Fibrin formation is pivotal in hemostasis, serving as a temporary barrier to blood loss following vascular injury, while in thrombosis this process is involved in thrombus progression, stability, and recurrence. Growing evidence shows an exceptional complexity of processes that determine fibrin clot structure and function, especially lysability, both in health and disease, which might be relevant in the pathogenesis of arterial and venous thromboembolic diseases. In this overview we summarized available data on novel factors that in recent years have been suggested to contribute to prothrombotic fibrin clot properties, involving formation of compact fibrin networks (reduced clot permeability) displaying impaired susceptibility to lysis (prolonged clot lysis time). The factors discussed in this review encompass elevated levels of factor (F)XI, and its activated form (FXIa), protein carbonylation as the most common type of post-translational modification, neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) formation, increased levels of circulating lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and zonulin, a marker of gut permeability, along with antithrombin deficiency. These factors have been shown to be not only associated with ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, and cardiovascular death, but also with unfavorably altered fibrin clot characteristics, which underscores clinical relevance of fibrin clot properties. Given preclinical or ongoing studies aimed at modifying some of these factors, in particular FXI / FXIa inhibitors, recent findings might expand our knowledge on fibrin-related mechanisms of emerging therapeutic agents tested and stimulate further research into new targets for future therapeutic interventions to prevent thromboembolic events.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) reactivation is increasingly recognized as a potential exacerbator of autoimmune diseases, including Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT).

Lipid disorders are the most common cardiovascular risk factor among adult population in Poland. However, there is still insufficient epidemiological data for an ever-growing group of older people.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have long been considered molecular noise within the transcriptome, but over time it has been shown that they perform many important biological functions and are associated with various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

The quest for an unequivocal diagnostic tool for sepsis has persisted for decades, but this goal remains elusive. The diagnosis of sepsis is characterized by its complexity, which encompasses dozens of biochemical, hematologic, and immunologic parameters as well as complex microbiological diagnostics. During the last decade, the integration of omics technologies has further complicated this landscape. Despite these advancements, clinical diagnosis remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of sepsis. In the following review, we provide an overview of select diagnostic biomarkers that are deemed readily applicable in routine clinical practice, thus extending beyond the confines of university hospitals. Verification of the reliability and usefulness of a diagnostic parameter generally takes several years, and this process is more difficult in patients with sepsis compared with other patients because of the complexity of this clinical condition. Nevertheless, the introduction of new technologies, the intensive use of bedside diagnostics, and the contribution of omics technologies are moving us toward the realization of personalized medicine and theranostics.

The knowledge about clinical features of Polish patients with hereditary type of transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR-CA) is scant.

The risk of cardiovascular disease increases in patients with acute pancreatitis. However, it remains unknown whether this increase varies between males and females.