Activities of matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 7 and α1-proteinase inhibitor were measured in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Correlations between enzyme activity and the main parameters of carbohydrate metabolism were studied. In patients, significant reduction of matrix metalloproteinase activity in the serum was noted, which correlated with the decrease in blood concentration of C-peptide (r=0.8). At the same time, serum activity of α1-proteinase inhibitor increased. No significant relationships between patient's age, glucose concentration, fructosamine concentration, and matrix metalloproteinase activity were observed.
We studied the peculiarities of lipid spectrum of the blood and structural reorganization of the myocardium in experimental hypercholesterolemia with and without hypothyroidism. It was found that alimentary hypercholesterolemia accompanied by elevated total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, and triglyceride concentrations led to a decrease in body weight, heart weight, number of cardiomyocytes in the heart and induced pronounced lytic changes in cardiomyocytes, circulation disorders (sludge syndrome, echinocytosis of erythrocytes, lymphostasis), diffuse fibrosis of the stroma, and appearance of foam cells among diffuse mononuclear infiltrate cells. The combination of hypercholesterolemia with hypothyroid status caused more pronounced changes in the lipid spectrum and atherogenic index and more pronounced lytic and necrobiotic changes in cardiomyocytes. These findings suggest that elevated cholesterol concentrations in the blood, especially against the background of suppressed thyroid function, can directly induce considerable damage to cardiomyocytes, intramural vessels, and erythrocytes without the development of myocardial ischemia and in the absence of atherosclerotic plaques.
High-density lipoproteins in vitro captured by resident liver macrophages (Kupffer cells) are rapidly degraded in secondary lysosomes, but their protein components are not hydrolyzed completely. Immunological properties of apolipoprotein A-I secreted back to the incubation medium are completely preserved. This process is accompanied by enhanced production of apolipoprotein E by Kupffer cells and is markedly promoted by hydrocortisone.
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