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| 2. |
- de Boer, Hugo J.
(författare)
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Snake Gourds, Parasites and Mother Roasting : Medicinal plants, plant repellents, and Trichosanthes (Cucurbitaceae) in Lao PDR
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background. Traditional plant use was studied in Lao PDR. Research focused on medicinal plant use by the Brou, Saek and Kry ethnic groups, traditional plant repellents against parasitic arthropods and leeches, and the phylogeny and biogeography of the medicinally-important snake gourd genus (Trichosanthes, Cucurbitaceae). Methods. The ethnobiology research used a combination of structured interviews, village surveys, botanical collecting, hydro-distillation, GC-MS analysis, literature studies, and laboratory experiments. The plant systematics research used a combination of morphological studies, molecular biology laboratory work, and phylogenetic, dating and biogeographical analysis. Results. Informants reported the use of close to 100 species to repel arthropods and leeches, many of which have constituents with documented efficacy. Brou, Saek and Kry informants use over 75 plant species for women’s healthcare, mainly during the postpartum period for steam sauna, steam bath, hotbed, mother roasting, medicinal decoctions and infusions, and postpartum diet. A molecular phylogeny of Trichosanthes and Gymnopetalum using a broad sampling of ~60% of their species and 4756 nucleotides of nuclear and plastid DNA shows that Gymnopetalum is nested within Trichosanthes. Fossil-calibrated Bayesian molecular dating of the Trichosanthes phylogeny reveals an early Oligocene origin of the genus, and many of the extant sections originating and diversifying during the Miocene. Biogeographical analysis shows a likely East or South Asian origin of Trichosanthes, with lineages diversifying and spreading throughout Australasia from the early Pliocene to the Pleistocene. Discussion. Traditional plant use in Lao PDR is common and widespread. The presence among the repellent species of economical alternatives to costly synthetic repellents is tenable, and the subject of ongoing studies. Postpartum traditions and medicinal plant use are essential parts of childbirth and postpartum recovery in these ethnic groups, and many other groups in Lao PDR. Efforts to improve maternal healthcare and reduce maternal and infant mortality need to integrate these traditions with modern notions of healthcare to achieve wider adoption. Documenting all possible uses of commonly used medicinal plant species shows that similarity in use between these ethnic groups is relatively low considering that they share, and have shared for many generations, the same environment and resources. A lack of effective cures leads to a process of continuous innovation, where effective cures are shared between cultures, but remedies of only cultural importance, or those under evaluation are culture-specific. The Trichosanthes phylogeny implies the merging of Gymnopetalum into Trichosanthes, and this is done using available names or new combinations. A synopsis of Trichosanthes, the new combinations, and a revision of the species in Australia, are made and presented. Conclusions. Traditional plant use is widespread in Lao PDR, and of significance to many people as a source of primary healthcare and inexpensive repellents. The important medicinal plant genus Trichosanthes includes Gymnopetalum, and has a complex biogeographic history with multiple colonization events of Australasia.
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- Edvinsson, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Sensory nerve terminal activity in severe hypertension as reflected by circulating calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and substance P
- 1992
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Ingår i: Blood Pressure. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0803-7051 .- 1651-1999. ; 1:4, s. 223-229
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In patients with severe hypertension and in age and sex matched controls the circulating levels of calcitonin gene-related peptide-like immunoreactivity (CGRP-LI) and substance P-LI were measured. Samples were taken before medication, after 2-4 weeks and 2-12 months of pharmacological treatment to normotension. In the control group CGRP-LI levels were significantly higher for females than for males. No such relation was seen for substance P-LI. There were no correlations between CGRP-LI, substance P-LI or blood pressure. In the untreated acute hypertensive group there was a significant correlation between circulating levels of CGRP-LI and both diastolic and systolic blood pressure. No such relationship was seen for substance P-LI. The plasma levels of substance P-LI were significantly elevated (2.8 +/- 4.0) compared to controls (1.3 +/- 1.3, pmol/l, mean +/- S.D., p < 0.01). The levels of CGRP-LI did not differ from the control group. After 2-4 weeks of treatment the blood pressure decreased significantly and the plasma levels of substance P-LI were normalized while the CGRP-LI still did not differ from that of controls. After 2-12 months of treatment the blood pressure was still normalized, and the plasma levels of CGRP-LI and substance P-LI were not different from the control group. In the present study there was a positive correlation in hypertensives between the circulating CGRP-LI levels and diastolic and systolic blood pressure and elevated levels of substance P-LI. This would implicate the existence of a dynamic control through which the sensory system may register and damp the pressure response.
