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The aim of this study was to detect the concentrations of PCSK9 in various subclinical stages of atherosclerosis and to highlight its relationship with inflammation. One hundred and fifty-nine healthy patients were divided into three groups, based on the extent of atherosclerotic changes in the carotid artery: a group without identifiable atherosclerosis, cIMT>75‰ and an asymptomatic plaque group. The PCSK9 was measured by ELISA and hsCRP by the immunoturbidimetric method. Vascular changes were identified by a carotid ultrasound. PCSK9 was elevated, when comparing the healthy group with the cIMT>75‰ group; however, no significant increase was detected between cIMT>75‰ and the asymptomatic plaque group. A positive linear correlation of the PCSK9 concentration and atherosclerotic changes was found; however, after the re-analysis in each group, this correlation persisted only in the group with still normal values. Additionally, a significant linear correlation was found between the PCSK9 concentrations and lipid parameters. However, no significant association was found with hsCRP. PCSK9 was found to be elevated only in cIMT>75‰, but not in the later plaque stage. A linear correlation of PCSK9 values was detected only in the group with still reference values. Based on this fact, we assumed the direct linear role of PCSK9 in initiating atherosclerosis; however, in the later phases, the relationship, which highlights other risk factors such as inflammation, is not linear.

This study aimed to compare the plasma levels of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2), hemopexin (Hpx), and interleukin-4 (IL-4) in patients with carotid artery atherosclerosis based on neurological symptoms and plaque histopathology and to find association between plaque stability and neurological symptoms. This single-center study included patients treated surgically for significant stenosis of the internal carotid artery. Serum levels of biomarkers were determined, and a histopathological analysis of the carotid plaques was performed. Within 70 patients, 40 asymptomatic and 30 symptomatic; 38 patients (54.3%) were diagnosed with unstable carotid plaque and 32 patients (45.7%) had a stable carotid plaque. Significantly higher incidence of unstable carotid plaque was detected in symptomatic patients (p

Arteria mesenterica superior pseudoaneurysm is a rare disease that may be caused by iatrogenic damage to the superior mesenteric artery pseudoaneurysm in pancreaticoduodenal surgeries, trauma, inflammatory processes in the abdominal cavity. The paper presents a case report of surgical treatment for arteria mesenterica superior pseudoaneurysm. Surgical resection of superior mesenteric artery pseudoaneurysm was performed. The patient’s postoperative course was complicated by arteria mesenterica superior occlusion; arterial reconstruction was performed :iliaco-mesenteric bypass using the great saphenous vein with subsequent segmental resection of the jejunum. A research case study indicated the complexity of the pathology such as visceral artery pseudoaneurysm at the stage of diagnosing as well as at the stage of selecting treatment tactics. Visceral organ ischemia is one of the severest complications in the postoperative period which can make the diagnosis difficult as well as complicating the selection of treatment tactics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Management chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients is associated with diagnosis, targeted treatment and and individual approach. There is a group of patients which loss the response to the biologic treatment caused by insufficient levels of biologics or positive antibodies against these drugs. This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of patients with positive antibodies against the biological treatment and the costs saving probabilities of the antibodies detection during the treatment., Study Design: This retrospective study was based on examination of 183 IBD patients' sera (72 with Crohn's disease (CD) and 111 ulcerative colitis (UC)) treated with infiliximab., Methods: Circulating serum infliximab concentrations and anti-infliximab antibodies (ATI) were quantified by ELISA methods. Costs associated with the treatment were analysed from the data of General Health Insurance Company, Slovakia., Results: The average infliximab concentrations in groups of CD were 2.9 µg/mL, 38.9% of samples had a concentration ≤1 µg/mL. Group with UC had average infliximab levels of 3.19 µg/mL, 32.4% bellow ≤1 µg/mL. Positive ATI levels were detected in 52 patients, in 28 patients with CD (38.8%) and 24 patients with UC (21.6%). The average values of the antibodies were 387.75 U/ml in CD and 391.94 U/ml in UC group. More than 28% IBD patients were positive for ATI. After application of the results to the database of all IBD patients, finishing of the treatment with ATI could lead (after considering the ATI quantification costs) to possible annual savings of more than €2 million in Slovakian health-care system., Conclusions: Monitoring of infliximab and antibodies against infliximab and anti-TNF-α biologics may help optimize treatment strategies and costs for biological treatment.