Publications by authors named "Carolina Rua"

Background: There is an increasing interest in the study of non-criteria antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) including antibodies targeting domain 1 of the B2 glycoprotein 1 (anti-D1 B2GP1) and antibodies anti phosphatidylserine/ prothrombin (PS/PT).

Objectives: Our aim was to analyze a panel of conventional and non-criteria aPL in a cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and primary antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), to describe if there are differences in aPL titers among groups, to evaluate clinical associations including risk of recurrent events of novel aPL.

Methods: Observational study that evaluated at baseline antibodies against anti-D1 B2GP1 and anti PS/PT.

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Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) lead to a hypercoagulable state in vivo. Paradoxically, some of these autoantibodies perform as inhibitors of the coagulation cascade in vitro (a phenomenon referred to as "lupus anticoagulant"). The presence of lupus anticoagulant has been related to an increased quantity of plasma extracellular vesicles, which may constitute a direct procoagulant mechanism in antiphospholipid syndrome.

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Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by thrombosis and pregnancy morbidity (PM) obstetric events together with persistent high titers of circulating antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL). Several mechanisms that explain the development of thrombosis and PM in APS include the association of aPL with alterations in the coagulation cascade and inflammatory events. Other mechanisms disturbing cellular homeostases, such as mitochondrial dysfunction, autophagy, and cell proliferation, have been described in other autoimmune diseases.

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Objective: To evaluate the aspirin resistance prevalence in patients with previous ischemic cerebrovascular disease undergoing aspirin therapy for secondary prevention.

Materials And Methods: Three hundred fifty patients presenting ischemic strokes and 100 healthy controls under aspirin treatment were evaluated using the optic platelet aggregation test.

Results: Aspirin resistance was found in 7.

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Antiphospholipid syndrome is an autoimmune disease characterized by the persistent presence of antiphospholipid antibodies, along with occurrence of vascular thrombosis and pregnancy morbidity. The variety of antiphospholipid antibodies and their related mechanisms, as well as the behavior of disease in wide groups of patients, have led some authors to propose a differentiation of this syndrome into two independent entities: vascular and obstetric antiphospholipid syndrome. Thus, previous studies have discussed whether specific autoantibodies may be responsible for this differentiation or, in contrast, how the same antibodies are able to generate two different clinical presentations.

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Snake venoms are complex mixtures of proteins among which both basic and acidic phospholipases A(2) (PLA(2)s) can be found. Basic PLA(2)s are usually responsible for major toxic effects induced by snake venoms, while acidic PLA(2)s tend to have a lower toxicity. A novel PLA(2), here named PnPLA(2), was purified from the venom of Porthidium nasutum by means of RP-HPLC on a C18 column.

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