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Background: The aim of this study, performed in outpatients, is to evaluate, using echo color Doppler examination, atherosclerotic lesions of extracranial carotid arteries in subjects with bilateral, and monolateral dolichoarteriopathies., Methods: A total of 316 subjects, 77 with bilateral and 239 with monolateral dolichoarteriopathies, were studied. Patients were divided into: 79 subjects without cardiovascular risk factors and 237 subjects with cardiovascular risk factors (98 with arterial hypertension alone, 85 with arterial hypertension associated with other cardiovascular risk factors, 54 with hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, cigarette smoking, alone or associated). Myointimal thickness, as a mean of 5 measurements at common carotid level, 2-3 cm from flow-divider and plaques as a focal thickness =/> 2 mm, were evaluated., Results: In 77 patients with bilateral dolichoarteriopathies, compared to 239 patients with monolateral dolichoarteriopathies, there were no differences in myointimal thickening, and in the prevalence of carotid plaques; no difference was observed between sexes. Both in subjects with and without cardiovascular risk factors myointimal thickness and carotid plaques didn't show any significant differences in bilateral compared with monolateral dolichoarteriopathies., Conclusions: In conclusion, bilateral, compared with monolateral, dolichoarteriopathies of the carotids, do not seem to be a consequence of atherosclerotic lesions.

In our study cortisol and interleukin 2 (IL-2) levels were measured and lymphocyte sub-population analyses were performed on blood samples collected every four hours, for 24 hours from 10 healthy subjects aged 38-65 years. A clear circadian rhythm was validated for cortisol serum levels, for CD8, CD8 dim, CD16 and delta TcS1 with acrophase in the morning, and for CD2, CD4, CD/CD8 ratio, HLA-DR, CD20 and CD25 with acrophase at night. CD8 bright and TcR delta 1 presented higher levels in the morning without validation of the circadian rhythm. Changes of serum levels of IL-2 did not show circadian rhythmicity. The results show that specific lymphocyte subsets present different profiles of nyctohemeral changes and this may explain time related variations of immune responses.

Diabetic nephropathy affects a subset of about 40% patients with Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM); it also develops in a less defined percentage (30-50%) of patients with non Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (NIDDM), after a period of 15-20 years. It is usually divided in 5 stages: the first 3 are characterized by renal hypertrophy and increased glomerular filtration surface area (I stage) followed by glomerular histological lesions (II stage) and early nephropathy with microalbuminuria (III stage). At these stages nephropathy is still reversible by medical treatment (ACE inhibitors) and good metabolic control. Aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of duplex sonography with Doppler wave form analysis in the evaluation of early diabetic nephropathy, in order to detected patients at risk for irreversible renal disease. Fifteen patients (10 males and 5 females) aged 28-46 years, affected by IDDM were studied; 15 healthy subjects (7 males and 8 females) aged 20-45 years composed the control group. All of them underwent duplex Doppler sonography of kidney; a scanner with a 3.5 MHz transducer (Toshiba 270 SSA) was used. All patients had renal function tests within normal range. Pulsatily Index (P.I.) and Resistive Index (R.I. of Doppler waveform were obtained at the interlobar arteries; the average value of 3 bilateral measurements was taken. Doppler sonography was done by the same authors without knowledge of the patient group (case or control). Both indexes (P.I. and R.I.) resulted to have higher values in patients with IDDM compared to controls: P.I. = 1.46 +/- 0.30 vs. 1.07 +/- 0.06, p < 0.05; R.I. = 0.77 +/- 0.09 vs 0.60 +/- 0.03, p < 0.05. Even if our data have to be confirmed by further studies, they suggest that duplex Doppler sonography may be a useful complementary test in the evaluation of diabetic nephropathy, even in the early stages.