<i>Aims</i> - The risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is increased in overweight and obese women potentially involving secreted mediators from adipose tissue. Our main aim was to evaluate if circulating adipokines and monocyte/macrophage markers were dysregulated in GDM and the influence body mass and indices of glucose metabolism had on this association. We further explored if early detection ...

Objective: Dysregulation of the complement system has been described in patients with heart failure (HF). However, data on the alternative pathway are scarce and it is unknown if levels of factor B (FB) and the C3 convertase C3bBbP are elevated in these patients. We hypothesized that plasma levels of FB and C3bBbP would be associated with disease severity and survival in patients with ...

<i>Objectives</i>: Inflammatory responses are closely knit with low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol in driving atherosclerosis. Even if LDL-cholesterol is causative to atherosclerotic diseases and LDL-cholesterol lowering reduces hard clinical endpoints, there is a residual risk for clinical events, possibly driven by inflammatory processes, in accordance with its role in autoimmune ...

Introduction: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) and mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) are chronic immune-mediated disorders complicated by vascular organ damage. The aim of this study was to examine the serum levels of the markers of neoangiogenesis: endostatin and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), in our unselected cohorts of SSc and MCTD. Methods: Sera of SSc patients (N = 298) and MCTD ...

The Notch signaling pathway plays a crucial role in neurodevelopment and in adult brain homeostasis. We aimed to further investigate Notch pathway activity in bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia (SCZ) by conducting a pathway analysis. We measured plasma levels of Notch ligands (DLL1 and DLK1) using enzyme immunoassays in a large sample of patients (SCZ n = 551, BD n = 246) and healthy controls ...

Background: Results showing that sera from double vaccinated individuals have minimal neutralizing activity against Omicron have been interpreted as indicating the need for a third vaccine dose for protection. However, there is little information about early immune responses to Omicron infection in double vaccinated individuals.<p> <p>Methods: We measured inflammatory mediators, antibodies to the ...

<p><i>BACKGROUND - </i>Alterations in the partly microbiota-dependent carnitine–γ-butyrobetaine (γBB)–trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) pathway have been linked to the progression of heart failure and atherosclerotic disease. We evaluated if circulating γBB, TMAO, and their common precursors carnitine and trimethyllysine (TML) were dysregulated after heart transplantation and associated with development ...

Aims To define plasma concentrations, determinants, and optimal prognostic cut-offs of soluble suppression of tumorigenesis-2 (sST2), high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT), and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) in women and men with chronic heart failure (HF).<p> <p>Methods and results Individual data of patients from the Biomarkers In Heart Failure Outpatient Study ...

Background Abnormal remodelling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) has generally been linked to pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis and may also play a role in the pathogenesis of severe COVID-19. To further elucidate the role of ECM remodelling and excessive fibrogenesis in severe COVID-19, we examined circulating levels of mediators involved in various aspects of these processes in COVID-19 ...

Introduction: Persistent inflammation and immune activation in the lungs are associated with adverse outcomes such as radiation pneumonitis (RP) and poor survival in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. However, it is unknown how this is reflected by leukocyte activation markers in serum.<p> <p>Objective: The aim was to evaluate the serum levels of activation of different leukocyte subsets ...