Summary belonging to the thesis entitled ‘Dietary patterns, biomarkers of atherosclerosis, cardiovascular and all-cause mortality’ The long history of epidemiologic studies on diet and cardiovascular disease (CVD) has traditionally relied on analysis of specific nutrients or foods. Dietary patterns are multiple dietary components operationalized as...
Genetic factors play an important role in the homeostasis of cholesterol in the human body. An important pathway for eliminating cholesterol from the body is to convert it into bile acids in the liver. The rate-limiting enzyme in this catabolism of cholesterol is CYP7A1. In the gene of CYP7A1, a sequence variation was found: the CYP7A1 A-278C polym...
The antioxidant vitamin E may have beneficial effects on several indicators of human health. We studied the impact on atherosclerosis, immune response and total mortality in smokers and elderly people, who are at risk for increased oxidative stress. Vitamin E may exert its effect on atherosclerosis by protecting low density lipoprotein (LDL) agains...
In this thesis, the effect of leukocyte-derived growth factors and cytokines on GJIC between SMC was investigated. GJIC is regarded as an important mechanism in the control of cell growth, cell differentiation and tissue homeostasis. Disturbance of SMC growth control is regarded to be a key event in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in which grow...
The principal lesion characteristic of atherosclerosis is the plaque. This lesion mainly consists of smooth muscle cells, connective matrix and large amounts of extracellular lipids. Smooth muscle cell hyperplasia is an integral event in atherosclerotic plaque formation and the resultant occlusion of blood vessels. These abnormal cell proliferation...
The major health problems in populations of economically developed countries at the present time are of a chronic nature with, as their main clinical characteristic, the frequently occurring premature coronary heart disease. When food intake data are to be evaluated, it would be incorrect in this situation to devote attention chiefly to the intake ...
