Serum Lipid Profile in Diffuse versus Limited Systemic Sclerosis

http://www.revistadechimie.ro 403 Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) is a rare autoimmune multisystem disease characterized by a broad spectrum of clinical findings as a result of key pathobiological events such as peripheral vasculopathy and excessive skin and visceral fibrosis with subsequent organ damage, occurring on a dysregulated immune background [1, 2, 3]. Based on the extent of skin involvement, diffuse and limited SSc are actually recognized as two main settings of the disease, characterized by different clinical, immunological, therapeutic as well as prognostic features [1, 2]. While microvascular abnormalities and Raynaud’s phenomenon are major contributors of vascular pathology in SSc, data about the magnitude and etiology of macrovascular disease and accelerated atherosclerosis in SSc patients are still controversial [1-12]. Furthermore, multifactorial determinants of cardiovascular disease in SSc are already suggested, including classic cardio-vascular risk factors (diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking), endothelial damage and vascular dysfunction, in addition to disease-specific factors (SSc activity, severity, antibodies, medication) [1-19]. Traditional cardio-vascular risk factors seem to be equally distributed among SSc patients and their controls in the majority of studies in the literature [1, 2, 13, 14]; however, their prevalence was not extensively evaluated in such population [1, 13, 14]. Although various papers demonstrated an aberrant lipid metabolism (comprising but not limited to altered serum cholesterol and its fractions, triglycerides, lipoproteins) with significant impact on both subclinical and definite atherosclerosis as well as cardiovascular disease in Serum Lipid Profile in Diffuse versus Limited Systemic Sclerosis