Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0008031 (chest pain)
 17,248 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory response, probably to a range of initiating causes. Chronic infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae (C.pn) has been suggested as one cause, but the nature of the association is controversial, in large part due to lack of an identified mechanism to link infection with the atherosclerotic process in man. This study examined 139 consecutive subjects with stable chest pain, with the aim of correlating the serological status of C.pn infection with the pattern of secretion of cytokines from CD4(+) T lymphocytes. C.pn seropositive subjects secreted significantly more interleukin (IL)-4 than did those who were C.pn seronegative (P = 0.02). No significant difference was noted for secreted interferon (IFN)-gamma. The amount of secreted IL-4, but not of secreted IFN-gamma, correlated positively with the extent of coronary artery disease (P = 0.006). A similar correlation with secreted IL-4 was not identified with Helicobacter pylori infection. These results support the hypothesis that C.pn infection contributes to the inflammatory process responsible for coronary artery atherosclerosis. The method used to detect cytokine secretion involves ligation of CD40L on blood CD4(+) T cells, which may have relevance to tissue events.
 ...
PMID:Chronic Chlamydia pneumoniae infection may promote coronary artery disease in humans through enhancing secretion of interleukin-4. 1703 70

CD40-CD40L interaction plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease. The clinical predictive value of Soluble CD40 Ligand (sCD40L) was evaluated in patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) and Non-Cardiac Chest Pain (NCCP). The levels of serum soluble CD 40 ligand were measured by ELISA in 485 patients admitted to emergency care unit, of which 89 patients were diagnosed as NCCP. The levels of sCD40L were significantly increased in patients with ACS when compared to controls and NCCP. Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) Curve analysis showed sCD40L to be a good discriminator between patients with ischemic heart disease and patients without ischemic heart disease. The area under the curve was found to be 0.940 with 95% CI (0.915 to 0.960) (P<0.0001). The cut off value from the ROC curve was 2.99 ng/ml, above which sCD40L was considered to be positive. Combined assessment of sCD40L, Troponin I and CK-MB enhanced the risk prediction and early classification of patients. sCD40L seems to be a promising biomarker for identification and risk stratification for patients with acute coronary syndrome.
 ...
PMID:Increased serum concentrations of Soluble CD40 Ligand as a prognostic marker in patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome. 2310 40