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Story ideas from the Journal of Lipid Research
Date:12/3/2007

>CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Peter Jones, Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg; Phone: 204.474.8883, email: peter_jones@umanitoba.ca

Crohns Disease Increases Progression of Atherosclerosis

While chronic inflammation is a known risk factor for atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and heart disease, researchers have now shown that the sporadic but recurrent inflammation caused by Crohns disease also poses serious cardiovascular risk.

Sander van Leuven and his colleagues imaged 60 Crohns patients and 122 healthy controls for signs of arterial hardening; they found that the thickness of the carotid artery, a common marker for plaque buildup, was increased in Crohns disease.

They next examined the subjects HDL (high density lipoprotein, the good cholesterol) content. HDL helps prevent arterial hardening by shuttling cholesterol from blood vessels back to the liver as well as exerting anti-oxidant properties, and is often impaired during inflammation. They discovered that patients with active Crohns had profoundly reduced HDL levels compared to controls or Crohns patients in remission.

Interestingly, both active Crohns patients and those in remission had HDL with lower antioxidant potential than healthy individuals, revealing that acute inflammation episodes not only reduce total HDL, but alter the molecules biochemically, likely slowing down the recovery process during remission.

The researchers note their findings highlight the cardiovascular risks facing Crohns patients, even those who successfully manage their outbreaks, and suggest that early detection and prevention measures are critical.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Sander I. van Leuven, Department of Vascular Medicine, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Phone: +31-20-5668675, email:

Contact: Nick Zagorski
nzagorski@asbmb.org
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Source:Eurekalert

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