Adrenergic signaling and oxidative stress: a role for sirtuins?

The adrenergic system plays a central role in stress signaling and stress is often associated with increased production of ROS. However, ROS overproduction generates oxidative stress, that occurs in response to several stressors. β-adrenergic signaling is markedly attenuated in conditions such as heart failure, with downregulation and desensitization of the receptors and their uncoupling from adenylyl cyclase.

Six-minute walking test but not ejection fraction predicts mortality in elderly patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation following coronary artery bypass grafting.

Background: Age-related effects on the ability of 6-min walking test (6MWT) and ejection fraction (EF) to predict mortality in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is still debated.

Design And Methods: In order to verify the role of 6MWT and EF on all-cause mortality in patients undergoing CR following CABG, 882 CABG patients undergoing CR stratified in adults (<65 years) and elderly (≥65 years) were studied.

Results: At the admission, EF was 52.

Joint effect of physical activity and body mass index on mortality for acute myocardial infarction in the elderly: role of preinfarction angina as equivalent of ischemic preconditioning.

Background: Preinfarction angina (PrA), clinical equivalent of ischemic preconditioning, confers protection against in-hospital mortality for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in adult but not in elderly patients. This study aims to examine the interaction between physical activity and body mass index (BMI) in preserving the cardioprotective effect of PrA in elderly patients with AMI.

Design: Elderly patients (>/=65 years old) with AMI admitted to Coronary Care Unit.

Hypermagnesemia predicts mortality in elderly with congestive heart disease: relationship with laxative and antacid use.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of magnesium levels on 3-year survival in the elderly with congestive heart failure (CHF) admitted to the Rehabilitative Cardiology Unit of S. Maugeri Foundation Scientific Institute of Telese/Campoli. All elderly patients > or = 65 years old with a diagnosis of CHF underwent clinical and instrumental examination, and their demographics, co-morbidity, and in-hospital and 3-year mortality rates were recorded.

Effect of losartan in treatment of exercise-induced myocardial ischemia.

Because no controlled clinical studies are available about the possible role of angiotensin II receptor blockers in preventing effort myocardial ischemia, we evaluated the effect of angiotensin II receptor blocker/losartan in preventing exercise-induced myocardial ischemia in patients with coronary artery disease. Twenty-four sedentary patients with chronic stable ischemia were prospectively randomized to 28 days (double blind) of losartan 100 mg or losartan placebo in 2 divided doses. In each patient the treatment was crossed over to the alternative regimen (28 days, double blind) after a 1-week placebo period (single blind).

Insulin-induced changes in beta-adrenergic response: an experimental study in the isolated rat papillary muscle.

Background: The aim was to investigate the ability of insulin to modulate the response to beta-adrenergic action on myocardial contractility, assessed as percentage changes of developed tension, in isolated rat papillary muscle.

Methods: Dose-response curves for isoproterenol, calcium, and forskolin were constructed in an incremental fashion with the presence or absence of insulin at the dose of 50 muU/mL. Dose-response curves for isoproterenol on insulin background were also assessed in the presence and absence of a selective antagonist for beta(2)-adrenoceptor, ICI, at the dose of 5 x 10(-8) mol/L.

Angiotensin II-receptor antagonist losartan does not prevent nitroglycerin tolerance in patients with coronary artery disease.

The study evaluated the effect of Losartan in preventing nitrate tolerance during continuous transdermal nitroglycerin (TD-GTN) therapy in patients with coronary disease. Fifteen subjects with chronic stable ischemia evaluated by exercise test, were randomized to 28 days of TD-GTN 20 mg once a day without free interval plus Losartan 100 mg or Losartan-placebo with a double blind crossover design. Myocardial ischemic parameters during stress test were evaluated after each test period and results of Losartan therapy were compared to those with placebo.

Mortality and blood pressure in elderly people with and without cognitive impairment.

Background: Controversial data are available on the association between mortality, blood pressure and cognitive impairment in the elderly.

Objective: To verify the role of blood pressure on mortality in an elderly population with and without cognitive impairment.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey with a 6-year mortality evaluation was conducted in a region of southern Italy in elderly subjects with and without cognitive impairment.

Efficacy of transdermal nitroglycerin patches evaluated by dipyridamole-induced myocardial ischemia in patients with coronary artery disease. Comparison between continuous and intermittent schedule.

Nitrate tolerance remains a problem despite an enormous number of studies on this phenomenon. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of nitroglycerin transdermal patches intermittently or continuously administered to patients with myocardial ischemia evaluated by the echocardiography dipyridamole stress test. We prospectively studied 34 coronary patients with stable myocardial ischemia.

Cardioprotective effect of ischemic preconditioning is preserved in food-restricted senescent rats.

Ischemic preconditioning (PC) has been proposed as an endogenous form of protection against-ischemia reperfusion injury. We have shown that PC does not prevent postischemic dysfunction in the aging heart. This phenomenon could be due to the reduction of cardiac norepinephrine release, and it has also been previously demonstrated that age-related decrease of norepinephrine release from cardiac adrenergic nerves may be restored by caloric restriction.