Cholesterol level correlate with disability score in patients with relapsing-remitting form of multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease characterised by demyelination. There are many environmental factors that can affect the progression of this disease. It is necessary to better understand the impact of these factors in MS pathogenesis and progression. OBJECTIVE: Present study investigates the relationship of total cholesterol serum levels and other parameters contributing to cardiovascular risk - homocysteine and serum lipid parameters (triglycerides, HDL, LDL) - with the progression of MS (EDSS score). METHODS: The study involved 169 patients diagnosed with MS. Total homocysteine levels were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. Serum lipid parameters were measured with enzymatic kits. RESULTS: There was no difference observed between homocysteine levels in MS patients and controls. Dyslipidaemia seems to be associated with MS progression, particularly in women with relapsing-remitting form of MS. CONCLUSION: Positive correlation of total and LDL cholesterol with disability score in patients with relapsing-remitting form of MS suggests that lipid parameters could have a negative effect on the disease progression.

Impact of glycemic control on advanced glycation and inflammation in overweight and obese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

AIM: In this study we tried to investigate the impact of glycemic control on parameters of glycation and inflammation in overweight and obese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Markers of glycation (HbA1c, AGEs; measured by HPLC and spectrofluorimetry, resp.) and inflammatory markers (IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, MCP-1; measured by xMAP technology) were assessed in 69 patients with T2DM, of whom 32 were patients were with poor glycemic control (PGC group), 37 patients were with good glycemic control (GGC group) and 23 were healthy blood volunteers. RESULTS: Our results showed that plasma levels of fluorescent AGEs, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, and MCP-1 were significantly increased in PGC and GGC groups in comparison with control group, while the levels were higher in PGC group in comparison with GGC group, but the difference was not significant. We found a positive correlation between AGEs and MCP-1 and between TNF-α and creatinine in PGC group. We found significantly decreased levels of glycated HbA1c and AGEs in patients who used statins compared to patients who used fibrates. We observed beneficial impact of treatment with oral antidiabetic (OAD) agents + insulin on levels of IL-8, TNF-α and TAG in comparison with treatment with insulin alone. CONCLUSIONS: Despite good glycemic compensation of patients with T2DM, levels of AGEs and inflammatory markers remained significantly elevated in comparison with healthy controls. There was a beneficial impact of treatment with OAD agents + insulin in sense of lowering the low-grade inflammation (Tab. 3, Fig. 7, Ref. 113).

Influence of some mineral ions on lipid peroxidation in vitro.

Recently, a growing interest has been recorded in mineral content of mammalian diet, which might impair their development. Focused on the topic, we studied the effect of Al3+, Si4+, Sr2+ and Na2S on the intensity of malondialdehyde (MDA) production in vitro. MDA, as one of oxidative stress markers, was determined in rat brain homogenates in the conditions of lipid peroxidation (LP) activated by iron ions and ascorbate. Our results showed a significant increase in lipid peroxidation after addition of aluminium ions. We assume a probable impact of Al3+ on active or regulatory centres of antioxidant enzymes, resulting in the reduction of their antioxidant functions. The addition to Si4+ or Na2S to samples with Al3+ significantly decreased Fe2+-activated LP. We can explain the influence of Na2S by the formation of insoluble complexes with iron. Similarly, the effect of Si4+ can be related to the production of aluminium-silicon complexes. In our view, an optimal ratio of aluminium and silicon ions (or aluminium ions and Na2S) in the diet might have beneficial effects on brain functions.

Effect of mineral water from Trencianske Teplice (drinkable source, drill SB-3) on lipid peroxidation in vitro.

Influence of mineral water from Trencianske Teplice (drinkable source) on lipid peroxidation processes was determined in model situations under in vitro conditions using the brain tissue. The central nervous system was selected because it is especially sensitive to the radical-induced damage. In addition, there is a high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the brain which has a low antioxidant capacity and is relatively rich in iron ions--enhancers of lipid peroxidation processes. We present the inhibitory effect of the mineral water on the intensity of lipid peroxidation in the presence of iron ions. We assume that some component or combination of more components of the mineral water may act as chelators of iron ions.

HPLC method for measurement of purine nucleotide degradation products in cerebrospinal fluid.

We describe a convenient method for the separation and quantification of xanthine, hypoxanthine, and uric acid in 20 microL of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) with use of HPLC and ultraviolet detection. The analysis is performed on a Sepharon SGX C18 column and the elution system consists of potassium phosphate buffer, pH 5.1, with 20 mL/L methanol. The lower limit of detection was 4 pmol for hypoxanthine and xanthine and 6 pmol for uric acid. Analytical recoveries of purine metabolites ranged from 98.6% to 102.9%. The intra- and interassay CVs were <3%. The applicability of the method is illustrated with the determination of micromolar concentrations of xanthine, hypoxanthine, and uric acid in CSF samples obtained from 113 patients with various neurological disorders.