Change in C-reactive protein after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass through 7 years of follow-up.

Background: Long-term change in CRP is not well characterized in the context of RYGB.

Objective: To report C-reactive protein (CRP) after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGB).

Setting: Between 2006 and 2009 1770 adults enrolled in a prospective cohort study underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) at 1 of 10 U.

Adipokines and Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease in Post-Menopausal Women: Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.

Background The menopausal transition is characterized by increased cardiovascular risk, weight gain, and increased adiposity for many women. The adipose-derived secretory proteins adiponectin and leptin are associated with insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease but their role in subclinical atherosclerotic disease is unclear. This cross-sectional study evaluated the associations of adiponectin and leptin with carotid artery intima-media thickness, adventitial diameter, presence of carotid plaques, and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) in women aged 54 to 65 years.

Predictors of change in cardiovascular disease risk and events following gastric bypass: a 7-year prospective multicenter study.

Background: Change in short-term (i.e., 10-year) and lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) has significant heterogeneity.

Change in predicted 10-year and lifetime cardiovascular disease risk after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

Background: Long-term changes in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk after bariatric surgery are not well characterized.

Objective: To report sex-specific changes in CVD risk after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGB).

Setting: Observational cohort study at ten hospitals throughout the United States.

Women with Preterm Birth Have Evidence of Subclinical Atherosclerosis a Decade After Delivery.

Women with preterm birth (PTB) have excess risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and metabolic dysregulation after delivery, but vascular mechanisms are poorly understood. We considered that women with PTB may have evidence of subclinical atherosclerosis after delivery, perhaps related to cardiometabolic risk factors. The Pregnancy Outcomes and Community Health Moms (POUCHmoms) study followed women from pregnancy through 7 to 15 years after delivery ( = 678).

Comparison of carotid plaque burden among healthy middle-aged men living in the US, Japan, and South Korea.

Background: Carotid plaque has emerged as a marker of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. Comparison of carotid plaque burden between different race/ethnic groups may provide a relative estimate of their future CHD risk.

Methods: We conducted a population-based study among apparently healthy middle-aged men aged 40-49 years (ERA JUMP study (n = 924)) and recruited 310 Whites in Pittsburgh, US, 313 Japanese in Otsu, Japan, and 301 Koreans in Ansan, South Korea.

Lipid Changes Around the Final Menstrual Period Predict Carotid Subclinical Disease in Postmenopausal Women.

Background And Purpose: Atherogenic changes in lipids occur among women around the time of the natural menopause, that is, within 1 year of the final menstrual period (FMP). We investigated whether lipid changes around the FMP are related to carotid intima-media thickness, interadventitial diameter, and plaque in postmenopausal women.

Methods: A total of 863 natural postmenopausal women with no history of heart attack or stroke underwent carotid ultrasound scans at follow-up year 12 or 13 of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.

Progression of coronary artery calcium in Japanese American men and white men in the ERA JUMP study.

Background: Progression of coronary artery calcium (CAC) is associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and is reported to be greater in whites than blacks, Hispanics, and Chinese in the US. Our objective was to compare progression of CAC between Japanese Americans and whites.

Methods: Population-based sample of 303 Japanese American men and 310 white men aged 40-49years, free of clinical cardiovascular disease at baseline, were examined for CAC at baseline (2004-2007) and follow-up (2008-2013).

A Significant Positive Association of Vitamin D Deficiency with Coronary Artery Calcification among Middle-aged Men: For the ERA JUMP Study.

Objective: Although a significant positive association of vitamin D deficiency with coronary heart disease has been demonstrated in cross-sectional as well as prospective studies, only a few studies have examined the association of vitamin D deficiency with subclinical atherosclerosis. We examined whether vitamin D deficiency is associated with subclinical atherosclerosis, as measured by coronary artery calcification (CAC) in asymptomatic adults.

Methods: In a population-based cross-sectional study, 195 men aged 40 to 49 years without cardiovascular disease were randomly selected (98 Caucasian and 97 Japanese American men).

The role of initial and longitudinal change in blood pressure on progression of arterial stiffness among multiethnic middle-aged men.

Objective: A few studies have examined the longitudinal association of blood pressure (BP) with arterial stiffness progression, and the results were inconsistent. The objective of this study was to investigate the roles of initial BP and its longitudinal change on the progression of arterial stiffness measured using brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV).

Method: Study participants (n = 656) were from population-based samples of healthy men aged 40-49 years at baseline (213 White Americans, 47 African-Americans, 152 Japanese Americans and 244 Japanese in Japan).

Inflammatory/Hemostatic Biomarkers and Coronary Artery Calcium Progression in Women at Midlife (from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation, Heart Study).

It is unknown whether inflammatory/hemostatic biomarkers are associated with coronary artery calcium (CAC) progression. Our purpose was to evaluate the associations of baseline levels of C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), tissue plasminogen activator antigen, and circulating factor VII with CAC progression in healthy midlife women. Inflammatory/hemostatic biomarkers were measured at baseline.

