Concordance between indirect fibrosis and steatosis indices and their predictors in subjects with overweight/obesity.

Background: The non-invasive assessment of steatosis/fibrosis tried to overcome some of peri-procedural risk of liver biopsy; for this, several indices of steatosis and fibrosis in liver have been proposed.

Aim: To evaluate concordance of non-invasive fibrosis and steatosis indices in a large population of adult subjects at risk of NAFLD, and how obesity and its physio-pathological features may interact with steatosis/fibrosis indexes and related biomarkers of cardio-metabolic risk.

Methods: Indices of steatosis (fatty liver index-FLI), NAFLD liver fat score-NLFS)) and fibrosis (Fibrosis 4 (FIB-4), BARD, BAAT and FORN) were calculated in 1145 outpatients with overweight or obesity at risk for T2D and NAFLD.

[Biomarkers for the diagnosis and management of heart failure: new frontiers].

Heart failure (HF) has a complex pathophysiology including neurohormonal activation, inflammation and oxidative stress that, together with comorbidities, promote progressive myocardial damage and cardiac remodeling. Over the years the study of these pathogenic mechanisms has led to the identification of several analytes potentially useful as biomarkers in HF. High-sensitivity troponins and soluble suppression of tumorigenesis-2 are the most promising biomarkers for risk stratification of HF, with independent value to natriuretic peptides.

New inflammatory and oxidative stress-based biomarker changes in response to a half-marathon in recreational athletes.

Background: Modulation of oxidative stress/inflammation during exercise may have both positive and negative health effects, depending by a number of factors (e.g. training status, and exercise type, intensity and duration) and the oxidative stress or inflammation-related biomarkers considered, which may reflect different levels of the oxidative stress/inflammatory multi entities.

Targeting Oxidative Stress for Disease Prevention and Therapy: Where Do We Stand, and Where Do We Go from Here.

Oxidative stress (OxS) is one of the main processes related to aging and a common denominator of many different chronic/degenerative diseases (e.g., cardiovascular and neurodegenerative conditions and cancer).

α-1 Antitrypsin as a potential biomarker in chronic heart failure.

Background: Heart failure is characterized by a tissue damage that progressively leads to mechanical cardiac dysfunction and remodeling. A recent investigation showed that α-1 antitripsin, an antiprotease, able to inhibit metalloproteinases, provides prognostic information about heart failure and mortality postacute myocardial infarction. Therefore, we conducted a study to establish if α-1 antitrypsin (AAT) could be considered a marker of severity of heart failure.

Relationship between Bone Health Biomarkers and Cardiovascular Risk in a General Adult Population.

Unlabelled: Purpose/Introduction: Osteoporosis (OP) and cardiovascular (CV) disease emerge as closely related conditions, showing common risk factors and/or pathophysiological mechanisms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between bone health markers (BHM) and individual CV risk factors and overall CV risk (FRAMINGHAM-FRS, and PROCAM scores) in a general adult population.

Methods: In 103 subjects (21 males; age: 56 ± 12 years), vitamin D (25(OH)D), osteocalcin (OC), bone alkaline phospatase (BALP), procollagen I aminoterminal propeptide (P1NP), CTx-telopeptide, as well clinical history and life style were evaluated.

C-type natriuretic peptide is closely associated to obesity in Caucasian adolescents.

CNP is a natural regulator of adipogenesis playing a role in the development of obesity in childhood. Aim of the study was to evaluate CNP plasma levels in normal-weight (N), overweight (OW) and obese adolescents (O). Eighty two subjects (age:12.

Effect of white wheat bread and white wheat bread added with bioactive compounds on hypercholesterolemic and steatotic mice fed a high-fat diet.

Background: The effects of white wheat bread and white wheat bread added with a bioactive compound mixture (Cyclanthera pedata, Glycine max, Monascus-fermented red mold rice, Cynara scolymus and Medicago sativa) were examined on hypercholesterolemic and steatotic mice, divided into four groups: control diet (CTR), high-fat diet (HFD), high-fat diet with white wheat bread added with 1.5 g kg(-1) of mixture (HFD+AB) and high-fat diet with white wheat bread (HFD+B).

Results: Total serum cholesterol in the HFD+AB and HFD+B groups and hepatic triglycerides in the HFD+AB group decreased compared with the HFD group.

Osteopontin plasma levels and accelerated atherosclerosis in patients with CAD undergoing PCI: a prospective clinical study.

