Methods Cross-sectional study of patients with SLE. Demo-graphics, coronary risk, disease activity and inflammatory markers were studied. The diagnosis of MS was established with the NHLBI/AHA criteria. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 20.0 software and a P value<0.05 was considered significant. Results 126 patients with SLE, 107 women (84%) and 19 men (15%), age 41±13 years old and disease duration 9±7 years. The prevalence of MS was 33.3%. No association was found with age, education level, smoking or steroid use in patients with MS. In multivariate analysis only elevated eryth-rocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) had a statistical significance (p=0.012). Positive association was found between higher values of ESR and hypertriglyceridemia (p=0.0002), body mass index (p=0.0043) and lower levels of HDL and C3 (p=0.0152). Conclusions The prevalence of MS in our population (33%) was higher than reported in the SLICC registry (15%). The association of metabolic and inflammatory characteristics increases cardiovascular risk by a proinflamatory state. The results suggest the need for early diagnosis and treatment of MS to reduce cardiovascular comorbidity in patients with SLE. Background and aims Vitamin D deficiency is common in women living near to equatorial line. Deficiency of vitamin D could lead to more severe manifestation of autoimmune disease , it may accelerate complication in atherosclerosis cardio-vascular disease.

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In a series of pediatric patients with difficult airways, the ILA was successfully used as a conduit for tracheal intubation in all patients. Visualization techniques may offer a greater degree of success in intubations through the ILA due to the potential for epiglottic down-folding in children.

Hypercholesterolemia is one of the most important risk factors for development of cardiovascular diseases. The composition of gut microbiota (total microbes residing in the gut) impacts on cholesterol and lipid metabolism. On the contrary, alterations in gut microbiota in response to hypercholesterolemia or drug treatment with atorvastatin (a cholesterol-lowering agent) are rarely investigated. We performed 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing to evaluate the gut bacterial community of 15 untreated hypercholesterolemic patients (HP) and 27 atorvastatin-treated hypercholesterolemic patients (At-HP) and compared with 19 healthy subjects (HS). In total, 18 different phyla were identified in the study groups. An increase in relative abundance of Proteobacteria was observed in the HP group compared with At-HP and HS groups. The atherosclerosis-associated genus Collinsella was found at relatively higher abundance in the HP group. The anti-inflammation-associated bacteria (Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Akkermansia muciniphila, and genus Oscillospira) were found in greater abundance, and proinflammatory species Desulfovibrio sp. was observed at decreased abundance in the drug-treated HP group compared with the untreated HP group. Relative abundances of the Bilophila wadsworthia and Bifidobacterium bifidum (bile acid-associated species) were decreased in the At-HP group. The At-HP and HS clustered separately from HP in the principal coordinate analysis. Decreased bacterial diversity was observed in the atorvastatin-treated group. In conclusion, these data suggest that atorvastatin treatment of patients with hypercholesterolemia may selectively restore the relative abundance of several dominant and functionally important taxa that were disrupted in the HP. Further studies are required to investigate the putative modifying effects of hypocholesterolemic drugs on functionality of gut microbiota, and the potential downstream effects on human health.