Determinants of Carotid Wall Echolucency in a Cohort of European High Cardiovascular Risk Subjects: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of IMPROVE Baseline Data.

Echolucency, a measure of plaque instability associated with increased cardiovascular risk, can be assessed in both the carotid plaque and the plaque-free common carotid intima-media (IM) complex as a gray-scale median (plaque-GSM and IM-GSM, respectively). The impact of specific vascular risk factors on these two phenotypes remains uncertain, including the nature and extent of their influence. This study aims to seek the determinants of plaque-GSM and IM-GSM.

Pitavastatin treatment remodels the HDL subclass lipidome and proteome in hypertriglyceridemia.

HDL particles vary in lipidome and proteome, which dictate their individual physicochemical properties, metabolism, and biological activities. HDL dysmetabolism in nondiabetic hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) involves subnormal HDL-cholesterol and apoAI levels. Metabolic anomalies may impact the qualitative features of both the HDL lipidome and proteome.

Identification of the specific molecular and functional signatures of pre-beta-HDL: relevance to cardiovascular disease.

While low concentrations of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) are widely accepted as an independent cardiovascular risk factor, HDL-C-rising therapies largely failed, suggesting the importance of both HDL functions and individual subspecies. Indeed HDL particles are highly heterogeneous, with small, dense pre-beta-HDLs being considered highly biologically active but remaining poorly studied, largely reflecting difficulties for their purification. We developed an original experimental approach allowing the isolation of sufficient amounts of human pre-beta-HDLs and revealing the specificity of their proteomic and lipidomic profiles and biological activities.

Integrated omics approach for the identification of HDL structure-function relationships in PCSK9-related familial hypercholesterolemia.

Background: The role of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) in dyslipidemia may go beyond its immediate effects on low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R) activity.

Objective: This study aimed to assess PCSK9-derived alterations of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) physiology, which bear a potential to contribute to cardiovascular risk profile.

Methods: HDL was isolated from 33 patients with familial autosomal dominant hypercholesterolemia (FH), including those carrying PCSK9 gain-of-function (GOF) genetic variants (FH-PCSK9, n = 11), together with two groups of dyslipidemic patients employed as controls and carrying genetic variants in the LDL-R not treated (ntFH-LDLR, n = 11) and treated (tFH-LDLR, n = 11) with statins, and 11 normolipidemic controls.

Cross-Sectional Gene-Smoking Interaction Analysis in Relation to Subclinical Atherosclerosis-Results From the IMPROVE Study.

Background: Smoking is associated with carotid intima-media thickness (C-IMT). However, knowledge about how genetics may influence this association is limited. We aimed to perform nonhypothesis driven gene-smoking interaction analyses to identify potential genetic variants, among those included in immune and metabolic platforms, that may modify the effect of smoking on carotid intima-media thickness.

Psychosocial effects of hypnosis in patients with obesity: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

The usefulness of hypnosis in patients with obesity needs to be better understood in terms of various outcomes, in addition to weight loss. The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of hypnosis and self-hypnosis in combination with nutrition education for patients with obesity, as opposed to nutrition education alone, on the secondary outcomes of quality of life (QoL), coping strategies, and self-esteem within a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Eighty-two participants were included in this study (84.

Causal analysis of plasma IL-8 on carotid intima media thickness, a measure of subclinical atherosclerosis.

Background: We investigated the causality of IL-8 on carotid intima-media thickness (c-IMT), a measure of sub-clinical atherosclerosis.

Methods: The IMPROVE is a multicenter European study (n = 3,711). The association of plasma IL-8 with c-IMT (mm) was estimated by quantile regression.

Molecular Spectrum in a French Cohort with Primary Dyslipidemia.

Primary hypercholesterolemia is characterized by elevated LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels isolated in autosomal dominant hypercholesterolemia (ADH) or associated with elevated triglyceride levels in familial combined hyperlipidemia (FCHL). Rare variants are known in ADH and FCHL. We explored the molecular spectrum in a French ADH/FCHL cohort of 5743 unrelated probands.

Hypnosis reduces food impulsivity in patients with obesity and high levels of disinhibition: HYPNODIET randomized controlled clinical trial.

Background: The obesogenic environment of Western countries raises questions about its current management. Some clinical studies have explored hypnosis, although the current state of knowledge does not lead to definitive conclusions about its efficacy.

Objectives: We assessed the impact of Ericksonian hypnosis and self-hypnosis on disinhibition of eating in adults with obesity and high food impulsivity levels, compared with standard nutritional education.

Myocardial fibrosis assessed by magnetic resonance imaging in asymptomatic heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia: the cholcoeur study.

