Effects of structured home-based exercise training on circulating endothelial progenitor cells and endothelial function in patients with intermittent claudication.

Introduction: Exercise training improves walking capacity in patients with intermittent claudication (IC). Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), endothelial microparticles (EMPs), and endothelial dysfunction could play a role in this process.

Methods: We measured EPCs and EMPs in a group of 60 patients with IC, and in a control group of 20 individuals without IC, before a treadmill test and 2, 24, and 48 hours after the test.

Very Low-Carbohydrate Ketogenic Diet for the Treatment of Severe Obesity and Associated Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: The Role of Sex Differences.

Very low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets (VLCKDs) are an emerging nutritional treatment for severe obesity and are associated with a significant improvement in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Little is known about the effect of sex differences on weight loss induced by following a VLCKD. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sex differences on weight loss and NAFLD improvement in patients with severe obesity undergoing a VLCKD.

Hematological and Biochemical Reference Intervals for 5 Adult Hunting Dog Breeds Using a Blood Donor Database.

Numerous studies have shown the importance of breed-related differences between hematological and biochemical results in veterinary medicine. The aim of this study is to determine hematologic and biochemical Reference Intervals (RIs) for 5 hunting dog breeds from a blood donor database, adopting an indirect sampling method, and to compare them with laboratory established and published RIs to identify possible breed and attitude-related differences. The study analyzed the blood parameters of 445 adults (222 females and 223 male, with age ranging from 2 to 8 years, mean age 5.

Chemerin predicts carotid intima-media thickening in severe obesity.

Background And Aims: Chemerin is an adipokine with an emerging role in the crosstalk between adipose tissue and immune system. It is overexpressed in severe obesity, affects adipogenesis and glucose homeostasis and it correlates with early vascular damage. The aim of this study is to investigate the correlation between circulating levels of chemerin and early vascular damage in subjects with severe obesity, before and after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG).

Increased plasmatic NETs by-products in patients in severe obesity.

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are DNAs products involved in immune process. Obesity through a low-grade chronic inflammation determines neutrophil activation, but it is still unclear its role in NETs formation. Here we analyzed the NETs levels in healthy and morbid obese, their association with anthropometric and glyco-metabolic parameters and their changes after bariatric surgery.

Lysosomal Acid Lipase as a Molecular Target of the Very Low Carbohydrate Ketogenic Diet in Morbidly Obese Patients: The Potential Effects on Liver Steatosis and Cardiovascular Risk Factors.

A very low carbohydrate ketogenic diet (VLCKD) is an emerging technique to induce a significant, well-tolerated, and rapid loss of body weight in morbidly obese patients. The low activity of lysosomal acid lipase (LAL) could be involved in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is a common feature in morbidly obese patients. Fifty-two obese patients suitable for a bariatric surgery intervention underwent a 25-day-long VLCKD.

Combined aerobic and resistance training improves microcirculation in metabolic syndrome.

Background: Exercise intervention improves macrovascular function in metabolic syndrome (MeS) patients, but few studies have evaluated the effect of exercise on microcirculatory dysfunction, which plays a key role in the development of MeS and its correlated organ damage. We carried out this intervention study to evaluate the influence of an aerobic and resistance training on skin microvascular reactivity in MeS patients.

Methods: Postocclusive reactive hyperemia (PORH) of the forearm skin was evaluated, by laser-Doppler flowmetry, before and after a 12-week program of aerobic and resistance training in 15 MeS patients referring to our Lipid Metabolism Outpatients Clinic, together with anthropometric, fitness and metabolic parameters; 15 matched MeS patients who did not exercise, served as a control group.

A silent mutation of Niemann-Pick C1-like 1 and apolipoprotein E4 modulate cholesterol absorption in primary hyperlipidemias.

Objective: To investigate the influence of the silent mutation c.816C > G (L272) of Niemann-Pick C1-like 1 (NPC1L1) and of apolipoprotein (APO) E alleles on cholesterol absorption markers, sitosterol and campesterol, in 87 patients with primary hyperlipidemias.

Methods: In all subjects genotyped for silent polymorphism in NPC1L1 gene c.

Cholesterol metabolism differs after statin therapy according to the type of hyperlipemia.

Aim: Non-cholesterol sterols reflect cholesterol metabolism. Statins reduce cholesterol synthesis usually with a rise in cholesterol absorption. Common hyperlipemias have shown different patterns of cholesterol metabolism.

