The organization of an educational program for specialists in clinical chemistry by the Greek Society of Clinical Chemistry-Clinical Biochemistry.

In Greece, there is no officially organized training in clinical chemistry for scientists. The Greek Society of Clinical Chemistry-Clinical Biochemistry decided to organize an intensive educational program of 18 seminars on clinical chemistry content as it is described in the EC4 Syllabus. The duration of each seminar was about 6 hours and consisted of 6 to 9 lectures.

The Greek way to the Register: the establishment and operation of the Register for Clinical Chemists-Clinical Biochemists in Greece.

In Greece, there is no officially organized training in clinical chemistry for scientists. The Greek Society of Clinical Chemistry-Clinical Biochemistry (GSCC-CB), following the encouragement of the EC4/RC decided to organize a voluntary Register for specialists in clinical chemistry. The following criteria for registration were defined: 1) University degree in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Medicine, Pharmacy or other relevant subject.

Promoter methylation status of hMLH1, MGMT, and CDKN2A/p16 in colorectal adenomas.

Aim: To investigate aberrant DNA methylation of CpG islands and subsequent low- or high-level DNA microsatellite instability (MSI) which is assumed to drive colon carcinogenesis.

Methods: DNA of healthy individuals, adenoma (tubular or villous/tubulovillous) patients, and colorectal carcinoma patients who underwent colonoscopy was used for assessing the prevalence of aberrant DNA methylation of human DNA mismatch repair gene mutator L homologue 1 (hMLH1), Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (CDKN2A/p16), and O-6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT), as well as their relation to MSI.

Results: The frequency of promoter methylation for each locus increased in the sequence healthy tissue/adenoma/carcinoma.

Analysis of the composition of plasma lipoproteins in patients with extensive coronary heart disease using 1H NMR spectroscopy.

Introduction: Alterations in the lipid composition and overall structure of plasma lipoproteins have been correlated with pathological situations such as dyslipidaemia, coronary heart disease (CHD), hypertension, and renal disease. In the present study 1H NMR spectroscopy was used to analyse the lipid composition of HDL and nonHDL lipoproteins in patients with triple vessel CHD and in patients with normal coronary arteries.

Methods: Serum samples were collected from 50 patients with triple vessel CHD and 41 patients with normal coronary vessels, both documented angiographically.

Antirestenotic effects of a novel polymer-coated d-24851 eluting stent. Experimental data in a rabbit iliac artery model.

Experimental and clinical data suggest that stents eluting antiproliferative agents can be used for the prevention of in-stent restenosis. Here we investigate in vitro the antiproliferative and apoptotic effect of D-24851 and evaluate the safety and efficacy of D-24851-eluting polymer-coated stents in a rabbit restenosis model (n = 53). Uncoated stents (n = 6), poly (DL: -lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA)-coated stents (n = 7), and PLGA-coated stents loaded with 0.

Evaluation of tubulointerstitial lesions' severity in patients with glomerulonephritides: an NMR-based metabonomic study.

An 1H NMR-based metabonomic approach was used to investigate the correlation of histopathologically assessed tubulointerstitial lesions with the urinary metabolite profile in 77 patients with glomerulonephritides submitted to renal biopsy. The presence of renal damage was predicted with a sensitivity of 96% and a specificity of 99%. Patients with mild, moderate, and severe tubulointerstitial lesions were progressively differentiated from the healthy individuals in the Orthogonal Signal Correction Partial Least-Squares-Discriminant Analysis (OSC/PLS-DA) models with a statistically significant separation between those with mild and with severe lesions.

Excess body weight and risk of first-ever acute ischaemic non-embolic stroke in elderly subjects.

In a population-based case-control study we assessed the association between obesity and acute ischaemic/non-embolic stroke. A total of 163 patients aged older than 70 years (88 men and 75 women) admitted due to a first-ever-in-a-lifetime acute ischaemic/non-embolic stroke and 166 volunteers (87 men and 79 women) without a history of cardiovascular disease were included. The association of stroke with body mass index (BMI) or waist circumference (WC) was determined by multivariate logistic regression modelling after adjusting for potential confounding factors.

Gender-related and age-related urinalysis of healthy subjects by NMR-based metabonomics.

NMR-based metabonomic analysis is a well-established approach to characterizing healthy and diseased states. The aim of this study was to investigate inter-individual variability in the metabolic urinary profile of a healthy Greek population, not subjected to strict dietary limitations, by NMR-based metabonomics. The overall metabonomic urinalysis showed a homogeneous distribution among the population.

Diarrheic shellfish poisoning due to toxic mussel consumption: the first recorded outbreak in Greece.

During the week of 14-20 January 2000, 120 people visited the Emergency Departments of hospitals in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, complaining of acute gastrointestinal illness after eating mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis). The symptoms indicated diarrhoeic shellfish poisoning, and the toxicity of mussels harvested from Thermaikos Gulf in Thessaloniki during the outbreak was investigated using mouse bioassays. The bioassays revealed toxicity to mice by the mussel samples; while high numbers of toxic algae Dinophysis acuminata were identified in water samples from Thermaikos Gulf.

High prevalence of elevated liver enzymes in blood donors: associations with male gender and central adiposity.

Objective: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is an increasingly recognized condition, but its exact prevalence is unknown. In this prospective, multicenter study, we evaluated the prevalence of elevated alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase levels as indirect markers of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in volunteer blood donors as well as their associations with epidemiological and anthropometrical characteristics.

Methods: Alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase levels were determined in blood donors from four transfusion centers during the morning sessions of a 3-month period.

Natural course of autoimmune thyroiditis after elimination of iodine deficiency in northwestern Greece.

