Effect of anticoagulants on 162 circulating immune related proteins in healthy subjects.

Diagnosis of complex disease and response to treatment is often associated with multiple indicators, both clinical and laboratorial. With the use of biomarkers, various mechanisms have been unraveled which can lead to better and faster diagnosis, predicting and monitoring of response to treatment and new drug development. With the introduction of multiplex technology for immunoassays and the growing awareness of the role of immune-monitoring during new therapeutic interventions it is now possible to test large numbers of soluble mediators in small sample volumes.

[Discontinuation of potentially inappropriate medications at the end of life: perspectives from patients, their relatives, and physicians].

Objective: To obtain insight into the perspectives of patients, relatives and physicians towards potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) at the end of life.

Design: Qualitative interview study.

Method: An analysis of in-depth interviews with 17 patients who were diagnosed as having a life expectancy of less than three months, 12 patient relatives, and 20 medical specialists and 12 general practitioners who cared for them.

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase 677 C/T genotype and cardiovascular disease mortality in postmenopausal women.

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is involved in the reduction of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate to 5-methyltetrahydrofolate. A 677 C/T single nucleotide polymorphism localized in the MTHFR gene is associated with both thermolability and reduced activity of the enzyme and is associated with increased homocysteine levels. The authors investigated the relation between the MTHFR 677 C/T polymorphism and risk of cardiovascular disease mortality in a cohort study of 12,239 women initially aged 52--67 years with a maximum follow-up time of 18 years (1976--1995; 153,732 woman-years of follow-up).

Homozygosity for 807 T polymorphism in alpha(2) subunit of platelet alpha(2)beta(1) is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular mortality in high-risk women.

Background: Platelet adhesion to collagen is the initial step in both hemostasis and thrombosis; this adhesion is mediated by alpha(2)beta(1) on the surface of platelet membranes. An 807 C to T single nucleotide exchange polymorphism close to the gene coding for the alpha(2) subunit of alpha(2)beta(1) is associated with the density of alpha(2)beta(1) on the platelet membrane.

Methods And Results: We studied the relation of the alpha(2)beta(1) 807 C/T genotype to cardiovascular mortality in a prospective cohort study of 12 239 women who were invited for the breast cancer screening program of Utrecht, the Netherlands.