Troponin I measured by a high-sensitivity assay in patients with suspected reversible myocardial ischemia: data from the Akershus Cardiac Examination (ACE) 1 study.

Background: Whether cardiac troponin concentrations are increased by reversible myocardial ischemia is controversial. Differences in the structure of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and cTnT may have implications for diagnostic utility.

Methods: cTnI was measured with a prototype high-sensitivity (hs) assay in 198 patients referred for myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) before exercise stress testing, immediately after, and 1.

Novel cardiovascular risk markers in depression: no association between depressive symptoms and osteoprotegerin or adiponectin in persons at high risk for sleep apnea.

Background: Inflammation is believed to play a role in the pathogenesis of both cardiovascular disease and depressive disorders. We hypothesized that circulating concentrations of the novel inflammatory and cardiovascular biomarkers osteoprotegerin (OPG) and adiponectin as well as high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) are associated with the severity of depressive symptoms and presence of major depressive disorder (MDD).

Methods: In a cross-sectional population-derived study (Akershus Sleep Apnea Project) 520 persons underwent clinical examination and venous blood sampling.

Secretogranin II; a protein increased in the myocardium and circulation in heart failure with cardioprotective properties.

Background: Several beneficial effects have been demonstrated for secretogranin II (SgII) in non-cardiac tissue. As cardiac production of chromogranin A and B, two related proteins, is increased in heart failure (HF), we hypothesized that SgII could play a role in cardiovascular pathophysiology.

Methodology/principal Findings: SgII production was characterized in a post-myocardial infarction heart failure (HF) mouse model, functional properties explored in experimental models, and circulating levels measured in mice and patients with stable HF of moderate severity.

Determinants of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T during acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a prospective cohort study.

Background: A high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) concentration above the 99th percentile (i.e. 14 ng/L) is common during Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (AECOPD) and associated with increased mortality.

Diagnostic utility of a single-epitope sandwich B-type natriuretic peptide assay in stable coronary artery disease: data from the Akershus Cardiac Examination (ACE) 1 Study.

Objectives: To assess the merit of a novel single-epitope sandwich (SES) assay specific to the stable part of BNP in patients with reversible myocardial ischemia as post-translational modifications of BNP may influence assay performance.

Design And Methods: We measured BNP concentration by a conventional assay and the SES-BNP assay in 198 patients referred for myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). BNP concentration was determined before and immediately after exercise stress testing, and 1.

Epidemiological aspects of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis: a population-based study.

Objectives/hypothesis: The incidence of genital infections, cervical cancer, and oropharyngeal cancer induced by human papillomaviruses (HPV) is increasing in Western countries. Primarily, this study was conducted to estimate the incidence rate of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) in juveniles and adults in two Norwegian subpopulations for each year between 1987 and 2009. The secondary objective of the study was to investigate whether there are trends in the incidence rates of RRP in the study period similar to what we have seen for HPV-related cancer.

Prognostic value of chromogranin A in severe sepsis: data from the FINNSEPSIS study.

Purpose: To assess the prognostic information of chromogranin A (CgA), a marker associated with adrenergic tone and myocardial function, in patients with severe sepsis.

Methods: CgA levels were measured at the time of study inclusion and 72 h later in 232 patients with severe sepsis recruited from 24 ICUs in Finland (FINNSEPSIS study).

Results: Sixty-five patients (28%) died during the index hospitalization.

Sleep apnoea, anxiety, depression and somatoform pain: a community-based high-risk sample.

Community-based studies that measure both psychiatric diagnoses and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) are lacking. This study reports current psychiatric disorders in community-dwelling adults at high risk for OSA identified by the Berlin Questionnaire. Furthermore, associations between OSA and current psychiatric disorders, unadjusted and adjusted for putative confounders, are reported.

Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with increased high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T levels.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Stress imposed on the myocardium by repeated severe hypoxemia and/or BP surges during sleep may result in subclinical myocardial injury. A high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) assay has been developed.

Circulating cytokine concentrations are not associated with major depressive disorder in a community-based cohort.

Objective: The objective was to test the hypotheses that cytokine levels are elevated in community-residing persons at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea with major depressive disorder (MDD) compared to nondepressive persons and that cytokine levels show stronger correlations with somatic than psychological symptoms of depression.

Method: A case-control study within the cross-sectional Akershus Sleep Apnea Project was performed. Two controls matched for age, gender, metabolic syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea were drawn for each case of MDD.

Osteoprotegerin and cardiovascular mortality in patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes.

Objective: To assess the relationship between osteoprotegerin (OPG) and cardiovascular death, and the pathobiological mechanisms contributing to the association, in acute coronary syndromes (ACS).

Design: Prospective observational.

Setting: Biomarker substudy of MERLIN-TIMI 36, a randomised, placebo controlled trial of ranolazine in non-ST elevation (NSTE)-ACS.

Cardiac troponin T levels and exercise stress testing in patients with suspected coronary artery disease: the Akershus Cardiac Examination (ACE) 1 study.

Whether reversible ischaemia in patients referred for exercise stress testing and MPI (myocardial perfusion imaging) is associated with changes in circulating cTn (cardiac troponin) levels is controversial. We measured cTnT with a sensitive assay before, immediately after peak exercise and 1.5 and 4.

Evaluation of multiple biomarkers of cardiovascular stress for risk prediction and guiding medical therapy in patients with stable coronary disease.

Background: Circulating biomarkers can offer insight into subclinical cardiovascular stress and thus have the potential to aid in risk stratification and tailoring of therapy.

