Relation between serum uric acid and carotid intima-media thickness in healthy postmenopausal women.

Objective: Serum uric acid (SUA) is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). However it is still disputed whether the relationship is mediated by other risk factors such as obesity, dyslipidaemia, hypertension and insulin resistance. We explored the association of the uric acid level with carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), a well known marker of CVD, in postmenopausal healthy women.

Role of endogenous androgens on carotid atherosclerosis in non-obese postmenopausal women.

Background: Recent randomized trials on hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women raised many doubts about their role in cardiovascular disease prevention. Therefore the role of other sex hormones needed to be investigated. In particular androgens seem to have a protective role on atherosclerosis.

Role of PC-1 and ACE genes on insulin resistance and cardiac mass in never-treated hypertensive patients. Suggestive evidence for a digenic additive modulation.

Background And Aim: Insulin resistance and increased left ventricular mass (LVM) characterize patients with essential hypertension. Some genetic polymorphisms play a role in the modulation of both insulin resistance and LVM. The aim of this work was to investigate whether the PC-1 and ACE genes exert a polygenic control of insulin resistance and LVM in hypertensive patients.

Metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors in subjects with impaired fasting glucose: the 100 versus 110 mg/dL threshold.

Background: In 2003, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) established a new cutoff for impaired fasting glucose (IFG) by reducing it from 110 to 100 mg/dL. This change was challenged as to its appropriateness. A few studies have examined the impact of the ADA(2003) threshold of IFG on metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors.

Large brachial and common carotid artery diameter in postmenopausal women with carotid atherosclerosis.

Background And Purpose: It is recognized that arteries can enlarge to compensate atherosclerosis. The role of diameter enlargement of unaffected arteries is not well known. We hypothesized that brachial and common carotid arteries diameters were larger in subjects with carotid atherosclerosis compared to subjects without these lesions.

Interleukin-6 impairs the insulin signaling pathway, promoting production of nitric oxide in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is an independent predictor of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease and is correlated with insulin resistance. Insulin stimulates nitric oxide (NO) production through the IRS-1/PI3-kinase/Akt/eNOS pathway (where IRS-1 is insulin receptor substrate 1, PI3-kinase is phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, and eNOS is endothelial NO synthase). We asked if IL-6 affects insulin vasodilator action both in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and in the aortas of C57BL/6J mice and whether this inhibitory effect was caused by increased Ser phosphorylation of IRS-1.

Successful radiofrequency ablation determines atrio-ventricular remodelling and improves systo-diastolic function at tissue Doppler-imaging.

Background: Clinical, echocardiographic results and determinants of atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence following AF ablation during mitral valve surgery (AFAMVS) were evaluated.

Methods: Fifty-two patients undergoing radiofrequency AFAMVS between January 2003 and December 2005, underwent serial echocardiographies with tissue Doppler imaging to assess atrio-ventricular function. Recurrence of AF, hospital readmission, episodes of congestive heart failure (CHF) were recorded.

Effects of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1 on cardiac hypertrophy of hypertensive patients.

Objectives: Growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) interfere with cardiac mass (left ventricular mass; LVM) development. We investigated the role of the GH/IGF-1 axis on LVM and ventricular geometry in a group of 230 never-treated hypertensive patients.

Methods: Partition values for left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) were 125 g/m2 for both women and men.

Endogenous testosterone and endothelial function in postmenopausal women.

Objective: It is well known that coronary heart disease incidence increases in women after menopause. This phenomenon was related to reduced levels of female sex hormones. Estrogen decline, however, is not the only hormonal change during the postmenopausal period and estrogen administration did not protect women from cardiovascular disease.

Effect of interaction between left ventricular dysfunction and endothelial function in hypertension.

Hypertension, one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, is associated with both left ventricular hypertrophy and endothelial dysfunction. Both have been recently recognized as independent predictors of clinical events in different groups of patients. In fact, a dysfunctioning endothelium loses its antiatherosclerotic and antithrombotic action, and, therefore, promotes the atherosclerotic process.

HEARTFAID: A knowledge based platform of services for supporting medical-clinical management of heart failure within elderly population.

HEARTFAID is a research and development project aimed at devising, developing and validating an innovative knowledge based platform of services, able to improve early diagnosis and to make more effective the medical-clinical management of heart diseases within elderly population. Chronic Heart Failure is one of the most remarkable health problems for prevalence and morbidity, especially in the developed western countries, with a strong impact in terms of social and economic effects. All these aspects are typically emphasized within the elderly population, with very frequent hospital admissions and a significant increase of medical costs.

Carotid atherosclerosis associated to metabolic syndrome but not BMI in healthy menopausal women.

Background: Obesity and the metabolic syndrome (MS) frequently coexist. Both are apparently associated to cardiovascular disease. However, the contribution of obesity to cardiovascular risk, independent of the presence of the metabolic syndrome, remains controversial.

Carotid artery intima-media thickness is associated with insulin-mediated glucose disposal in nondiabetic normotensive offspring of type 2 diabetic patients.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether insulin resistance is independently associated with early manifestations of atherosclerosis. To this end, 176 normotensive offspring of type 2 diabetic patients were subjected to euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp to assess insulin sensitivity. Early atherosclerosis was studied by ultrasonography of the common carotid artery.

