ABSTRACT
The occlusion of the artery and vein grafts are currently a major problem in coronary bypass surgery. Degradation of collagen and elastin, the most abundant extracellular matrix proteins in the vessel wall by matrix metalloproteinase [MMPs], leads to a rearrangement of the extracellular matrix and vascular wall structure. The present study aimed to compare the histological and biochemical characteristics of arteries and veins which could have a role in the failure of the graft. This study was a cross-sectional study of 80 patients conducted at Heart Hospitals in Isfahan, Iran, between July 2012 and November 2013. Samples were collected from the remains of vessels used in bypass surgery of 11 male nondiabetic patients. The histologic, collagen elastin ratio and MMPs levels of the vessels were investigated. MMPs were determined using the Gelatin Zymography method. For elastin and collagen content measurement, the sample was digested by cyanogen bromide and hydrochloric acid and then hydroxyproline was measured with a spectrophotometer. The amount of active and inactive MMP-2 and MMP-9 of the left internal mammary artery [Lima] was similar to aorta, but the amount of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the radial artery and saphenous vein were significantly higher than aorta. Elastin to collagen ratio in Lima [1.92 +/- 1.15] was similar to the aorta [3.4+1.66], but this proportion in saphenous vein [1.07+0.47] and radial artery [1.14+0.39] was significantly lower in the aorta [P<0.05]. Most patients had atherosclerotic plaque in radial while there was atherosclerotic plaque in Lima of only one case. The presence of atherosclerotic plaques in radial and thickening of the intimal layer of the saphenous vein in the majority of patients and decrease of collagen to elastin ratio and the high level of matrix metalloproteinase enzymes in the radial and saphenous vein can induce early pathological conditions, and remodeling of the vessels involved. So the results of this study confirm that Left Internal Mammary Artery [LIMA] is the most suitable candidate for bypass surgery
ABSTRACT
Background: the protein of Niemann-pick type C1 [NPC1] gene promotes the egress of cholesterol from late endosomes and lysosomes to other cellular compartments and contributes to a process known as reverse cholesterol transport. This study aimed to examine whether promoter methylation of NPC1 is associated with risk of cardiovascular disease [CVD]
Methods: fifty CVD patients and 50 healthy subjects as the control group were recruited in this study. Promoter methylation of NPC1 gene was defined using a nested-methylation specific polymerase chain reaction method. Statistical analyses were done using the chi-square, t-test or ANOVA tests
Results: our study showed that the frequency of semi-methylated promoter [methylated/unmethylated status] was significantly higher in CVD patients than that in controls [OR = 6.521, 95% CI = 2.211-19.215, P = 0.008]. However, a completely methylated promoter [methylated/methylated status] was not detected in any subjects in either of the two groups tested. Additionally, the analysis of clinical data according to the methylation status of NPC1 gene demonstrated that serum levels of total cholesterol, total triglycerides, high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-C] and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C] are influenced by NPC1 methylation, so that subjects with a completely unmethylated promoter [Unmethylated/unmethylated status] held lower levels of total triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL-C and higher levels of HDL-C
Conclusion: our findings propose that the NPC1 promoter methylation is a probable mechanism that can result in reduced/impaired NPC1 expression/activity and may thus contribute to progression of CVD. Iran. Biomed. J. 17 [2]: 77-83, 2013
ABSTRACT
In the modern medical era, facial paralysis is linked with the name of Charles Bell. This disease, which is usually unilateral and is a peripheral facial palsy, causes facial muscle weakness in the affected side. Bell gave a complete description of the disease; but historically other physicians had described it several hundred years prior although it had been ignored for different reasons, such as the difficulty of the original text language. The first and the most famous of these physicians who described this disease was Mohammad Ibn Zakaryya Razi [Rhazes]. In this article, we discuss his opinion