Aortic valve sclerosis: is it a cardiovascular risk factor or a cardiac disease marker?
Aortic sclerosis is associated with a higher prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy, ventricular arrhythmias, myocardial infarction, and systolic heart failure, while the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors is not different between aortic sclerosis patients and controls. Hence, aortic sclerosis represents a cardiac disease marker useful for early identification of high-risk patients beyond cardiovascular risk factors rate.
H. pylori can infect and replicate in BMDCs and thereby affects DC-mediated immune responses. The implication of this new finding is discussed for the biological life cycle of H. pylori in the host.