ABSTRACT
High levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) enhance platelet activation, whereas high levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) exert a cardioprotective effect. However, the effects on platelet activation of high levels of LDL-C combined with low levels of HDL-C (HLC) have not yet been reported. We aimed to evaluate the platelet activation marker of HLC patients and investigate the antiplatelet effect of atorvastatin on this population. Forty-eight patients with high levels of LDL-C were enrolled. Among these, 23 had HLC and the other 25 had high levels of LDL-C combined with normal levels of HDL-C (HNC). A total of 35 normocholesterolemic (NOMC) volunteers were included as controls. Whole blood flow cytometry and platelet aggregation measurements were performed on all participants to detect the following platelet activation markers: CD62p (P-selectin), PAC-1 (GPIIb/IIIa), and maximal platelet aggregation (MPAG). A daily dose of 20 mg atorvastatin was administered to patients with high levels of LDL-C, and the above assessments were obtained at baseline and after 1 and 2 months of treatment. The expression of platelets CD62p and PAC-1 was increased in HNC patients compared to NOMC volunteers (P<0.01 and P<0.05). Furthermore, the surface expression of platelets CD62p and PAC-1 was greater among HLC patients than among HNC patients (P<0.01 and P<0.05). Although the expression of CD62p and PAC-1 decreased significantly after atorvastatin treatment, it remained higher in the HLC group than in the HNC group (P<0.05 and P=0.116). The reduction of HDL-C further increased platelet activation in patients with high levels of LDL-C. Platelet activation remained higher among HLC patients regardless of atorvastatin treatment.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Achievement , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/psychology , Attention/physiology , Analysis of Variance , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/diagnosis , Cohort Studies , Educational Status , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
Influenza surveillance networks in Guangdong were established to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of influenza and influenza epidemics. Influenza activity peaked annually from March to July in Guangdong in 1991-2000; influenza H3N2 predominated in the epidemic (7 years of 10); the outbreak of influenza in 1996 was the remarkable result of antigenic drift of H3N2 strain. Ten isolates of H9N2 strains were discovered from human subjects in 1998 and 1999: chicken strains isolated after the Hong Kong fowl influenza outbreak. It was found that there was just one influenza activity season per annum in Guangdong and that the influenza H3N2 subtype still predominates in Guangdong. Further research into the pathogenicity of influenza H9N2 in humans warranted.