relationship was not the primary endpoint of these investigations. The aim of this study was to assess the possible association between CAD and stroke recurrence.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a hospital-based, retrospective study, the set consisted of 190 patients - 105 patients with a first ever stroke (48 males; age 37-88, mean 70.7±12.5 years) and 85 patients with stroke recurrence (36 males; age 46-94, mean 88.0±9.6 years). CAD was correlated with the following other risk factors (age, sex, occurrence of arterial hypertension, atrial fibrillation, diabetes mellitus, plasma levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density cholesterol, high-density cholesterol, body mass index, presence of carotid plaques). Logistic regression analysis was used for the statistical evaluation.

RESULTS: No significant association was found between CAD and stroke recurrence. Of all of the other observed risk factors, only age showed a significant association with stroke recurrence (OR 1.04, 95% CI: 1.02-1.07).

CONCLUSION: The results of the presented study indicate that CAD does not influence stroke recurrence....

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Journal Article 2011; 32(2): 133-140 PubMed PMID: 21552194 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Antioxidants:metabolism, Biomarkers:blood, Case-Control Studies, Comorbidity, Coronary Artery Disease:epidemiology, Depression:blood, Disease Progression, Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic:blood, Female, Glutathione Peroxidase:blood, Humans, Male, Middle A.   

BACKGROUND: Major depression and myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) are two disorders accompanied by an upregulation of the inflammatory and oxidative and nitrosative (IO&NS) pathways and a decreased antioxidant status. Moreover, depression is accompanied by disorders in inflammatory and neuroprogressive (IN-PRO) pathways.

METHODS: This study examines whole blood glutathione peroxidase (GPX) in depression and in ME/CFS; GPX is an enzyme that reduces hydroperoxides by oxidizing glutathione and consequently protects the cells from oxidative damage. Blood was sampled in 39 patients with depression, 40 patients with ME/CFS and 24 normal volunteers. Whole blood was analysed for GPX activity using the Ransel assay (Randox). Severity of illness was measured by means of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and the Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Rating Scale (FF scale).

RESULTS: We found that whole blood GPX activity was significantly (p=0.001) lower in depressed patients than in normal controls and that there were no significant differences between ME/CFS and controls. In depression and ME/CFS, there were significant and inverse relationships between GPX activity and the FF items, depressed mood and autonomic symptoms. In depression, there were significant and negative correlations between whole blood GPX and the HDRS score and autonomic symptoms.

DISCUSSION: The results show that lowered whole blood GPX activity contributes to the lowered antioxidant status in depression. Since GPX activity is a predictor of neuroprogression and coronary artery disease (CAD), lowered GPX activity in depression contributes to the IN-PRO pathways and the comorbidity between depression and CAD. Our results suggest that patients with depression would benefit from Ebselen or a supplementation with glutathione, N-Acetyl-l-Cysteine and selenium....

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