Days Needed for the Disappearance of a Cough Due to the Use of an Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor and Identification of Predisposing Factors Associated With Its Appearance in a Clinical Cohort of Hypertensive Patients.

Our main objective was to investigate the numbers of days necessary for the disappearance of the cough caused by an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) subsequent to the discontinuation of treatment, and to identify the associated factors that contribute to the appearance of said cough and angioneurotic edema. We studied 1101 patients with hypertension treated with an ACEI for 15 years. A multivariate analysis of binary logistic regression was performed to identify predisposing cough factors.

Pomace Olive Oil Concentrated in Triterpenic Acids Restores Vascular Function, Glucose Tolerance and Obesity Progression in Mice.

Pomace olive oil, an olive oil sub-product, is a promising source of bioactive triterpenoids such as oleanolic acid and maslinic acid. Considering the vascular actions of pomace olive oil and the potential effects of the isolated oleanolic acid on metabolic complications of obesity, this study investigates for the first time the dietary intervention with a pomace olive oil with high concentrations of the triterpenic acids (POCTA), oleanolic and maslinic acid, during diet-induced obesity in mice. The results demonstrate that obese mice, when switched to a POCTA-diet for 10 weeks, show a substantial reduction of body weight, insulin resistance, adipose tissue inflammation, and particularly, improvement of vascular function despite high caloric intake.

Ferulic acid, a bioactive component of rice bran, improves oxidative stress and mitochondrial biogenesis and dynamics in mice and in human mononuclear cells.

The aim of the study was to characterize the vascular effects of rice bran enzymatic extract (RBEE). ApoE-/- mice were fed a high-fat/cholesterol diet (HFD) or HFD supplemented with 5% RBEE for 21 weeks. RBEE prevented development of atherosclerotic plaques and oxidative stress in mouse aorta as well as the down-regulation of markers of mitochondrial biogenesis.

Rice bran enzymatic extract reduces atherosclerotic plaque development and steatosis in high-fat fed ApoE-/- mice.

Objective: Rice bran is a by-product of rice milling and is rich in bioactive molecules such as γ-oryzanol, phytosterols, and tocotrienols. The rice bran enzymatic extract (RBEE) previously showed vessel remodeling prevention and lipid-lowering, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic activities. The aim of this study was to identify RBEE hypolipidemic mechanisms and to study the effects of RBEE on the progression of atherosclerosis disease and linked vascular dysfunction and liver steatosis in apolipoprotein E-knockout (ApoE-/-) mice fed low- or high-fat (LFD, HFD, respectively) and cholesterol diets.

Diet supplementation with rice bran enzymatic extract restores endothelial impairment and wall remodelling of ApoE(-/-) mice microvessels.

Background And Aims: Small mesenteric artery resistance and functionality are key factors for the maintenance of blood homeostasis. We attained to evaluate the effects of a rice bran enzymatic extract (RBEE) on structural, mechanic and myogenic alterations and endothelial dysfunction secondary to atherosclerosis disease.

Methods: Seven week-old ApoE(-/-) mice were fed on standard (ST) or high fat (HF) diets supplemented or not with 1 or 5% RBEE (w/w) for 23 weeks.

Rice bran prevents high-fat diet-induced inflammation and macrophage content in adipose tissue.

Background: The inflammatory process associated with obesity mainly arises from white adipose tissue (WAT) alterations. In the last few years, nutritional-based strategies have been positioned as promising alternatives to pharmacological approaches against these pathologies. Our aim was to determine the potential of a rice bran enzymatic extract (RBEE)-supplemented diet in the prevention of metabolic, biochemical and functional adipose tissue and macrophage changes associated with a diet-induced obesity (DIO) in mice.

Structural, mechanical and myogenic properties of small mesenteric arteries from ApoE KO mice: characterization and effects of virgin olive oil diets.

Objective: We analyzed the structural, mechanical, myogenic and functional properties of resistance arteries of ApoE KO compared to wild type (WT) mice. We also determined the influence of saturated fat in comparison to virgin olive oil-enriched diets in vascular wall abnormalities.

Methods: Male ApoE KO (ApoE) and WT mice (8-weeks-old) were assigned to the groups: standard chow diet (SD), high fat diet (HFD), virgin olive oil (VOO) and high polyphenol-VOO-enriched diet (Oleaster(®)) (OT) (15% w/w).

Rice bran enzymatic extract-supplemented diets modulate adipose tissue inflammation markers in Zucker rats.

