Hospital-based screening outperforms primary care screening as a means of achieving hepatitis C virus micro-elimination.

Aim: To assess the respective performances of a HCV screening program in a hospital setting and a HCV screening model applied concomitantly in a primary care centre.

Methods: Adult patients consecutively admitted to hospital for ambulatory surgery were screened for anti-HCV antibodies (hospital screening cohort, HPSC), as were patients receiving blood tests for medical reasons in a primary care centre (primary care screening cohort, PCSC). Serum anti-HCV and HCV RNA levels were tested by ELISA and real-time PCR, respectively.

Circulating bone morphogenetic protein 8A is a novel biomarker to predict advanced liver fibrosis.

Background & Aims: Advanced hepatic fibrosis is the main risk factor of liver-related morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic liver disease. In this study, we assessed the potential role of bone morphogenetic protein 8A (BMP8A) as a novel target involved in liver fibrosis progression.

Methods: Histological assessment and BMP8A expression were determined in different murine models of hepatic fibrosis.

Sleep apnea-COPD overlap syndrome is associated with larger left carotid atherosclerotic plaques.

Background: Little is known about whether the overlap syndrome (OS) combining features of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome increases the risk of stroke associated with COPD itself.

Methods: We prospectively studied 74 COPD patients and 32 subjects without lung disease. Spirometry and cardiorespiratory polygraphy were used to assess the pulmonary function of the study population and ultrasound measurements of intima media thickness (IMT) as well as the volume of plaques in both carotid arteries were also evaluated.

Mitochondrial respiratory chain activity is associated with severity, corticosteroid response and prognosis of alcoholic hepatitis.

Background And Aims: Little is known about the extent of mitochondrial respiratory chain (MRC) activity dysfunction in patients with alcoholic hepatitis (AH). We aimed to assess the hepatic MRC activity in AH patients and its potential impact on the severity and prognosis of this life-threatening liver disease.

Methods: MRC complexes were measured in liver biopsies of 98 AH patients (non-severe, 17; severe, 81) and in 12 histologically normal livers (NL).

Bone morphogenetic protein 2 is a new molecular target linked to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with potential value as non-invasive screening tool.

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the commonest cause of chronic liver disease worldwide, being non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) its most clinically relevant form. Given the risks associated with taking a liver biopsy, the design of accurate non-invasive methods to identify NASH patients is of upmost importance. BMP2 plays a key role in metabolic homeostasis; however, little is known about its involvement in NAFLD onset and progression.

Increased Oxygen Desaturation Time During Sleep Is a Risk Factor for NASH in Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Introduction: Given that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is commonly associated with metabolic disorders, in this prospective study, we sought to determine the prevalence and risk factors for hepatosteatosis, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and advanced liver fibrosis in patients with clinical and polygraphic criteria of OSA ( = 153) and in subjects with normal lung function parameters (NLP, = 43).

Methods: Hepatosteatosis, NASH, and advanced liver fibrosis were determined by blood-based non-invasive tools, such as the fatty liver index and the hepatic steatosis index, a serum lipidomic (OWLiver™) test, and three distinct fibrosis algorithms, respectively. Logistic regression models adjusted by potential confounders were performed to evaluate risk factors.

Lipocalin-2 deficiency or blockade protects against aortic abdominal aneurysm development in mice.

Aims: To study the role of lipocalin-2 (Lcn2) and the effect of Lcn2 blockade via anti-Lcn2 antibody in the development of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).

Methods And Results: Expression mRNA and protein levels of Lcn2 and its human orthologue neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) in aortic wall samples from experimental mouse and human AAA samples, respectively, were analysed by real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry. Experimental AAA was induced by aortic elastase perfusion in wild-type mice (WT) and Lcn2-deficient mice (Lcn2-/-).

Galectin-3, a biomarker linking oxidative stress and inflammation with the clinical outcomes of patients with atherothrombosis.

Background: Galectin-3 (Gal-3) participates in different mechanisms involved in atherothrombosis, such as inflammation, proliferation, or macrophage chemotaxis. Thus, there have been committed intensive efforts to elucidate the function of Gal-3 in cardiovascular (CV) diseases. The role of Gal-3 as a circulating biomarker has been demonstrated in patients with heart failure, but its importance as a biomarker in atherothrombosis is still unknown.

Erythrocytes, leukocytes and platelets as a source of oxidative stress in chronic vascular diseases: detoxifying mechanisms and potential therapeutic options.

Oxidative stress is involved in the chronic pathological vascular remodelling of both abdominal aortic aneurysm and occlusive atherosclerosis. Red blood cells (RBCs), leukocytes and platelets present in both, aneurysmal intraluminal thrombus and intraplaque haemorraghes, could be involved in the redox imbalance inside diseased arterial tissues. RBCs haemolysis may release the pro-oxidant haemoglobin (Hb), which transfers heme to tissue and low-density lipoproteins.

Cell stress proteins in atherothrombosis.

Cell stress proteins (CSPS) are a large and heterogeneous family of proteins, sharing two main characteristics: their levels and/or location are modified under stress and most of them can exert a chaperon function inside the cells. Nonetheless, they are also involved in the modulation of several mechanisms, both at the intracellular and the extracellular compartments. There are more than 100 proteins belonging to the CSPs family, among them the thioredoxin (TRX) system, which is the focus of the present paper.

HSP90 inhibition by 17-DMAG attenuates oxidative stress in experimental atherosclerosis.

Aims: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) participate in atherogenesis through different mechanisms including oxidative stress and inflammation. Proteins implicated in both processes, such as mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) and some NADPH oxidase (NOX) subunits, are heat shock protein-90 (HSP90) client proteins. In this work, we investigated the antioxidant properties of the HSP90 inhibitor, 17-dimethylaminoethylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-DMAG) in experimental atherosclerosis.