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Query: UMLS:C0004153 (atherosclerosis)
 77,401 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Magnesium is an important element for health and disease. Magnesium, the second most abundant intracellular cation, has been identified as a cofactor in over 300 enzymatic reactions involving energy metabolism and protein and nucleic acid synthesis. Approximately half of the total magnesium in the body is present in soft tissue, and the other half in bone. Less than 1% of the total body magnesium is present in blood. Nonetheless, the majority of our experimental information comes from determination of magnesium in serum and red blood cells. At present, we have little information about equilibrium among and state of magnesium within body pools. Magnesium is absorbed uniformly from the small intestine and the serum concentration controlled by excretion from the kidney. The clinical laboratory evaluation of magnesium status is primarily limited to the serum magnesium concentration, 24-hour urinary excretion, and percent retention following parenteral magnesium. However, results for these tests do not necessarily correlate with intracellular magnesium. Thus, there is no readily available test to determine intracellular/total body magnesium status. Magnesium deficiency may cause weakness, tremors, seizures, cardiac arrhythmias, hypokalemia, and hypocalcemia. The causes of hypomagnesemia are reduced intake (poor nutrition or IV fluids without magnesium), reduced absorption (chronic diarrhea, malabsorption, or bypass/resection of bowel), redistribution (exchange transfusion or acute pancreatitis), and increased excretion (medication, alcoholism, diabetes mellitus, renal tubular disorders, hypercalcemia, hyperthyroidism, aldosteronism, stress, or excessive lactation). A large segment of the U.S. population may have an inadequate intake of magnesium and may have a chronic latent magnesium deficiency that has been linked to atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, hypertension, cancer, kidney stones, premenstrual syndrome, and psychiatric disorders. Hypermagnesemia is primarily seen in acute and chronic renal failure, and is treated effectively by dialysis.
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PMID:Magnesium metabolism in health and disease. 328 51

Although the frequency of cardiovascular disease is declining, it remains a major present and future threat to health in the United States. The deleterious effects of abnormal blood lipid concentrations have long been recognized, but the benefit of corrective intervention in this process has only recently been demonstrated. We review the major lipid abnormalities and the available clinical therapeutic interventions. In addition, we discuss data that address the premise that reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol or raising high-density lipoprotein cholesterol should decrease the progression of coronary atherosclerosis, and we summarize drug trials in which clofibrate, niacin, cholestyramine, and gemfibrozil decreased coronary heart disease events. Studies that used cholestyramine and the combination of colestipol and niacin resulted in decreased progression of coronary artery disease. On the basis of early experience with lovastatin, inhibitors of hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase are likely to be effective in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. The available information on the association of low cholesterol levels and cancer suggests that low total cholesterol is a consequence rather than a cause of carcinoma. Current data strongly support the concept of vigorous intervention directed at management of lipids, both with non-pharmacologic treatment and with drug therapy, for the primary and secondary prevention of coronary atherosclerosis.
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PMID:Management of lipids in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases. 328 24

Heart transplantation represents a widely accepted therapeutic modality for patients with end-stage myocardial failure. With increasing experience, 1-year survival rates of over 75% and 5-year survival rates of over 60% have been achieved, mainly due to patient selection, standardized surgical techniques as well as improved postoperative management. During early follow-up, particular attention should focus on diagnosis and treatment of graft rejection and infection, which require individualized immunosuppression, while in the later postoperative course coronary atherosclerosis, hypertension, chronic renal insufficiency and malignancy become more important as potential complications. The general principles in the management of these patients are discussed.
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PMID:[Heart transplantation--postoperative management]. 330 15

Anaerobiospirillum succiniciproducens is a motile, spiral anaerobic bacterium with bipolar tufts of flagella. Reports of clinical illness due to A. succiniciproducens are rare. In a retrospective review of anaerobic isolates referred to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from January 1, 1975, through January 31, 1986, isolates of A. succiniciproducens from the blood of 21 patients were identified. A single patient whose blood isolate had not been received at CDC was included in the review. These 22 patients were from 15 states. Their mean age was 58.6 years. Underlying disorders included alcoholism, atherosclerosis, malignancy, surgery, diabetes mellitus, and dental caries. Clinical features included gastrointestinal tract signs and symptoms in 17 (77%) of 22, fever greater than 38 degrees C in seven (37%) of 19, and leukocytosis of more than 10,000 cells/mm3 in 11 (58%) of 19. Although 16 patients received antimicrobial therapy, its effect on outcome was unclear. A. succiniciproducens was reported to have contributed to the deaths of seven patients. Disorders predisposing patients to anaerobic infections may put them at increased risk for A. succiniciproducens bacteremia. The presence of antecedent gastrointestinal tract signs and symptoms suggests that the gastrointestinal tract might be the primary portal of entry.
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PMID:Bacteremia with Anaerobiospirillum succiniciproducens. 332 22

