Effects of Virgin Olive Oils Differing in Their Bioactive Compound Contents on Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Healthy Adults: A Randomized Double-Blind Controlled Trial.

A regular consumption of virgin olive oil (VOO) is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. We aimed to assess whether the raw intake of an optimized VOO (OVOO, 490 ppm of phenolic compounds and 86 ppm of triterpenes), and a functional olive oil (FOO, 487 ppm of phenolic compounds and enriched with 389 ppm of triterpenes) supplementation (30 mL per day) during three weeks would provide additional health benefits to those produced by a standard VOO (124 ppm of phenolic compounds and 86 ppm of triterpenes) on oxidative and inflammatory biomarkers. Fifty-one healthy adults participated in a randomized, crossover, and controlled study.

Effects of Virgin Olive Oils Differing in Their Bioactive Compound Contents on Metabolic Syndrome and Endothelial Functional Risk Biomarkers in Healthy Adults: A Randomized Double-Blind Controlled Trial.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of virgin olive oils (VOOs) enriched with phenolic compounds and triterpenes on metabolic syndrome and endothelial function biomarkers in healthy adults. The trial was a three-week randomized, crossover, controlled, double-blind, intervention study involving 58 subjects supplemented with a daily dose (30 mL) of three oils: (1) a VOO (124 ppm of phenolic compounds and 86 ppm of triterpenes); (2) an optimized VOO (OVOO) (490 ppm of phenolic compounds and 86 ppm of triterpenes); and (3) a functional olive oil (FOO) high in phenolic compounds (487 ppm) and enriched with triterpenes (389 ppm). Metabolic syndrome and endothelial function biomarkers were determined in vivo and ex vivo.

Clinical trials. A pending subject.

Clinical trials are essential tools for the progress of clinical medicine in its diagnostic and therapeutic aspects. Since the first trial in 1948, which related tobacco use with lung cancer, there have been more than 150,000 clinical trials to date in various areas (paediatrics, cardiology, oncology, endocrinology, etc.).

Blood pressure-lowering effects of nifedipine/candesartan combinations in high-risk individuals: subgroup analysis of the DISTINCT randomised trial.

The DISTINCT study (reDefining Intervention with Studies Testing Innovative Nifedipine GITS-Candesartan Therapy) investigated the efficacy and safety of nifedipine GITS/candesartan cilexetil combinations vs respective monotherapies and placebo in patients with hypertension. This descriptive sub-analysis examined blood pressure (BP)-lowering effects in high-risk participants, including those with renal impairment (estimated glomerular filtration rate<90 ml min, n=422), type 2 diabetes mellitus (n=202), hypercholesterolaemia (n=206) and cardiovascular (CV) risk factors (n=971), as well as the impact of gender, age and body mass index (BMI). Participants with grade I/II hypertension were randomised to treatment with nifedipine GITS (N) 20, 30, 60 mg and/or candesartan cilexetil (C) 4, 8, 16, 32 mg or placebo for 8 weeks.

A Study to Investigate the Efficacy and Safety of an Anti-Interleukin-18 Monoclonal Antibody in the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Objective: Evidence suggests that chronic subclinical inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Circulating levels of interleukin (IL)-18 appear to be associated with a number of micro- and macrovascular comorbidities of obesity and T2DM. This study was designed to investigate whether inhibition of IL-18 had any therapeutic benefit in the treatment of T2DM.

Nifedipine plus candesartan combination increases blood pressure control regardless of race and improves the side effect profile: DISTINCT randomized trial results.

Objectives: DISTINCT (reDefining Intervention with Studies Testing Innovative Nifedipine GITS - Candesartan Therapy) aimed to determine the dose-response and tolerability of nifedipine GITS and/or candesartan cilexetil therapy in participants with hypertension.

Methods: In this 8-week, multinational, multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, adults with mean seated DBP of at least 95 to less than 110 mmHg received combination or monotherapy with nifedipine GITS (N) 20, 30 or 60 mg and candesartan cilexetil (C) 4, 8, 16 or 32 mg, or placebo. The primary endpoint, change in DBP from baseline to Week 8, was analysed using the response surface model (RSM); this analysis was repeated for mean seated SBP.

Utility of transcranial sonography in the diagnosis of drug-induced parkinsonism: a prospective study.

Background And Purpose: Drug-induced parkinsonism usually resolves after discontinuation of the causative agent. However, it persists in some patients, who actually have subclinical neurodegenerative parkinsonism. Identification of this condition is important because these patients could benefit from therapeutic measures.

Lipid disorders in elderly hypertensive patients.

Lipid disorders are a common clinical challenge in the western countries. In patients with dyslipemia (total cholesterol > 200 mg/dl, HDL cholesterol < 35 mg/dl, LDL cholesterol > 130 mg/dl and triglycerides > 150 mg/dl) it is mandatory to normalize blood pressure (<130/80 mmHg) as well to reduce LDL-C values to normal levels by using drugs to inhibit of endogenous and exogenous cholesterol, to decrease triglycerides, and increases HDL-C up to normal range. It is also essential to maintain for this purpose suitable dietetic measures (reduction of unsatured fats and salt intakes-<2.

Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in the elderly.

The incidence of hypertension is high in the elderly and is present in 2/3 of the patients older than 65 years. Prevalence can reach 90% in patients older than 80 years. The presence of isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) is characteristic of this population.

Immediate and late benefits of treating very elderly people with hypertension: results from active treatment extension to Hypertension in the Very Elderly randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To assess if very elderly people with hypertension obtain early benefit from antihypertensive treatment.

Design: One year open label active treatment extension of randomised controlled trial (Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial (HYVET)).

Setting: Hospital and general practice based centres mainly in eastern and western Europe, China, and Tunisia.

Hypertension in the elderly.

Background. The incidence of hypertension in the Western countries is continuously increasing in the elderly population and remains the leading cause of cardiovascular and morbidity. Methods.

The effect of treatment based on a diuretic (indapamide) +/- ACE inhibitor (perindopril) on fractures in the Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial (HYVET).

Background: fractures may have serious implications in an elderly individual, and fracture prevention may include a careful choice of medications.

Design: the Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial (HYVET) was a double-blind placebo-controlled trial of a thiazide-like diuretic (indapamide 1.5 mg SR) with the optional addition of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor (perindopril 2-4 mg).

Efficacy and safety of extended-release niacin/laropiprant plus statin vs. doubling the dose of statin in patients with primary hypercholesterolaemia or mixed dyslipidaemia.

Background: Co-administration of niacin with statin offers the potential for additional lipid management and cardiovascular risk reduction. However, niacin is underutilised because of the side effects of flushing, mediated primarily by prostaglandin D(2) (PGD(2)). A combination tablet containing extended-release niacin and laropiprant (ERN/LRPT), a PGD(2) receptor (DP1) antagonist, offers improved tolerability.

Efficacy and safety of ezetimibe/simvastatin co- administered with fenofibrate in mixed hyperlipidemic patients with metabolic syndrome.

Background: We compared the lipid-altering effects of ezetimibe/simvastatin (EZE/SIMVA) co-administered with fenofibrate (FENO) in mixed hyperlipidemic patients with (MetS) versus those without MetS.

Methods: A total of 611 patients, 20 to 79 years old, with LDL-C 130-220 mg/dL (100-180 mg/dL for patients with type 2 diabetes [T2D]), triglycerides (TG) 150-500 mg/dL, and no history of CHD or other CHD risk equivalent disease (except for T2D), were randomized in a 1:3:3:3 ratio into one of the following four treatments for 12 weeks: placebo; EZE/SIMVA 10/20 mg; FENO 160 mg; or EZE/SIMVA+FENO. MetS status was determined in 607 patients using National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III) criteria.

Efficacy and safety of the coadministration of ezetimibe/simvastatin with fenofibrate in patients with mixed hyperlipidemia.

Background: Mixed hyperlipidemia is characterized by elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglyceride (TG), and TG-rich lipoprotein levels.

Methods: In a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel arm trial, eligible patients were 18 to 79 years of age, with mixed hyperlipidemia (LDL-C 130-220 mg/dL, TG 150-500 mg/dL). Patients with type 2 diabetes were limited to those with LDL-C of 100 to 180 mg/dL.

[Some reflections and findings of a Hypertension [corrected] Unit in Spain].

The Hypertension Unit, University Hospital San Cecilio of Granada, on fulfilling 15 years and after the experience acquired in this extended period, wants to stress various "facts": 1) the importance of correctly measuring blood pressure, avoiding rounding off "numbers" and making three consecutive measurements, taking the mean value of the last two; 2) carefully using the concept of "white coat" hypertension; the continuous follow-up of these cases and the use of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring reveal that they are really hypertensive; 3) using those values less than 130/85 mmHg as normality values; 4) the high rate of risk factors (obesity, diabetes, hyperuricemia, smoking, etc.) accompanying recently diagnosed hypertension; and 5) the need to give an intensive treatment in many cases (high doses, greater number of drugs, etc.).

Doxazosin GITS versus standard doxazosin in mild to moderate hypertension.

Background: The selective alpha 1-adrenoceptor antagonist doxazosin in both standard formulation and gastrointestinal therapeutic system (GITS) controlled-release formulation is effective for hypertension without having a negative impact on serum lipids. This study was designed to compare the relative efficacy of these two formulations of doxazosin on clinic and ambulatory blood pressure and serum lipids in patients with mild to moderate hypertension.

Methods: Hypertensive patients aged 18-70 years (n = 335) were evaluated in a multi-center prospective randomized study.

Comparison of the antihypertensive effects of the fixed dose combination enalapril 10 mg/nitrendipine 20 mg vs losartan 50 mg/hydrochlorothiazide 12.5 mg, assessed by 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, in essential hypertensive patients.

Fixed combinations of calcium channel blockers and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors represent an alternative to diuretic-based combination therapy. The aim of the present study was to compare the antihypertensive efficacy of the combination enalapril 10 mg/nitrendipine 20 mg (E/N) vs losartan 50 mg/hydrochlorothiazide 12.5 mg (L/H), assessed by 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.