Atherosclerosis ; etiology ; therapy ; Humans ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; pathology ; therapy

Animals ; Atherosclerosis ; etiology ; genetics ; pathology ; China ; Coronary Disease ; pathology ; Genes, p53 ; Humans ; Point Mutation ; Risk Factors

Atherosclerosis ; complications ; pathology ; Blood Platelets ; physiology ; Humans ; Platelet Activation ; Thrombosis ; etiology ; pathology

Atherosclerosis ; etiology ; pathology ; Coronary Angiography ; Humans ; Myocardial Bridging ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; physiopathology

OBJECTIVETo understand whether hyperhomocysteinemia and early arterial atherosclerosis exist in simply obese children.

METHODSTotally 68 simply obese children (age 6-14 years, mean 10.8 +/- 2.3 years) were enrolled in this study, 50 were male and 18 were female. Body mass index (BMI) of the obese children was equal to or more than 22. The height of the children was (145 +/- 22) cm. Meanwhile, 26 normal children (age 6 - 14 years, mean 10.9 +/- 2.0 years) were selected as control group, 17 of these children were male and 9 were female. Their height was (148.5 +/- 5.8) cm. There were no significant differences in height and age between the obese and the control children. The carotid intimal-medial thickness (IMT), brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilation were examined by Doppler Flow/Dimension System and the liver was examined by B-mode ultrasound imager. Plasma homocysteine was determined by the automated chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassays. Serum lipid concentration was determined by biochemical analytic method. Blood pressure of the right upper limbs was measured. A detailed medical and family history was systematically recorded.

RESULTSBMI was (27.8 +/- 4.5) in the obese children and (16.2 +/- 2.5) in the controls. There was significant difference between two groups (P < 0.01). The obese children had significantly increased values than the controls for the carotid intimal-medial thickness (P < 0.01). Right carotid IMT, right inner-carotid IMT, left carotid IMT and left inner-carotid IMT were respectively (0.54 +/- 0.13) mm, (0.69 +/- 0.14) mm, (0.52 +/- 0.12) mm and (0.67 +/- 0.14) mm in obese children and were respectively (0.45 +/- 0.04) mm, (0.46 +/- 0.04) mm, (0.45 +/- 0.05) mm and (0.46 +/- 0.03) mm in control groups. Conversely, the flow-mediated brachial artery dilation of the obese children was significantly lower than that of the controls [(11.0 +/- 4.3)% vs. (17.5 +/- 4.9)%, P < 0.01]. The obese children had higher level of plasma homocysteine than the controls [(7.9 +/- 2.7) micromol/L vs. (5.6 +/- 2.1) micromol/L, P < 0.01]. Total cholesterol (TC) in the obese children dramatically increased, so did triglyceride concentration (TG), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-ch) and apolipoprotein-B (apo-B). Of the obese children, had fatty liver or the tendency to fatty liver. Six cases of the 68 obese children (8%) had hypertension. Of the 68 obese children, 57 (84%) had the history of consuming excessive food or taking less exercise. Forty-four percent of the obese children (30/68) came from the obese families in which at least one of the parents or grandparents was obese. Twenty-nine percent (20/68) and 22% (15/68) of the obese children respectively came from the families in which at least one of the parents or grandparents suffered from hypertension or coronary heart disease.

CONCLUSIONEarly arterial atherosclerotic changes existed in simply obese children. Hyperhomocysteinemia may be an important factor of the obesity-induced early arterial atherosclerosis during childhood.

