Search results for "ALPHA"

Enzyme replacement therapy in heterozygous females with Fabry disease: results of a phase IIIB study.

2003

Summary: Fabry disease is an X-linked glycosphingolipid storage disorder caused by a deficiency of α-galactosidase A. Affected patients experience debilitating neuropathic pain and have premature mortality due to renal failure, cardiovascular disease or cerebrovascular complications. The disease may be X-linked dominant, since most females heterozygous for Fabry disease are affected clinically. We evaluated the safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetics of agalsidase alfa (Replagal) administered intravenously to female patients with Fabry disease in an open-label, single-centre study. Fifteen severely affected patients received agalsidase alfa at 0.2 mg/kg every other week for up to 55 weeks. Ag…

Acute phase response after myocardial infarction: Correlation between serum levels of cytokines and C-reactive protein

1990

C-reactive protein and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 are stronger predictors of oxidant stress than blood pressure in established hypertension

2007

Oxidant stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in cardiovascular diseases. Our aim was to test oxidative stress, as 8-iso-prostaglandin F2alpha (8-iso-PGF2alpha), and its relationship with inflammation markers C-reactive protein (CRP) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha), and endothelial activation assayed as soluble intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 in essential hypertension.In 216 essential hypertensive patients and 55 healthy control individuals, plasma levels of high-sensitivity CRP and TNFalpha, 8-iso-PGF2alpha, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 were measured in basal conditions. Moreover, basal and 24-h ambulatory blood p…

Elevated Protein Content and Prolyl 4-Hydroxylase Activity in Severely Degenerated Human Annulus Fibrosus

2000

Alterations involved with the intervertebral disc degeneration are partly well described, however, it is not so well known how collagen network is affected by the disease. We analyzed the rate of collagen biosynthesis (estimated by the enzymic activities of prolyl 4-hydroxylase and galactosylhydroxylysyl glucosyltransferase) and the level of hydroxylysylpyridinoline and lysylpyridinoline crosslinks both in normal (n=7) and degenerated (n=7) human annulus fibrosus. The activity of prolyl 4-hydroxylase was significantly increased in degenerated tissue. However, no significant changes in the collagen content or in the amount of hydroxylysylpyridinoline and lysylpyridinoline collagen crosslinks…

Treatment of hyperandrogenic alopecia in women

2003

Many women with androgenic alopecia have normal circulating androgen levels. Increased scalp sensitivity to androgens may account for these cases. Even when androgen levels are increased, no particular pattern has emerged. Classical anti-androgen measures have proved disappointing, in contrast to the results obtained in women with hirsutism or acne. This study evaluated flutamide and finasteride in 36 premenopausal, hyperandrogenic women presenting with androgenic alopecia. Frontal hair thinning was assessed in photos of the frontoparietal region using the Ludwig grading system. Thirty ovulatory women matched for age and body weight served as a control group. Groups of 12 subjects received …

Sympathetic nervous activity and the pressor effect of noradrenaline under chronic?-?-adrenoceptor blockade with labetalol in hypertension

1983

In 14 patients with essential hypertension, the influence of the alpha- and beta-adrenoceptor blocking drug labetalol on blood pressure, heart rate, plasma renin, plasma noradrenaline and pressor effect of exogenous noradrenaline was investigated during long-term treatment. During the initial four weeks of treatment, labetalol at a dose of 400 mg/day showed a slight effect only on supine blood pressure, whereas upright blood pressure was already lowered effectively after the second week of treatment (p less than 0.01). An increase in the mean dose to 850 mg/day had an additional blood pressure-lowering effect (p less than 0.001), whereby a preferential decrease of the orthostatic blood pres…

Duration of HCV infection as a predictor of nonresponse to interferon

1996

Duration of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a key feature in determining responsiveness to interferon (IFN). Studies assessing its value as a predictive factor in chronic HCV infection show that a long duration of infection reduces the likelihood of a sustained response to IFN (defined as ALT normalization and clearance of serum HCV-RNA). The effect of HCV infection duration is independent of the presence of cirrhosis and level of HCV viremia. Meta-analysis of IFN trials in acute HCV infection shows an obvious effect of the drug on long-term ALT normalization and HCV-RNA clearance. Treatment of HCV infection during the acute or early chronic phase could therefore maximize therapeutic e…

A 4-year study of the efficacy and tolerability of enzyme replacement therapy with agalsidase alfa in 36 women with Fabry disease

2009

Although Fabry disease is X linked and considered to affect primarily male hemizygotes, female heterozygotes may experience all the signs and symptoms of this metabolic disorder. This prospective, single-center, open-label, clinical trial was performed to evaluate the long-term response of female patients with Fabry disease to enzyme replacement therapy.Symptomatic women (average age = 47 years) enrolled in this 4-year study were treated with agalsidase alfa (Replagal, Shire HGT, Inc.) at a dose of 0.2 mg/kg, every other week for 4 years (N = 36). Clinical and biochemical assessments were conducted at 12-month intervals.The Mainz Severity Score Index, a measure of total disease burden, was …

Induction of oxidative stress and human leukocyte/endothelial cell interactions in polycystic ovary syndrome patients with insulin resistance.

2011

Insulin resistance is a feature of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and is related to mitochondrial and endothelial function.We tested whether hyperandrogenic insulin-resistant women with PCOS, who have an increased risk of vascular disease, display impaired leukocyte-endothelium interactions, and mitochondrial dysfunction.This was a prospective controlled study conducted in an academic medical center.The study population consisted of 43 lean reproductive-age women with PCOS and 39 controls subjects.We evaluated anthropometric and metabolic parameters, adhesion molecules, and interactions between leukocytes and human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Mitochondrial function was studied by as…

Major gender difference in association of FTO gene variant among severely obese children with obesity and obesity related phenotypes.

2008

Recent studies have shown that SNPs in the FTO gene predispose to childhood and adult obesity. In this study, we examined the association between variants in FTO and KIAA1005, a gene that maps closely to FTO, and obesity, as well as obesity related traits among 450 well characterised severely obese children and 512 normal weight controls. FTO showed significant association with several obesity related traits while SNPs in KIAA1005 did not. When stratified by gender, the FTO variant rs9939609 showed association with obesity and BMI among girls (P = 0.006 and 0.004, respectively) but not among boys. Gender differences were also found in the associations of the FTO rs9939609 with obesity relat…