Increased susceptibility to oxidation of low-density lipoproteins isolated from patients with systemic sclerosis.

Objective: To examine the resistance to oxidation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) from patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and primary Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) compared with healthy controls.

Methods: Plasma LDL were isolated from patients with diffuse cutaneous and limited cutaneous SSc (dcSSc and lcSSc, respectively), patients with primary RP, and healthy control subjects. The lipoproteins were assessed for their resistance to oxidation in the presence of cupric ions, using spectrophotometric assays.

Parathyroid hormone-related protein: a possible endocrine function in lactation.

Objective: Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP), initially discovered as the factor responsible for the syndrome of humoral hypercalcaemia of malignancy, has also been found to be expressed in placenta, in pregnant uterus, in the fetus at many locations, and in the lactating mammary gland. This study sought to establish whether PTHrP reaches the maternal circulation when it is expressed in mammary tissue during lactation or in the maternal reproductive tract during gestation.

Design: Blood samples were collected from 53 subjects: 18 pregnant women in all stages of gestation, 19 lactating mothers and 16 non-lactating post-partum controls.