Objectives: Growing evidence supports the role played by inflammation in atherosclerosis. Identifying sensitive biomarkers is useful in predicting accelerated atherosclerosis. We investigated prospectively the relationship between plasma levels of inflammatory biomarkers [osteopontin, C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6)] and instent restenosis, and rapid coronary plaque progression in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

[Role of biomarkers in the detection of sub-clinical myocardial injury: H-FABP and radiofrequency ablation of ventricular arrhythmias].

The importance of biomarker assay such as cardiac troponins and H-FABP is assuming a pivotal role not only in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with acute coronary syndromes. Radiofrequency (RF) ablation represents a widely used method for the non pharmacologic treatment of arrhythmias.We report a case of a patient complaining of life-threatening arrhythmias treated by RF in whom temporal changes of cardiac biomarkers was determined after the procedure.

Heart-type fatty acid binding protein is an early marker of myocardial damage after radiofrequency catheter ablation.

Objectives: Radiofrequency (RF) ablation of arrhythmias induces myocardial damage and release of biomarkers. This study aimed to assess the kinetics of heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (h-FABP), a cytosolic protein released after myocardial injury incurred by both atrial and ventricular RF ablation, compared to other markers of myocardial injury.

Design And Methods: h-FABP, cTnI, CK-MB(mass) and myoglobin were evaluated in 30 patients with atrial or ventricular tachyarrhythmias before, immediately after and at 3, 6 and 24h after the procedure.

A methodological reappraisal of total and high molecular weight adiponectin determination in human peripheral circulation: comparison of four immunometric assays.

Background: Adiponectin, present in different multimeric forms in circulation, is increasingly used in clinical settings as a cardiometabolic marker. The development of several commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) has allowed for the widespread measurement of adiponectin in research as well as in clinical practice. The comparative performance of these assays is thus an issue of major relevance.

Adrenomedullin plasma levels predict left ventricular reverse remodeling after cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Background: Increase in adrenomedullin (ADM) plasma levels in congestive heart failure (HF) patients is due to many cardiac and systemic factors, particularly to greater fluid retention and to activation of sympathetic nervous system. Aim of this study was to assess the role of plasma ADM levels in HF patients treated by cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).

Methods: 50 patients, mean age 70 years, 34 male, New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class III-IV HF, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 35%, underwent CRT.

Adiponectin is associated with abnormal lipid profile and coronary microvascular dysfunction in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy without overt heart failure.

Reduced plasma adiponectin has been associated with abnormal lipid profile, reduced left ventricle (LV) function, and the extent of coronary atherosclerosis in coronary artery disease. The aim of this study was to assess these relationships in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) without overt heart failure. Plasma adiponectin was measured in 55 DCM patients (age, 59 ± 12 years; male, 36; body mass index [BMI], 26.

Cardiovascular risk factors and gamma-glutamyltransferase fractions in healthy individuals.

Background: Serum gamma-glutamyltransferase activity (GGT), even when within its normal reference range, catalyzes low density lipoprotein oxidation in vitro and predicts cardiovascular events. Of the four GGT fractions (b-GGT, m-GGT, s-GGT, and f-GGT) recently identified in blood, only b-GGT is found within atherosclerotic plaques. Our goal was to identify the determinants of the GGT fractions (b-, m-, s-, and f-GGT) and their association with established cardiovascular risk factors in healthy subjects.

Increased plasma levels of osteopontin are associated with activation of the renin-aldosterone system and with myocardial and coronary microvascular damage in dilated cardiomyopathy.

In patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) abnormal myocardial blood flow (MBF) has been associated with coronary microvascular dysfunction. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that osteopontin (OPN) plasma levels could be associated with the activation of the renin-aldosterone system (RAS) in these patients and be involved in mediating myocardial and coronary damage. In 66 patients with idiopathic left ventricular dysfunction of variable severity the plasma levels of OPN were correlated with biomarkers of systemic metabolism, RAS activation, myocardial dysfunction and with clinical indexes of left ventricle (LV) function and perfusion obtained by 2D-echocardiography and PET.

Nitric oxide treatment reduces neo-intimal formation and modulates osteopontin expression in an ex-vivo human model of intimal hyperplasia.

In this study the effects of nitric oxide (NO) on intimal hyperplasia (IH) were evaluated in an ex-vivo model of human saphenous vein (SV). SV segments were cultured in conditions able to reproduce IH (FCS), or in medium alone (RPMI), or in presence of a NO donor (NO). Osteopontin (OPN) and Interleukin (IL)-6 were determined in the medium at different culture times and in the tissue, at the end of experiment.

Age-related changes in endothelin-1 receptor subtypes in rat heart.