Visceral fat positively correlates with cholesterol synthesis in dyslipidaemic patients.

Background: Quantification of plasma noncholesterol sterols allows the study of cholesterol absorption and synthesis. A pattern of low cholesterol absorption and high synthesis has been demonstrated in patients with obesity and insulin resistance. To understand the relationship between cholesterol absorption/synthesis and visceral obesity, we investigated surrogate markers of cholesterol absorption (campesterol and sitosterol) and synthesis (lathosterol) in dyslipidaemic patients with different representation of abdominal fat, estimated by ultrasonographic measurement of visceral fat area (VFA).

Cardiovascular risk factors and recommended lipid goals attainment among patients referred in a tertiary care lipid clinic.

Background: Many adults are not at recommended lipid levels and the extent of treatment of dyslipidemia remains poor. We investigated the burden of cardiovascular risk and the distance of lipid fractions from the recommended targets by statin therapy and risk status in patients referred to a tertiary care lipid clinic.

Methods: Assessment of cardiovascular risk factors was performed in 1657 patients, mostly dyslipidemics, referred by family physicians to our Lipid Clinic, 393 patients being under statin therapy.

Semi-quantitative analysis of perfusion of Brodmann areas in the differential diagnosis of cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease, fronto-temporal dementia and mild cognitive impairment.

Different perfusion defects reflect neurological damage characteristics of different kinds of dementia. Our aim was to investigate the role of brain single photon emission tomography (SPET) with semiquantitative analysis of Brodmann areas in dementia, by technetium-99m - hexamethyl-propylenamine- oxime ((99m)Tc-HMPAO) brain SPET with semiquantitative analysis of Brodmann areas in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We studied 75 patients, 25 with AD (NiNCDS ADRDA criteria), 25 with FTD (Lund and Manchester criteria), 25 with MCI (EADC criteria).

Cerebrospinal fluid neuron-specific enolase: a further marker of Alzheimer's disease?

To investigate whether neuron-specific enolase (NSE) plays a role in dementia, we measured cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of NSE, Abeta42 and total protein tau (h-tau) in different dementia patients. We studied 159 patients: 76 with Alzheimer's disease (AD), 35 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 28 with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and 20 with Lewy body disease (LBD). Thirty healthy age-matched subjects were studied as controls.

Preclinical vascular damage in white postmenopausal women: the relevance of osteoprotegerin.

Osteoprotegerin (OPG) has recently been implicated in human atherogenesis. Abdominal obesity represents an established risk factor for the onset and development of atherosclerotic damage. The aim of the present study was to investigate the link between OPG and abdominal fat and the relationship to precocious features of atherosclerotic disease such as brachial flow-mediated vasodilation (FMV) and the intima-media thickening (IMT) in 195 white postmenopausal women (age range, 43-75 years).

Human endothelial impairment in sepsis.

The onset of sepsis is often non-specific, and its severity is cryptic. The pathophysiological mechanism of sepsis development involves vascular alteration and, in particular, the impairment of endothelial function. Aim of the study was to evaluate the potential implications of brachial endothelial function assessment in patients affected by Gram-negative sepsis.

Metabolic syndrome and preclinical atherosclerosis: focus on femoral arteries.

Several evidences revealed the relationship between the earliest stages of atherosclerosis and the components of metabolic syndrome. The aim of this study was to disclose preclinical atherosclerotic lesions in a cross-sectional observational study involving 147 patients with metabolic syndrome by the assessment of brachial flow-mediated vasodilation (FMV) and intima-media thickening at both carotid and femoral sites. The purpose was to investigate the association of this metabolic disorder with prevalent atherosclerotic damage in different vascular sites.

Effects of rosuvastatin on 3-nitrotyrosine and aortic stiffness in hypercholesterolemia.

Background And Aims: Early atherosclerosis is characterized by reduced large artery distensibility, paralleled by an increased peroxynitrite formation and nitration of tyrosine in proteins. The aim of the present study was to investigate the short-term effect of cholesterol lowering with rosuvastatin on 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT), a marker of peroxynitrite-mediated oxidative stress, and on arterial stiffness.

Methods And Results: 71 outpatients with primary hypercholesterolemia were recruited for this randomized open-label intervention study; 35 patients were assigned to 4-week rosuvastatin therapy (10mg daily) with a low-fat diet, and 36 patients to a low-fat diet only.

