Plasma lipid peroxides in coronary heart disease.

The relation between plasma lipid peroxide and coronary heart disease was investigated at Harapan Hospital in Kita Jakarta. Ninety-eight patients (83 males and 15 females), below 75 years old were included in the study. The samples consisted of 47 cases with angina and 22 cases with myocardial infarction which were proven to suffer from coronary atherosclerosis by the presence of clinical symptoms, ECG abnormalities, angiography and myocardial enzyme measurement. Controls were patients who did not show any abnormalities in the parameters used. Controls and patients were classified into several groups based on the presence or absence of risk factors (smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, obesity, family history). The results of the study showed that plasma lipid peroxide in patients with angina and myocardial infarction which were 3.26 +/- 1.07 mumol and 3.20 +/- 0.82 mumol/l, respectively, were significantly higher (p less than 0.05) than controls 2.50 +/- 0.45 mumol/l. There was no differences in total cholesterol, LDL and triglyceride contents between control and patients with coronary heart disease; whereas HDL cholesterol level was significantly higher in the patients with angina, 38.7 +/- 10.5 mg/dl vs 31.5 +/- 6.76 mg/dl in patients with myocardial infarction. Univariate analysis of various risk factors revealed a strong correlation between plasma lipid peroxide and the chance in developing coronary heart disease. The present study showed that plasma lipid peroxide was increased in coronary heart disease and that it might be used as a determinant in the assessment of the severity of the disease. An investigation on the effects of antioxidants in these patients is planned.

A lambda gt11 cDNA recombinant that encodes Dirofilaria immitis paramyosin.

The cDNA synthesized from mRNA of Dirofilaria immitis female adult worms was cloned into the expression vector lambda gt11. Screening the library with a hyperimmune rabbit antiserum raised against adult worm homogenates yielded several antigen positive clones. One of these clones, lambda cDi2, was recognized by rabbit antisera raised against either D. immitis L-3, adult, Brugia malayi L-3 or Onchocerca volvulus adult worm antigen, as well as by antisera from humans naturally infected with O. volvulus or Wuchereria bancrofti. Affinity-purified anti-lambda cDi2 antibodies reacted with a 97-kDa protein on Western transfers of adult D. immitis antigen extracts that were reduced with beta-mercaptoethanol. The whole rabbit anti-D. immitis adult antiserum depleted of anti-lambda cDi2 antibodies exhibited decreased reactivity to this 97-kDa band. A monoclonal antibody (IA6) that specifically binds Schistosoma mansoni paramyosin also recognised a 97-kDa protein in D. immitis extracts upon Western transfer. The deduced amino acid sequence of partial DNA sequence from lambda cDi2 showed some similarity to nematode myosin, and gave a stretch of 82 amino acids that is 91.5% identical to Caenorhabditis elegans paramyosin: thus, lambda cDi2 encodes D. immitis paramyosin.