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Introduction: Psoriasis is a chronic, recurrent, inflammatory skin disorder with systemic involvement. It has recently been established that psoriasis is associated with an increased cardiovascular risk. Chronic skin-specific inflammation may promote atherosclerosis. Myocardial infarction or stroke can also be a result of underlying haemostasis disorders. Disorders in fibrinolysis and thrombosis in patients with psoriasis have been observed by many authors., Aim: This study points to the key role played by the tissue factor (TF) and tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) in the extrinsic pathway of blood coagulation and the potential influence of microvascular disorders in inflamed psoriatic skin on TF and TFPI activity., Material and Methods: The study included 47 patients with active psoriasis vulgaris, hospitalized in the Dermatological Ward of the Regional Specialist Hospital, Research and Development Centre in Wroclaw, as well as 18 people from the control group., Results: There were significant differences in the blood concentrations of TF and TFPI in patients with psoriasis when compared to the control group. A low TFPI concentration in psoriatic patients may indicate an increased risk of atherosclerosis. Interpretation of a decreased level of TF in patients with psoriasis is difficult because it seems to be at odds with observations among patients with other atherosclerosis risk factors such as hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, diabetes or smoking., Conclusions: It appears that further studies are necessary to explain this problem, perhaps to include an evaluation of TF levels in psoriatic skin., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright: © 2019 Termedia Sp. z o. o.)

Background/aim: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) constitute a sub-population of tumor cells that possess stem cell properties, such as self-renewal and the ability of differentiation. The presence of CSCs is associated with metastatic potential, treatment resistance and poor patient prognosis. Recently, aberrant expression of P-element induced wimpy testis proteins-PIWI (HIWI and HILI) has been identified in various types of tumors. The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical significance of the HIWI and HILI expression and its relationship with cancer stem cells markers in 72 patients with colorectal carcinoma (CRC)., Materials and Methods: The expression level of HIWI and HILI and cancer stem cells markers in paired cancerous and non-cancerous tissues was measured by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. Immunohistochemistry was performed to confirm the observed changes on mRNA level and detect tissue localization of PIWI proteins., Results: Significantly higher mRNA levels of HIWI and decreased HILI mRNA were measured in colorectal cancer tissues compared to corresponding non-cancerous samples. The changes in HIWI mRNA level in cancer tissues were correlated with OCT4 expression. Positive correlations between HILI level and SOX2 were also observed in cancerous tissues., Conclusion: Our results indicate a reciprocal regulation between HIWI, HILI and some CSCs markers in colorectal cancer., (Copyright© 2015 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.)

Despite advances in medicine and biological sciences the cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are still a major cause of morbidity and mortality in societies around the world. It is therefore necessary to improve the treatment methods used so far, to look for new therapeutic targets and specific, clinically useful biomarkers. Classic research related to the circulatory system are primarily concerned with histopathological descriptions of pathophysiological processes, and mapping the structure and expression of genes involved in the development of cardiovascular diseases. This information, however, does not fully explain the molecular basis of the CVD occurrence. That gap between traditional research in the pathophysiology field and the latest knowledge at the DNA level is effectively filled in by proteomics, the science dealing with the structure and function of the human proteome. This article presents main directions of the proteomics development in explaining pathomechanisms of formation and diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases and atherosclerosis accounting for the latest integrated research methods including techniques for protein and peptide fractionation, mass spectrometry and protein arrays.

Background: Tissue factor (TF), tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) present in vascular structures take part in blood coagulation and in organ revascularisation. The concentration of thrombin-antithrombin complexes (TAT) in blood of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) reflects thrombin-generation., Aim: To determine the concentration of TF, TFPI, VEGF-A and TAT complexes in blood of patients with AAA and to consider if these factors after clot formation can play a role in the pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysms., Methods: Forty eight patients (43 men and 5 women) in the age of 59-80 (mean 72) years with AAA were examined. The blood was drawn in the morning to 3.2% natrium citrate in proportion 9:1. The concentration of TF, TFPI, VEGF-A and TAT complexes were measured in plasma with commercial kits using enzyme immunoassay., Results: In plasma of patients with AAA the mean concentration of TF was elevated almost twice and TAT complexes were three times higher compared with controls. But the mean levels of TFPI and VEGF-A were similar as in control group., Conclusions: Increased concentrations of TF and TAT complexes indicate on high thrombin-generation, hypercoagulability and formation in abdominal aortic aneurysm of intraluminal thrombus, which can induce proteolytic processes in aortic wall.