Preliminary report: circulating levels of the adipokine vaspin in gestational diabetes mellitus and preeclampsia.

The objective of the study was to investigate serum levels of the insulin-sensitizing adipokine vaspin in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and preeclampsia (PE) as compared with healthy controls of similar gestational age. Vaspin serum levels were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in control (n = 102), GDM (n = 40), and PE (n = 22) subjects. Median maternal vaspin concentrations were not significantly different in GDM, PE, and control subjects.

Fibrosis rather than blood pressure determines cardiac BNP expression in mice.

Background: Since first reports demonstrated interactions between the natriuretic peptide (NPS) and renin-angiotensin system (RAS), our experiments should clarify whether cardiac brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is regulated in mice genetically altered for components of the RAS.

Methods And Results: The study was carried out in hypotensive AT1- and angiotensinogen (ANG)-, and normotensive AT2-knockout mice, and in hypertensive animals overexpressing ANG and wildtype controls of each genotype. Ventricular BNP expression was analyzed by RNase-protection assay (RPA) (n=6).