Effect of glycocalyx-targeted therapy on vascular function in older adults: a randomized controlled trial.

Advancing age increases cardiovascular disease risk, in part, because of impaired glycocalyx thickness and endothelial dysfunction. Glycocalyx-targeted therapies, such as Endocalyx Pro, could improve both glycocalyx thickness and endothelial function in older adults; however, this has yet to be tested. We hypothesized that Endocalyx Pro supplementation would increase glycocalyx thickness and endothelial function in older adults.

Effect of acute heparin administration on glycocalyx thickness and endothelial function in healthy younger adults.

The endothelial glycocalyx is a dynamic, gel-like layer that is critical to normal vascular endothelial function. Heparin impairs the endothelial glycocalyx and reduces vascular endothelial function in a murine model; however, this has yet to be tested in healthy humans. We hypothesized that a single bolus dose of heparin would increase circulating glycocalyx components and decrease endothelial glycocalyx thickness resulting in blunted brachial artery vasodilation in healthy younger adults.

Low indoleamine 2, 3 dioxygenase (IDO) activity is associated with psycho-obstetric risk.

Objectives: Preeclampsia and depression in pregnancy are among the most prevalent obstetric disorders with no known cures. While depression and preeclampsia each increase risk for the other, shared mechansisms are unclear. One possibility is low levels of Indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase (IDO), which links immune dysregulation and oxidative arterial damage resulting in poor vascular function in both preeclampsia and depression.

Postpartum ambulatory and home blood pressure monitoring in women with history of preeclampsia: Diagnostic agreement and detection of masked hypertension.

Women with a history of preeclampsia (hxPE) are at a four-fold higher risk for chronic hypertension after pregnancy compared with healthy pregnancy, but 'masked' hypertension cases are missed by clinical assessment alone. Twenty-four hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is the reference-standard for confirmation of hypertension diagnoses or detection of masked hypertension outside of clinical settings, whereas home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) may represent a well-tolerated and practical alternative to ABPM in the postpartum period. The objectives of this study were to 1) assess concordance between ABPM and HBPM postpartum in women with a hxPE compared with healthy pregnancy controls and 2) evaluate HBPM in the detection of masked postpartum hypertension.

Twenty-Four-Hour Blood Pressure Variability Is Associated With Lower Cognitive Performance in Young Women With a Recent History of Preeclampsia.

Background: Women with a history of preeclampsia (hxPE) exhibit sustained arterial stiffness and elevated blood pressure postpartum. Aortic stiffness and 24-hour blood pressure variability (BPV) are associated with age-related cognitive decline. Although hxPE is related to altered cognitive function, the association between aortic stiffness and BPV with cognitive performance in young women with hxPE has not been investigated.

Beat-to-Beat Blood Pressure Variability in the First Trimester Is Associated With the Development of Preeclampsia in a Prospective Cohort: Relation With Aortic Stiffness.

Women with preeclampsia, a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, exhibit greater beat-to-beat blood pressure variability (BPV) in the third trimester after clinical onset of the disorder. However, it remains unknown whether elevated BPV precedes the development of preeclampsia. A prospective study cohort of 139 women (age 30.

Elevated Muscle Sympathetic Nerve Activity Contributes to Central Artery Stiffness in Young and Middle-Age/Older Adults.

Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) influences the mechanical properties (ie, vascular smooth muscle tone and stiffness) of peripheral arteries, but it remains controversial whether MSNA contributes to stiffness of central arteries, such as the aorta and carotids. We examined whether elevated MSNA (age-related) would be independently associated with greater stiffness of central (carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity [PWV]) and peripheral (carotid-brachial PWV) arteries, in addition to lower carotid compliance coefficient, in healthy men and women (n=88, age: 19-73 years, 52% men). We also examined whether acute elevations in MSNA without increases in mean arterial pressure using graded levels of lower body negative pressure would augment central and peripheral artery stiffness in young (n=15, 60% men) and middle-age/older (MA/O, n=14, 43% men) adults.

Relative burst amplitude of muscle sympathetic nerve activity is an indicator of altered sympathetic outflow in chronic anxiety.

Relative burst amplitude of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) is an indicator of augmented sympathetic outflow and contributes to greater vasoconstrictor responses. Evidence suggests anxiety-induced augmentation of relative MSNA burst amplitude in patients with panic disorder; thus we hypothesized that acute stress would result in augmented relative MSNA burst amplitude and vasoconstriction in individuals with chronic anxiety. Eighteen participants with chronic anxiety (ANX; 8 men, 10 women, 32 ± 2 yr) and 18 healthy control subjects with low or no anxiety (CON; 8 men, 10 women, 39 ± 3 yr) were studied.