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- Enström, Inger, et al.
(författare)
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Organ damage in treated middle-aged hypertensives compared to normotensives: results from a cross-sectional study in general practice
- 2000
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Ingår i: Blood Pressure. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0803-7051 .- 1651-1999. ; 9:1, s. 28-33
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: High blood pressure contributes to organ damage. However, during the past two decades there have been great advances in the medical treatment of hypertension. Technical progress has also made it easier to visualize organ damage. Hence we found it of interest to examine heart, brain and retina in a group of middle-aged treated hypertensives, comparing the results with those from a group of middle-aged normotensives. METHODS: The subjects were 40 (20 men) treated hypertensives and 40 (20 men) normotensives, who had previously taken part in a study in which ambulatory blood pressure monitoring had been performed. The heart was examined by echocardiography, the retina by photography and the brain by magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS: Office blood pressure and 24-h systolic/diastolic blood pressure (S/D) were 141/86 (13/7) mmHg and 128/81 (11/6) mmHg in the hypertensives and 125/78 (10/8) mmHg and 118/74 (8/5) mmHg in the normotensives, respectively. Left ventricular mass was 101 (27) g/m2 in the hypertensives and 85 (18) g/m2 in the normotensives (p = 0.0025). The corresponding figures for the left atrium were 21.1 (3.1) mm/m2 in the hypertensives and 19.5 (2.2) mm/m2 in the normotensives (p < 0.001). E/A wave quotient was 1.09 (0.26) in the hypertensives and 1.26 (0.26) in the normotensives (p = 0.0045), while left ventricular systolic function did not differ between the groups. Ten hypertensives and one normotensive subject had left ventricular mass above normal range. Narrow retinal arteries were found in 22 hypertensives and 8 normotensives (p < 0.001). Brain magnetic resonance changes (deep white matter and/or periventricular) were found in 19 hypertensives and 9 normotensives (p = 0.0431). CONCLUSIONS: The hypertensives differed significantly from the normotensives concerning left ventricular mass, left atrium, left ventricular diastolic function and retinal vessel changes. Deep white matter and periventricular changes in the brain were also significantly different in the two groups. We can only speculate as to whether earlier antihypertensive treatment or further blood pressure reduction could have affected these differences.
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| 5. |
- Erlinge, David, et al.
(författare)
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Neuropeptide Y-like immunoreactivity and hypertension
- 1992
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Ingår i: Journal of Hypertension. - 1473-5598. ; 10:10, s. 1221-1225
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: Neuropeptide Y is a co-transmitter with noradrenaline in sympathetic neurons supplying arteries and veins with potent contractile effects. To investigate the role of neuropeptide Y in hypertension, we measured the circulating levels of neuropeptide Y and noradrenaline in patients with severe hypertension. DESIGN: Samples were collected from patients with untreated, severe hypertension (diastolic blood pressure > 120 mmHg) and in age- and sex-matched controls. After treatment with beta-adrenoceptor blockers, diuretics, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors of calcium antagonists, samples were taken from the patients during 12 months. METHODS: The circulating levels of neuropeptide Y-like immunoreactivity (NPY-LI) were measured with a radioimmunoassay using a rabbit antiserum. Catecholamines were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography and electrochemical detection. RESULTS: There was a significantly higher level of NPY-LI in the patients when they were compared with the controls. However, there was no correlation either in the controls or in the hypertensives between systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and NPY-LI or noradrenaline. The increased level of NPY-LI in plasma remained elevated for up to 12 months despite reduction in blood pressure to acceptable levels. The noradrenaline level was not increased before treatment, after 2-4 weeks or after 2-12 months treatment. CONCLUSION: The high level of NPY-LI may represent a marker for higher activity of the sympathetic nervous system which is not controlled by the treatment of blood pressure to normotension.
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| 7. |
- Frostegard, J, et al.
