Novel risk factors for premature peripheral arterial occlusive disease in non-diabetic patients: a case-control study.

Background: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of genetic and environmental vascular risk factors in non diabetic patients with premature peripheral arterial disease, either peripheral arterial occlusive disease or thromboangiitis obliterans, the two main entities of peripheral arterial disease, and to established whether some of them are specifically associated with one or another of the premature peripheral arterial disease subgroups.

Methods And Results: This study included 113 non diabetic patients with premature peripheral arterial disease (diagnosis <45-year old) presenting either a peripheral arterial occlusive disease (N = 64) or a thromboangiitis obliterans (N = 49), and 241 controls matched for age and gender. Both patient groups demonstrated common traits including cigarette smoking, low physical activity, decreased levels of HDL-cholesterol, apolipoprotein A-I, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (active form of B6 vitamin) and zinc.

Coagulopathies frequency in aseptic osteonecrosis patients.

Many risk factors of aseptic osteonecrosis (AO) are well-known, even if 40% of events are idiopathic. Intravascular thrombosis is one of the physiopathological mechanisms of AO. The aim of this study is to determine the influence of coagulopathies on AO set-up.

Anti-endothelial cell autoantibodies and soluble markers of endothelial cell dysfunction in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: To determine if anti-endothelial cell antibodies (AECA) and plasma markers of endothelial cell function are related to disease severity in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: We measured AECA by human umbilical vein endothelial cell binding, endothelial markers von Willebrand factor, soluble thrombomodulin, and soluble E-selectin by ELISA, and disease severity by SLEDAI and SLICC/ACR in 35 patients with SLE.

Results: Despite high levels of IgG AECA (p = 0.

Protein C and protein S assessment in hospital laboratories: which strategy and what role for DNA sequencing?

This paper presents a critical assessment of protein C (PC) and protein S (PS) functional and immunological approaches with regard to DNA sequencing in a large hospital recruitment for thrombosis exploration in more than 1700 consecutive patients. After examination of clinical status and PC and PS phenotype, a genotypic study was implemented for 17 PC-deficient and 28 PS-deficient patients (activity < 70%). Sixty-five percent of the genotyped PC-deficient patients were found to have heterozygous mutations.

Effects of armagnac extracts on human platelet function in vitro and on rat arteriovenous shunt thrombosis in vivo.

Introduction: The "French paradox", a low cardiovascular mortality compared to the prevalent risk factors, has been attributed to the regular use of red wine, and to the polyphenols it contains. These have among other effects an antioxidant and antithrombotic effect. The French paradox is maximal in southwest France, a region which is the region of production of armagnac, an oak cask aged spirit also rich in polyphenols.