ABSTRACT
AIMS: Recent studies have provided increasing evidence that hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has a pathophysiological role in the development of diabetic complications. We set out to determine the relationship between serum HGF and risk factors for macroangiopathy including carotid atherosclerosis. Carotid atherosclerosis is an established and important risk factor for both cerebral and coronary artery diseases. METHODS: We studied 89 patients (48 males, 41 females, mean age 62.5 +/- 10.3 years) with Type 2 diabetes (DM). RESULTS: Serum levels of HGF correlated positively with both intimal-media thickness (IMT) (r = 0.24, P = 0.0248) and plaque score (r = 0.27, P = 0.0126). In multiple regression analysis, serum HGF was associated independently with IMT (standardized beta = 0.28, P = 0.0499). We also found that both IMT and plaque score were higher in patients with ischaemic heart disease (IHD) than in patients without IHD, and that plaque score in patients with lacunar infarcts was higher than in patients without lacunar infarcts. CONCLUSIONS: Serum HGF concentration may be a new marker of atherosclerotic complications in patients with Type 2 DM.
Subject(s)
Carotid Artery Diseases/blood , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/blood , Hepatocyte Growth Factor/blood , Age Factors , Aged , Biomarkers/blood , Carotid Arteries/diagnostic imaging , Carotid Artery Diseases/complications , Carotid Artery Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/complications , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/diagnostic imaging , Female , Humans , Hypertension/blood , Hypertension/complications , Hypertension/diagnostic imaging , Linear Models , Male , Middle Aged , Multivariate Analysis , Myocardial Ischemia/blood , Myocardial Ischemia/complications , Myocardial Ischemia/diagnostic imaging , Risk Factors , Systole , Tunica Intima/diagnostic imaging , Tunica Media/diagnostic imaging , UltrasonographyABSTRACT
We report here a patient with mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT)-lymphoma of the breast complicated with Sjögren syndrome. It is speculated that Ga-67 could accumulate not only in lymphoma lesions but also in benign lymphoproliferative locations of Sjögren syndrome. Gallium-67 scintigraphy might be useful for the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of MALT-lymphoma complicated with Sjögren syndrome.
