ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Recent studies have revealed that atherosclerosis progresses faster than expected in young adults with a history of Kawasaki disease. However, it is unclear as to when these arterial changes become measurable. In this study, we evaluated subclinical arterial stiffness in young children with a history of Kawasaki disease using two-dimensional ultrasound speckle tracking. METHODS: A total of 75 children with a history of Kawasaki disease (mean age, 8.2 ± 2.8 years) and 50 healthy controls (mean age 8.3 ± 3.5 years) were included. The two regions of interest for speckle tracking were manually positioned at the anterior and posterior carotid arterial wall using a Philips iE33 (Philips Medical Systems, Bothell, WA, USA). The peak systolic strain, time to peak systolic strain, early systolic strain rate, and late systolic strain rate were continuously monitored between the two regions of interest. Furthermore, the intimal-medial thickness, stiffness ß, and pressure-elastic modulus, as conventional measures of arterial stiffness, were concurrently obtained. RESULTS: The peak systolic strain and late systolic strain rate differed significantly between the patients with Kawasaki disease and controls (6.69% versus 8.60%, p < 0.01, and -0.28/second versus -0.51/second, p < 0.0001, respectively). There was no difference in the time to peak systolic strain, early systolic strain rate, and conventional measures. CONCLUSIONS: The arteries of patients with Kawasaki disease appear to develop mild sclerotic changes shortly after the onset of the disease.
Subject(s)
Asymptomatic Diseases , Carotid Arteries/diagnostic imaging , Carotid Artery Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome/diagnostic imaging , Vascular Stiffness/physiology , Carotid Arteries/physiopathology , Carotid Artery Diseases/complications , Carotid Artery Diseases/physiopathology , Carotid Intima-Media Thickness , Case-Control Studies , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Male , Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome/complications , Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome/physiopathology , SystoleABSTRACT
The effects of four cornstarches containing various contents of resistant starch on serum and liver cholesterol levels in rats fed a high-cholesterol diet were investigated. Male Sprague Dawley rats (aged 4 weeks) were divided into four groups (n = 7) and fed high-cholesterol diets containing 15% of cornstarch (CS), heat-moisture-treated CS (HCS), high-amylose CS (HA), or heat-moisture-treated HA (HHA) for 21 days. The results showed that the serum and hepatic level of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triglyceride in rats of the HHA group and their arteriosclerosis index were significantly higher, suggesting that HHA increases the risk of arteriosclerosis under a high-cholesterol dietary condition. No significant between-group differences were noted in the levels of plasma mevalonic acid and hepatic HMG-CoA reductase mRNA, whereas fecal cholesterol excretion was significantly higher in the HHA group, indicating that the elevation of the serum and liver cholesterol levels was not due to the promotion of liver cholesterol synthesis and cholesterol absorption in the intestine.
Subject(s)
Amylose/pharmacology , Cholesterol, Dietary/pharmacology , Cholesterol/blood , Hot Temperature , Humidity , Zea mays , Animals , Body Weight/drug effects , Cecum/drug effects , Cecum/metabolism , Desiccation , Feces/chemistry , Gene Expression Regulation/drug effects , Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases/genetics , Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases/metabolism , Liver/drug effects , Liver/metabolism , Male , Mevalonic Acid/blood , Organ Size/drug effects , RNA, Messenger/genetics , Rats , Rats, Sprague-DawleyABSTRACT
Rats were fed on a diet containing cholesterol (Chol) at a level corresponding to the standard Chol intake in humans, and the influence of heat-moisture-treated high-amylose cornstarch (HHA) on their serum Chol level was investigated. HHA decreased the serum level of Chol in rats fed on the diet containing 0.1% Chol, which corresponds to a Chol intake in humans of 800 mg/d, although the liver levels of Chol increased in these rats. HHA did not influence the fecal excretion of Chol/bile acids. It is possible that the decrease in serum Chol level in the rats fed on the high-Chol diet can be attributed to the promotion of Chol uptake in the liver.