Methods And Results: We measured plasma levels of 4 cardiovascular biomarkers, midregional pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP), midregional pro-adrenomedullin (MR-proADM), C-terminal pro-endothelin-1 (CT-proET-1), and copeptin, in 3717 patients with stable coronary artery disease and preserved left ventricular ejection fraction who were randomized to trandolapril or placebo as part of the Prevention of Events With Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (PEACE) trial. After adjustment for clinical cardiovascular risk predictors and left ventricular ejection fraction, elevated levels of MR-proANP, MR-proADM, and CT-proET-1 were independently associated with the risk of cardiovascular death or heart failure (hazard ratios per 1-SD increase in log-transformed biomarker levels of 1.

Type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes are associated with obstructive sleep apnea in extremely obese subjects: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common yet underdiagnosed condition. The aim of our study is to test whether prediabetes and type 2 diabetes are associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in extremely obese (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m²) subjects.

Methods: One hundred and thirty seven consecutive extremely obese patients (99 females) from a controlled clinical trial [MOBIL-study (Morbid Obesity treatment, Bariatric surgery versus Intensive Lifestyle intervention Study) (ClinicalTrials.

Body fat and fat-free mass measured by bioelectric impedance spectroscopy and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in obese and non-obese adults.

The aim of the present study was to compare body fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) estimates by bioelectric impedance spectroscopy (BIS), with respective estimates by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), in obese and non-obese subjects. Body composition was measured in ninety-three obese and non-obese men and women by BIS device, BodyScout (Fresenius Kabi, Bad Homburg, Germany) and DXA device, Lunar iDXA (GE Healthcare, Madison, WI, USA). Mean difference between the methods was analysed by t tests, and Bland-Altman plots were generated to further examine the differences between the methods.

Cardiac arrhythmias in obstructive sleep apnea (from the Akershus Sleep Apnea Project).

Increased prevalence of cardiac arrhythmias has been reported in patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), but this may not be generalizable to patients from the general population with a milder form of the condition. The aim of this study was to assess the association between cardiac arrhythmias and OSA of mainly mild and moderate severity. In total, 486 subjects (mean age 49 years, 55% men) recruited from a population-based study in Norway underwent polysomnography for OSA assessment and Holter recordings for arrhythmia assessment.

Prognostic utility of secretory phospholipase A(2) in patients with stable coronary artery disease.

Background: Secretory phospholipase A(2) (sPLA(2)) may contribute to atherogenesis. To date, few prospective studies have examined the utility of sPLA(2) for risk stratification in coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: We measured plasma sPLA(2) activity at baseline in 3708 subjects in the PEACE randomized trial of trandolapril vs placebo in stable CAD.

Elevated high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T is associated with increased mortality after acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Cardiovascular co-morbidities are common in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Retrospective studies on selected patients have indicated that cardiac troponin elevation is frequent during acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD), and that this is associated with poor survival. In the present prospective study the prevalence and prognostic value of elevated cardiac troponin T (cTnT) in unselected patients with AECOPD have been investigated, using a novel high-sensitivity assay (hs-cTnT assay).

Adiponectin in chronic heart failure: influence of diabetes and genetic variants.

Background: We hypothesized that, besides type 2 diabetes (T2D) and body mass index (BMI), circulating adiponectin concentration would be associated with variants of the ADIPOQ gene in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). We also assessed the influence of these confounders on the prognostic value of adiponectin.

Methods: Plasma adiponectin was measured at entry and after 3 months in approximately 1200 patients with CHF enrolled in the GISSI-HF trial.

Major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, and cardiac biomarkers in subjects at high risk of obstructive sleep apnea.

Objective: Cardiac biomarkers may be valuable when exploring potential mechanisms for the association between cardiovascular disease and psychiatric disorders. In subjects at increased risk for obstructive sleep apnea, we examined whether major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety disorders, or the combination of these was associated with circulating C-reactive protein (CRP), cardiac troponin T (cTnT), or heart rate variability (HRV).

Methods: From the Akershus Sleep Apnea Project, 290 participants were assessed for MDD or any anxiety disorder by a physician using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV.

New sensitive cardiac troponin assays for the early diagnosis of myocardial infarction.

The objective of the current article is to review and evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic value of a new generation of sensitive assays for cardiac troponin I and troponin T. Cardiac-specific troponins I and T are the preferred diagnostic biomarker in patients presenting with suspected acute coronary syndromes. One important limitation of previous generation assays has been the relative insensitivity in detecting myocardial injury in patients with a short duration from symptom onset to presentation in the emergency room.

Prognostic usefulness of circulating high-sensitivity troponin T in aortic stenosis and relation to echocardiographic indexes of cardiac function and anatomy.

The new high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) assay seems to provide important prognostic information in patients with stable cardiovascular disease. To understand the merit of hs-cTnT more closely in stable cardiovascular disease, we performed extensive echocardiographic characterization of 57 patients with aortic stenosis and myocardial hypertrophy and related hs-cTnT levels to prognosis and echocardiographic indexes of myocardial structure and function. The hs-cTnT levels were above the assay's detection limit in all patients, correlated with echocardiographic indexes of structure and function, most notably with left ventricular mass, and demonstrated prognostic utility of similar strength as N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide.

Prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and concentration of C-reactive protein in Type D personality persons without cardiovascular disease.

Background: Type D personality is associated with poor cardiovascular outcome in patients with coronary or peripheral arterial disease. Whether Type D personality is associated with cardiovascular risk in persons without overt cardiovascular disease remains unknown. We hypothesized that Type D personality is associated with higher prevalence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors and higher concentration of C-reactive protein.