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

The paradoxic biologic behavior of tissue calcium metabolism is emphasized. Although calcium salts are essential for the development of bones, they also contribute to aging of the large human arteries. The heavy elements providing alpha-ray activity tend to be metabolized like calcium. The concept of an osteoporosis-atherosclerosis relationship led to a series of investigations in which ash content and alpha-ray activity were examined in abdominal aortas, coronary arteries, pulmonary arteries and, for comparison, in bones and ventral costal cartilages. Both ash content and alpha-ray activity rise with age in the aorta and in the coronary arteries, but there is no such increase in the pulmonary arteries. A statistically significant correlation between ash content and alpha-ray activity has been found only in aortas and coronary arteries. This correlation is even closer in the coronary arteries of subjects who die of coronary artery disease and in the aortas of the elderly. Wet tissue alpha-ray activity in an aorta with severe atherosclerosis may be 220 times higher than in an aorta without significant atherosclerosis. Alpha-activity in bones and in ventral costal cartilages tends to decline in advancing years, though in the cartilages the calcium deposits increase with age. Our studies reveal a close relationship between atherogenesis and the unique metabolic behavior of alpha-ray radiation in the large human arteries.
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PMID:Metabolic behavior of alpha-ray activity in large human arteries: relationship to atherosclerosis. 84 59

Insufficiencies of the circulatory system and increasing transport losses in pigs as well as analogies with respect to atherosclerosis of men and swine were the motives for a broad statistical investigation of important characteristics of the circulatory system in a big population of female German landrace pigs, fattened as progeny groups under identical conditions in a testing station and slaughtered at 100 kg weight. As the most essential results, highly significant seasonal and genetical influences on several traits are to be mentioned, and some meaningful correlations between them: Plasma cholesterol, ceruloplasmin and hematocrit showed markedly lower levels in the summer and increased values in the cold season; the thickness of the intima (aorta and arteria pulmonalis) was quite distinctly greatest in the spring, this phenomenon being almost exactly paralleled by augmented amounts of copper and iron in the aortic wall. Increased heart weights were again found in the cold, decreased ones in the warm seasons. On average, bigger hearts and vessels were accompanied by higher elastin contents of the aorta, but these contents stood in very significant negative correlation to the ash content and the amounts of certain mineral components (Ca, Mg and P) of the vessel wall, especially to the ash percentage of the elastic fibers. This indicates that calcifying and mineralizing processes in the wall obviously take place at the cost of the elastic components. The estimation of heritabilities in half and full sibs revealed with h2 = 60% high henetic influences on the elastin content of the aorta and equally so on the ash percentage of elastic fibers. Future investigations must correlate these findings with direct measurements of biomechanical and rheological properties of the vessels.
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PMID:[The exogenous and genetic components of some vessel wall characteristics in the pig (author's transl)]. 122 Jun 64

The purpose of our experiments was to clarify the relationship between the susceptibility to atherosclerosis and chemical composition in the human cerebral, coronary arteries and aorta, and the concentration and composition of human arterial intimal elastic tissues were measured. In the cerebral arteries, the concentration of hot alkali-insoluble elastin was higher than that of the coronary arteries and aortas, and gradually decreased with age. Age-related changes of the elastin in the coronary arteries were quite small. The total polar amino acids and crude ash contents of arterial elastins were affected by age and treatment of elastic tissue wheteher or not EDTA-decalcification was applied prior to alkali-extraction. No significant differences in the amino acid composition of elastin was founded between the cerebral, coronary and aortic intimas and no significant changes to elastin, and or collagen, which can explain the slow development of atherosclerosis in the cerebral artery, were founded. Therefore, from these results, the slower development rate of cerebral atherosclerosis, as compared with other arteries, can not be sufficiently concluded.
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PMID:Chemical comparison of intimal elastin in the human cerebral and coronary arteries and aorta. A preliminary note. 123 41

Cardiac enlargement and dysfunction are common in patients with acromegaly. Whether these changes are a direct consequence of growth hormone excess is obscured by the high frequency of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, or atherosclerosis in acromegalic patients. In this study, the effects of chronic elevations of growth hormone (GH) upon the heart were studied in rats with GH-producing tumours implanted subcutaneously for 4 weeks. Geometric measurements and histology were employed to detect the presence of cardiac changes. Increased mass was observed in the tumour-bearing animals. When compared with controls, in tumour-bearing rats there were significantly greater (P less than 0.05) right (0.17 +/- 0.03 v. 0.13 +/- 0.01 g) and left (0.62 +/- 0.05 v. 0.50 +/- 0.04 g) ventricular weights, external cardiac dimensions, and myocardial fibre diameters (9.4 +/- 0.6 v. 8.3 +/- 0.4 micron). However, these increases were linearly-related to increased body mass in the tumour-bearing group so that the ratios of ventricular weights to body weight were similar in both groups. Furthermore, no pathologic changes such as myocardial fibrosis or asymmetric septal hypertrophy were present in the tumour-bearing rats. Thus, under the conditions of this study, growth hormone excess induced cardiac growth, which appeared to represent a manifestation of generalized body growth rather than a distinct pathologic process.
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PMID:Cardiac morphology in rats with growth hormone-producing tumours. 293 34

