Protein oxidation in a group of subjects with metabolic syndrome.

Aims: To examine the protein oxidation, marker of the oxidative stress, in metabolic syndrome (MS).

Methods: We enrolled 106 subjects (45 women and 61 men) with MS of which 43 (14 women and 27 men) were with diabetes mellitus and 63 (31 women and 32 men) were without diabetes mellitus, and 54 subjects (19 women and 35 men) as control group. The protein oxidation, expressed as carbonyl groups, was measured by an enzyme-like immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit (BioCell PC test kit, Enzo Life Sciences AG, Switzerland).

Erythrocyte deformability and nitric oxide metabolites in athletes before and after a cardiopulmonary test.

Objective: To evaluate erythrocyte deformability, nitric oxide metabolites, and their modifications induced by exercise in athletes who practised different sports.

Design: This evaluation was effected before and after cardiopulmonary test, using a cycloergometer.

Setting: The study was performed in the Department of Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular and Renal Diseases of the University of Palermo.

Relationship between elastase and total antioxidant status in young subjects with recent myocardial infarction.

In a group of young subjects with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) (68 men and 7 women; mean age 39.6+/-5.7 years) we examined the plasma concentration of elastase, the thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) and the total antioxidant status (TAS) at the initial stage of AMI.

Polymorphonuclear leukocyte membrane fluidity and cytosolic Ca2+ concentration in subjects with vascular atherosclerotic disease subdivided according to its extent.

An abnormal activation state of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) plays a key role in organ injury induced by vascular atherosclerotic disease (VAD) and diabetes mellitus (DM). PMN membrane fluidity and cytosolic Ca2+ content can be considered markers of PMN activation. In this research we evaluated the PMN membrane fluidity and cytosolic Ca2+ content in VAD subjects with and without type 2 DM and examined the association between these parameters and the mono- or polyvascular localization.