@article {3541, title = {Modulation of circulating cytokine-chemokine profile in patients affected by chronic venous insufficiency undergoing surgical hemodynamic correction.}, journal = {J Immunol Res}, volume = {2014}, year = {2014}, month = {2014}, pages = {473765}, abstract = {

The expression of proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines has been reported in in vitro/ex vivo settings of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), but the identification of circulating mediators that might be associated with altered hemodynamic forces or might represent innovative biomarkers is still missing. In this study, the circulating levels of 31 cytokines/chemokines involved in inflammatory/angiogenic processes were analysed in (i) CVI patients at baseline before surgical hemody namic correction, (ii) healthy subjects, and (iii) CVI patients after surgery. In a subgroup of CVI patients, in whom the baseline levels of cytokines/chemokines were analyzed in paired blood samples obtained from varicose vein and forearm vein, EGF, PDGF, and RANTES were increased at the varicose vein site as compared to the general circulation. Moreover, while at baseline, CVI patients showed increased levels of 14 cytokines/chemokines as compared to healthy subjects, 6 months after surgery, 11 cytokines/chemokines levels were significantly reduced in the treated CVI patients as compared to the CVI patients before surgery. Of note, a patient who exhibited recurrence of the disease 6 months after surgery, showed higher levels of EGF, PDGF, and RANTES compared to nonrecurrent patients, highlighting the potential role of the EGF/PDGF/RANTES triad as sensitive biomarkers in the context of CVI.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Chemokines, Chronic Disease, Cytokines, Female, Hemodynamics, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Saphenous Vein, Varicose Veins, Venous Insufficiency}, issn = {2314-7156}, doi = {10.1155/2014/473765}, author = {Tisato, Veronica and Zauli, Giorgio and Gianesini, Sergio and Menegatti, Erica and Brunelli, Laura and Manfredini, Roberto and Zamboni, Paolo and Secchiero, Paola} } @article {1927, title = {Endothelial cells obtained from patients affected by chronic venous disease exhibit a pro-inflammatory phenotype.}, journal = {PLoS One}, volume = {7}, year = {2012}, month = {2012}, pages = {e39543}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: The inflammatory properties of vein endothelium in relation to chronic venous disease (CVD) have been poorly investigated. Therefore, new insights on the characteristics of large vein endothelium would increase our knowledge of large vessel physiopathology.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Surgical specimens of veins were obtained from the tertiary venous network (R3) and/or saphenous vein (SF) of patients affected by CVD and from control individuals. Highly purified venous endothelial cell (VEC) cultures obtained from CVD patients were characterized for morphological, phenotypic and functional properties compared to control VEC. An increase of CD31/PECAM-1, CD146 and ICAM-1 surface levels was documented at flow cytometry in pathological VEC with respect to normal controls. Of note, the strongest expression of these pro-inflammatory markers was observed in VEC obtained from patients with more advanced disease. Similarly, spontaneous cell proliferation and resistance to starvation was higher in pathological than in normal VEC, while the migratory response of VEC showed an opposite trend, being significantly lower in VEC obtained from pathological specimens. In addition, in keeping with a higher baseline transcriptional activity of NF-kB, the release of the pro-inflammatory cytokines osteoprotegerin (OPG) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was higher in pathological VEC cultures with respect to control VEC. Interestingly, there was a systemic correlation to these in vitro data, as demonstrated by higher serum OPG and VEGF levels in CVD patients with respect to normal healthy controls.

CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Taken together, these data indicate that large vein endothelial cells obtained from CVD patients exhibit a pro-inflammatory phenotype, which might significantly contribute to systemic inflammation in CVD patients.

}, keywords = {Adult, Antigens, CD146, Antigens, CD31, Body Mass Index, Cell Culture Techniques, Endothelial Cells, Female, Flow Cytometry, Humans, Inflammation, Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1, Kinetics, Male, Microscopy, Electron, Scanning, Middle Aged, Phenotype, Saphenous Vein, Vascular Diseases}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0039543}, author = {Tisato, Veronica and Zauli, Giorgio and Voltan, Rebecca and Gianesini, Sergio and di Iasio, Maria Grazia and Volpi, Ilaria and Fiorentini, Guido and Zamboni, Paolo and Secchiero, Paola} }