Hidróxidos Duplos Lamelares (HDLs) ou compostos lamelares do tipo da hidrotalcita podem ser representados genericamente através da fórmula: , na qual: M2+ representa um cátion divalente; M3+ representa um cátion trivalente; Am- representa o ânion intercalado com carga m-. Os HDLs dos sistemas Mg-Al, são conhecidos por apresentarem uma propriedade denominada “efeito memória", que consiste na regeneração da estrutura lamelar, após a calcinação do HDL e contato do material calcinado com solução aquosa contendo um ânion. A sorção, em HDLs, de ânions orgânicos tais como tereftalato, benzoato e 4-metil-benzoato, provenientes de resíduos industriais poderá resultar em uma nova alternativa para o tratamento de efluentes, pois a capacidade de regeneração dos HDLs através de ciclos de calcinação/sorção pode vir a tornar o processo economicamente viável. Os principais objetivos deste trabalho foram: o estudo da sorção dos ânions orgânicos derivados do processo industrial de produção de poliéster, em HDLs do sistema Mg-Al-CO3, no material original e no mesmo após calcinação. Para complementar este estudo foram investigados a cinética do processo de sorção dos ânions com a regeneração da estrutura lamelar do HDL e a capacidade de reciclagem do material após repetidos ciclos de calcinação/sorção. Os estudos de sorção para os ânions tereftalato, benzoato e 4-metil-benzoato, demonstraram que o material calcinado apresenta uma maior capacidade de remoção dos ânions em solução. Através dos estudos da cinética do processo de sorção, nota-se que apesar do sistema alcançar o equilíbrio lentamente, a regeneração do material é um processo rápido, ocorrendo após cerca de 15 minutos de contato do mesmo com a solução do ânion orgânico. Os estudos de reciclagem realizados para os três ânions investigados, mostraram que o HDL inicialmente contendo carbonato apresenta boa capacidade de remoção dos ânions orgânicos em solução. O material apresentou maior capacidade de sorção para os ânions tereftalato e 4-metil-benzoato. Além disso, a capacidade de reciclagem do material foi comprovada, pois os ânions orgânicos foram removidos da solução e posteriormente decompostos por calcinação, sendo que mesmo após o quinto e último ciclo de calcinação/sorção, o material continuava a remover os ânions presentes na solução, com um decréscimo na capacidade sorção do material durante os ciclos, que foi diferente para cada caso, sendo pequeno no caso do tereftalato. / Layered Double Hydroxides (LDHs) or the so called hydrotalcite-like-compounds are represented by the general formula: ; where : M2+ represents a bivalent cation; M3+ represents a trivalent one and Am- represents an anion with m- charge. LDHs of Mg-Al system are known for presenting a property called “memory effect", which consists in the regeneration of the layered structure, when the product of the calcined material is put in contact with an aqueous solution containing anions. The sorption into LDHs of organic anions, like terephthalate, benzoate and 4-metil-benzoate, from waste water, might result in a new alternative process for waste water treatment, because the LDH’s regeneration capacity through cycles of calcination/sorption would become an econnomicaly viable process. The main objective of this work was the study of the sorption of organic anions derived from industrial prodution of polyester, into LDHs of Mg-Al-CO3 in the original and calcined material. To complement this study, the kinetics of the sorption process of organic anions with regenaration of layered stucture and recyclability of the material after repeated cycles of calcination/sorption were investigated. Adsorption/sorption studies for terephthalate, benzoate and 4-metil-benzoate anions showed that calcined material presented higher capacity for removing organic anions from solution than the original material. From the kinetic study of sorption, it was possible to notice that although the system reached the equilibrium slowly, the regeneration process was faster, ocurring after 15 minutes of contact of calcined material with organic anions solution. Recycling studies for the three investigated anions showed that LDH originally containing carbonate anions after calcination, shows a good removal capacity for organic anions present in aqueous solution. The higher sorption capacity was achieved in the case of terephthalate and 4-metil-benzoate anions. Furthermore, recycling capacity of material was proved, since organic anions were removed from solution and decomposed after new calcination until the last cycle (5th) of calcination/sorption investigated, with a decrease in their sorption capacity, which is very small for terephthalate anion.

