Elevated Microparticle Tissue Factor Activity Is Associated With Carotid Artery Plaque in HIV-Infected Women.

Background: Expression of tissue factor (TF) on the surface of activated monocytes may trigger thrombosis, leading to clotting risk, inflammation, and atherosclerosis. TF-positive microparticles (MP-TF) represent a functionally active form of TF that may be promulgated by long-term HIV infection. We hypothesized that greater MP-TF activity is associated with carotid artery plaque in HIV+ women.

Midlife blood pressure, plasma β-amyloid, and the risk for Alzheimer disease: the Honolulu Asia Aging Study.

β-Amyloid (Aβ), a vasoactive protein, and elevated blood pressure (BP) levels are associated with Alzheimer disease (AD) and possibly vascular dementia. We investigated the joint association of midlife BP and Aβ peptide levels with the risk for late-life AD and vascular dementia. Subjects were 667 Japanese-American men (including 73 with a brain autopsy), from the prospective Honolulu Heart Program/Honolulu Asia Aging Study (1965-2000).

Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (Darc) polymorphism regulates circulating concentrations of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and other inflammatory mediators.

To identify the genetic basis of circulating concentrations of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), we conducted genome-wide association analyses for MCP-1 in 3 independent cohorts (n = 9598). The strongest association was for serum MCP-1 with a nonsynonymous polymorphism, rs12075 (Asp42Gly) in DARC, the gene for Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines, a known vascular reservoir of proinflammatory cytokines (minor allele frequency, 45.6%; P < 1.