The purpose of this study was to determine the coexistence of idiopathic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (IHC) and atheromatous coronary artery disease. We studied forty six patients with IHC documented by complete clinical study and also by left heart catheterization. The diagnosis was considered established, when the patient had a significant left intraventricular pressure gradient (LIPG) and by angiographic and or echocardiographic demonstration of systolic anterior movement of the mitral valve and asymmetric septal hypertrophy. In 15 patients a selective coronary angiography was performed because ischemic myocardial disease was suspected. There were eight patients with significant atherosclerotic obstruction (greater than 75% narrowing). There was one vessel disease in 13%, two vessels in 37% and three vessels in 50% of the patients. The LIPG was 43 +/- 20 mmHg, the left ventricular and diastolic pressure (LVEDP) was 18 +/- 11 mmHg in patients with atheromatous disease and there was no significant difference with the patients with normal coronary arteries with LIPG 52 +/- 31 mmHg and LVEDP 21 +/- 9 mmHg. Our data demonstrate that ischemic heart disease in patients with idiopathic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is related not only to increase of the cardiac mass and/or the ventricular wall stress, but in some of them atherosclerosis plays a role in its pathogenesis. Significant differences were found between the aged in both groups. In the patients who had coronary atherosclerosis the mean age was 54 years; on the other hand in the patients with normal coronary arteries the mean age was 44 years. This last fact could explain the high frequency of atherosclerosis in the older patients.
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PMID:[Obstructive hypertrophic myocardiopathy and coronary atherosclerosis]. 294 24

Effects of supplemental dietary calcium and vitamin D on lipid distribution and aortic mineralization were examined in young goats. Twenty-four goats, 2-4 wk of age, were allotted one of four dietary treatments for a 20-wk period and fed a basal milk diet (Basal), a calcium-supplemented diet (Basal + Ca), a cholecalciferol-enriched diet (Basal + D3) or a diet with both calcium and cholecalciferol (Basal + Ca + D3). Goats in the Basal + Ca group had plasma cholesterol concentrations that were 16.6% of those of the Basal group. Percentage absorption and fecal excretion of total lipids were unaffected by dietary treatment. Generally, total lipid and cholesterol concentrations were unaltered in liver, other viscera and carcass tissues. Dietary cholecalciferol increased concentrations of cholesterol and total lipid in aortas, whereas dietary calcium decreased total lipids in aortas. Concentrations of calcium, magnesium and total ash were increased in aortas by dietary treatment, with a marked increase observed in the Basal + Ca + D3 group. Sudan IV and gross calcium staining in aortas revealed both lipid and mineral deposition that confirmed composition data. A high intake of vitamin D accompanied by excessive intake of calcium seems to accelerate the development of atherosclerosis. Supplemental calcium with normal amounts of vitamin D, however, is hypocholesterolemic and seems protective against the atherogenic process.
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PMID:Dietary calcium and vitamin D: risk factors in the development of atherosclerosis in young goats. 396 86

Precipitates of calcium phosphate in coronary arteries always indicate the presence of atherosclerosis. The mass of these precipitates is related to the severity of atherosclerosis. To determine the accuracy of electron beam computed tomographic (CT) mass estimates, we imaged 21 human hearts inside an anthropomorphic chest phantom using an Imatron C-100 electron beam CT scanner (Imatron, San Francisco, CA). We then incinerated the 63 imaged coronary arteries and weighed the mineral ash. We calculated the mass estimates from the images using an algorithm derived from a model that assumes simple radiographic properties of the coronary arteries. We also calculated the currently used coronary calcium score for each artery. Although both the mass estimates and the scores correlated with the actual mass of the incinerated specimens (r = .97 and r = .93), the correlation with the mass estimates was better (P = .02; William's test). The regression equation relating the actual mass to the mass estimates was y = 1.37 x + 14, indicating that the CT mass estimates consistently underestimate actual coronary calcium phosphate mass. We conclude that relative mass estimates using electron beam CT scanning are accurate and that both these and the currently employed calcium scores reflect the actual mass of precipitated calcium phosphate in diseased coronary arteries.
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PMID:Accurate coronary calcium phosphate mass measurements from electron beam computed tomograms. 754 56

