CONTEXT
Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), a potent inhibitor of angiogenesis with neuronal differentiating activity, inhibits endothelial cell injury in vitro, thus suggesting the involvement… (More)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
We examined whether hyperhomocysteinemia is an independent risk factor for increased carotid artery intimal-medial wall thickness (IMT) in a large, randomly selected community… (More)
Adult stem cells have been reported to exist in various tissues. The isolation of high-quality human stem cells that can be used for regeneration of fatal deseases from accessible resources is an… (More)
Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is one of the adipocytokines. We evaluated whether serum levels of HGF are related to the metabolic syndrome. A total of 1474 subjects of a general population free of… (More)
BACKGROUND
Although most observations in the Seven Countries Study suggest that cigarette smoking is harmful for health, universality of this conclusion remains controversial.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS… (More)
BACKGROUND/AIMS
C-reactive protein (CRP) was recently identified as a prognostic factor for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after surgical resection. We investigated the relationship… (More)
We have recently found that soluble form of receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) levels are positively associated with inflammatory biomarkers and the presence of coronary artery… (More)
This analysis aims at describing all-cause mortality and their determinants in 16 cohorts of middle-aged men of eight nations. A total of 12,763 men aged 40–59 years were enrolled in the late 1950s… (More)
BACKGROUND
Prospective cohort studies on biological risk factors of completed suicide are scarce. We aimed to test which biological risk factors independently identify subjects at increased risk of… (More)
The advanced glycation end products (AGEs)-receptor for AGE (RAGE) axis is implicated in diabetic vascular complications. Administration of soluble form of RAGE (sRAGE) to mice has been shown to… (More)