study of lipid peroxidation status in patients of stroke

During past few years identification of many molecules that participate in neuronal death and particularly apoptosis by various experimental studies, has contributed to the information on pathogenesis of ischemic brain injury and oxidative stress has been regarded as one of the mechanisms. The present study has been undertaken to evaluate a free radical, as a measure of lipid peroxidation in patients with cerebral infarction and haemorrhage and also to correlate its level with lesion size and its outcome in the patient. The study included 50 patients of stroke [25 each with infarction and haemorrhage] while 25 comparable subjects served as control. Serum malondialdehyde [SMDA] levels was estimated on the first day of admission in both the study groups as a measure of lipid peroxidation status in these subjects and the lesion size was measured by computed tomography. The mean SMDA level in thrombotic and haemorrhagic group was 4.16 +/- 0.04 nmol/dL and 4.03 +/- 1.1 nmol/dL while it was 1.9 +/- 0.4 nmol/dL in control. The difference in the mean SMDA levels in the controls and study subjects were statistically significant [p<0.001], while the difference between the thrombotic and haemorrhagic groups was statistically insignificant. The mean size of large lesion in thrombotic group was 13.6 +/- 3.0 cm[2] while it was 5.0 +/- 1.4 cm[2] for small lesions. The corresponding values of SMDA with these lesions were 4.98 +/- 0.9 nmol/dL and 3.23 +/- 0.4 nmol/dL. In haemorrhagic group mean size of large lesion was 13.3 +/- 1.9 cm[2] while that of small lesion was 6.6 +/- 1.9 cm[2]. The respective SMDA levels were 5.0 +/- 0.7 nmol/dL and 3.13 +/- 0.2 nmol/dL. There was marked statistical significance [p<0.001] in the SMDA levels between the small and large lesions in both study groups. A significant correlation existed between serum MDA levels, lesion size and early outcome in patients with stroke [p<0.001]. It is, therefore, concluded that the SMDA levels are raised in patients with acute stroke and hence are an indicator of the involvement of lipid peroxidation in its pathophysiology and can also be used as a prognostic markers in subjects with stroke

C-reactive protein as a marker in acute coronary syndromes

As traditional atherogenic risk factors such as hypertension, smoking, dyslipedemia and diabetes mellitus do not fully account for clinical occurrence of Coronary Heart Disease [CHD] in different populations, hence there was an intensive search for potential novel cardiovascular risk factors. During last few years, C-Reactive Protein [CRP] have been implicated as risk factors in causation of coronary heart disease. Present study comprised of eighty-eight subjects admitted to coronary care unit who were subsequently divided into three groups based on their diagnosis: Group A; patients with acute myocardial infarction; Group B patients with unstable angina and Group C-subjects as control. CRP levels were measured at the time of admission using an ELISA kit. The concentration of CRP was elevated in patients with acute myocardial infarction and unstable angina as compared to the Control Group [p<0.001]. And also the incidence of in-hospital recurrent ischaemic events had been observed significantly more in patients with an elevated CRP levels. The study indicates that C-reactive protein levels measured at the time of admission in patients with suspected ischaemic heart disease could be a marker for acute coronary syndromes, and helpful in identifying patients at high risk for recurrent ischaemia. Therefore, it is concluded that measurement of CRP levels may have practical clinical significance in the management of patients hospitalized for suspected acute coronary syndromes