Improved COVID-19 Outcomes following Statin Therapy: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Although vaccine rollout for COVID-19 has been effective in some countries, there is still an urgent need to reduce disease transmission and severity. We recently carried out a meta-analysis and found that pre- and in-hospital use of statins may improve COVID-19 mortality outcomes. Here, we provide an updated meta-analysis in an attempt to validate these results and increase the statistical power of these potentially important findings.

Harnessing polyphenol power by targeting eNOS for vascular diseases.

Vascular diseases arise due to vascular endothelium dysfunction in response to several pro-inflammatory stimuli and invading pathogens. Thickening of the vessel wall, formation of atherosclerotic plaques consisting of proliferating smooth muscle cells, macrophages and lymphocytes are the major consequences of impaired endothelium resulting in atherosclerosis, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, chronic renal failure and many others. Decreased nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability was found to be associated with anomalous endothelial function because of either its reduced production level by endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) which synthesize this potent endogenous vasodilator from L-arginine or its enhanced breakdown due to severe oxidative stress and eNOS uncoupling.

Statins as anti-pyroptotic agents.

Introduction: Pyroptosis is a regulated form of cell death, which is often a consequence of the activation of inflammatory caspases.

Methods: Appropriate inflammatory responses and the induction of pyroptosis enhance the clearance of pathogens and increase innate immunity.

Results: However, excessive pyroptosis contributes to a hyperinflammatory response and aggravates tissue damage, thereby causing inflammatory diseases.

PCSK9 immunization using nanoliposomes: preventive efficacy against hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis.

Introduction: The aim of the study was to study a nanoliposomal anti-PCSK9 vaccine as a novel approach for cholesterol lowering via PCSK9 inhibition.

Material And Methods: An immunogenic peptide construct termed immunogenic fused PCSK9-tetanus (IFPT) was displayed on the surface of liposome nanoparticles (L-IFPT) and mixed into alum adjuvant (L-IFPTA+). The manufactured vaccine formulations IFPT, L-IFPT, L-IFPTA+, IFPTA+, and free nanoliposomes were subcutaneously injected four times with bi-weekly intervals in C57BL/6 mice on a severe atherogenic protocol.

A comprehensive review on the lipid and pleiotropic effects of pitavastatin.

The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors, or statins, are administered as first line therapy for hypercholesterolemia, both in primary and secondary prevention. There is a growing body of evidence showing that beyond their lipid-lowering effect, statins have a number of additional beneficial properties. Pitavastatin is a unique lipophilic statin with a strong effect on lowering plasma total cholesterol and triacylglycerol.

Impact of PCSK9 Immunization on Glycemic Indices in Diabetic Rats.

Methods: To prepare the anti-PCSK9 vaccine, a peptide construct called Immunogenic Fused PCSK9-Tetanus (IFPT) was linked to the surface of nanoliposome carriers. Healthy rats received four subcutaneous injections of the vaccine at biweekly intervals. Two weeks after the last vaccination, anti-PCSK9 antibody titers, PCSK9 targeting, and inhibition of PCSK9-low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) interaction were evaluated.

Assessment of ECG during hybrid comprehensive telerehabilitation in heart failure patients-Subanalysis of the Telerehabilitation in Heart Failure Patients (TELEREH-HF) randomized clinical trial.

Background: Exercise training in heart failure (HF) patients should be monitored to ensure patients' safety. Electrocardiographic (ECG) telemonitoring was used to assess the safety of hybrid comprehensive telerehabilitation (HCTR).

Objective: Analysis of ECG recorded during HCTR in HF patients.

Lipid-lowering therapy use in primary and secondary care in Central and Eastern Europe: DA VINCI observational study.

Background And Aims: Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is a largely understudied region, despite having the highest cardiovascular disease mortality in Europe. This analysis aimed to assess the proportion of patients in CEE who achieved their LDL-C goals based on individual cardiovascular risk recommended by the 2016 and 2019 European Society of Cardiology (ESC)/European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS) guidelines.

Methods: The DA VINCI study was a cross-sectional observational study of primary and secondary prevention patients receiving lipid-lowering therapy across Europe between June 2017 and November 2018.

RNA Silencing in the Management of Dyslipidemias.