Aims: LDL oxidation plays an important role in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. HDL impedes oxidation, glycation and glycoxidation in vitro and there is evidence to suggest paraoxonase-1 (PON1) plays an important role in this. 1. In patients with dyslipidaemia treated with statins, I assessed the relationship of serum PON1 activity with in vitro HDL antioxidant capacity, susceptibility of LDL to oxidation and the protection offered by HDL. 2. I studied the effect of the presence and severity of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in morbidly obese patients on HDL anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory functions. 3. I investigated the influence of extended release niacin/ laropiprant (ERN/LRP) versus placebo in patients who had persistent dyslipidaemia despite receiving high doses of potent statins. I assessed the effect of ERN/LRP on mediators of vascular inflammation and HDL's in vitro anti-oxidant function. Methods: 1. LDL isolated from dyslipidemic patients was incubated with and without HDL, in the presence of Cu2+. Similarly isolated HDL was incubated alone. Lipid peroxides (LPO) generated over 3 hours were measured. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on median serum PON1 activity. 2. 41 morbidly obese patients were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of OSA ("OSA" and "no OSA" group) or on severity of OSA (high or low apnoea-hypoapnoea index (AHI) groups). I studied HDL's ability to protect itself from in vitro oxidation and measured serum PON1 activity, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM1). 3. This was a randomised double blind cross over trial, where I studied the effect of ERN/LRP compared to placebo in 27 patients who had high LDL-C inspite of maximum tolerated doses of statins. I measured lipid profile, apolipoproteins, cholesteryl ester transport protein (CETP) activity, paraoxonase 1 activity (PON1), oxidised LDL (oxLDL) and related mediators of vascular inflammation. I also examined the capacity of HDL to protect LDL from in vitro oxidation. Results and conclusion: 1. In statin treated dyslipidemic patients the capacity of HDL to protect itself and LDL from oxidation in vitro is significantly better in individuals with higher serum PON1 activity. 2. The capacity of HDL to protect itself from in vitro oxidation in morbidly obese patients is reduced with onset and severity of OSA. The differences in TNFalpha and ICAM1 levels may suggest endothelial dysfunction due to OSA. Oxidative damage of PON1 attributable to OSA could be a mechanism for HDL and endothelial dysfunction. 3. Treatment with ERN/LRP resulted in a significant improvement in HDL-C but did not affect HDL's in vitro anti-oxidant function in patients who had persistent dyslipidaemia despite high doses of potent statins. For the first time I have shown that ERN/LRP reduces mediators of vascular inflammation.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:31:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-04-06Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:40:55Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 pegolo_ge_dr_arafcf.pdf: 1854514 bytes, checksum: c10247da7ef6f0014c6571c36e0d6903 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O objetivo deste estudo foi rastrear a ocorrência de fatores de risco da síndrome metabólica em adolescentes eutróficos e com excesso de peso em dois momentos transversais, com intervalo de seis meses. A amostra foi constituída por 64 adolescentes divididos em quatro grupos: meninos eutróficos e com excesso de peso e meninas eutróficas e com excesso de peso. As variáveis investigadas foram: peso, estatura, circunferência da cintura, percentual de gordura corporal, pressão arterial, colesterol total, LDL-colesterol, HDLcolesterol , triglicerídeos, glicose, ingestão de nutrientes, número de passos diário e tempo gasto com hábitos sedentários (assistir televisão, uso de computador e videogames). A média de idade foi de 11,4 ±0,3 anos para os meninos e 11,5 ±0,3 anos para as meninas. Foi diagnosticado um caso de síndrome metabólica, mas a presença de fatores de risco foi constatada nas duas avaliações. Entre os adolescentes com excesso de peso, 56% dos meninos e 31% das meninas apresentaram obesidade abdominal na primeira avaliação e as mesmas proporções foram observadas no segundo momento. Houve aumento da incidência da proporção de adolescentes com baixa concentração de HDLcolesterol nos grupos eutróficos e com excesso de peso. Entre os adolescentes eutróficos, na segunda avaliação 44% dos meninos e 69% das meninas apresentaram HDL-colesterol inferior a 40 mg/dL. No grupo com excesso de peso, 69% dos meninos e 63% das meninas apresentaram tal condição. Houve redução significativa de HDL-colesterol acompanhada de aumento de triglicerídeos, dois parâmetros críticos no desenvolvimento da síndrome metabólica. Além disso, foi detectada correlação inversa e significativa entre triglicerídeos e HDL-colesterol nas duas avaliações. Entre os adolescentes