Publications by authors named "Dijana Travica Samsa"

Exercise has many beneficial effects for our body, but can become detrimental at high intensity, especially for our immune system. Little is known about the underlying mechanism of impaired immune functionality under conditions of intense physical strain. Freedivers, people who dive to high depths on a single breath, perform extreme exercise under anaerobic conditions.

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Classical risk factors for endothelial dysfunction (ED), such as age, gender, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, and smoking history are utilised for the Framingham score and Systemic Coronary Risk Estimation (SCORE) for evaluation of the 10-year cardiovascular risk in routine practice. Nonetheless, pro-inflammatory mediators are deeply involved in the initiation and the progression of ED and coronary artery disease (CAD), and act additionally or independently of metabolic factors before clinical manifestations of the disease appear. C-reactive protein, a marker of intimal thickening of the myeloid-related protein 8/14 heterodimer, monocyte chemotactic protein 1, interleukin-15, the cytotoxic mediator, granulysin, and the matrix metalloproteinase 9 could be valuable, single, fast, and non-invasive laboratory tools for ED deterioration degree assessment.

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Article Synopsis
  • Perforin is a quick-acting protein in immune cells that signals death to infected or abnormal cells, and its role in heart diseases like atherosclerosis is not well-studied.
  • This study aimed to examine perforin levels in blood lymphocytes after acute myocardial infarction, comparing groups treated for STEMI and NSTEMI with healthy controls.
  • Findings showed a decrease in perforin-positive lymphocytes in STEMI patients after treatment, while NSTEMI patients had elevated levels, suggesting different inflammatory responses and the potential anti-inflammatory effects of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
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