Reactive Vasodilation Predicts Mortality in Primary Systemic Light-Chain Amyloidosis.

Cardiac involvement and hypotension dominate the prognosis of light-chain amyloidosis (AL). Evidence suggests that there is also peripheral vascular involvement in AL but its prognostic significance is unknown. To evaluate vascular dysfunction in patients with AL as a potential future area of intervention, we assessed the prognostic utility of flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), a marker of vascular reactivity, which is augmented under conditions of hypotension and autonomic dysfunction.

Differential associations of systolic and diastolic time rate of blood pressure variation with carotid atherosclerosis and plaque echogenicity.

In the current study, the authors sought to assess whether the time rate of systolic and diastolic blood pressure variation is associated with advanced subclinical stages of carotid atherosclerosis and plaque echogenicity assessed by gray scale median. The authors recruited 237 consecutive patients with normotension and hypertension who underwent 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and carotid artery ultrasonography. There was an independent association between low 24-hour systolic time rate and increased echogenicity of carotid plaques (adjusted odds ratio for highest vs lower tertiles of gray scale median, 0.

Free androgen index as a predictor of blood pressure progression and accelerated vascular aging in menopause.

Background And Aims: We aimed to assess the prognostic value of free androgen index (FAI) and its change over time in arterial stiffness progression, endothelial function and hypertension in postmenopausal women.

Methods: Postmenopausal women (n = 180) without clinically overt cardiovascular disease or diabetes were consecutively recruited and followed for a median of 29 months. The main outcome measures were changes over time in endothelial function (FMD), reflected waves, localized and systemic (PWV) arterial stiffness and hypertension.

The effect of hypohydration on endothelial function in young healthy adults.

Purpose: Hypohydration has been suggested as a predisposing factor for several pathologies including cardiovascular diseases (CVD). While CVD are the leading cause of death worldwide, no study has investigated whether acute hypohydration affects endothelial function and cardiovascular function.

Methods: Ten young, healthy males participated in this crossover study (age: 24.

Eating frequency predicts new onset hypertension and the rate of progression of blood pressure, arterial stiffness, and wave reflections.

Background: Cross-sectional evidence indicates that eating frequency correlates with blood pressure, hypertension, and related target organ damage. The aim of the present study was to prospectively assess eating frequency as a predictor of arteriosclerosis progression and new onset hypertension over a follow-up period of 5 years in adults without cardiovascular disease.

Methods: Eating frequency among other dietary parameters was evaluated in 115 nondiabetic study participants from a general population sample (54 ± 9.

Circulating levels of TNF-like cytokine 1A correlate with reflected waves and atherosclerosis extent and may predict cardiac death in patients with stable coronary artery disease.

Background: TNF-like cytokine 1A (TL1A)-mediated interactions are involved in atheromatic plaque formation. In stable coronary artery disease (CAD) we examined whether circulating TL1A levels correlate with coronary and/or peripheral atherosclerosis extent and predict future cardiovascular events.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, peripheral vascular studies and TL1A serum measurements were performed in 122 consecutive patients with angiographically confirmed CAD who were followed for a median of 41.

The effect of hormone therapy on biochemical and ultrasound parameters associated with atherosclerosis in 46,XY DSD individuals with female phenotype.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of hormone therapy (HT) in the endothelial function of 46,XY disorders of sexual development (DSD) patients with female phenotype. Biochemical and ultrasound measurements were performed in 20 patients at initiation of oral 2 mg 17β-estradiol/1 mg norethisterone acetate, and after 6 months of therapy. Lipid profile, including total cholesterol (TC), LDL, HDL, triglycerides (TG) and Atherogenic Index of Plasma (AIP), as well as levels of VE-Cadherin, E-Selectin, Thrombomodulin and vWf were determined.

Meal patterns in healthy adults: Inverse association of eating frequency with subclinical atherosclerosis indexes.

Background & Aims: Meal patterns and their relationship with cardiovascular disease are insufficiently examined with important clinical implications. Our aim was to investigate associations between eating frequency (EF) and early markers of atherosclerosis.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we consecutively recruited 164 healthy subjects (46.

Hemodynamic markers and subclinical atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women with primary hyperparathyroidism.

Context: Recent evidence suggests that primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) is linked with hypertension and subclinical atherosclerosis. These associations have not been examined in postmenopausal women, in whom cardiovascular risk steeply rises after menopausal transition.

Objective: The objective of the study was to assess whether pHPT is associated with hemodynamic markers and subclinical atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women under a cross-sectional case-control design.

Patients with apparently nonfunctioning adrenal incidentalomas may be at increased cardiovascular risk due to excessive cortisol secretion.

Context: Although adrenal incidentalomas (AIs) are associated with a high prevalence of cardiovascular risk (CVR) factors, it is not clear whether patients with nonfunctioning AI (NFAI) have increased CVR.

Objective: Our objective was to investigate CVR in patients with NFAI.

Design And Setting: This case-control study was performed in a tertiary general hospital.

Arterial stiffness is increased in asymptomatic nondiabetic postmenopausal women with a polycystic ovary syndrome phenotype.