Purpose Of Review: Remarkable reductions in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality have been achieved in recent decades through the widespread use of 'small-molecule' hypolipidaemic drugs such as statins and ezetimibe. An alternative approach is to perturb the production of proteins through ribonucleic acid (RNA) silencing, leading to long-lasting knock-down of specific biological molecules. This review describes the scientific basis of RNA silencing, and critically evaluates the evidence relating to inclisiran, a small interfering RNA against proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin 9 (PCSK9).

Genetically Higher Level of Mannose Has No Impact on Cardiometabolic Risk Factors: Insight from Mendelian Randomization.

There is a handful of controversial data from observational studies on the serum levels of mannose and risks of coronary artery disease (CAD) and other cardiometabolic risk factors. We applied Mendelian Randomization (MR) analysis to obtain estimates of the causal effect of serum mannose on the risk of CAD and on cardiometabolic risk factors. : Two-sample MR was implemented by using summary-level data from the largest genome-wide association studies (GWAS) conducted on serum mannose and CAD and cardiometabolic risk factors.

Factors and Prognostic Significance of Impaired Exercise Tolerance in Women over 40 with Arterial Hypertension.

The aim of this study was to identify factors influencing maximal oxygen uptake (VO) and early identification of the profile of hypertensive women in the perimenopausal period at risk of heart failure. This study included 185 female patients. Regression analyses determined predictors of the lowest VO (quartile 1: VO < 17 mL/kg/min).

Dyslipidemia Management in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease. Data from the POLASPIRE Survey.

Lipid-lowering in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) is related to a lower risk of cardiovascular events. We evaluated factors related to the management of hypercholesterolemia in patients with established CAD. Patients were interviewed 6-18 months after hospitalization for an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or a myocardial revascularization procedure.

Risk-factors associated with extremely high cardiovascular risk of mid- and long-term mortality following myocardial infarction: Analysis of the Hyperlipidaemia Therapy in tERtiary Cardiological cEnTer (TERCET) registry.

Background And Aims: Risk-factor identification and risk stratification are prerequisites to the effective primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Patients at the highest risk benefit the most from the intensive risk-factor reduction. However, the high-risk patients' group is heterogeneous, and it is increasingly recognised that there is an 'extreme-risk' category of patients who may require particularly close attention and intensive therapeutic approach.

Negatively-charged Liposome Nanoparticles Can Prevent Dyslipidemia and Atherosclerosis Progression in the Rabbit Model.

Background And Aim: Negatively charged nanoliposomes have a strong attraction towards plasma lipoprotein particles and can thereby regulate lipid metabolism. Here, the impact of such nanoliposomes on dyslipidaemia and progression of atherosclerosis was investigated in a rabbit model.

Methods: Two sets of negatively-charged nanoliposome formulations including [Hydrogenated Soy Phosphatidylcholine (HSPC)/1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3- phosphoglycerol (DSPG)] and [1,2- Dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphorylcholine (DMPC)/1,2-Dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphorylcholine (DMPG)/Cholesterol] were evaluated.

Efficacy and safety of colchicine in patients with coronary artery disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Aims: Inflammation plays a central role in the pathogenesis and clinical manifestations of atherosclerosis. Randomized controlled trials have investigated the potential benefit of colchicine in reducing cardiovascular (CV) events in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) but produced conflicting results. The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of colchicine in patients with CAD.

Pre-Clinical Evaluation of the Nanoliposomal antiPCSK9 Vaccine in Healthy Non-Human Primates.

Background: Our previous studies showed the safe preventive and therapeutic effects of immunization using the nanoliposomal antiPCSK9 vaccine called "Liposomal Immunogenic Fused PCSK9-Tetanus plus Alum adjuvant" (L-IFPTA), in mouse models of atherosclerosis. Here we aimed to ascertain the immunogenicity and safety of the L-IFPTA vaccine in a pre-clinical study in healthy non-human primates.

Methods: Five male rhesus macaque monkeys were subcutaneously immunized with the L-IFPTA vaccine, four times with bi-weekly intervals.

Nutraceuticals in the Management of Dyslipidemia: Which, When, and for Whom? Could Nutraceuticals Help Low-Risk Individuals with Non-optimal Lipid Levels?

