Hypertension and hyperlipidemia, two powerful risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD), often coexist. Therefore, treatment should consider the beneficial properties of drugs used to treat either condition. Statins, the mainstay of lipid-lowering therapy, result in a significant clinical benefit both in primary and secondary CVD prevention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThyroid disorders are known to influence lipid metabolism and are common in dyslipidemic patients. Overt and subclinical hypothyroidism have an adverse effect on the serum lipid profile that may predispose to the development of atherosclerotic disease. Although thyroid substitution therapy is beneficial for patients with overt hypothyroidism, the question of whether subclinical hypothyroidism must be treated remains unanswered.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe metabolic syndrome is a clustering of risk factors including central obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia and hypertension. This syndrome is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and is a common early abnormality in the development of type 2 diabetes. The pathogenesis of the syndrome has multiple origins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeveral studies have shown that angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers are useful in the treatment of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, chronic heart failure, and some types of nephropathy. In this context, dual renin-angiotensin system blockade with both angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers may be more effective than treatment with each agent alone. Many clinical trials have demonstrated the beneficial effect of this combined treatment on proteinuria, hypertension, heart failure, and cardiovascular events.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMigraine is a common and disabling neurological disorder. Studies have shown that patients with migraine (especially those with typical aura with migraine) have an unfavorable cardiovascular risk profile and an increased risk of early-onset (<45 years) ischemic stroke. Statins are effective hypolipidemic drugs that reduce cardiovascular-related morbidity and death in patients with or without established atherosclerotic vascular disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHellenic J Cardiol
December 2005
Hellenic J Cardiol
September 2005
Background And Aim: HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) is inversely related to the risk of ischemic heart disease. Many genes are reported to affect HDL-C serum levels in both hyperlipidemic and normolipidemic populations, though the data are controversial. We examined the effect of common gene polymorphisms known to interfere with HDL-C metabolism (apolipoprotein E, cholesterol ester transfer protein and apolipoprotein A-IV gene polymorphisms) on HDL-C plasma levels in normolipidemic subjects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: We have previously shown that apolipoprotein E (apo E-) polymorphism may affect serum creatinine concentration and predicted glomerular filtration rate in healthy individuals. On the other hand, there are limited data regarding the possible influence of apo E- polymorphism on serum uric acid (SUA) levels.
Methods: Two hundred ninety (148 male, 142 female) apparently healthy white individuals were studied.
Background: Statin therapy has been shown to significantly decrease vascular events and overall mortality in primary and secondary prevention trials. This review considers the pharmacology, nonlipid-lowering effects and clinical trial evidence of fluvastatin based on a survey of PubMed entries.
Findings: Recent clinical data show that treatment with fluvastatin is associated with a variety of benefits in different high-risk populations along with a good safety profile.
Objective: The more atherogenic lipid profile seen in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients cannot fully explain the increased incidence of atherosclerosis in this population. Oxidative modification of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) is considered to play a central role in the atherogenic process, whereas high-density lipoprotein (HDL) protects LDL from oxidation. On the other hand, it has been suggested that the LDL and HDL of PD patients are more resistant to oxidation than those of control subjects, while PD-HDL equally protects LDL from oxidation compared to control-HDL.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFApolipoprotein (apo) E gene polymorphism and its effect on serum lipid parameters were examined in a Greek population originating from northwestern Greece (n = 555). The allele frequencies were epsilon2: 6.3%, epsilon3: 80.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) polymorphism has been shown to influence serum lipid parameters and ApoE levels in both healthy subjects and hemodialysis (HD) patients. Conversely, ApoE concentration significantly affects serum lipid levels in the general population, independently of ApoE polymorphism, by modulating lipoprotein production, lipolytic conversion, and receptor-mediated clearance. Therefore, studying the effect of ApoE polymorphism on serum lipid levels without taking into account ApoE levels could lead to confounding results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There are conflicting results regarding the effect of apolipoprotein (ApoE) polymorphisms on the progression of a variety of renal diseases. However, there are no data on the possible effect of the ApoE alleles on serum creatinine levels and predicted glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in healthy subjects.
Methods: 290 apparently healthy individuals were studied.
Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) is a major constituent of plasma lipoproteins with many biological actions of great significance. Beyond the known influence of ApoE polymorphisms on serum lipid profile, the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, and the development of neurodegenerative disorders, ApoE also has a major role in the pathogenesis and progression of a variety of renal diseases, as well as in the atherosclerotic complications associated with them. Briefly, the polymorphisms of ApoE are major determinants of plasma lipid levels in uremic patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMulticentric Castleman's disease is increasingly recognized as an aggressive illness with a rapidly fatal outcome in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. In the absence of optimal therapy, various therapeutic interventions have been tested with disappointing results; only five reports with a successful outcome have been described. Presented herein is a 66-year-old HIV-infected man with multicentric Castleman's disease.
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