A comparison of acute phase proteins and traditional risk factors as markers of combined plaque and intima-media thickness and plaque density in carotid and femoral arteries.

Objectives: To test the hypothesis that some acute phase proteins may be better independent predictors of objective measures of arterial wall impairment than traditional risk factors.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Materials And Methods: C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen, C3 complement and traditional risk factors were measured in 288 men aged 55-64 years, randomly chosen from the local registry lists.

Different associations of C-reactive protein, fibrinogen and C3 with traditional risk factors in middle-aged men.

Background: Some acute phase proteins are associated with both ischemic events and traditional risk factors. Since they are strongly interrelated, each of them partly reflects the characteristics of other proteins. This study was carried out to ascertain the specific preferential associations of some acute phase proteins with traditional risk factors for atherosclerotic disease.

Conditional risk factors in men with previous myocardial infarction: relevance of C3 and homocysteine.

Objective: To establish which traditional and conditional risk factors were effectively treated, and which remained active, in patients with previous myocardial infarction (PMI).

Methods And Results: In 47 PMI patients recently submitted to cardiological assessment and in 42 controls (50-70 years old men), traditional risk factors (total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, blood glucose, blood pressure, cigarette smoking and body mass index) and the following variables were measured: fibrinogen, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)], total homocysteine, plasma folates, vitamin B12, high sensitivity C-reactive protein and C3 complement. Most patients were taking beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors and statins.

Simultaneous serum assays of lipase and interleukin-6 for early diagnosis and prognosis of acute pancreatitis.

Background: There are no systems for the rapid diagnosis and prognosis of acute pancreatitis in the Emergency Department. Our aim was to evaluate whether the combined use of serum lipase and interleukin-6 or serum lipase and C-reactive protein is able to simultaneously establish both the diagnosis and the prognosis of acute pancreatitis.

Methods: Eighty patients with acute abdomen were studied on admission to the Emergency Room.

Behavior of serum interleukin 12 in human acute pancreatitis.

We evaluated the behavior of sera interleukin p70 (IL-12p70) and IL-12p40 in patients with acute pancreatitis. Twenty-three acute pancreatitis patients were studied (12 had severe pancreatitis and 11 had mild pancreatitis). Twenty healthy subjects were studied as controls.

Rhabdomyolysis and acute pancreatitis.

Aims: To establish the incidence of rhabdomyolysis in patients with acute pancreatitis and to determine the effectiveness of myoglobin in assessing the severity of the disease.

Methods: Sixty-one patients having acute pancreatitis (33 males, 28 females, mean age 66 years, range 16-97 years) were studied; diagnosis of acute pancreatitis was based on the typical abdominal pain associated with elevated concentrations of serum lipase and further confirmed by imaging techniques. Rhabdomyolysis was defined as a level of serum myoglobin which is two or more times greater than the upper normal test limit.

Is the association of serum lipase with beta2-microglobulin or C-reactive protein useful for establishing the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with acute pancreatitis?

In the Emergency Department it is mandatory to establish the diagnosis and the prognosis of acute pancreatitis as soon as possible. To evaluate whether the association of serum lipase either with serum beta2-microglobulin or with C-reactive protein allows simultaneously to establish the diagnosis and the prognosis of acute pancreatitis, 96 patients with acute abdomen were studied. Fifty-eight patients had non-pancreatic acute abdomen and the remaining 38 had acute pancreatitis: 23 mild acute pancreatitis, and 15 severe acute pancreatitis.

Serum interleukin 6 in the prognosis of acute biliary pancreatitis.

Background: Data concerning the interleukin 6 pattern in acute biliary pancreatitis are lacking.

Aim: To define the best cut-off point of this molecule in differentiating the severe form of acute biliary pancreatitis from the mild form and to evaluate its sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy in the prognosis of acute biliary pancreatitis in comparison with those of serum C-reactive protein.

Patients: Forty-four patients with acute biliary pancreatitis: 27 patients with mild pancreatitis and 17 with the severe form of the disease.

Serum C-reactive protein in acute biliary pancreatitis. Is it a reliable marker for the early assessment of severity of the disease?

Background: The cut-off point of serum C-reactive protein to differentiate the mild from the severe form of acute pancreatitis is still debated; data concerning the C-reactive protein pattern in assessing the severity of acute biliary pancreatitis are lacking.

Aim: To define the best cut-off point in differentiating the severe from the mild form of acute biliary pancreatitis.

Patients: Fifty patients with acute biliary pancreatitis: 34 patients with mild pancreatitis and 16 with the severe form of the disease were studied.

Serum interleukin-6, interleukin-8, and beta 2-microglobulin in early assessment of severity of acute pancreatitis. Comparison with serum C-reactive protein.

The aim of this study was to compare the sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of serum interleukin-6, interleukin-8, beta 2-microglobulin, and C-reactive protein in the assessment of the severity of acute pancreatitis using commercial kits for their respective assays. Thirty-eight patients with acute pancreatitis (25 men, 13 women, mean age 59 years, range 16-97) were studied; the diagnosis was based on prolonged upper abdominal pain associated with a twofold increase of serum lipase, and it was confirmed by imaging techniques. According to the Atlanta criteria, 15 patients had severe illness and 23 had mild disease.

Serum beta 2-microglobulin in chronic diseases of the pancreas.

Elevated serum concentrations of beta 2-Microglobulin (beta 2-MG) has been reported in a variety of chronic diseases and solid tumors. We determined serum beta 2-MG concentrations in 140 subjects divided into five groups: group 1, 34 patients with proven chronic pancreatitis, 8 of whom were studied during a painful relapse; group 2, 40 patients with pancreatic cancer staged according to the Cubilla-Fitzgerald classification; group 3, 40 healthy subjects; group 4, 10 patients with digestive nonpancreatic carcinomas; group 5, 16 patients with benign digestive nonpancreatic diseases. Serum soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) was also determined in all patients with pancreatic diseases as an index of immune system activation.

[Clinical and immunologic test of the activity of a polymicrobial vaccine in patients with chronic bronchitis during a flare-up].

The authors evaluated the effect of an orally administered polymicrobial vaccine in a group of chronic bronchitis patients in order to assess its efficacy in preventing recurrent infections and as adjuvants during minor acute episodes. Compared to the control group, vaccinated patients had 1) a reduced number of flare-ups, and these were less severe and symptoms were improved; II) lymphocyte phenotype was not altered in any of the patients but nevertheless the response to skin tests for delayed sensitivity was improved in the vaccinated patients only; III) more rapid symptomatic improvement of flare-ups. The authors stress the improvement of cell-mediated lymphocyte function as a result of vaccination, probably due to macrophage activation and with resulting improvement of the clinical course of the bronchial disorder.