Publications by authors named "Antonia M de Vera-Gonzalez"
Objectives: To investigate how markers of beta-cell secretion (proinsulin-processing metabolites) are expressed in SLE patients and their potential relation to features associated with the disease such as activity or damage.
Methods: One hundred and forty-four SLE patients and 69 nondiabetic sex- and age-matched controls were assessed. Beta-cell secretion molecules, as measured by insulin, split and intact proinsulins, and C-peptide levels were analysed in both groups.
Objective: In nondiabetic healthy individuals, insulin secretion and sensitivity are linked by a negative feedback loop characterized by a hyperbolic function. We aimed to study the association of traditional insulin resistance (IR) factors with insulin secretion and sensitivity, and to determine whether the hyperbolic equilibrium of this relation is preserved in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study encompassing 361 nondiabetic individuals: 151 with RA and 210 controls.
Objectives: Amylin, which is co-secreted with insulin, plays a role in glycemic regulation and is impaired in type 2 diabetes. In the present study we assess, for the first time, the implication of amylin in the development of insulin resistance (IR) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 361 non-diabetic individuals, 151 patients with RA and 210 sex-matched controls.
Background: The precise mechanism linking systemic inflammation with insulin resistance (IR) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains elusive. In the present study, we determined whether the incretin-insulin axis and incretin effect are disrupted in patients with RA and if they are related to the IR found in these patients.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study that encompassed 361 subjects without diabetes, 151 patients with RA, and 210 sex-matched control subjects.
Objectives: Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is a serine protease that regulates cholesterol metabolism through low-density lipoprotein receptor degradation and that has been linked with cardiovascular risk. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether PCSK9 levels are related to both abnormalities in the lipid profile and the severe atherosclerosis that occur in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.
Methods: Cross-sectional study that encompassed 520 individuals; 326 patients with RA and 194 age- and sex-matched controls.
Objectives: To assess whether serum cathepsin S and cystatin C, two novel markers of cardiovascular disease risk, are associated with subclinical carotid atherosclerosis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Methods: Serum cystatin C and cathepsin S levels, carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and carotid plaques were assessed in a cross-sectional study involving 178 RA patients.
Results: An association between disease activity scores with higher levels of cystatin C, but not with cathepsin S, was found.
Objectives: We aimed to investigate whether the abnormalities in bone mineral density (BMD) that occur in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are associated with the presence of endothelial dysfunction.
Methods: Cross-sectional study encompassing 216 subjects (111 patients with RA and 105 age- and sex-matched controls) without history of cardiovascular disease. Endothelial function was determined by brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) and BMD by dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurements.
Article Synopsis
- Spain has one of the highest rates of cocaine use in Europe, prompting a study on its consumption among patients in the emergency department.
- The study analyzed urine samples from patients with trauma or chest pain to check for various drugs, finding that 25% tested positive for drugs, with cocaine and cannabis each detected in 13.3%.
- Cocaine users were found to be significantly younger, but there were no notable differences in outcomes based on their drug test results.