Background: Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) is an underdiagnosed condition with an increased cardiovascular risk. It is unknown whether lipid accumulation plays a role in structural myocardial changes. Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) is the reference technique for the morpho-functional evaluation of heart chambers through cine sequences and for myocardial tissue characterization through late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) and T1 mapping images.

Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio is not related to carotid atherosclerosis progression and cardiovascular events in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease: Results from the IMPROVE study.

Inflammation is a component of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and is associated with an increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a possible inflammation metric for the detection of ASCVD risk, although results of prospective studies are highly inconsistent on this topic. We investigated the cross-sectional relationship between NLR and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) in subjects at moderate-to-high ASCVD risk.

Relationship between Circulating PCSK9 and Markers of Subclinical Atherosclerosis-The IMPROVE Study.

(1) Background and purpose: circulating proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is one of the key regulators of cholesterol metabolism. Despite this, its role as a player in atherosclerosis development is still matter of debate. Here, we investigated the relationships between this protein and several markers of subclinical atherosclerosis.

Association Between Uric Acid, Carotid Intima-Media Thickness, and Cardiovascular Events: Prospective Results From the IMPROVE Study.

Background The association between elevated serum uric acid (SUA), cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, and carotid atherosclerosis has long been explored, and contrasting results have been reported. Therefore, the role of SUA as an independent risk factor for vascular events (VEs) and carotid atherosclerosis deserves further attention. We investigated the relationship between SUA, incident VEs, carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), and cIMT progression in subjects at moderate-to-high CVD risk.

Intake of food rich in saturated fat in relation to subclinical atherosclerosis and potential modulating effects from single genetic variants.

The relationship between intake of saturated fats and subclinical atherosclerosis, as well as the possible influence of genetic variants, is poorly understood and investigated. We aimed to investigate this relationship, with a hypothesis that it would be positive, and to explore whether genetics may modulate it, using data from a European cohort including 3,407 participants aged 54-79 at high risk of cardiovascular disease. Subclinical atherosclerosis was assessed by carotid intima-media thickness (C-IMT), measured at baseline and after 30 months.

The Association between HDL-C and Subclinical Atherosclerosis Depends on CETP Plasma Concentration: Insights from the IMPROVE Study.

The impact of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) on atherosclerosis is highly debated. This study aimed to investigate the associations between plasma CETP or CETP genotypes and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and the influence of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) on these associations. Plasma CETP and HDL-C concentrations were measured in 552 subjects free of any pharmacological treatment from the IMPROVE cohort, which includes 3711 European subjects at high cardiovascular risk.

Phospholipid transfer to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) upon triglyceride lipolysis is directly correlated with HDL-cholesterol levels and is not associated with cardiovascular risk.

Background And Aims: While low concentrations of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) represent a well-established cardiovascular risk factor, extremely high HDL-C is paradoxically associated with elevated cardiovascular risk, resulting in the U-shape relationship with cardiovascular disease. Free cholesterol transfer to HDL upon lipolysis of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TGRL) was recently reported to underlie this relationship, linking HDL-C to triglyceride metabolism and atherosclerosis. In addition to free cholesterol, other surface components of TGRL, primarily phospholipids, are transferred to HDL during lipolysis.

The overlap of genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia and cardiometabolic disease can be used to identify metabolically different groups of individuals.

Understanding why individuals with severe mental illness (Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder) have increased risk of cardiometabolic disease (including obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease), and identifying those at highest risk of cardiometabolic disease are important priority areas for researchers. For individuals with European ancestry we explored whether genetic variation could identify sub-groups with different metabolic profiles. Loci associated with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder from previous genome-wide association studies and loci that were also implicated in cardiometabolic processes and diseases were selected.

Comparative analysis of the variability of carotid intima-media thickness in primary prevention populations of Moscow and Paris.

It is well-known that the distribution of traditional cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) of atherosclerosis, including hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking, obesity, and diabetes is considerably variable between different countries, however, with some important geographical trends. Thus, CVRFs contribute differently to atherosclerosis development in different countries. Common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA IMT) is a validated biomarker of subclinical atherosclerosis that is used in clinical and epidemiological studies to evaluate the impact of CVRFs on atherosclerosis development.

Genetic Variants Associated with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Do Not Associate with Measures of Sub-Clinical Atherosclerosis: Results from the IMPROVE Study.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular diseases (CVD) share common metabolic pathways. We explored the association between three NAFLD-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs738409, rs10401969, and rs1260326 with sub-clinical atherosclerosis estimated by the carotid intima-media thickness (c-IMT) and the inter-adventitia common carotid artery diameter (ICCAD) in patients free from clinically overt NAFLD and CVD. The study population is the IMPROVE, a multicenter European study ( = 3711).