Inflammatory/hemostatic biomarkers and coronary artery calcification in midlife women of African-American and White race/ethnicity: the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) heart study.

Objective: Inflammatory/hemostatic biomarkers are associated with coronary heart disease events, but relationships in asymptomatic midlife women are uncertain. We evaluated separately whether high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), fibrinogen, plasminogen-activator inhibitor 1, tissue plasminogen activator antigen, and circulating factor VII (factor VIIc) were associated with coronary artery calcification (CAC) in healthy midlife women.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed of participants from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.

Significantly Greater Progression of Intima-Media Thickness of the Carotid Artery in Japanese American Men Than in White Men: The ERA JUMP Study.

Background: Although a westernized lifestyle was associated with increased coronary heart disease (CHD), morbidity, and mortality in first- and second-generation Japanese Americans, CHD mortality was reported to be lower in this population than in whites. The risk profile of CHD for third- and fourth-generation Japanese Americans is not known. We compared the progression of carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) between third- or fourth-generation Japanese Americans and whites.

Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity is associated with coronary calcification among 1131 healthy middle-aged men.

Background: Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) is a simple and reproducible measure of arterial stiffness and is extensively used to assess cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in eastern Asia. We examined whether baPWV is associated with coronary atherosclerosis in an international study of healthy middle-aged men.

Methods: A population-based sample of 1131 men aged 40-49 years was recruited - 257 Whites and 75 Blacks in Pittsburgh, US, 228 Japanese-Americans in Honolulu, US, 292 Japanese in Otsu, Japan, and 279 Koreans in Ansan, Korea.

Comparison of HOMA-IR, HOMA-β% and disposition index between US white men and Japanese men in Japan: the ERA JUMP study.

Aims/hypothesis: At the same level of BMI, white people have less visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and are less susceptible to developing type 2 diabetes than Japanese people. No previous population-based studies have compared insulin resistance and insulin secretion between these two races in a standardised manner that accounts for VAT. We compared HOMA-IR, HOMA of beta cell function (HOMA-β%) and disposition index (DI) in US white men and Japanese men in Japan.

The Associations of Indices of Obesity with Lipoprotein Subfractions in Japanese American, African American and Korean Men.

Background: Both indices of obesity and lipoprotein subfractions contribute to coronary heart disease risk. However, associations between indices of obesity and lipoprotein subfractions remain undetermined across different ethnic groups. This study aims to examine the associations of indices of obesity in Japanese Americans (JA), African Americans (AA) and Koreans with lipoprotein subfractions.

Arterial stiffness and β-amyloid progression in nondemented elderly adults.

Importance: Recent studies show that cerebral β-amyloid (Aβ) deposition is associated with blood pressure and measures of arterial stiffness in nondemented individuals.

Objective: To examine the association between measures of arterial stiffness and change in Aβ deposition over time.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Deposition of Aβ was determined in a longitudinal observational study of aging by positron emission tomography using the Pittsburgh compound B twice 2 years apart in 81 nondemented individuals 83 years and older.

Long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and incidence rate of coronary artery calcification in Japanese men in Japan and white men in the USA: population based prospective cohort study.

Objective: To determine whether serum concentrations of long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCn3PUFAs) contribute to the difference in the incidence rate of coronary artery calcification (CAC) between Japanese men in Japan and white men in the USA.

Methods: In a population based, prospective cohort study, 214 Japanese men and 152 white men aged 40-49 years at baseline (2002-2006) with coronary calcium score (CCS)=0 were re-examined for CAC in 2007-2010. Among these, 175 Japanese men and 113 white men participated in the follow-up exam.

Pulse wave velocity is associated with β-amyloid deposition in the brains of very elderly adults.

Objective: To determine arterial stiffness and β-amyloid (Aβ) deposition in the brain of dementia-free older adults.

Methods: We studied a cohort of 91 dementia-free participants aged 83-96 years. In 2009, participants completed brain MRI and PET imaging using Pittsburgh compound B (PiB; a marker of amyloid plaques in human brain).

Do differences in risk factors explain the lower rates of coronary heart disease in Japanese versus U.S. women?

Background: Mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) in women in Japan is one of the lowest in developed countries. In an attempt to shed some light on possible reasons of lower CHD in women in Japan compared with the United States, we extensively reviewed and analyzed existing national data and recent literature.

Methods: We searched recent epidemiological studies that reported incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and examined risk factors for CHD in women in Japan.

Association of total marine fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids, with aortic stiffness in Koreans, whites, and Japanese Americans.

Background: Few previous studies have reported the association of aortic stiffness with marine n-3 fatty acids (Fas) in the general population. The aim of this study was to determine the combined and independent associations of 2 major marine n-3 FAs, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), with aortic stiffness evaluated using carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) in Korean, white, and Japanese American men.

Methods: A population-based sample of 851 middle-aged men (299 Koreans, 266 whites, and 286 Japanese Americans) was examined for cfPWV during 2002-2006.