Do scleroderma dermal fibroblasts overexpress vascular endothelial growth factor due to autocrine transforming growth factor β signaling?
We demonstrated that VEGF were overexpressed due to autocrine TGF-β/Smad signaling in SSc. TGF-β signaling may contribute to the pathogenesis of angiopathy as well as tissue fibrosis.
MetS was associated with subclinical atherosclerosis independent of insulin resistance. The presence of increasing number of MetS risk factors appeared to be more important than the diagnosis of MetS in predicting subclinical atherosclerosis. Early screening for MetS risk factors might identify those at greater cardiovascular risk.