Density, affinity, and subtype distribution of endothelin-1 (ET-1) binding sites were determined in rat cardiac tissue as a function of age in order to evaluate the association of alterations in the endothelin receptor system and aging in the heart. A significant decrease in the receptor subtype ET-A, which represents 70% to 80% of the total receptor population in cardiac tissue of 3- and 12-month-old rats, was observed in 24-month-old rats with respect to the younger groups. These findings indicate an alteration in ET-1 cardiac receptors associated with aging, mainly due to a variation in the receptor subtype distribution.

Circulating heat shock proteins and inflammatory markers in patients with idiopathic left ventricular dysfunction: their relationships with myocardial and microvascular impairment.

Little information is available on peripheral levels of Hsp72, Hsp60, and anti-Hsp60 antibodies in patients with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction due to non-atherosclerotic cardiac disease. In this study, serum Hsp72, Hsp60 and anti-Hsp60 antibodies, IL-6, and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured in 44 healthy controls and in 82 patients with angiographically normal coronary arteries (LV ejection fraction [EF] > or = 50%, n=22; -35% to <50%, n=32; <35%, n=28). Patients with more severe disease (more depressed myocardial blood flow at rest and during dipyridamole, indicative of coronary microvascular impairment) showed more elevated circulating Hsp60 and auto-antibodies, Hsp72, and CRP levels.

Sequencing and cardiac expression of natriuretic peptide receptor 2 (NPR-B) in Sus Scrofa.

The cardiovascular actions of the C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) are mainly mediated by the interaction with natriuretic peptide receptor-B (NPR-B). The aim of this study was to identify the sequence of NPR-B in Sus Scrofa, which is not present in GenBank, to verify the expression of NPR-B in the different cardiac chambers of normal pigs and evaluate its homology with murine and human species. Using the guanidinium thyocyanate-phenol-chloroform method, we extracted total RNA from samples obtained from heart of mouse and from the atrium, ventricle, and septum of normal pigs.

Increased levels of C-type natriuretic peptide in patients with idiopathic left ventricular dysfunction.

C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) is expressed in the vascular endothelium. It is not known whether CNP is specifically increased in patients with idiopathic left ventricular systolic dysfunction (ILVDys) with or without overt heart failure, and whether in these patients it is related with indicators of myocardial and/or endothelial/microvascular impairment. We determined plasma CNP levels in 51 ILVDys and in 60 controls.

Cardiac production of C-type natriuretic peptide in heart failure.

Background: C-type natriuretic peptide production by the heart in patients with chronic heart failure has recently been demonstrated by measuring the difference in C-type natriuretic peptide plasma levels between the aortic root and coronary sinus samples. To assess this previous relevant observation, we re-evaluated the cardiac production of C-type natriuretic peptide, thus increasing the total number of patients studied. In light of the difficulty in recruiting patients with these characteristics, this kind of study can be performed with a small number of subjects.

Plasma adrenomedullin relation with Doppler-derived dP/dt in patients with congestive heart failure.

Background: Increased circulating adrenomedullin (AM) concentration has been reported in congestive heart failure (HF) and considered as a possible marker of cardiac dysfunction.

Hypothesis: The study was undertaken to assess the relationship between circulating AM concentration and left ventricular (LV) functional state, estimated by echo-Doppler techniques in patients with mild to moderate HF and different degrees of LV dysfunction.

Methods: Plasma AM, B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), and N-terminal (NT) proBNP levels were measured in 55 patients with HF (New York Heart Association [NYHA] I n = 8, II n = 26, III n = 21) and in 20 controls; dP/dt was calculated by the Doppler tracing of the mitral regurgitation jet.

Radioimmunoassay for plasma C-type natriuretic peptide determination: a methodological evaluation.

C-Type natriuretic peptide (CNP) is a member of the family of natriuretic peptides with vasodilatory properties, and is produced and secreted by endothelial cells. It seems to play a central role in the paracrine vasomotor control of tone and to be important in several clinical conditions characterized by endothelial dysfunction. We evaluated the analytical performance of a commercially available radioimmunoassay for CNP after a preliminary extraction with Sep-Pak C18.

C-type natriuretic peptide plasma levels increase in patients with chronic heart failure as a function of clinical severity.

Background: [corrected] C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP), secreted by the endothelium and the heart, is structurally related to atrial and brain natriuretic peptides, but its clinical significance in chronic heart failure (CHF) is controversial.

Aim: To investigate the role of CNP in CHF, plasma CNP levels were determined in a prospective series of 133 patients with CHF (age 64 +/- 1 years, left ventricular ejection fraction (EF), 31.5 +/- 0.