Purpose Of Review: The aim of this review is to summarize the available clinical efficacy and safety data related to the most studied and used lipid-lowering nutraceuticals.

Recent Findings: A growing number of meta-analyses of randomized clinical trials supports the effectiveness and tolerability of some lipid-lowering nutraceuticals such as red yeast rice, plant sterols and stanols, soluble fibers, berberine, artichoke extracts, bergamot polyphenol fraction, garlic, green tea, and spiruline. No significant safety concern has been raised for the use of such products.

On the present and future role of Lp-PLA in atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular risk prediction and management.

Circulating concentration and activity of secretory phospholipase A (sPLA) and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A (Lp-PLA) have been proven as biomarkers of increased risk of atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Lp-PLA might be part of the atherosclerotic process and may contribute to plaque destabilisation through inflammatory activity within atherosclerotic lesions. However, all attempts to translate the inhibition of phospholipase into clinically beneficial ASCVD risk reduction, including in randomised studies, by either non-specific inhibition of sPLA (by varespladib) or specific Lp-PLA inhibition by darapladib, unexpectedly failed.

Postmarketing nutrivigilance safety profile: a line of dietary food supplements containing red yeast rice for dyslipidemia.

Introduction: In the absence of a European standardized postmarketing food supplement surveillance system (nutrivigilance), some member states and companies have developed their own approaches to monitoring potential adverse reactions to secure a high level of product safety. This paper describes the use of a nutrivigilance system in monitoring the incidence of spontaneously reported suspected adverse reactions associated with food supplements containing red yeast rice (RYR).

Material And Methods: We report the data from a widely used product marketed under the trademark Armolipid/Armolipid Plus.

Compositional and functional properties of high-density lipoproteins in relation to coronary in-stent restenosis.

Introduction: In-stent restenosis (ISR) is an unfavorable outcome that occurs in patients after coronary stenting. Use of drugs such as statins as well as drug-eluting stents has only been partially effective in reducing the rate of ISR. Since low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentration is a pivotal cardiovascular disease risk factor, this study aimed to evaluate the compositional and functional alterations of HDL in individuals with ISR.

Protective Effects of Curcumin on Endothelium: An Updated Review.

Endothelial dysfunction is the common early stage of most cardiovascular afflictions. The endothelium is considered the main mediator of vascular homeostasis via its vasodilator, anti-inflammatory and anticoagulant properties. Among the different endothelial-derived mediators, nitric oxide is produced by nitric oxide synthase and has a critical role in regulating endothelial function.

Predicting the environmental suitability for onchocerciasis in Africa as an aid to elimination planning.

Recent evidence suggests that, in some foci, elimination of onchocerciasis from Africa may be feasible with mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin. To achieve continental elimination of transmission, mapping surveys will need to be conducted across all implementation units (IUs) for which endemicity status is currently unknown. Using boosted regression tree models with optimised hyperparameter selection, we estimated environmental suitability for onchocerciasis at the 5 × 5-km resolution across Africa.

Statin therapy in chronic viral hepatitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of nine studies with 195,602 participants.

Background: Conflicting data suggest that statins could cause chronic liver disease in certain group of patients, while improving prognosis in those with chronic viral hepatitis (CVH).

Purpose: To quantify the potential protective role of statins on some main liver-related health outcomes in clinical studies on CVH patients. The search strategy was explored by a medical librarian using bibliographic databases, from January 2015 to April 2020.

Cardiac manifestations of COVID-19.

COVID-19 is a novel viral infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) beta-coronavirus. Epidemiological status changes dynamically as the pandemy is far from ending. Several complications of presented virus may be similar to those observed in other viral infections.

The Effects of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists and Dipeptydilpeptidase-4 Inhibitors on Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Complications in Diabetes.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists are a class of newly introduced antidiabetic medications that potentially lower blood glucose by several molecular pathways. DPP-4 inhibitors are the other type of novel antidiabetic medications which act by preventing GLP-1 inactivation and thereby increasing the activity levels of GLP-1, leading to more glucose-induced insulin release from islet -cells and suppression of glucagon release. Most patients with diabetes have concurrent hypertension and cardiovascular disorder.