Adolescent ; Atherosclerosis ; blood ; etiology ; Carotid Artery Diseases ; etiology ; Child ; Female ; Homocysteine ; blood ; Humans ; Hyperhomocysteinemia ; complications ; Lipids ; blood ; Male ; Obesity ; blood ; complications ; Tunica Intima ; pathology ; Tunica Media ; pathology

Angioplasty, Balloon ; methods ; Atherosclerosis ; pathology ; therapy ; Humans ; Hypertension ; complications ; drug therapy ; Renal Artery Obstruction ; etiology ; therapy ; Stents

Aged ; Atherosclerosis ; complications ; Blue Toe Syndrome ; diagnosis ; etiology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Nucleus ; Cholesterol ; blood ; Color ; Epidermis ; Female ; Humans ; Male

BACKGROUNDAtherosclerosis as a cardiovascular disease was found to begin even in the fetal period. However, information about risk factors of pre-clinical atherosclerosis in childhood has been limited. Hence, this study was aimed to find out the risk factors of atherosclerosis by measuring the carotid artery intima-media thickness in children. High resolution B-mode ultrasound used to examine the carotid artery intima-media thickness was demonstrated to be useful in finding the early carotid structural changes.

METHODSThe study included 79 children who were divided into two groups according to their ages: group I consisted of 42 children with ages from 5 to 9 years and group II consisted of 37 children with ages from 10 to 18 years, Among them, 23 had a positive family history for risk, such as hypertension, obesity or dyslipidemia. Blood samples were collected and total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein and low density lipoprotein were assayed. The carotid artery intima-media thickness was measured by ultrasound. Comparisons were done between the two groups using Student's t tests and Chi-square analysis. Body mass index, blood pressure, levels of lipids, family history and the carotid artery intima-media thickness were calculated by conditional logistic regression analysis.

RESULTSCompared with the children without a positive family history, the incidence of the increased carotid artery intima-media thickness was significantly high (chi(2) = 4.364, P < 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences between left and right carotid arteries in carotid artery intima-media thickness (P > 0.05). In this study, diastolic blood pressure and the atherosclerosis index were suggested to be the risk factors to the thickened carotid artery intima-media thickness. In group I the diastolic blood pressure's odds radio was 1.187 (P = 0.035) and the atherosclerosis index odds radio was 37.165 (P = 0.001); in group II the diastolic blood pressure's odds radio was 1.371 (P = 0.009) and the atherosclerosis index odds radio was 30.724 (P = 0.015).

CONCLUSIONThe diastolic blood pressure and atherosclerosis index were the risk factors in pre-clinical arthrosclerosis. Regularly monitoring the high-risk children for the development and progression of vascular lesion would be of great value in avoiding and preventing cardiovascular disease.

Atherosclerosis ; etiology ; pathology ; Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; Carotid Arteries ; pathology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Humans ; Lipids ; blood ; Risk Factors ; Tunica Intima ; pathology

Animals ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents ; therapeutic use ; Atherosclerosis ; etiology ; C-Reactive Protein ; analysis ; Humans ; Hypertension ; blood ; etiology ; pathology ; Inflammation ; complications ; Macrophages ; physiology

AIMTo explore the prevention of atherosclerosis by PPARy agonist rosiglitazone.

METHODS24 male New Zealand white rabbits weighing 1.8 to 2.2 kg were randomly divided into 3 groups: control group, normal rabbit chow; cholesterol group, 1% cholesterol diet; rosiglitazone group, 1% cholesterol diet supplemented with rosiglitazone 0.5 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1) for 6 weeks. Rabbits in cholesterol group and rosiglitazone group were sequentially fed 1% cholesterol-containing diet for 16 weeks. At the end of the experiment, blood glucose, serum lipids levels, ratio of plaque area to aorta area and ratio of intima to media were determined.

RESULTSHypercholesterolemia was successfully reproduced in rabbits. Adnimistration of rosiglitazone significantly decreased serum TC and LDL-C. The ratio of intima to media and ratio of plaque area to aorta area were also reduced.

CONCLUSIONRosiglitazone could prevent atherosclerosis by decreasing levels of TC and LDL-C.

Animals ; Aorta ; pathology ; Atherosclerosis ; blood ; etiology ; pathology ; Cholesterol ; blood ; Cholesterol, Dietary ; Cholesterol, LDL ; blood ; Fibrinolytic Agents ; pharmacology ; Hypercholesterolemia ; blood ; etiology ; pathology ; Male ; PPAR gamma ; agonists ; Rabbits ; Random Allocation ; Thiazolidinediones ; pharmacology ; Tunica Intima ; pathology