com excesso de peso, houve aumento, em ambos... / The present study was aimed to track risk factors of metabolic syndrome in eutrophic and overweight adolescents in two time periods, with a time interval of six months between the two periods. The sample was composed of 64 adolescents divided into four groups: eutrophic boys, overweight boys, eutrophic girls and overweight girls. The assessed variables were: weight, height, waist circumference, body fat percentage, arterial blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, nutrient intake, number of daily steps and hours of sedentary behavior (watching TV, playing on the computer or videogames). The average age of the boys was 11.4 ±0.3 years and of the girls was 11.5 ±0.3 years. One case of metabolic syndrome was diagnosed, but the presence of risk factors was detected in both assessments. Among overweight adolescents, 56% of the boys and 31% of the girls had abdominal obesity in the first assessment and the same percentage was found in the second assessment. There was an increase in the percentage of adolescents with low HDL-cholesterol concentrations in the eutrophic and overweight groups. Among the eutrophic adolescents, in the second assessment, 44% of the boys and 69% of the girls had HDL-cholesterol lower than 40 mg/dL. In the overweight group, 69% of the boys and 63% of the girls had this condition. There was a significant reduction in HDL-cholesterol followed by an increase in the triglycerides, two critical parameters in the development of the metabolic syndrome. Besides, an inverse and significant correlation between triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol was detected in both assessments. Among overweight adolescents there was an increase, in both sexes, in the number of adolescents with the two risk factors (boys: from 12% to 44%; - girls: from 6% to 25%), due... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Objetivo: comparar o perfil lipídico de em crianças e adolescentes, com e sem inflamação, atendidas num pronto atendimento geral de pediatria de um hospital universitário de nível de atendimento secundário, segundo estado nutricional, sexo e idade. Métodos: Estudo transversal, realizado entre outubro de 2012 e agosto de 2013, avaliou 124 crianças e adolescentes (3 meses a 14 anos de idade) em atendimento na unidade de emergência do Hospital Universitário da Universidade de São Paulo, com queixa relacionada a processo inflamatório/infeccioso. Os pacientes foram separados em dois grupos de acordo com os níveis de proteína C reativa (PCR): grupo I se maior ou igual a 5 mg/L, e grupo II se menor que 5mg/L. Dosagens de colesterol total, lipoproteína de alta densidade (HDL) e baixa densidade (LDL), triglicerídeos e albumina foram comparadas entre os dois grupos, levando em conta o estado nutricional (avaliado através de medidas antropométricas), gênero e idade. Resultado: A mediana de idade foi de 51 meses, com maioria dos pacientes classificados como eutróficos (76,5%). Do total da amostra, 34,7% dos pacientes apresentaram colesterol total e/ou triglicerídeos alterados e 67% apresentaram baixos níveis de HDL. Não houve diferença significativa do perfil lipídico entre os dois grupos de pacientes separados de acordo com PCR. Dentre os pacientes com PCR >= 5mg/L, a PCR apresentou correlação inversa com HDL [r= (-)0,363 e p=0,001], com LDL [r= (-) 0,235 e p=0,034], com albumina [r= (-) 0,308 e p=0,005] e correlação direta com TG (r=0,426 e p > 0,001). Na analise de regressão linear, se evidenciou que para cada aumento de 1mg/L nos valores da PCR espera-se uma redução média de 0,072 mg/dL da HDL, de 0,083 mg/dL da LDL, de 0,002g/dL de albumina, e um aumento médio de 0,564 mg/dL do triglicerídeo. Conclusão: Pacientes com processo inflamatório apresentam alterações nos níveis séricos do HDL, LDL e triglicerídeos que se relacionam com o grau de inflamação, de forma independente do estado nutricional / Aim: To compare the lipid profile in children and adolescents with and without inflammation, met a ready general pediatric service of a university hospital secondary care level, according to nutritional status, gender and age. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted between October 2012 and August 2013, assessed 124 children and adolescents (3 months to 14 years old) in the emergency department of the University Hospital of the University of São Paulo, with reports of inflammatory/ infectious process. The patients were divided into two groups according to the C reactive protein (CRP) levels: group I is higher than or equal to 5 mg/L, and Group II was lower than 5 mg/L. Total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL), triglycerides and albumin were compared between the two groups, taking into account the nutritional status (assessed by anthropometric measurements), gender and age. Results: The median age was 51 months, with patients mostly classified as well-nourished (76.5%). Of the overall sample, 34.7% of patients had total cholesterol and/or triglycerides