Objective: The metabolic dysfunction accompanying the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may increase the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although menopause per se may be an additional risk factor of CVD, the association between PCOS in postmenopausal women and cardiovascular risk has not been adequately investigated. We aimed to evaluate the effect of PCOS on markers of subclinical atherosclerosis in nondiabetic postmenopausal women.

Effects of chronic anaerobic training on markers of sub-clinical atherosclerosis.

Introduction: Although several cardiovascular adaptations in response to different types of exercise are already known, data comparing the effects of the type of exercise training on early markers of atherosclerosis are limited.

Methods: Forty-nine tennis players, 28 weightlifters and 20 non-trained healthy volunteers were recruited for the study. Flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) and intima-media thickness (IMT) in the carotid and femoral arteries were measured in all volunteers for assessment of endothelial function and vascular remodelling, respectively.

Acute and long-term hemodynamic effects of sesame oil consumption in hypertensive men.

The possible effects of sesame oil on hemodynamics are unknown. The aim of the study was to investigate the acute and long-term effects of sesame oil on hemodynamic responses in hypertensive men. The authors enrolled 30 hypertensive men in a two-phase study.

Can premenstrual syndrome affect arterial stiffness or blood pressure?

Objective: We tested the hypotheses that monthly fluctuations in markers of arterial stiffness and blood pressure hemodynamics differ between women with and without premenstrual syndrome. We also assessed hypertension prevalence and arterial stiffening in postmenopausal women with or without history of premenstrual symptoms.

Methods: Twenty one pre-menopausal women with premenstrual syndrome and 15 women without were prospectively examined in three distinct phases of their menstrual cycle (menses, late follicular and luteal phase).

Predictors of new atherosclerotic carotid plaque development in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a longitudinal study.

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality attributed to both classical risk factors and chronic inflammation. We assessed longitudinally the factors associated with new carotid plaques in nondiabetic RA patients and apparently healthy individuals.

Methods: In our present prospective observational study, carotid plaques were identified by ultrasonography at baseline and follow-up end, separated by an average of 3.

Sesame oil consumption exerts a beneficial effect on endothelial function in hypertensive men.

Background: The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of sesame oil on endothelial function and to detect the underlying mechanisms, both in the postprandial state and after long-term consumption.

Design: We enrolled 30 hypertensive men in a two-phase study. In the first phase, 26 volunteers consumed 35 g of either sesame oil or control oil.

Recently postmenopausal women have the same prevalence of subclinical carotid atherosclerosis as age and traditional risk factor matched men.

Objective: To compare the prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis between postmenopausal women and men of similar age early after the onset of menopause.

Methods: In the first part of this cross-sectional study 186 non-diabetic young postmenopausal women (n = 101, menopausal age ≤ 10 years) and men (n = 85) aged 40-60 years without overt CVD were consecutively recruited from the outpatients clinics of an academic hospital. Subclinical carotid atherosclerosis was assessed by high-resolution ultrasonography.

Circulating androgen levels are associated with subclinical atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness in healthy recently menopausal women.

Although increasing evidence supports an association between endogenous sex hormones and cardiovascular disease, the results still remain controversial. This study aims to examine the association between endogenous sex hormones and indices of vascular function and structure. Serum follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, estradiol, testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), and Δ4-androstenedione were measured in 120 healthy postmenopausal women aged 41 to 60 years.

Subclinical atherosclerosis in menopausal women with low to medium calculated cardiovascular risk.

Background: The menopausal status is closely related with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Nevertheless, it is still not included in risk stratification by total cardiovascular risk estimation systems. The present study aimed to evaluate the extent of subclinical vascular disorders in young healthy postmenopausal women.

Pilot study of circulating prolactin levels and endothelial function in men with hypertension.

Background: Hyperprolactinemia has been recently associated with hypertension and endothelial dysfunction in humans, confirming animal studies performed in the 1970s that showed high prolactin levels to exert positive chronotropic and vasoconstrictive effects. Whether prolactin affects endothelial function, in the absence of hyperprolactinemia, remains unknown. Considering that secretion of prolactin presents circadian rhythmicity, we tested the hypothesis that in patients with hypertension, who present diurnal variation in their endothelial function as well, prolactin levels correlate with endothelial function and/or blood pressure.

Impact of prehypertension on carotid artery intima-media thickening: actual or masked?

Background: Recent studies have reported that prehypertension is associated with increased values of common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT). The aim of this study was to assess the impact of daytime ambulatory blood pressure (BP) levels on the association of prehypertension with CCA intima-media thickening in prehypertensive subjects.

Methods: A total of 807 subjects with office systolic BP<140 and diastolic BP<90mmHg, underwent 24h ambulatory BP (ABP) monitoring and carotid artery ultrasonographic measurements.

Endogenous estrogen levels are associated with endothelial function in males independently of lipid levels.

Estrogens and androgens may play an important role in vascular health in both sexes. The aim of this study was to examine the relation of endogenous sex hormone levels with early markers of atherosclerosis in a cohort of apparently healthy males. 124 males (age 46.

Subclinical peripheral arterial disease in rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with accelerated atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries, but little is known about the magnitude of this process in peripheral arteries. Assessing preclinical atherosclerosis in both arterial beds in RA might provide additional prognostic value during risk stratification for primary prevention. Therefore in the present structural study we examined femoral versus carotid subclinical atherosclerosis in RA and controls.