Increased susceptibility to oxidation of low-density lipoproteins isolated from patients with systemic sclerosis
✍ Scribed by K. Richard Bruckdorfer; Janet B. Hillary; Tim Bunce; Rama Vancheeswaran; Carol M. Black
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1995
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 776 KB
- Volume
- 38
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0004-3591
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Objective. To examine the resistance to oxidation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) from patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and primary Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) compared with healthy controls.
Methods. Plasma LDL were isolated from patients with diffuse cutaneous and limited cutaneous SSc (dcSSc and IcSSc, respectively), patients with primary RP, and healthy control subjects. The lipoproteins were assessed for their resistance to oxidation in the presence of cupric ions, using spectrophotometric assays.
Results. LDL from patients with dcSSc and lcSSc were more susceptible to oxidation than were those from healthy control subjects or patients with RP.
Conclusion.
Our findings suggest that free radicals may play a role in the pathology of SSc. Systemic sclerosis (scleroderma; SSc) is an autoimmune connective tissue disorder characterized by microvascular damage and excessive matrix production (1-3). The vascular changes in SSc are widespread and are recognized as vasomotor instability, with repeated transient interruptions of tissue perfusion and small vessel structural abnormalities, characterized by proliferative intimal arterial lesions that lead to a state of chronic ischemia (2). These changes are seen early in the course of disease, prior to the onset of fibrosis, suggesting that they are primary to the disease pathogenesis.