Publications by authors named "G Leftheriotis"
Article Synopsis
- Chronic kidney disease (CKD) leads to increased vascular calcification, and low levels of inorganic pyrophosphate, a natural inhibitor of calcification, have been found in hemodialysis patients.
- A mouse model was created to study CKD-related vascular calcification and the effects of oral pyrophosphate supplementation.
- The study found that oral pyrophosphate given for 6 months reduced vascular calcification in CKD-affected mice, suggesting it could be a potential preventive treatment for CKD patients.
Article Synopsis
- Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is a rare genetic disease that leads to calcification in the arteries of young individuals, requiring complex multi-organ analysis or genetic testing for diagnosis.
- Researchers developed a new method to accurately measure plasma inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi) levels in PXE patients and identified a cutoff value that enhances diagnosis.
- In a study involving 153 PXE patients, they found that lower PPi levels (average of 0.92 µmol/L) compared to non-PXE patients (1.61 µmol/L) were strongly associated with PXE, indicating that plasma PPi measurement could be a reliable blood test for diagnosing this condition.
Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is an autosomal-recessively inherited multisystem disease. Mutations in the ABCC6-gene are causative, coding for a transmembrane transporter mainly expressed in hepatocytes, which promotes the efflux of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This results in low levels of plasma inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi), a critical anti-mineralization factor.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAtherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by the accumulation of lipids in the vessel wall, leading to the formation of an atheroma and eventually to the development of vascular calcification (VC). Lipoproteins play a central role in the development of atherosclerosis and VC. Both low- and very low-density lipoproteins (LDL and VLDL) and lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)) stimulate, while high-density lipoproteins (HDL) reduce VC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF(1) Background: Transcutaneous oxygen pressure (TcpO) is used to determine the severity of lower extremity arterial disease (LEAD). Many authors used a ratio of limb to chest TcpO, also called the regional perfusion index (RPI), which should be independent of variations in oxygen delivery and reflective of local limb oxygen supply. The relevance of a reference probe-positioned TcpO electrode is debated.
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