altered and 67% had low levels of HDL. There was no significant difference in lipid profile between the two groups of PCR. For the patients with CPR > 5mg/L, CPR presented an inverse correlation with HDL [r = (-) 0.363 and p = 0.001], with LDL [r = (-) 0.235 and p = 0.034], with [r = albumin (-) 0.308 and p = 0.005] and direct correlation with TG (r = 0.426 and p < 0.001). Linear regression analysis it became clear that for each increase of 1 mg/L in the values of CRP expected an average reduction of 0,072 mg/dL of HDL, the 0,083 mg/dL of LDL, the 0,002 g /dL albumin, and an average increase of 0,564 mg/dL of triglycerides. Conclusion: Patients with an inflammatory process exhibit changes in the serum levels of the lipids HDL, LDL and TG that are related to the degree of inflammation. These changes occurred regardless of nutritional status

A series of investigations were undertaken to determine whether physical or emotional stress, catecholamines or naloxone (B-endorphon blocker) would increase serum total cholesterol and LDL and HDL levels. Physical stress given daily over a period of time caused a steady increase in serum total cholesterol and LDL without a significantly altering high density lipoproteins (HDL) or serum triglycerides. Daily injections of epinerphrine in oil caused an increase in both serum total cholesterol and LDL levels while daily injections of norepinephrine did not. Reversal of the treatments caused a reversed response in both groups of rats. Similar increases in both total cholesterol and LDL levels occurred in graduate students during preparation for their comprehensive written or oral thesis/dissertation defense. Injection of eigher dichloroisoproterenol (M.W. = 248) or naloxone (M.W. = 346) in rats prior to stress inhibited the increase in total cholesterol and LDL levels, although naloxone at the dosage given was more effective, possibly due to its larger molecular weight. When naloxone plus epinephrine was injected into non-stressed rats, there was a significant increase in total cholesterol and LDL levels, but the increase was not as great as that of groups injected with epinephrine only. Stressed, adrenalectomized rats exhibited higher cholesterol and LDL levels than the normal reported range for rats of their age and weight, but their levels did not differ from those of stressed, sham-operated rats indicating that the adrenals per se are not needed for stress-induced elevation of blood LDL levels.

<p>The complex work of designing new ASICs today and the increasing costs of time to market (TTM) delays are putting high responsibility on the research and development teams to make fault free designs. The main purpose of implementing a static rule checking tool in the design flow today is to find errors and bugs in the hardware definition language (HDL) code as fast and soon as possible. The sooner you find a bug in the design, the shorter the turnaround time becomes, and thereby both time and money will be saved.</p><p>There are a couple of tools in the market that performs static HDL analysis and they vary in both price and functionality. In this project mainly Atrenta Spyglass was evaluated but similar tools were also evaluated for comparison purpose.</p><p>The purpose of this master thesis was to evaluate the need of implementing a rule checking tool in the design flow at the Digital ASIC department PDU Base Station development in Kista, who also was the commissioner for this project. Based on the findings in this project it is recommended that a static rule checking tool is introduced in the design flow at the ASIC department. However, in order to determine which of the different tools the following pointers should be regarded:</p><p>• If the tool is only going to be used as for lint checks (elementary structure and code checks) on RTL, then the implementation of Mentors Design Checker is advised.</p><p>• If the tool is going to be used for more sophisticated structural checks, clock tree/reset tree propagation, code checks, basic constraints checks, basic Clock Domain Crossings (CDC) checks, then Synopsys LEDA is advised.</p><p>• If the tool is going to be used as for advanced structural checks, extensive clock tree/reset tree propagation, code checks, constraints checks, functional Design For Test (DFT) checks (as testmode signal propagation) and functional CDC checks on RTL as well as on netlist level, then Atrenta Spyglass is advised.</p><p>The areas regarding checks that could be of interest for Ericsson is believed to be regular lint checks for RTL (naming, code and basic structure), clock/reset tree propagation (netlist and RTL), constraints and functional DFT checks (netlist and RTL).</p>

