Serum leptin and cytokines in whole blood in relation to clinical and nutritional status in cystic fibrosis.

Objectives: Leptin plays an important role in the energy balance and may be affected by hormonal and metabolic derangement associated with chronic disease. The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between leptin, proinflammatory cytokines and nutritional status with regard to clinical status in homozygous delta F 508 cystic fibrosis patients.

Methods: Patients with mild (Shwachman score 71-100 points, group A) disease were compared with those with moderate disease (Shwachman score 41-55 points, group B) and age-matched controls (group C, n = 22).

Impact of the SLCO1B1 polymorphism on the pharmacokinetics and lipid-lowering efficacy of multiple-dose pravastatin.

Background And Objective: The polymorphism of SLCO1B1 (solute carrier organic anion transporter family, member 1B1), encoding the hepatic uptake transporter organic anion transporting polypeptide 1B1, has been associated with increased pravastatin concentrations in single-dose studies. We have investigated whether this polymorphism influences the pharmacokinetics and lipid-lowering efficacy of multiple-dose pravastatin.

Methods: A prospective, parallel-group study of 16 healthy volunteers, including 8 carriers of an SLCO1B1 variant haplotype and 8 control subjects, was carried out.

Lipopolysaccharide binding protein, cytokine production in whole blood, and lipoproteins in cystic fibrosis.

According to the endotoxin lipoprotein hypothesis, lipoproteins may down-regulate cytokine production by neutralizing lipopolysaccharide (LPS) binding protein (LBP) complexes. We investigated the correlation between lipoproteins, LBP, cytokine production, and clinical status in Delta F 508 (homozygous) individuals. Cystic fibrosis patients with mild disease were compared with those with more severe disease and age-matched controls.

Cholesterol metabolism in patients with chronic renal failure on hemodialysis.

Premature atherosclerosis is a major concern in patients on chronic dialysis and the identification of risk factors is important for preventive and interventional strategies. Other than the recognized atherogenic lipoprotein levels, little is known about overall cholesterol metabolism in patients on chronic hemodialysis (HD) and the best therapeutic intervention is still being debated. Therefore, we investigated intestinal cholesterol absorption, cholesterol and bile acid synthesis, and non-cholesterol plasma sterols in eight patients on dialysis and compared the results to those of 16 healthy male controls matched for body mass index and dietary cholesterol intake.

[Pleiotrophic effect of statins (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme a reductase inhibitors)].

The development of statins improved the therapy of hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerotic disease tremendously. The beneficial effects of statins were clearly demonstrated in large scale primary and secondary prevention studies. In addition to the reduction of plasma cholesterol, inhibition of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase also results in the depletion of intermediates of cholesterol biosynthesis that are important for cellular integrity.

Comparison of the intestinal uptake of cholesterol, plant sterols, and stanols in mice.

The recent identification of the aberrant transport proteins ABCG5 and ABCG8 resulting in sitosterolemia suggests that intestinal uptake of cholesterol is an unselective process, and that discrimination between cholesterol and plant sterols takes place at the level of sterol efflux from the enterocyte. Although plant sterols are structurally very similar to cholesterol, differing only in their side chain length, they are absorbed from the intestine to a markedly lower extent. In order to further evaluate the process of discrimination, three different sterols (cholesterol, campesterol, sitosterol) and their corresponding 5 alpha-stanols (cholestanol, campestanol, sitostanol) were compared concerning their concentration in the proximal small intestine, in serum, and in bile after a single oral dose of deuterated compounds.

Inhibition of intestinal cholesterol absorption by ezetimibe in humans.

Background: Ezetimibe has been shown to inhibit cholesterol absorption in animal models, but studies on cholesterol absorption in humans have not been performed thus far.

Methods And Results: The effect of ezetimibe (10 mg/d) on cholesterol absorption and synthesis, sterol excretion, and plasma concentrations of cholesterol and noncholesterol sterols was investigated in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study in 18 patients with mild to moderate hypercholesterolemia. Treatment periods lasted 2 weeks with an intervening 2-week washout period.

Pharmacology of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins), including rosuvastatin and pitavastatin.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Western world, with hypercholesterolemia as the major risk factor. The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors represent the most efficient drugsfor the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. They lower plasma cholesterol due to the inhibition of endogenous cholesterol synthesis in the liverand subsequent increased expression of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors, resulting in an up-regulated catabolic rate for plasma LDL.