Plasma interleukin-6 levels are increased in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance but not in those with impaired fasting glucose in a cohort of Italian Caucasians.

Background: While the relationship between impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and circulating interleukin-6 (IL-6) is well established, there is no information whether IL-6 levels are elevated in impaired fasting glucose (IFG).

Methods: To this end, we examined the relationship between plasma IL-6 concentration and different degrees of glucose homeostasis in a cohort of 470 Italian Caucasian subjects comprising 236 normal glucose tolerant (NGT), 49 IFG, 51 IGT, and 134 type 2 diabetic subjects.

Results: We observed that IL-6, CRP and fibrinogen levels were higher in subjects with IGT or type 2 diabetes as compared with NGT and IFG subjects.

Plasma interleukin-6 levels are independently associated with insulin secretion in a cohort of Italian-Caucasian nondiabetic subjects.

We have investigated the relationships between plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels and insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion in a cohort of Italian-Caucasian glucose-tolerant subjects. Insulin sensitivity was assessed by euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp, and first-phase insulin secretion was measured by intravenous glucose tolerance test. Fasting plasma IL-6 concentration was negatively correlated with the rate of insulin-stimulated glucose disposal (M) (P = 0.

Serum ionized magnesium levels in relation to metabolic syndrome in type 2 diabetic patients.

Objective: To evaluate circulating serum ionized magnesium (i-Mg) concentrations in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, and to investigate its relationship with the components of the metabolic syndrome.

Design: cross-sectional study.

Setting: Outpatients' service for diabetic patients at the University Hospital of Messina, Italy.

The prognostic value of big endothelin-1 in more than 2,300 patients with heart failure enrolled in the Valsartan Heart Failure Trial (Val-HeFT).

Background: Endothelin is elevated in heart failure and contributes to neurohormonal activation, hemodynamic deterioration, and cardiovascular remodeling. Here, we examined its prognostic value in a large population of patients with chronic heart failure.

Methods And Results: Big endothelin-1 (Big ET-1) and 4 other neurohormones were measured at study entry in 2359 patients enrolled in the Valsartan Heart Failure Trial (Val-HeFT) and their concentrations related to outcome over a median follow-up of 23 months.

Variants of the interleukin-10 promoter gene are associated with obesity and insulin resistance but not type 2 diabetes in caucasian italian subjects.

Interleukin (IL)-10 is a major anti-inflammatory cytokine that has been associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes. The three polymorphisms -1082G/A, -819C/T, and -592C/A in the IL10 promoter were reported to influence IL10 transcription. We investigated whether these polymorphisms were associated with type 2 diabetes and related traits in a cohort of Italian Caucasians comprising 551 type 2 diabetic and 1,131 control subjects.

Uric acid and endothelial dysfunction in essential hypertension.

Recent epidemiologic and experimental evidence suggests that serum uric acid (UA) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular and renal diseases. However, endothelial dysfunction is an early predictor of cardiovascular events, particularly in hypertensive patients. For assessment of the association between UA and endothelial function, 217 (108 men, 109 women; aged 48.

The E23K variant of KCNJ11 encoding the pancreatic beta-cell adenosine 5'-triphosphate-sensitive potassium channel subunit Kir6.2 is associated with an increased risk of secondary failure to sulfonylurea in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Context: Several studies suggest that genetic factors may play a role in the different responses to antidiabetic therapy; however, conclusive evidence is still lacking.

Objective: The objective of the study was to investigate whether diabetic patients carrying the E23K variant in KCNJ11 are at increased risk for secondary sulfonylurea failure.

Design: Secondary sulfonylurea failure was defined as fasting plasma glucose greater than 300 mg/dl despite sulfonylurea-metformin combined therapy and appropriate diet, in the absence of other conditions causing hyperglycemia.

Inflammation as a mediator of the link between mild to moderate renal insufficiency and endothelial dysfunction in essential hypertension.

The relationship among inflammation (plasma high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [CRP]), endothelial function (hemodynamic response to acetylcholine [ACh] in the forearm), and renal function (serum creatinine and GFR [Modification of Diet in Renal Disease formula]) was investigated in 264 never-treated individuals with uncomplicated essential hypertension and serum creatinine within the normal range. Multiple regression models of renal function (creatinine) were constructed in sequence including Framingham risk factors as well the hemodynamic response to ACh and plasma CRP. The inclusion of endothelial function into a model based on Framingham risk factors added highly significant (P < 0.

Association of LDL cholesterol with carotid atherosclerosis in menopausal women affected by the metabolic syndrome.

Background And Aim: The metabolic syndrome is a highly prevalent condition associated with cardiovascular disease. However, the contribution of LDL to cardiovascular risk is not estimated since it is not part of ATP III criteria.

Methods And Results: This is an observational study evaluating the association between metabolic syndrome and carotid atherosclerosis, according to LDL cholesterol levels.

Asymmetric dimethylarginine, L-arginine, and endothelial dysfunction in essential hypertension.

Objectives: We investigated the relationship between ADMA plasma levels and endothelium-dependent vasodilation in 36 never-treated essential hypertensives and in 8 normotensive healthy subjects.

Background: It has been demonstrated that endothelium-dependent vasodilatation is impaired in essential hypertension. The potential contribution of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) to endothelial dysfunction of hypertensive humans has received poor attention.