Objective: Chronic low-grade inflammation in obesity is characterized by macrophage accumulation in white adipose tissue and adipokine production deregulation. Obesity also is characterized by oxidative stress related to inflammatory signaling. The aim of this study was to analyze whether dietary supplementation with a rice bran enzymatic extract (RBEE), rich in bioactive compounds with antioxidant and hypocholesterolemic properties, would ameliorate the inflammatory state existing in visceral adipose tissue of obese Zucker rats.

Influence of pharmaceutical care on the delayed emesis associated with chemotherapy.

Background: Complete control of emesis during chemotherapy remains to be achieved. This could be improved by increasing adherence to medicines and recommendations.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of pharmaceutical care on the incidence of delayed chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in adult cancer outpatients.

Rice bran enzymatic extract restores endothelial function and vascular contractility in obese rats by reducing vascular inflammation and oxidative stress.

Background: Rice bran enzymatic extract (RBEE) used in this study has shown beneficial activities against dyslipidemia, hyperinsulinemia and hypertension. Our aim was to investigate the effects of a diet supplemented with RBEE in vascular impairment developed in obese Zucker rats and to evaluate the main mechanisms mediating this action.

Methods And Results: Obese Zucker rats were fed a 1% and 5% RBEE-supplemented diet (O1% and O5%).

Endothelium-dependent vasodilator and antioxidant properties of a novel enzymatic extract of grape pomace from wine industrial waste.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the vascular effects of an enzymatic extract of grape pomace (GP-EE) on isolated arteries, focusing our attention on endothelium-derived relaxation and on its antioxidant properties. Grape pomace derived from wine making was extracted by an enzymatic process and its composition of polyphenols was evaluated by HPLC and ESI-MS/MS, detecting kaempferol, catechin, quercetin and procyanidins B1 and B2, trace levels of resveratrol and tracing out gallocatechin and anthocyanidins. GP-EE induced endothelium- and NO-dependent vasodilatation of both rat aorta and small mesenteric artery (SMA) segments and reduced Phe-induced response in aortic rings.

Water-soluble rice bran enzymatic extract attenuates dyslipidemia, hypertension and insulin resistance in obese Zucker rats.

Background And Purpose: Rice bran enzymatic extract (RBEE) has advantages compared to the original rice bran or its oils including water solubility, lack of rancidity and increased content in high nutritional proteins and nutraceutical compounds, particularly phytosterols, γ-oryzanol and tocols. Our aim was to determine the beneficial effects of RBEE in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome in obese Zucker rats.

Methods: Obese Zucker rats and their lean littermates were fed a 1 and 5 % RBEE-supplemented diet (O1, O5, L1 and L5).

Propionyl-L-carnitine corrects metabolic and cardiovascular alterations in diet-induced obese mice and improves liver respiratory chain activity.

Aims: Obesity is a primary contributor to acquired insulin resistance leading to the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular alterations. The carnitine derivate, propionyl-L-carnitine (PLC), plays a key role in energy control. Our aim was to evaluate metabolic and cardiovascular effects of PLC in diet-induced obese mice.

Pharmacological effects and clinical applications of propionyl-L-carnitine.

Propionyl-L-carnitine (PLC) is a naturally occurring derivative of carnitine that plays an important role in the metabolism of both carbohydrates and lipids, leading to an increase of ATP generation. PLC, however, is not only a metabolic drug; it is also a potent antiradical agent and thus may protect tissues from oxidative damage. PLC has been demonstrated to exert a protective effect in different models of both cardiac and endothelial dysfunction, to prevent the progression of atherosclerosis, and, more recently, to improve some of the cardiometabolic alterations that frequently accompany insulin resistance.

Critical update for the clinical use of L-carnitine analogs in cardiometabolic disorders.

Acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) and propionyl-L-carnitine (PLC) are two naturally occurring carnitine derivates formed by carnitine acetyltransferase. The beneficial cardiovascular effects of ALC and PLC have been extensively evaluated in animals and humans during the last 20 years. For instance, many clinical trials have suggested ALC and PLC as potential strategies in the management of peripheral arterial disease, heart and cerebral ischemia, and congestive heart failure.

Chronic treatment with the cannabinoid 1 antagonist rimonabant altered vasoactive cyclo-oxygenase-derived products on arteries from obese Zucker rats.

To investigate the effect of chronic cannabinoid 1 antagonism on vascular prostanoid production, obese Zucker rats were treated with rimonabant (10 mg/kg per day) during 20 weeks and then vascular and endothelial reactivity were assessed in aortic rings by analyzing response to phenylephrine and acetylcholine. The presence of cyclo-oxygenase-1 and cyclo-oxygenase-2 selective inhibitors (SC-560 and NS-398, respectively) and the enzyme immunoassay revealed lower PGI2 production by aortic rings from obese rats with rimonabant able to restore such response toward levels found in the lean animals. The treatment also reduced TXB2 but did not alter its participation on acetylcholine-induced relaxation as the TP receptor antagonist ICI-192,605 revealed.