The majority of hemodialysis patients die from cardiovascular disease. However, the contribution of myocardial infarction to mortality is relatively minor, despite the fact that coronary artery disease is common in uremic patients. Hypertension seems to be the major risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis in hemodialysis patients, although abnormalities of the lipid spectrum, characterized by an increase in triglycerides and very low density lipoprotein levels and a decrease in high-density lipoprotein levels, are frequent in hemodialysis patients. The existence of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy is a serious risk factor for morbidity and mortality in hemodialysis patients. LV hypertrophy can present as a dilated cardiomyopathy or as concentric or asymmetric septal hypertrophy. Loss of myocardial contractility by coronary artery disease or carnitine deficiency can lead to systolic LV dysfunction with a compensatory dilated cardiomyopathy. Furthermore, the presence of a hypercirculation in uremic patients, resulting from anemia, the arteriovenous fistula, or fluid overload, can also lead to a dilated cardiomyopathy. Systolic LV dysfunction occurs when the increase in LV wall thickness is inadequate for the increase in LV radius, which might be caused by increased levels of parathyroid hormone. LV diastolic dysfunction, resulting from an increase in LV mass due to the effects of hypertension or to uremic interstitial fibrosis, can both lead to pulmonary edema and hypotensive periods during hemodialysis and is a severe risk factor for mortality in hemodialysis patients. Therefore, in uremic patients, anemia should be corrected and hypertension adequately treated early in the development of renal failure. Chronic fluid overload should be prevented by adequate estimation of optimal dry weight.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Cardiovascular aspects in renal disease. 792 20

The main objective of this study was to find out whether the content of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) in plasma cholesteryl-esters (CE) or triglycerides (TG) in parrots might serve as an index of ALA intake. The intake of ALA might be a risk factor for atherosclerosis, but on the basis of the fatty acid composition of seed mixtures the intake is difficult to assess due to selective eating of seeds. Parrots were fed two seed mixtures that differed in ALA content according to a cross over design. The macronutrient composition of the diets supplied differed from that of the diets consumed. The diets consumed had higher levels of dry matter, crude protein, crude fat and energy, and lower levels of crude fibre and crude ash. The ALA content, expressed as g/kg diet, was similar for the diet supplied and that consumed, irrespective of the type of diet. The diets had no systematic effect on plasma lipid concentrations. There were marked differences in plasma cholesterol concentrations between parrot species. When the diet with the low ALA content was fed (0.8% ALA of total fatty acids consumed, 1.1 g ALA/kg of diet consumed), the plasma CE and TG did not contain detectable ALA amounts. When the diet with the high ALA content was fed (4.2% ALA of total fatty acids consumed, 6.1 g ALA/kg of diet consumed), the plasma CE and TG contained about 1% ALA of total fatty acids. It is suggested that the content of ALA in plasma CE and TG might be used as an indicator of ALA intake.
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PMID:Plasma lipids and fatty acid composition in parrots in relation to the intake of alpha-linolenic acid from two feed mixtures. 1613 66

Coronary atherosclerosis is a complex and progressive condition that involves many biological pathways, including the oxidative stress and inflammatory response pathways. To investigate the association between common genetic variation within these two pathways and coronary atherosclerosis, we performed a comprehensive two-stage candidate gene association study in a Chinese Han population. In stage I, 936 tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within 116 candidate genes were genotyped in 293 coronary atherosclerosis cases and 293 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. In stage II, 51 SNPs from stage I were selected and further genotyped in an additional 1030 cases and 764 controls. In allele- and genotype-based association tests of stage II and a meta-analysis across the two stages, we identified three SNPs within three genes significantly associated with the disease, namely rs3212556 in ITGA2 (P(CMH)=9.20 x 10(-5)), rs854563 in PON1 (P(CMH)=1.92 x 10(-4)) and rs9283851 in THBS2 (P(CMH)=3.00 x 10(-3)). Haplotype analysis provided further supporting evidence for the association of rs3212556 (P(global)<10(-4)) and rs854563 (P(global)<10(-4)). Our study has identified three SNPs within ITGA2, PON1 and THBS2 that are associated with coronary atherosclerosis.
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PMID:Common polymorphisms in ITGA2, PON1 and THBS2 are associated with coronary atherosclerosis in a candidate gene association study of the Chinese Han population. 2048 44


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