High-dose B vitamin supplementation and progression of subclinical atherosclerosis: a randomized controlled trial.

Background And Purpose: Although plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) levels are associated with cardiovascular disease, it remains unclear whether homocysteine is a cause or a marker of atherosclerotic vascular disease. We determined whether reduction of tHcy levels with B vitamin supplementation reduces subclinical atherosclerosis progression.

Methods: In this double-blind clinical trial, 506 participants 40 to 89 years of age with an initial tHcy >8.

Relation of Framingham risk score to subclinical atherosclerosis evaluated across three arterial sites.

The Framingham risk score (FRS) is widely used in clinical practice to identify subjects at high risk for developing coronary heart disease. However, FRS may not accurately identify subjects at risk. We measured subclinical atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries and aorta with the presence of calcium and in the common carotid artery by intima-media thickness in 498 healthy subjects.

Effect of pioglitazone on progression of subclinical atherosclerosis in non-diabetic premenopausal Hispanic women with prior gestational diabetes.

The Pioglitazone in the Prevention of Diabetes (PIPOD) study was a single arm 3-year open-label pioglitazone treatment to determine the effects of pioglitazone in women with prior gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) who had completed the troglitazone in the Prevention of Diabetes (TRIPOD) study. Here we report the results on progression of subclinical atherosclerosis, measured by carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) in non-diabetic women. Data were analyzed to compare CIMT progression rates during pioglitazone treatment to rates that had been observed during either placebo or troglitazone treatment in the TRIPOD study.

Brachial artery vasoreactivity is associated with cross-sectional and longitudinal anatomical measures of atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women with coronary artery disease.

Background: The diagnostic and prognostic importance of brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (BFMD) for cardiovascular disease (CVD) is not certain and associations between BFMD and recognized measures of atherosclerosis have not been well established.

Methods: We investigated cross-sectional and longitudinal correlations between repeated measures of BFMD and quantitative coronary artery angiographic (QCA) measurements of average percent diameter stenosis, number of lesions and minimum luminal diameter (MLD), and ultrasonographic measurement of carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) in an ethnically diverse cohort of postmenopausal women (n=132) with coronary artery disease (CAD). Subjects were participants in a 3-year randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, testing the efficacy of hormone therapy on atherosclerosis progression.

Determinants of the effect of estrogen on the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis: Estrogen in the Prevention of Atherosclerosis Trial.

Objective: To determine the extent to which the estrogen-induced changes in lipids and markers of carbohydrate metabolism explain the beneficial effect of estrogen therapy on the progression of carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) in postmenopausal women.

Design: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-center trial enrolling 222 postmenopausal women 45 years and older without cardiovascular disease and with low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels of 3.37 mmol/L or greater (> or = 130 mg/dL).

Effect of thiazolidinedione treatment on progression of subclinical atherosclerosis in premenopausal women at high risk for type 2 diabetes.

We tested the effects of treatment with a thiazolidinedione drug on rates of progression of carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and some putative determinants of CIMT in young women at high risk for type 2 diabetes. A total of 266 nondiabetic, Hispanic women with recent gestational diabetes were randomized to placebo or troglitazone. CIMT measurements were made at baseline, annually, and at study end, together with measurements of obesity, serum lipids, and glucose and insulin levels during oral glucose tolerance tests.

Early onset of subclinical atherosclerosis in young persons with type 1 diabetes.

Objective: To evaluate the degree of atherosclerosis and its risk factors in adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes.

Study Design: We measured carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) in 142 subjects with type 1 diabetes (mean [SD] age = 16.0 [2.

Does elevated body mass modify the influence of postmenopausal estrogen replacement on atherosclerosis progression: results from the estrogen in the prevention of atherosclerosis trial.

Objective: To determine whether the estrogen-related reduction in atherosclerosis progression demonstrated in the estrogen in the prevention of atherosclerosis trial (EPAT) is modified by body mass index (BMI).

Study Design: Subgroup analyses were performed using data from EPAT, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial designed to determine whether unopposed 17beta-estradiol administered for a 2-year treatment period reduces the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis in healthy postmenopausal women. The primary trial endpoint was the rate of change of common carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT).

Alpha-tocopherol supplementation in healthy individuals reduces low-density lipoprotein oxidation but not atherosclerosis: the Vitamin E Atherosclerosis Prevention Study (VEAPS).

Background: Epidemiological studies have demonstrated an inverse relationship between vitamin E intake and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. In contrast, randomized controlled trials have reported conflicting results as to whether vitamin E supplementation reduces atherosclerosis progression and CVD events.

Methods And Results: The study population consisted of men and women > or =40 years old with an LDL cholesterol level > or =3.