Decreased blood pressure with acute administration of quercetin in L-NAME-induced hypertensive rats.

Quercetin is known to reduce blood pressure (BP); however, its acute effects are unclear. We investigated the acute effects of quercetin on BP, aortic mechanical properties and vascular reactivity in female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Hypertension was induced using L-NAME (40 mg/kg/day).

Involvement of pentraxin-3 in the development of hypertension but not left ventricular hypertrophy in male spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Hypertension drives the development of concentric left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). However, the relative contribution of pentraxin-3 (PTX-3), a novel marker for inflammatory cardiovascular disease, in the hypertrophic response to pressure overload has not been adequately elucidated. We investigated the role of PTX-3 in the development of LVH in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), untreated and treated with either captopril (an ACE inhibitor) or hydralazine (a non-specific vasodilator).

Child and adolescent food insecurity in South Africa: A household-level analysis of hunger.

Food insecurity impacts childhood nutritional status, physical and cognitive development, and increases lifetime risk for chronic disease. Previous South African studies have examined hunger at the sub-national level without a specific focus on children and adolescents. This study determines the national prevalence of childhood food insecurity, from birth to adolescence, and identifies factors associated with hunger within the household.