Endothelial dysfunction and aging: an update.

Aging is an important risk factor for the development of many cardiovascular diseases as atherosclerosis and hypertension with a common underlying circumstance: the progressive decline of endothelial function. Vascular endothelial dysfunction occurs during the human aging process and is accompanied by deterioration in the balance between vasodilator and vasoconstriction substances produced by the endothelium. This imbalance is mainly characterized by a progressive reduction of the bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO) and an increase in the production of cyclooxygenase (COX)-derived vasoconstrictor factors.

Effects of pomace olive oil-enriched diets on endothelial function of small mesenteric arteries from spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Pomace olive oil (POM), an olive oil subproduct traditionally used in Spain, is a good source of minor components from the unsaponifiable fraction such as triterpenoids, mainly in the form of oleanolic acid, which induces vascular protection and vasodilatation. Our aim was to evaluate the effects of long-term intake of diets enriched in POM with high concentration in oleanolic acid on endothelial dysfunction associated to hypertension in small mesenteric arteries (SMA) from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). During 12 weeks, rats (six rats per group) were fed either a control 2 % maize oil diet (BD), or high-fat diets containing 15 % refined olive oil (OL), pomace olive oil (POM), or pomace olive oil supplemented in oleanolic acid (POMO; up to 800 parts per million).

Effects of chronic treatment with the CB1 antagonist, rimonabant on the blood pressure, and vascular reactivity of obese Zucker rats.

Rimonabant (RM) is a cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist useful in the treatment of obesity associated cardiovascular risk factors. Since cannabinoids are vasoactive compounds, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of chronic treatment with RM on systolic blood pressure (SBP), and endothelial and vascular reactivity. Obese Zucker rats (OZRs) and their lean counterparts were orally treated during 20 weeks with either RM (10 mg/kg/day).

[Mechanism involved in aged-related endothelial dysfunction].

Ageing is an important risk factor for many cardiovascular diseases with a common underlying circumstance: the progressive decline of endothelial function. This work summarizes the mechanisms involved in such dysfunction focusing our attention in the vasoactive substances released by the endothelium. The decrease of nitric oxide contribution, the enhancement of vasoconstrictor prostanoids and the modification of the action of either the endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor or the vasoconstrictor peptide endothelin are some of the manifestations that appear as the consequence of ageing in endothelial cells.

Effects of HMG-CoA reductase inhibition by simvastatin on vascular dysfunction induced by lipopolysaccharide in rats.

Aims: Statins have been identified as a potentially interesting treatment against sepsis. Here, we study the vascular reactivity of aortae from rats treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), 4 mg . kg(-1), following chronic administration of simvastatin (SV) 10 mg .

Oleanolic acid induces prostacyclin release in human vascular smooth muscle cells through a cyclooxygenase-2-dependent mechanism.

Oleanolic acid is a triterpenoid that may contribute to the cardio-protective effects of olive oil. Our goal was to assess whether oleanolic acid could modulate eicosanoid biosynthesis and to determine the mechanism involved in this effect. Human coronary smooth muscle cells (SMC) were treated with oleanolic acid, erythrodiol, or hydroxytyrosol and eicosanoid release was measured by enzyme immunoassay.

l-carnitine and its propionate: improvement of endothelial function in SHR through superoxide dismutase-dependent mechanisms.

To clarify the mechanism underlying the antioxidant properties of l-carnitine (LC) and propionyl-l-carnitine (PLC) on spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) and normotensive WKY, animals were treated with either PLC or LC (200 mg kg(- 1)). Aorta was dissected and contraction to (R)-( - )-phenylephrine (Phe) and relaxation to carbachol (CCh) were assessed in the presence or not of the NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor, l-NAME. [image omitted] production was evaluated by lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence and its participation on relaxation was observed after incubation with superoxide dismutase (SOD) plus catalase.

Pomace olive oil improves endothelial function in spontaneously hypertensive rats by increasing endothelial nitric oxide synthase expression.

Background: The effect of dietary pomace olive oil, which has the same concentration of oleic acid but a higher proportion of oleanolic acid (OA) than olive oil, was examined on animal models of hypertension for the first time.

Methods: During 12 weeks, Wistar Kyoto (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were fed with either a control 2% corn oil diet (BD), or high-fat diets containing 15% of refined olive oil (OL), pomace olive oil (POM), or pomace olive oil supplemented in OA (up to 800 ppm) (POMO). Then, vascular reactivity and endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase (eNOS) expression were studied in aortic rings.