Racial difference in endothelial function: role of the infective burden.

There is much evidence to suggest the existence of racial differences between blacks and whites in the behaviour of endothelial function. Infective state, sustained by viral or bacterial agents, may injure the endothelial surface favouring the onset and progression of atherosclerotic process, mainly by an inflammatory mechanism. The aim of the study was to investigate endothelial function, expressed as brachial flow-mediated vasodilation (FMV), in black and white healthy subjects, along with antibody titer to cytomegalovirus, hepatitis virus (B, C), herpes virus-1 and 2, Epstein-Barr, Chlamydia pneumoniae and the expression of adhesion molecules.

Different impact of the metabolic syndrome on left ventricular structure and function in hypertensive men and women.

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is increasingly recognized as an important cardiovascular risk factor in hypertension, but its influence on left ventricular (LV) mass and function in the 2 genders has not been specifically addressed. Among 618 nondiabetic, untreated hypertensive subjects, echocardiographically detected LV mass was significantly greater in subjects with MS. A significant interaction was observed between sex and the MS (P<0.

Association of 99mTc-MIBI brain SPECT and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) to assess glioma recurrence after radiotherapy.

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare 99mTc-MIBI brain SPECT and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) findings and to evaluate their association.

Methods: Both exams were performed on 30 glioma patients, previously operated and treated with radiotherapy, having MRI doubtful between recurrence and radiotherapy effects. SPECT images were acquired 15 minutes after radiopharmaceutical administration with a dual-head gamma camera.

Combined monogenic hypercholesterolemia and hypoalphalipoproteinemia caused by mutations in LDL-R and LCAT genes.

We studied a three generation family with co-dominant monogenic hypercholesterolemia and hypoalphalipoproteinemia. The proband, a 48 year-old male, was found to be heterozygous for a previously reported mutation in LDL receptor (LDL-R) gene (IVS15-3 c>a) and a novel mutation in exon 6 of lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) gene (c.803 G>A) causing a non-synonymous amino acid substitution (p.

Paraoxonase-1 activity modulates endothelial function in patients with peripheral arterial disease.

Human serum paraoxonase-1 (PON1) is thought to play a role in the favorable vascular effects of high-density lipoproteins, mainly through a reduction in low-density lipoprotein oxidation. Endothelial dysfunction, characterized by an impaired capacity of the arteries to dilate in response to a number of stimuli, represents the earliest stage of atherosclerosis. We performed the present study in 37 patients with peripheral arterial disease, with the aim of investigating the influence of PON1 Q192R polymorphism and activity on peripheral endothelial function, evaluated as brachial-artery flow-mediated vasodilation (FMV).

Acute inflammatory state during influenza infection and endothelial function.

Chronic inflammatory stimulus seems to contribute to atherosclerotic process. Several studies have established a relationship between infective agents as Chlamydia pneumoniae, herpes virus and cytomegalovirus and atherosclerotic lesions. Aim of this study was to investigate the effects of influenza infective state on endothelial function of healthy young subjects, expressed as brachial flow-mediated vasodilation (FMV) and soluble form of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1).

Attenuation of inflammation with short-term dietary intervention is associated with a reduction of arterial stiffness in subjects with hypercholesterolaemia.

Background: Increased arterial stiffness has been found in patients with chronic high-grade inflammatory diseases. Whether mitigation of low-grade systemic inflammation, through a low-cholesterol/low-saturated fat diet, may have a role in improving arterial stiffness is still untested.

Design: We investigated whether variations in blood lipids and plasma C-reactive protein induced by low-cholesterol/low-saturated fat diet are associated with variations in large-artery stiffness in hypercholesterolaemia.

Usefulness of brain natriuretic peptide levels to discriminate patients with stable angina pectoris without and with electrocardiographic myocardial ischemia and patients with healed myocardial infarction.

Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels were measured in 100 patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) who underwent myocardial stress thallium-201 single-photon emission computed tomography (30 with stable angina without basal electrocardiographic ischemia and no perfusion defects, 31 with angina with electrocardiographic ischemia and reversible perfusion defects, and 39 with myocardial infarction and irreversible defects) and in 42 controls. BNP levels progressively increased in patients with CHD and were significantly greater in patients with ischemia (p <0.01) and infarction (p <0.