Although genetic factors may be essential in only a fraction of common cancers, it is important to identify individuals who merit genetic evaluation. The occurrence of cancer in an individual under one of the following circumstances may indicate an increased susceptibility to malignancy as a result of predisposing factors: cancer in both of paired organs, thought not to be the result of metastasis; more than one focus of cancer in a single organ (multifocal tumors); histologically similar malignant neoplasms in different parts of the same organ system; two histologically distinct cancers (multiple primary malignancies); cancer at an atypical age; at an atypical site; in the usually less often affected sex; associated with birth defects; associated with precursor lesions; in a person with immunodeficiency; or in a patient with one of the 200 Mendelian disorders where cancer is part of the clinical picture or a frequent complication. At risk are first-degree relatives of people who meet any of the above criteria. Also, a person should be considered at risk if two first-degree relatives had any form of cancer. A strategy to control cancers utilizing genetic knowledge should include such measures as: genetic counseling of individuals at risk for specific cancers because of a congenital or genetic disease in themselves or their relatives, or because of the pattern of cancer occurrence in the family; prenatal diagnosis for families with genetic conditions that predispose to cancer and are amenable to prenatal testing; surveillance of high-risk individuals to detect early manifestations of new or recurrent disease; prophylactic removal of the target organ or tissue in appropriate cases; limiting exposure of high-risk individuals to known carcinogens or supplementing diets of high-risk individuals with anticarcinogens; and educational and administrative measures to promote practical application of genetic knowledge and to increase awareness of genetic factors in the etiology of cancer. Far from all individuals who are exposed to carcinogenic factors contract cancer, and in another common disease, atherosclerosis, it is well known that there is genetically determined variation in response to environmental or lifestyle factors that can cause disease. The emerging fields of human ecogenetics and predictive testing together with research progress in medical and molecular genetics are likely to improve greatly the possibilities for utilizing genetic knowledge to control cancer.
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PMID:Strategies to control cancer through genetics. 333 97

Tobacco sterols (cholesterol, beta-sitosterol, campesterol, and stigmasterol) are present in tobacco smoke and appear in plasma of mammals exposed to cigarette smoke. Because tobacco sterols may be important in the pathogenesis of smoking-induced lung and vascular diseases, we studied the pattern of deposition of cigarette sterols in the lungs and appearance of cigarette sterols in plasma and body organs of rats. After exposure to twenty 5 ml "puffs" of smoke from tobacco labeled with [4-14C]cholesterol or beta-[4-14C]sitosterol, rats were killed just after exposure (day 0) and on days 2, 5, 8, 11, 15, and 30, and the lungs and selected body organs analyzed for activity. We found that cigarette sterols are associated with particulates in cigarette smoke, deposited mostly in distal airspaces and parenchyma of the lungs, and appear in plasma and several body organs for more than 30 days after this single exposure to cigarette smoke. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid contained relatively small amounts of radiolabel for only the first few days, suggesting that most of the sterols were rapidly incorporated in lung parenchyma. Because disorders of sterol metabolism have been implicated in a variety of diseases including atherosclerosis and cancer, the significance of tobacco sterols to human smoking-induced diseases deserves further study.
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PMID:Inhaled tobacco sterols: uptake by the lungs and disposition to selected organs of rats. 339 25

Selenium concentrations have been measured in plasma and in blood leucocytes from 29 haemodialysis patients and from 25 healthy men. The selenium contents of the plasma and white blood cells of the dialysis patients were significantly reduced (p less than 0.001). Selenium deficiency in humans results in a congestive cardiomyopathy and is associated with increased risks of accelerated atherosclerosis and cancer. Each of these is found with abnormal frequency in haemodialysis patients.
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PMID:Reduced plasma and white blood cell selenium levels in haemodialysis patients. 359 19

