Relationship between renal function and physical performance in elderly hospitalized patients.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is increasingly recognized as a cause of worsening physical functioning in older patients. The Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) is highly reliable in older populations, but no data on older hospitalized patients with different degrees of kidney function are available. We aimed at testing the association between estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and SPPB, either global score (range 0-12) or its individual components (muscle strength, balance, and walking speed, each ranging from 0 to 4), in a sample of older hospitalized patients.

Prognostic significance of the short physical performance battery in older patients discharged from acute care hospitals.

We investigated the prognostic role of the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) in elderly patients discharged from the acute care hospital. Our series consisted of 506 patients aged 70 years or more enrolled in a multicenter collaborative observational study. We considered three main outcomes: 1-year survival after discharge, functional decline, and hospitalization during follow-up.

Angiotensin II type 1 receptor, but no type 2 receptor, interferes with the insulin-induced nitric oxide production in HUVECs.

Objective: Two subtypes of angiotensin II (ATII) receptor have been defined on the basis of their differential pharmacological and biochemical properties: ATII-type1 receptors (AT(1)-R) and ATII-type2 receptors (AT(2)-R). It has been hypothesized that part of the protective effects on the cardiovascular system of AT(1)-R blockers is mediated by an ATII-mediated overstimulation of AT(2)-R. We hypothesized that the inhibition of AT(1)-R has a stronger impact on insulin-induced nitric oxide (NO) production than ATII-mediated overstimulation of AT(2)-R.

Geriatric conditions and adverse drug reactions in elderly hospitalized patients.

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between clinical conditions typically observed in the geriatric patients (geriatric conditions) and adverse drug reactions in older patients admitted to acute care hospitals.

Design And Setting: Prospective observational study conducted in 11 acute care medical wards throughout Italy.

Participants: Five hundred six patients aged 65 years or older consecutively admitted to participating wards.

Agreement between equations estimating glomerular filtration rate in elderly nursing home residents and in hospitalised patients: implications for drug dosing.

Background: detecting chronic kidney disease (CKD) may have important implications for the management of older and frail people. We aimed at investigating whether clinical setting (nursing home: NH versus hospital: H) affects the agreement between glomerular filtration rate (GFR) values estimated by Chronic Kidney Disease-Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI), Cockcroft-Gault (CG) and Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equations.

Design: observational study.

Chronic kidney disease and 1-year survival in elderly patients discharged from acute care hospitals: a comparison of three glomerular filtration rate equations.

Background: Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is directly associated with survival. However, the prognostic significance of GFR might be different according to the formula used to estimate it. We aimed at comparing the association between GFR estimated using three different formulas and 1-year survival in elderly patients discharged from acute care hospitals.

Positive association between plasma IGF1 and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in adult nondiabetic subjects.

Aims: Low IGF1 levels have been associated with an increased cardiovascular risk. It is unknown however whether IGF1 mediates the atherosclerotic process by modulating high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) independently from confounders. To address this issue, we evaluated the association between IGF1 levels and HDL-C in nondiabetic subjects.

Renal function predicts cardiovascular outcomes in southern Italian postmenopausal women.

Background: Postmenopausal women have an increased risk of adverse cardiovascular (CV) events. Similarly, chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a well established risk factor for CV disease and mortality.

Design: We evaluated the effect of renal function on the risk of death and CV events in 1500 southern Italian postmenopausal women.

Insulin-like growth factor-1 and glomerular filtration rate in hypertensive patients.

Objective: Essential hypertension is a clinical condition associated with insulin resistance and progressive impairment of renal function that increases cardiovascular events. Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, which is inversely related to insulin levels, increases renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rate (GFR). The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between circulating IGF-1 levels and GFR in a group of never treated hypertensive patients.

Low-plasma insulin-like growth factor-I levels are associated with impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in a cohort of untreated, hypertensive Caucasian subjects.

Context: Accumulating evidence suggests that IGF-I has protective vascular effects, supporting the possibility that IGF-I deficiency may contribute to atherosclerosis. However, the relationship between plasma IGF-I levels and endothelium-dependent vasodilatation is still unsettled.

Objective: We designed this present study to test the hypothesis that low-plasma IGF-I levels are associated with reduced endothelial function independently classical cardiovascular risk factors.