We have previously reported the elimination of iodine deficiency and increasing prevalence of autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) among schoolchildren in northwestern Greece. This study followed up 29 children (12-18 years old) with AIT for 5 years to track its course in the postiodination era. At diagnosis, thyroid peroxidase autoantibodies (TPOAbs) were positive in 25 children (86%) and became positive in all children during follow-up.

Serum uric acid levels and risk for acute ischaemic non-embolic stroke in elderly subjects.

Background: Elevated serum uric acid (SUA) levels have been proposed as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality. Recent evidence suggests that treatments with a hypouricaemic action have a favourable effect on CV event prevention.

Objectives: The association between SUA and acute ischaemic/non-embolic stroke was assessed in a population-based case-control study in the prefecture of Ioannina, Epirus, Greece.

Starting with rosuvastatin in primary hyperlipidemia--Is there more than lipid lowering?

The authors investigated the effects of rosuvastatin, beyond its lipid-lowering activity, on several nonlipid metabolic variables, along with its safety and tolerability, in patients treated for primary hyperlipidemia. Patients (n = 55) with primary hyperlipidemia were open-label assigned to the recommended starting dose of rosuvastatin 10 mg/day, and serum metabolic variables were measured at baseline and after 8 and 20 weeks. Treatment with rosuvastatin produced significant reductions in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), apolipoprotein B, nonhigh-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non HDL-C), and triglyceride concentrations, whereas HDL-C, apolipoprotein A-I, and lipoprotein(a) levels did not change significantly from baseline.

Serum interleukin (IL)-1, IL-2, sIL-2Ra, IL-6 and thrombopoietin levels in patients with chronic myeloproliferative diseases.

A number of growth factors are involved in clonal haematopoietic expansion and their clinical significance in patients with chronic myeloproliferative diseases requires further evaluation. Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, we analysed serum levels of interleukin (IL)-1a, IL-1b, IL-2, IL-6, the soluble IL-2 receptor alpha (sIL-2Ra), and thrombopoietin (TPO), in 25 individuals with myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia (MMM), 40 with essential thrombocythaemia (ET), eight with polycythaemia vera (PV), 10 patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) and 27 normal controls. These were correlated with clinicopathological characteristics including overall survival, and histopathological bone marrow features, including angiogenesis.

Components of the metabolic syndrome and risk for first-ever acute ischemic nonembolic stroke in elderly subjects.

Background And Purpose: Metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) represents a constellation of lipid and nonlipid risk factors for cardiovascular disease and is a recognized target for increased behavioral therapy.

Objective: The association between acute ischemic/nonembolic stroke and the MetSyn in elderly individuals was assessed in a population-based case-control study in the prefecture of Ioannina, Greece.

Study Population: A total of 163 patients aged older than 70 years admitted with first-ever-in-a-lifetime acute ischemic/nonembolic stroke and 166 controls were included.

Serum leptin and erythropoietin during menstruation.

Objective: The potential influence of leptin and erythropoietin on the angiogenesis and bleeding of the endometrium during normal menstrual cycles and possible correlations between them.

Study Design: Serum concentrations of leptin and erythopoietin were measured at menstrual days 20, 1 and 3 or 4 in healthy, non-obese, normal menstruating women.

Results: Mean leptin and erythropoietin concentrations showed no significant alteration over time (F = 0.

Evaluation of methods for the measurement of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

A high concentration of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in plasma is one of the strongest risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and mortality. The most common approach to determining LDL-C in the clinical laboratory is the Friedewald calculation. There is an increased interest to improve the accuracy of LDL-C estimated by this equation.

Risk factors for first-ever acute ischemic non-embolic stroke in elderly individuals.

Background: Stroke is a leading cause of mortality and subsequent serious long-term physical and mental disability among survivors. In the elderly, ischemic stroke accounts for more than 80% of all strokes.

Objectives: To identify major risk factors for a first-ever acute ischemic/non-embolic stroke in individuals older than 70 years.

Relation between leptin and cortisol values in umbilical vessels at normal vaginal delivery.

To study the role of various hormones in the control of fetal leptin secretion during labour, 33 pregnant women with normal singleton term pregnancy were recruited. At the time of spontaneous vaginal delivery, a venous blood sample was taken from the women together with a venous and an arterial cord blood sample. In all blood samples, leptin, cortisol, prolactin and progesterone were measured.

Content of the HMG-17 chromosomal protein in porcine tissues.

HMG-17 proteins are nucleosomal proteins, implicated in control of chromatin structure and transcription, in a way that has not yet been fully understood. In this report, quantification of HMG-17 in porcine tissues was performed, by ELISA, using previously produced and characterized specific rabbit anti-HMG-17 antibodies. Our results showed high levels of HMG-17 compared to the DNA and H1 content of the tissues (on the contrary to previous reports), and more specifically that there were 1.

Effects of statin treatment on uric acid homeostasis in patients with primary hyperlipidemia.

Background: Epidemiologic studies have shown that serum uric acid is a risk factor of coronary artery disease. In addition to fenofibrate, there is some evidence that atorvastatin may have a hypouricemic action, but the underlying mechanisms remain speculative.

Methods: This randomized trial was conducted to investigate the effects of atorvastatin and simvastatin on uric acid homeostasis in patients treated for primary hyperlipidemia.

Evaluation of alternative calculation methods for determining low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in hemodialysis patients.

Objectives: To evaluate alternative equations for the estimation of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) than the Friedewald equation in hemodialysis patients.

Design And Methods: The equations LDL-C = 0.41TC - 0.

Calcium levels during the initiation of labor.

Objective: To investigate the physiological role of calcium in the labor process.

Study Design: Eighty-eight term healthy pregnant women who gave birth to normal healthy neonates participated in our study. We compared calcium levels between pregnant women who had normal delivery and those who underwent scheduled cesarean section.