select ad.sno,ad.journal,ad.title,ad.author_names,ad.abstract,ad.abstractlink,j.j_name,vi.* from articles_data ad left join journals j on j.journal=ad.journal left join vol_issues vi on vi.issue_id_en=ad.issue_id where ad.sno_en='52090' and ad.lang_id='9' and j.lang_id='9' and vi.lang_id='9'
ISSN: 2155-9880
Federica Galfo, Concetta Zito, Giovanni De Caridi, Luca Longobardo, Mafalda Massara, Scipione Carerj, Maurizio Cusmà-Piccione, Domenica Altavilla, Francesco Squadrito and Alessandra Bitto
Objective and design: The late stages of carotid atherosclerosis are responsible for increased local stiffness, suggesting the need for a therapeutic target that affect either plaque composition and arterial stiffness. There is a lack of data on the role of the local arterial stiffness, assessed by radio-frequency based system and its relationship with the molecular profile of plaques.
Subjects: In this study we enrolled 18 consecutive patients undergoing carotid endoarterectomy, with homogeneus or heterogeneous plaques, as established by Doppler-ultrasound and local pulse-wave velocity was assessed before surgery.
Methods: In carotid plaque specimens, we evaluated inflammasome (NLRP3), Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor κB (RANK) and its natural ligand (RANK-L), Osteoprotegerin (OPG), and other inflammatory and apoptotic molecules by Western Blotting and qPCR analysis. In addition, lipid peroxidation of arterial specimens was assessed by TBARS assay.
Results: In heterogeneus plaques we observed increased OPG expression (p=0.04), positively correlated with lipid peroxidation values (r=0.511, p=0.03); increased levels of RANK (p=0.02), and other inflammatory and apoptotic molecules. RANK-L protein was augmented in homogeneus plaques (p=0.01) and correlated to ß-index (r=0.514, p=0.03) and PWV (r=0.525, p=0.03) values.
Conclusions: Our data provide evidence that increased local PWV and ß-index might identify plaque evolution towards calcification.