An increased risk for coronary heart disease among shift workers is earlier shown in the epidemiological literature. The aim of this thesis has been to penetrate metabolic disturbances and obesity among shift workers compared to day workers, and to compare if there are differences in total mortality or cause specific mortality of coronary heart disease (CHD), diabetes or ischaemic stroke in between the two groups. In an intervention study on female nurses (N=11), on night schedules in Umeå hospital, the highest peak value of glucose and insulin after meal ingestion was seen in the late evening (23:30). The post-prandial area under curve (AUC) of glucose and insulin was correspondingly largest after meal ingestion the same clock hour compared to meal ingestion other clock times. In two different cross-sectional studies Västerbotten Inventory Study (VIP) (N= 27,485) and in a subset of Work, Lipids and Fibrinogen Study (WOLF) (N= 1,324) metabolic differences in between shift and day workers has been evaluated. In both studies have obesity, high triglycerides and low HDL-cholesterol been more prevalent among the shift-working group compared to the day-working group. After adjustments for age and socio-economic factors in the VIP-study obesity and high triglycerides remained as risk factors in shift workers in both men and women. After directly age standardisation, a clustering effect, simultaneously, of two or more metabolic risk factors (obesity, hypertension, and high triglycerides) was seen in both genders among the shift workers compared to the day workers. Correspondingly, in the Wolf study low HDL-cholesterol and high triglycerides remained as significant risk factors after adjustments of confounders as age, socio-economic group, physical activity, current smoking, low social support and high job strain. In a cohort study from one company (MoDo) with two plants in the pulp and paper industry 2,354 male shift workers and 3,088 male day workers were followed from January 1, 1952 to December 31, 2001 regarding total and cause specific mortality due to CHD, diabetes and ischaemic stroke. Groups of workers defined by different duration of shift exposure were compared with day workers by calculating standardised relative rates (SRR). No increased risk of total mortality was seen among shift workers compared to day workers. Higher duration of shift work was associated with increased risk for CHD, and shift workers with 30 years or more had the highest risk. Diabetes was more common with increasing number of shift year exposure. Compared to day workers shift workers had also an increased risk to die because of ischaemic stroke, with the highest relative difference in the least shift exposed group (&lt; 5 years).

An array of analytical methods including density gradient ultracentrifugation, capillary electrophoresis, and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS), were utilized to analyze serum high density lipoprotein (HDL) subfractions from two cohorts of normolipidemic individuals, which included subjects with diagnosed coronary artery disease (CAD), and angiographically proven non-CAD controls. These methods collectively provided characteristic information about the two populations of individuals including composition, electrophoretic mobilities, molecular weights, isoforms, and post-translational modifications of HDL apolipoproteins. This information proved useful in identifying potential biomarkers for CAD risk, and understanding the biological functions of a novel atherogenic HDL phenotype in individuals with CAD. Through the implementation of the aforementioned methodologies, new isoforms of apoC-I were identified. MALDI-MS, detected a shifting of approximately 90 Da in the mass to charge ratios corresponding to apoC-I peaks in the serum subfractions from all CAD cohort patients. This shifting was not observed in the non-CAD cohort, which displayed apoC-I peaks in accordance with the known mass of this protein. In addition to the shifting observed in the CAD cohort, some CAD patients showed further modifications of apoC-I that were indicative of oxidative processes. Interestingly, one patient, who has not been diagnosed with CAD, and has a family history of the disease, contained the apoC-I isoforms. This feature could underlie this subject’s known family history of CAD, and serve as an initial screening that could indicate the future development of CAD in this individual. Through collaborative work with Johns Hopkins University, it was initially observed that apoC-I enriched HDL induced apoptosis of aortic smooth muscle cells. Conversely, apoC-I depleted HDL induced minimal to no apoptosis, which led to the hypothesis that apoC-I is a contributor to atherogenic HDL and is a potential risk factor for CAD. Further collaborative work with Johns Hopkins assessed the apoptosis levels induced by HDL from both cohorts of patients. A distinct difference in apoptosis was identified between the two cohorts. High density lipoprotein subfractions from subjects in the CAD cohort, all of which contained the apoC-I isoforms, induced marked apoptosis compared to the non-CAD controls. These results further supported the hypothesis that apoC-I compromises the functionality of HDL and showed that through the induction of apoptosis, apoC-I can contribute to the destabilization of atherosclerotic plaque and the acceleration of CAD.