(författare)
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Circulating oxidized low-density lipoprotein is increased in hypertension
- 2003
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Ingår i: Clinical Science. - 1470-8736. ; 105:5, s. 615-620
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (OxLDL) and autoantibodies to OxLDL (aOxLDL) are implicated in the development of atherosclerosis. The objective of this study was to determine the importance of these factors in hypertension, a major risk factor for atherosclerosis. Samples were obtained from I I I men with established hypertension (diastolic pressure > 95 mmHg) from the Swedish component of an ongoing hypertension study (European Lacidipine study on Atherosclerosis, ELSA) and from 75 normotensive control men, who were from a Swedish population-screening programme (diastolic pressure < 80 mmHg). The presence of carotid atherosclerosis and the intima-media thicknesses were determined by ultrasonography. A monoclonal antibody to OxLDL, EO6, was used to determine oxidation epitopes in LDL. aOxLDL of IgG and IgM subclass were tested by ELISA against OxLDL. Hypertensive men had increased OxLDL levels compared with normotensives (P = 0.002), whereas autoantibodies tested were largely similar between groups. There was no association between the antibodies tested, or OxLDL and carotid atherosclerosis. Age was not associated with OxLDL or aOxLDL measurements. Taken together, our findings indicate that OxLDL is elevated in hypertensive men, which may predispose to atherosclerosis in hypertension. In contrast, aOxLDL levels were unchanged and the role of aOxLDL may depend on disease stage and/or type.
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| 8. |
- Makoveichuk, Elena, et al.
(författare)
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Inactivation of lipoprotein lipase occurs on the surface of THP-1 macrophages where oligomers of angiopoietin-like protein 4 are formed
- 2012
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Ingår i: Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications - BBRC. - San Diego : Elsevier. - 0006-291X .- 1090-2104. ; 425:2, s. 138-143
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) hydrolyzes triglycerides in plasma lipoproteins causing release of fatty acids for metabolic purposes in muscles and adipose tissue. LPL in macrophages in the artery wall may, however, promote foam cell formation and atherosclerosis. Angiopoietin-like protein (ANGPTL) 4 inactivates LPL and ANGPTL4 expression is controlled by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR). The mechanisms for inactivation of LPL by ANGPTL4 was studied in THP-1 macrophages where active LPL is associated with cell surfaces in a heparin-releasable form, while LPL in the culture medium is mostly inactive. The PPAR delta agonist GW501516 had no effect on LPL mRNA, but increased ANGPTL4 mRNA and caused a marked reduction of the heparin-releasable LPL activity concomitantly with accumulation of inactive, monomeric LPL in the medium. Intracellular ANGPTL4 was monomeric, while dimers and tetramers of ANGPTL4 were present in the heparin-releasable fraction and medium. GW501516 caused an increase in the amount of ANGPTL4 oligomers on the cell surface that paralleled the decrease in LPL activity. Actinomycin D blocked the effects of GW501516 on ANGPTL4 oligomer formation and prevented the inactivation of LPL Antibodies against ANGPTL4 interfered with the inactivation of LPL. We conclude that inactivation of LPL in THP-1 macrophages primarily occurs on the cell surface where oligomers of ANGPTL4 are formed. (c) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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| 9. |
- Pockley, A., et al.
(författare)
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Circulating heat shock protein and heat shock protein antibody levels in established hypertension.
- 2002
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Ingår i: Journal of Hypertension. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 1473-5598 .- 0263-6352. ; 20:9, s. 1815-1820
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE Serum Hsp60 and anti-Hsp65 antibody levels are raised in subjects with borderline hypertension, and there is an association between circulating Hsp60 levels and early atherosclerosis. Given the recognized relationship between hypertension and atherosclerosis, this study determined heat shock protein and heat shock protein antibody levels in subjects with established hypertension.METHODS Samples from 111 men with hypertension were obtained from the European Lacidipine study on Atherosclerosis and samples from 75 normotensive controls were taken from a population-screening programme (diastolic pressure, 95 and 80 mmHg, respectively). Hsp60, Hsp70 and anti-human Hsp60, anti-human Hsp70 and anti-mycobacterial Hsp65 antibody levels were measured by enzyme immunoassay. Intima-media thickness (I-M) and the presence of carotid atherosclerosis were determined by ultrasonography.RESULTS Hsp60, Hsp70 and anti-Hsp60 antibody levels in hypertension were similar to those in normotensive controls, whereas anti-Hsp70 and anti-Hsp65 antibody levels were elevated ( 0.001). Hsp60 levels and atherosclerosis were not associated. Anti-Hsp70 and anti-Hsp65 antibody levels were both associated with hypertension, independently of age, smoking habits and blood lipids.CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates elevated levels of selected heat shock protein antibodies in subjects with hypertension. Although the association between heat shock protein antibody levels and human cardiovascular stress/disease appears to be robust, the relationship of the latter with heat shock protein levels is more complex. Further studies are required before the factors inducing, and the clinical significance of, circulating heat shock proteins can be evaluated.
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