Subclinical atherosclerosis and impaired bone health in patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome: prevalence, clinical and laboratory associations.

Introduction: To determine the prevalence and clinical/laboratory associations of subclinical atherosclerosis and impaired bone health in primary Sjogren's syndrome (SS).

Methods: 64 consecutive patients with primary SS, 77 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 60 healthy controls (HC) οf similar age and sex distribution were enrolled. Demographics, clinical/laboratory features, classical risk factors for atherosclerosis and osteoporosis (OP) were recorded.

Role of the hematopoietic cytokines SCF, IL-3, GM-CSF and M-CSF in the diagnosis of pancreatic and ampullary cancer.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated altered levels of hematopoietic cytokines in the serum of patients with different types of cancer.

Methods: We measured the serum levels of the hematopoietic cytokines stem cell factor (SCF), interleukin 3 (IL-3), macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) and granulocyte-macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in 40 pancreatic and ampullary cancer patients and 40 healthy volunteers, using ELISA. We also assessed the most widely used pancreatic tumor markers, carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), in both groups.

Circulating lymphangiogenic growth factors in gastrointestinal solid tumors, could they be of any clinical significance?

Metastasis is the principal cause of cancer mortality, with the lymphatic system being the first route of tumor dissemination. The glycoproteins VEGF-C and VEGF-D are members of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family, whose role has been recently recognized as lymphatic system regulators during embryogenesis and in pathological processes such as inflammation, lymphatic system disorders and malignant tumor metastasis. They are ligands for the VEGFR-3 receptor on the membrane of the lymphatic endothelial cell, resulting in dilatation of existing lymphatic vessels as well as in vegetation of new ones (lymphangiogenesis).