Browsing by Author "Quiroga, T"

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    Circulating platelet-derived microparticles in systemic lupus erythematosus - Association with increased thrombin generation and procoagulant state
    (GEORG THIEME VERLAG KG, 2006) Pereira, J; Alfaro, G; Goycoolea, M; Quiroga, T; Ocqueteau, M; Massardo, L; Perez, C; Saez, C; Panes, O; Matus, V; Mezzano, D
    The risk for thrombosis is significantly increased in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), affecting both venous and arterial vessels. Activated platelets are known to participate in thrombus formation and growth. A general feature of activated cells is the shedding of microparticles (MP) which support coagulation by exposure of negatively charged phospholipids and possibly tissue factor (TF). In this work we characterized circulating MP in patients with SLE and their relationship with a procoagulant state. Thirty patients with SLE (aged 15-72 years, mean age 38 years) and 20 healthy controls (aged 22-54 years, mean age 34 years) were studied; patients fulfilled 4 revised criteria for SLE. The number and cellular source of circulating MP were determined by flow cytometry using double labeling with specific monoclonal antibodies and annexin V. Thrombin generation was measured as the endogenous thrombin potential (ETP) without the addition of exogenous phospholipids and TF; under these conditions the generation of thrombin depended directly on the number of MP present in plasma. Thrombin anti-thrombin (TAT) and plasmin-antiplasmin (PAP) complexes were measured by ELISA. Compared to the controls, circulating MP were significantly elevated in the patient group (1218 +/- 136 vs 653 +/- 74 x 10(3)/ml plasma, p: 0.0007). In both groups, most of these MP were of platelet origin (927 +/- 131 vs 517 +/- 72 x 10(3)/ml plasma, p:0.009). ETP was higher among patients as compared to the controls (804 +/- 64 vs 631 +/- 37 nM thrombin, p: 0.025). Plasma levels of TAT in patients and controls were 3.4 +/- 0.8 and 1.4 +/- 0.5 mu g/L, respectively (p:0.04), and of PAP complexes were 62.5 +/- 14 and 24.05 +/- 2.5 mu g/ml, respectively (p:0.014). The number of platelet-derived MP correlated significantly with thrombin generation (r: 0.42; p: 0.038) and TAT levels (r: 0.40; p: 0.035). We did not find an association of circulating MP with disease activity nor with the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies. The increased number of circulating platelet-derived microparticles and their association with high ETP and activation of the coagulation system suggest that these microparticles play an important role in the pathogenesis of the prothrombotic state in SLE patients.
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    Inflammation, not hyperhomocysteinemia, is related to oxidative stress and hemostatic and endothelial dysfunction in uremia
    (BLACKWELL SCIENCE INC, 2001) Mezzano, D; Pais, EO; Aranda, E; Panes, O; Downey, P; Ortiz, M; Tagle, R; Gonzalez, F; Quiroga, T; Caceres, MS; Leighton, F; Pereira, J
    Background. Several cardiovascular risk factors are present in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF), among which are systemic inflammation and hyperhomocysteinemia. Increased oxidative stress, endothelial activation/dysfunction, and coagulation activation are considered integral components of the inflammatory response, but have also been proposed as mediators of plasma homocysteine (tHcy)-induced cell damage. Using correlation analysis, we assessed the relative contributions of inflammation and hyperhomocysteinemia in the abnormal oxidative stress, endothelial activation/dysfunction, and hemostasis activation in patients with CRF.
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    Platelet membrane glycoprotein polymorphisms do not influence the clinical expressivity of von Willebrand disease type I
    (SCHATTAUER GMBH-VERLAG MEDIZIN NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN, 2003) Pereira, J; Quiroga, T; Pereira, ME; Morales, M; Goycoolea, M; Hidalgo, P; Prieto, C; Mezzano, D
    Von Willebrand disease (VWD) is characterized by a significant variation in bleeding symptoms among patients with similar laboratory profiles and equivalent plasma levels of von Willebrand factor (VWF) activities. Considering the recent suggestion that platelet membrane glycoprotein polymorphisms (PltGPs) may play a role as modulators of thromboembolic or haemorrhagic diseases, we investigated the role of different PltGPs and GPVI content in the clinical expression of patients with VWD type 1. The diagnosis of VWD (n = 76) was based on laboratory findings (VWF:Ag, VWF:RCo, VWF:CB, FVIII:C, and multimer analysis), family and personal history of bleeding. All patients were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire, and classified into two categories: bleeders (unequivocal bleeding tendency, n = 53) and non bleeders (absence of bleeding symptoms, n = 23). PltGPs, HPA-1, 2 and 5 and C807T of GPla were determined by fluorophore-labelled hybridization probes on a LightCycler(TM). GPVI content was measured by western blotting.
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    Salmonella enterica Serovar typhi 0 : 1,9,12 polysaccharide-protein conjugate as a diagnostic tool for typhoid fever
    (AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY, 2005) Zuniga, J; Lillo, L; Shin, JJ; Machavarapu, RL; Quiroga, T; Goycoolea, M; Matsuhiro, B; Aron Hott, L; Godfrey, HP; Cabello, FC
    Serologic tests play an important role in diagnosis of typhoid fever. In an effort to develop a more defined reagent for these tests, purified Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (ST) 0:1,9,12 polysaccharide was conjugated to human serum albumin (HSA), and the conjugate was purified chromatographically to yield a reagent with 2 moles ST O polysaccharide per mole HSA. In 40 patients with bacteriologically confirmed typhoid fever, significant dot immunobinding titers (>= 20,000) were present in 28 (70%) tested with 100 ng of ST O antigen-HSA (ST O-HSA) conjugate, in 38 (95%) tested with 100 ng of ST lipopolysaccharide, and in 16 (40%) tested with purified unconjugated ST O chains. In sera from 22 patients with other nontyphoid fevers, 2 (9.1%) had such reactivities with 100 ng of ST O-HSA, 1 (4.5%) had such reactivity with 100 ng of ST lipopolysaccharide (4.5%), and none reacted with 100 ng of unconjugated ST O chains. None of the 17 healthy-control sera reacted significantly with any of the ST reagents. None of the patient or control sera reacted with unconjugated HSA. The sensitivity of dot immunobinding for typhoid fever was 70% with 100 ng of ST O-HSA, somewhat lower than that with 100 ng of ST lipopolysaccharide (95%) but similar to that of the Widal H agglutination test with a >= 1/160 cutoff (74%). Specificities of these tests were 91%, 95%, and 86%, respectively. These preliminary results suggest that ST O polysaccharide-protein conjugates could provide a nontoxic, easily quality-controlled synthetic reagent for analysis of human immune responses to ST as well as for the development of new diagnostics and vaccines for typhoid fever.