The complex work of designing new ASICs today and the increasing costs of time to market (TTM) delays are putting high responsibility on the research and development teams to make fault free designs. The main purpose of implementing a static rule checking tool in the design flow today is to find errors and bugs in the hardware definition language (HDL) code as fast and soon as possible. The sooner you find a bug in the design, the shorter the turnaround time becomes, and thereby both time and money will be saved. There are a couple of tools in the market that performs static HDL analysis and they vary in both price and functionality. In this project mainly Atrenta Spyglass was evaluated but similar tools were also evaluated for comparison purpose. The purpose of this master thesis was to evaluate the need of implementing a rule checking tool in the design flow at the Digital ASIC department PDU Base Station development in Kista, who also was the commissioner for this project. Based on the findings in this project it is recommended that a static rule checking tool is introduced in the design flow at the ASIC department. However, in order to determine which of the different tools the following pointers should be regarded: • If the tool is only going to be used as for lint checks (elementary structure and code checks) on RTL, then the implementation of Mentors Design Checker is advised. • If the tool is going to be used for more sophisticated structural checks, clock tree/reset tree propagation, code checks, basic constraints checks, basic Clock Domain Crossings (CDC) checks, then Synopsys LEDA is advised. • If the tool is going to be used as for advanced structural checks, extensive clock tree/reset tree propagation, code checks, constraints checks, functional Design For Test (DFT) checks (as testmode signal propagation) and functional CDC checks on RTL as well as on netlist level, then Atrenta Spyglass is advised. The areas regarding checks that could be of interest for Ericsson is believed to be regular lint checks for RTL (naming, code and basic structure), clock/reset tree propagation (netlist and RTL), constraints and functional DFT checks (netlist and RTL).

La nostra proposta ha profunditzat per primera vegada en l’estudi de les lipoproteïnes d’alta densitat (HDL) en la infecció pel virus de la immunodeficiència humana (VIH), i hem determinat la seva implicació en el curs de la infecció i en el desenvolupament de l’arteriosclerosi amb la finalitat de dissenyar noves estratègies terapèutiques. Els nostres resultats mostren com l’estat inflamatori i oxidant persistent associat a la infecció té un paper central en l’aparició d’alteracions metabòliques i el desenvolupament d’aterosclerosi en aquests pacients. Concretament, utilitzant tècniques cromatogràfiques i proteòmiques, mostrem com la presència anòmala de gammaglobulines, molècules pro-inflamatories i reactants de fase aguda en el plasma d’aquests pacients indueixen la modificació del metabolisme, composició i distribució de les partícules HDL, suggerint que la monitorització de les partícules HDL en aquests pacients no ha d’estar basada únicament en la determinació de la concentració del contingut de colesterol, sinó que ha d’incloure la determinació d’altres paràmetres associats a la qualitat, i per tant, a la funcionalitat, de les partícules HDL. / Our proposal has explored for the first time the effect of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)- infection on high-density lipoprotein (HDL) particles, and we determined their involvement in the course of infection itself and the development of atherosclerosis in order to design novel therapeutic strategies. Our results show how the chronic oxidant and inflammatory status associated with infection plays a central role in the onset of metabolic disorders and the development of subclinical atherosclerosis in these patients. Concretely, using both, chromatographic and proteomic techniques, we observed how the increased levels of gammaglobulin, pro-inflammatory molecules and acute phase reactants in the plasma of these patients induced metabolism alterations and modifications on the distribution and composition of HDL particles, suggesting that the monitoring of HDL particles in these patients should not be only based on the determination of the concentration of cholesterol content, but must include the determination of other parameters associated with particle quality, and therefore the functionality, of HDL particles