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Background: Atherogenesis is mainly determined by endothelial dysfunction, lipid metabolism disorders and inflammation. The atherogenesis-related inflammatory process is a complex interaction between serum blood lipoproteins, inflammatory cells, endothelial and smooth muscle cells and extracellular matrix; the role of chronic inflammation in atherogenesis was proposed., Material and Methods: A pathogenetic role of polymorphism in NF-kB pathway genes in coronary artery disease and associated pathological conditions has been suggested in a case-control retrospective study. 260 coronary artery disease patients permanently living in a large industrial region of Russian Federation (Kemerovo region) were recruited in the study. We examined nine single nucleotide polymorphisms in IL18, IL18R1 and IL18RAP genes by polymerize chain reaction; and serum blood level of IL18 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay., Results: Polymorphic variants rs13015714 (IL18R1) and rs917997 (IL18RAP) are associated with the risk of myocardial infarction and high serum levels of IL18. Minor alleles of rs13015714 and rs917997 sites are associated with high risk of developing multifocal atherosclerosis and arterial hypertension in patients with stable coronary artery disease after myocardial infarction., Conclusions: Thus, polymorphism in the genes of IL18 receptor is determine the IL18 contents and important in the development of coronary atherosclerosis, associated pathological conditions and the risk of acute coronary events; prospective monitoring of patients with early clinical signs of adverse events is required to confirm the role of IL18, IL18R1, and IL18RAP genes polymorphism in atherogenesis.

Infective endocarditis is a serious inflammatory disease associated with damage of heart valves and other parts of endocardium. This study included 91 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of «infectious endocarditis» and hospitalized at the Research Institute of Complex Problems of Cardiovascular Disease (Kemerovo, Russia) from 2010 to 2015. The determination of the spectrum of microorganisms in the samples of patients' peripheral blood was carried out using the PCR method using reagents produced by Lyteh Ltd. (Moscow, Russia) allowing detect Staphylococcus spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus agalacticae, Enterobacter spp., Klebsiella spp., Proteus spp., Haemophilus influenza, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium in the samples of biological material. Statistical analysis was performed in the StatSoft STATISTICA 10 software. 83.5% of patients were characterized by presence Staphylococcus spp. in the peripheral blood; the other pathogens were detected much less often (from six cases of enterococci detection to one case of Streptococcus agalacticae and Proteus spp.). In nine patients, none of the analyzed pathogens was detected, and a number of patients were characterized by the simultaneous presence of several pathogens. There was no reliable data on the difference in microflora structure depending on sex, drug addiction, the type of infective endocarditis and the damaged valve. It was established that the results of PCR of peripheral blood samples and microbiological examination of the tissues of damaged valves that were removed during cardiac surgery, differ significantly. The obtained results testify to the need for more in-depth studies including PCR analysis of peripheral blood samples, flushing from damaged valves, and also homogenized valve tissue samples, which will allow us to obtain more detailed data and conclude that PCR can be used as a diagnostic test for early detection microbiological agent as causative., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Atherosclerosis, manifesting itself as acute coronary syndrome, stroke, and peripheral arterial diseases, is a chronic progressive inflammatory disease which is driven by responses of both innate and adaptive immunity. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells-1 (TREM-1) are important effectors of the innate immune system, and polymorphisms within genes encoding them may increase risk of occurrence of various pathologies including cardiovascular disorders. Thus, we carried out a genetic association study on the sample of 702 consecutive Caucasian (Russian) patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and 300 age-, sex-, and ethnicity-matched healthy controls. We revealed that the C/C genotype of the TLR1 rs5743551 polymorphism was significantly associated with a reduced risk of CAD according to the recessive model (OR=0.41, 95% CI=0.20-0.84, P=0.017, adjusted by age and gender). Concerning TREM-1 gene polymorphisms, we found that A/A genotype of the rs2234237 polymorphism, the G/G genotype of the rs6910730 polymorphism, the C/C genotype of the rs9471535 polymorphism, and the T/T genotype of the rs4711668 polymorphism were significantly associated with elevated CAD risk according to the recessive model (OR=5.52, 95% CI=1.17-25.98, P=0.011; OR=4.28, 95% CI=1.09-16.81, P=0.021; OR=5.55, 95% CI=1.18-26.09, P=0.011, and OR=1.66, 95% CI=1.10-2.52, P=0.014, respectively, adjusted by age and gender). Conversely, the G allele of the rs1817537 polymorphism, the T allele of the rs2234246 polymorphism, and the T allele of the rs3804277 polymorphism significantly correlated with similarly decreased risk of CAD according to the dominant model (OR=0.57, 95% CI=0.40-0.81, P=0.0013; OR=0.59, 95% CI=0.42-0.84, P=0.003, and OR=0.58, 95% CI=0.41-0.81, P=0.0014, respectively, adjusted by age and gender). We conclude that certain TLR and TREM-1 gene polymorphisms may be associated with CAD in Russian population; however, their significance as predictive and pathogenic markers of CAD should be interpreted with caution in other populations., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)