These results support that the carotid IMT in association with TC, LDL-c and TG can be used as a good surrogate marker of atherosclerosis and predictor of coronary heart disease. Plaque formation may influence significant quantitative changes in collagen and elastin.

No abstract

To assess the regional difference and influence of the biological variables on atherosclerosis in female, we analyzed 7 segments of aorta (2 ascending, 3 thoracic, and 2 abdominal) from 90 superficially healthy Korean women (39±14 yr of age) who died from external causes. Tissue specimens were macroscopically examined and histopathologically divided into 7 grades for scoring (ATHERO, from 0=intact, to 6=thrombi formation). Lumen diameter (LD), wall thickness (WT), intima thickness (INT), and media thickness (MED) were obtained by computed morphometry. Atherosclerosis was common in the distal infrarenal (C2), proximal thoracic (B1), and proximal ascending (A1) segments. Total 95.6% of all subjects had atherosclerosis of variable degree in one or more segments, but an aneurysmal change was not found. The number of atherosclerotic segments and atherosclerosis score in the 7 segments increased with aging. However, the body size did not affect the aortic size and ATHERO. With aging, LD and INT of the A1, B1 and C2 increased (p<.00001); WT of the B1 and C2 increased (p<.01); and MED of C2 decreased (p<.01). LD and WT of the B1 and C2 (p<.05), INT of the A1, B1 and C2 (p<.00001) increased, and MED of C2 decreased (p<.01) with ATHERO. These data suggest that age is simple but a reliable parameter for estimating the progression of atherosclerosis.

Recent studies demonstrated that brief period of Ca 2+ depletion and repletion (Ca 2+ preconditioning, CPC) has strong protective effects against ischemia in a rat heart. CPC and classic preconditioning (IPC) were compared in relation with infarct size and protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes. Isolated Langendorff-perfused rabbit hearts were subjected to 45-min ischemia (Isc) followed by 120-min reperfusion (R) with or without IPC, induced by 5-min Isc and 10-min R.