Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0162871 (abdominal aortic aneurysm)
 8,664 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The basic feature in the pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is the degradation of extracellular matrix components. This process is induced partly by cytokines secreted from inflammatory and mesenchymal cells. Circulating levels of inflammatory cytokines were studied in AAA patients and compared with subjects suffering from atherosclerotic disease only. Furthermore, the predictive value of cytokine concentrations was evaluated for aneurysm expansion rate. Circulating levels of interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta), interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) were measured in 50 AAA patients (40 men, 10 women), 42 patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) (23 men, 19 women), and 38 controls whose angiogram was normal (17 men, 21 women). No differences in cytokine concentrations were found between the CHD patients and the controls. AAA disease was found to be associated with significantly higher IL-1 beta and IL-6 concentrations in both male patients (median concentrations of 19.40 pmol/L and 6.45 pmol/L, respectively) and female patients (19.26 pmol/L and 7.99 pmol/L) than in either the CHD patients or the controls (P < .005). TNF-alpha levels were slightly higher in the AAA patients (1.64 pmol/L in the males and 1.59 pmol/L in the females) than in the other groups (P < .05). IFN-gamma levels were elevated significantly in the female AAA patients (3.75 pmol/L) compared with levels found in the other female (P < .05) or male (P < .01) patient groups. The measured cytokine concentrations were not related to the size of the aneurysm or the maximal thickness of the thrombus within the aneurysm. IFN-gamma concentration showed a significant positive correlation to the aneurysm expansion (R = .37, P < .02) and negative correlation to the concentration of aminoterminal propeptide of type III procollagen during 6-month follow up (R = -.42, P < .005). The results show that circulating levels of inflammatory cytokines are elevated in patients with AAA disease, suggesting that the production of these cytokines is increased in these patients compared with CHD patients and controls. Elevated INF-gamma concentrations seem to predict an increased rate of expansion in AAA.
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PMID:Elevated circulating levels of inflammatory cytokines in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm. 940 64

Circulating levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF- alpha) are elevated in the patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). We investigated TNF- alpha expression and cellular infiltration in the walls of AAAs of different sizes. Twenty-seven surgical specimens of AAAs were categorized according to the maximum aneurysm diameter into a small size group (less than 50 mm in diameter, n = 8; S group), a medium-sized group (50 to 59 mm in diameter, n = 11; M group), and a large size group (larger than 59 mm in diameter, n = 8; L group). The level of TNF- alpha and interleukin-1 beta(IL-1 beta) in the aneurysm wall was measured by ELISA. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to observe the TNF- alpha expression and the infiltration of macrophages and lymphocytes in aneurysm walls. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed that the level of TNF- alpha in the S group (5.47 +/- 3.48 pg/mg protein) was significantly higher ( p < 0.05) than that in the M group (2.70 +/- 1.33 pg/mg protein) or the L group (1.82 +/- 1.21 pg/mg protein). No significant difference in IL-1 beta was observed between the S, M, and L groups. Immunohistochemical analysis also showed that TNF- alpha was expressed strongly in the S group but was negative or weakly positive in the M and L groups. Furthermore, the expression of TNF- alpha was seen mainly where the aneurysm wall showed atheromatous change and macrophage infiltration. These results indicated that the expression of TNF- alpha in the aneurysm wall was enhanced in small AAAs, and this enhancement might be related to the infiltration of macrophages.
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PMID:Enhanced tumor necrosis factor- alpha expression in small sized abdominal aortic aneurysms. 1265 96