IgG4-related retroperitoneal fibrosis: a newly characterized disease.

Retroperitoneal fibrosis (RPF) is a rare disease characterized by chronic, nonspecific inflammatory and sclerotic or fibrotic tissue in the periaortic or periiliac retroperitoneum that encases adjacent structures. There will be a series of clinical manifestations once the proliferated fibrous tissues encase the abdominal aorta, iliac arteries and urinary duct. RPF is generally divided into two types: idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis (IRPF) without identified pathogenesis, making up about two-thirds of cases, and secondary retroperitoneal fibrosis.

Relationship between uric acid and arterial stiffness in the elderly with metabolic syndrome components.

Background: High uric acid (UA) levels and metabolic syndrome (MS) are risk factors for atherosclerotic diseases. Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) is a valid and reproducible measurement by which to assess arterial stiffness and a surrogate marker of atherosclerosis. However, little is known about the relationship between them, especially in elderly Chinese with MS components who are at high risk for atherosclerotic diseases.

The organ specificity in pathological damage of chronic intermittent hypoxia: an experimental study on rat with high-fat diet.

Purpose: It is known today that sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome and its characteristic chronic intermittent hypoxia can cause damages to multiple organs, including the cardiovascular system, urinary system, and liver. It is still unclear, however, whether the damage caused by sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome and the severity of the damage are organ-specific.

Methods: This research observed the pathological effects of chronic intermittent hypoxia on rat's thoracic aorta, myocardium, liver, and kidney, under the condition of lipid metabolism disturbance, through establishing the rat model of chronic intermittent hypoxia with high-fat diet by imitating the features of human sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome.

[Effects of high-fat plus ethanol diet on myocardial ultrastructure in rats].

Objective: To study the effects of high-fat plus ethanol diet on myocardial ultrastructure in rats.

Methods: 40 male SD rats in seventy-eight-week old were randomly divided into four groups: group A was control group, fed with common feedstuff; group B was high-fat diet group, freely foraging high-fat feedstuff; group C was ethanol group, the rats were intragastrically administered 60% ethanol solution twice a day by 1 ml/kg; group D was high-fat diet and ethanol group, the rats freely foraged high-fat feedstuff, and ethanol solution was intragastrically administered as before. After 12 weeks, blood samples were taken through jugular vein, the concentration of blood cholesterol (TG), triglycerides (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), apolipoprotein A1 (Apo-A1), apolipoprotein B (Apo-B), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin (TBIL) were determined.

An experimental research on chronic intermittent hypoxia leading to liver injury.

Purpose: Sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome and its chronic intermittent hypoxia component may cause multi-system-targeted injury. The latest finding shows that liver is one of the injured organs. The purpose of the study is to observe the dynamic process of the influence that chronic intermittent hypoxia plays on rat liver enzyme, hepatic histology, and ultrastructure based on lipid disorders.

Sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome and liver injury.

Objective: A general review was made of studies involving: (1) the relationship between sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome/sleep apnea style intermittent hypoxia and liver injury and (2) the mechanism that causes the liver injury.

Data Sources: The data used in this review were mainly from Medline and PubMed published in English from 1993 to February 2009. The search term was "sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome".

[A study on non-invasive indexes of atherosclerosis in obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome patients].

Objective: To investigate the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and atherosclerosis through determining flow-mediated dilation (FMD), pulse wave velocity (PWV) and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT).

Methods: FMD, PWV and CIMT were measured in 76 OSAHS patients (68 men/8 women) and 76 control subjects matched for age, sex and body mass index. FMD, PWV and CIMT were compared between the two groups.