hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2). Disequilibrium between ROS production and inactivation leads to oxidative stress. ROS also cause injury to the basic cell structures. They readily react with macromolecules, such as lipid, protein and DNA molecules, which results in degradation of cell membranes and excessive activation or inactivation of enzymes. The ultimate ef

Visfatin is a new adipokine involved in several processes. The data concerning visfatin in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is small. To assess visfatin serum concentration and to study its association with biochemical and morphological features in CHC. Seventy nonobese patients with CHC (Group 1) confirmed by the presence of serum hepatitis C virus (HCV)-RNA and 20 healthy volunteers (Group 2), similar in age and BMI with normal fasting glucose and lipid profile were included. Visfatin was significantly increased in Group 1 compared with Group 2 (55.6 +/- 23.1 vs 23.7 +/- 3.8 ng/mL; P < 0.001). Visfatin was negatively associated with necro-inflammatory activity grade (r = -0.36; P = 0.007). The lowest levels were found in patients with the most advanced inflammation: grades 3-4 - 46.8 +/- 17.1, grade 2 - 52.6 +/- 18.4 and grade 1 - 75.2 +/- 27.6 ng/mL; P = 0.017. A significant difference was also shown comparing patients with minimal inflammatory activity to the rest of the cohort (P = 0.009). Visfatin receiver operating characteristic curve analysis for different necro-inflammatory activity - grade 1 vs grades 3-4 with area under the curve 0.81 indicated a good discriminant power for differentiation of moderate/severe inflammation, with the cut-off set at 57.6 ng/mL (sensitivity 75%, specificity 90%, positive predictive value 0.90, negative predictive value 0.75). Serum visfatin concentration increases significantly in CHC patients. These findings suggest that visfatin is important in the pathogenesis of the inflammatory process in CHC. Visfatin may play a dual role as a pro-inflammatory or/and protective factor. The measurement of visfatin serum concentration may serve as an additional tool in distinguishing more advanced grades of the necro-inflammatory activity.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection results in upregulation of sPECAM-1 and sVCAM-1. sPECAM-1 levels are related to necroinflammatory activity and may also identify patients with advanced fibrosis. The sPECAM-1 value was decreased by therapy but its measurement cannot predict therapy outcome and confirm HCV persistence. sPECAM-1 may influence VCAM-1 expression.

3D echocardiography is applicable in the assessment of both preserved and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. This assessment is fast and requires minimal user intervention. 3D strain may help in cardiac resynchronization therapy candidates and response assessment. After cardiac resynchronization, none of the patients were incorrectly identified as responder to cardiac resynchronization therapy by 3D algorithms compared to 2D Simpson's reference.

HF and is considered one of key contraindications to orthotopic heart transplant (OHT). 2,9 Reversing increased pulmonary capillary pressure represents a therapeutic challenge, which would make OHT-a final resolution of congestive HF-possible. There have been few studies that analyzed the impact of CF-LVAD implantation on pulmonary pressure and resistance. Some authors INTRODUCTION A constant increase in the number of patients with end-stage heart failure (HF) and a shortage of heart donors worldwide implies a wider use of mechanical circulatory support, mainly continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (CF-LVADs).

The ascending aorta dilatation in the bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) patients is often attributed to congenital abnormalities of the aortic wall, but it may be related to hemodynamic disturbances in the course of BAV disease. At present, ascending aortic diameter is used as almost sole but weak predictor of aortic dissection and rupture in BAV. We examined the association between aortic wall mechanics and severity of aortic valve disease including different cusps fusion patterns using conventional echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI). We prospectively studied 106 BAV patients: 72 with right-left (R-L) coronary cusp fusion were matched 1:1 to 34 patients with right-noncoronary (R-N) cusp fusion obtaining 34 pairs of patients. Peak systolic radial velocity and acceleration of the ascending aortic wall, measured by TDI, were used as an index of hemodynamic stress imposed on the aorta. Paired analysis showed higher aortic wall radial velocity (4.71 ± 1.61 cm/s vs. 3.33 ± 1.44 cm/s, p = 0.001) and acceleration (1.08 ± 0.46 m/s 2 vs. 0.80 ± 0.34 m/s 2 , p = 0.

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