Cancer was diagnosed in 15 patients among 300 consecutive patients with intermittent claudication. The cancer-associated claudication is characterized by a more accelerated course of claudication, more often requires vascular surgery, and moreover, the lasting relief of claudication depends upon the efficiency of cancer therapy. It is the authors' impression that cancer-associated claudication is predetermined by atherosclerosis and aggravated by cancer through the chronic hypercoagulability state secondary to neoplasm. The clinical picture is characterized by rapid progression, with the frequent necessity of vascular surgery for limb salvage and a higher incidence of graft occlusion. Awareness of this possibility of hidden malignancy may be related to the clinical picture of hemodynamic deterioration of the underlying arterial insufficiency. A high index of suspicion leads to earlier diagnosis of neoplasm. Effective oncologic therapy will often bring the symptomatic relief of ischemic symptoms in the lower extremities. This report indicates that associated neoplasm has a more vicious course of the underlying arterial insufficiency and intermittent claudication.
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PMID:Intermittent claudication associated with cancer--case studies. 366 9

The variation in background radiation levels is an important source of information for estimating human risks associated with low-level exposure to ionizing radiation. Several studies conducted in the United States, correlating mortality rates for cancer with estimated background radiation levels, found an unexpected inverse relationship. Such results have been interpreted as suggesting that low levels of ionizing radiation may actually confer some benefit. An environmental factor strongly correlated with background radiation is altitude. Since there are important physiological adaptations associated with breathing thinner air, such changes may themselves influence risk. We therefore fit models that simultaneously incorporated altitude and background radiation as predictors of mortality. The negative correlations with background radiation seen for mortality from arteriosclerotic heart disease and cancers of the lung, the intestine, and the breast disappeared or became positive once altitude was included in the models. By contrast, the significant negative correlations with altitude persisted with adjustment for radiation. Interpretation of these results is problematic, but recent evidence implicating reactive forms of oxygen in carcinogenesis and atherosclerosis may be relevant. We conclude that the cancer correlational studies carried out in the United States using vital statistics data do not in themselves demonstrate a lack of carcinogenic effect of low radiation levels, and that reduced oxygen pressure of inspired air may be protective against certain causes of death.
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PMID:Altitude, radiation, and mortality from cancer and heart disease. 368 64

Inbred mouse strains AKXL-38 and AKXL-38a are congenic strains that differ at the Ah locus, a gene which affects the inducibility of the cytochrome P-450 enzymes. The Ah-responsive strain, AKXL-38a, is more susceptible to 3-methylcholanthrene-induced tumors than the Ah-nonresponsive strain, AKXL-38. We previously reported that 3-methylcholanthrene (MC) increased the number and the size of atherosclerotic lesions in a dose-dependent fashion. We now demonstrate that the effect of MC is greater in Ah-responsive mice than in Ah-nonresponsive mice indicating that Ah-responsive mice not only are more susceptible to MC-induced cancer but also are more susceptible to MC-enhanced atherosclerosis. Mice that received atherogenic diet for 14 weeks but no MC had 1.3-1.4 lesions/mouse regardless of genetic type. When mice were treated with MC, the number of lesions increased to 2.1 +/- 0.1 (SE) in Ah-nonresponsive mice, 2.6 +/- 0.2 in Ah-responsive mice, and 2.3 +/- 0.2 in the F1 hybrid. The total area involved in lesions was 9.3-12.6 micron2 in untreated animals. When mice were treated with MC, the total lesion area increased to 23.5 +/- 5.2 micron2 in Ah-nonresponsive mice, to 43.9 +/- 6.6 micron2 in Ah-responsive mice, and to 36.2 +/- 4.8 micron2 in F1 hybrids. Thus MC increased the lesion area in both strains of mice, but the increase was significantly greater in Ah-responsive than in Ah-nonresponsive animals. High density lipoprotein levels were not significantly affected by MC treatment or Ah genotype. In order to determine whether the increased susceptibility to MC-induced atherosclerosis segregated with the Ah gene, AKXL-38 and AKXL-38a mice were mated and the F1 progeny were backcrossed to the Ah-nonresponsive parent. Backcross progeny were tested for Ah genotype by zoxazolamine sleeping time. Measurements of lesions showed that increased susceptibility to MC-enhanced atherosclerosis segregated with the Ah locus.
Cancer Res 1986 Jul
PMID:Effect of 3-methylcholanthrene on atherosclerosis in two congenic strains of mice with different susceptibilities to methylcholanthrene-induced tumors. 370 65


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