The atrial natriuretic peptide genetic variant rs5068 is associated with a favorable cardiometabolic phenotype in a Mediterranean population.

Objective: We hypothesized that the minor allele of the atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) genetic variant rs5068 is associated with a favorable cardiometabolic phenotype in a general Mediterranean population.

Research Design And Methods: We genotyped a random sample of the residents of Ventimiglia di Sicilia, Sicily, for rs5068.

Results: Genotype frequencies of rs5068 are AA, 93.

Prediction of incident type 2 diabetes mellitus based on a twenty-year follow-up of the Ventimiglia heart study.

A novel algorithm to predict incident type 2 diabetes mellitus (iT2DM) is presented considering data from a 20-year prospective study in a Southern Italy population. Eight hundred and fifty-eight out of 1,351 subjects (24-85 years range of age) were selected. Incident type 2 diabetes was diagnosed in 103 patients in a 20-year follow-up.

The metabolic syndrome predicts cardiovascular events in subjects with normal fasting glucose: results of a 15 years follow-up in a Mediterranean population.

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to evaluate the cardiovascular (CV) risk due to the metabolic syndrome in a 15-year prospective study of a Sicilian population. In the Mediterranean area obesity is highly prevalent, but epidemiological data on the metabolic syndrome are limited.

Methods And Results: Among the 1351 subjects enrolled in the "Ventimiglia di Sicilia" epidemiological project, we selected 687 subjects between 35 and 75 years of age; baseline parameters were assessed and subjects have been followed for 15 years recording CV events, total and cardiovascular mortality.

Riskard 2005. New tools for prediction of cardiovascular disease risk derived from Italian population studies.

Background And Aim: The need to update tools for the estimate of cardiovascular risk prompted the "Gruppo di Ricerca per la Stima del Rischio Cardiovascolare in Italia" to produce a new chart and new software called Riskard 2005.

Methods And Results: Data from 9 population studies in 8 Italian regions, for a grand total of 17,153 subjects (12,045 men and 5,108 women) aged 35-74 and for a total exposure of about 194,000 person/years were available. A chart for the estimate of cardiovascular risk (major coronary, cerebrovascular and peripheral artery disease events) in 10 years was produced for men and women aged 45-74 free from cardiovascular diseases.

Nutritional characteristics of a rural Southern Italy population: the Ventimiglia di Sicilia Project.

Objective: Knowledge of alimentary habits among populations permits a better definition of appropriate public health interventions. We designed the epidemiological project "Ventimiglia di Sicilia" to characterize the risk profile in a rural village with low total cholesterol levels and low early cardiovascular mortality but with a large prevalence of overweight and obesity, which previously have been significantly associated with total mortality.

Methods: 488 individuals of age 20 to 69 years were included in the dietary survey conducted by a seven-day food record.