Socioeconomic differentials in mortality risk among men screened for the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial: II. Black men.

Objectives: This study examined socioeconomic differentials in risk of death from a number of causes in a large cohort of Black men in the United States.

Methods: For 20 224 Black men screened for the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial between 1973 and 1975, data were collected on median family income of Black households in zip code of residence, age, cigarette smoking, blood pressure, serum cholesterol, previous heart attack, and drug treatment for diabetes. The 2937 deaths that occurred over the 16-year follow-up period were grouped into specific causes and related to median Black family income.

Socioeconomic differentials in mortality risk among men screened for the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial: I. White men.

Objectives: This study examined socioeconomic differentials in risk of death from a number of specific causes in a large cohort of White men in the United States.

Methods: For 300 685 White men screened for the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial between 1973 and 1975, data were collected on median income of White households in the zip code of residence, age, cigarette smoking, blood pressure, serum cholesterol, previous myocardial infarction, and drug treatment for diabetes. The 31 737 deaths that occurred over the 16-year follow-up period were grouped into specific causes and related to median White family income.

S-nitrosohaemoglobin: a dynamic activity of blood involved in vascular control.

A dynamic cycle exists in which haemoglobin is S-nitrosylated in the lung when red blood cells are oxygenated, and the NO group is released during arterial-venous transit. The vasoactivity of S-nitrosohaemoglobin is promoted by the erythrocytic export of S-nitrosothiols. These findings highlight newly discovered allosteric and electronic properties of haemoglobin that appear to be involved in the control of blood pressure and which may facilitate efficient delivery of oxygen to tissues.

Posttranslational modification of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase by S-nitrosylation and subsequent NADH attachment.

Nitric oxide (NO)-related activity has been associated with an NAD+-dependent modification of the glycolytic enzyme, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). However, the mechanism by which NO effects covalent attachment of nucleotide and its role in regulation of enzyme activity are controversial. Recent studies have shown that S-nitrosylation of GAPDH (Cys149) initiates subsequent modification by the pyridinium cofactor.

Fish consumption and stroke in men. 30-year findings of the Chicago Western Electric Study.

Background And Purpose: Evidence of a relationship of fish intake to stroke incidence or mortality is weak. This report examines the association of fish consumption with stroke.

Methods: A cohort of 2107 men aged 40 to 55 years from the Chicago Western Electric Study who were free of coronary heart disease and stroke through their first annual reexamination was investigated in relation to baseline fish intake and 30-year risk of fatal and nonfatal stroke.

Pathogenesis and treatment of the adult respiratory distress syndrome.

The adult respiratory distress syndrome is an acute clinical illness characterized by noncardiogenic pulmonary edema and refractory hypoxemia. Injury to the alveolar-capillary barrier and lung inflammation lead to intrapulmonary shunting of blood, surfactant depletion, and pulmonary vascular obstruction. Numerous mediators contribute to the pathologic response.

Blood pressure and end-stage renal disease in men.

Background: End-stage renal disease in the United States creates a large burden for both individuals and society as a whole. Efforts to prevent the condition require an understanding of modifiable risk factors.

Methods: We assessed the development of end-stage renal disease through 1990 in 332,544 men, 35 to 57 years of age, who were screened between 1973 and 1975 for entry into the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT).

Biological chemistry of thiols in the vasculature and in vascular-related disease.

For all their similarities in structure and common chemistry, the functions of the amino thiols in vascular biology are remarkably different. This review details the basic chemistry of sulfhydryls that dictates their functions in health and disease. In addition, the biochemistry and metabolism of each thiol are outlined, in an effort to highlight its specific contributions to the normal biology and physiology of blood vessels and to the pathogenesis of vascular-related disease.

Dietary vitamin C and beta-carotene and risk of death in middle-aged men. The Western Electric Study.

In the Western Electric Company Study, carried out in Chicago, Illinois, data on diet and other factors were obtained in 1958 and 1959 for a cohort of 1,556 employed, middle-aged men. Nutrients included vitamin C and beta-carotene. An index that summarized combined intake of both nutrients was constructed.

Heart rate and prostate cancer mortality: results of a prospective analysis.

Recent studies suggest that local levels of sympathetic nervous activity influence the growth of prostatic tissue. In several epidemiological studies, resting heart rate, an indicator of overall sympathetic activity, was positively associated with all noncardiovascular and cancer death among men. However, no previous analyses have focused on the specific relationship of heart rate to prostate cancer mortality.

Nitric oxide production in experimental alcoholic liver disease in the rat: role in protection from injury.

Background & Aims: Regulation of blood flow and oxygen supply are important pathogenetic factors in alcoholic liver disease. Because nitric oxide may have an important role, its effects on alcoholic liver injury were investigated.

Methods: Rats were fed ethanol intragastrically with either saturated fat or corn oil.

Expired nitric oxide levels during treatment of acute asthma.

Nitric oxide (NO) is known to be present in measurable quantities in the exhaled air of normal subjects and at higher concentrations in asthmatic subjects not treated with glucocorticoids. We confirmed these findings by analyzing the mean mixed expired NO concentrations of 43 stable asthmatics and 90 normal subjects; NO levels were higher in the asthmatic population (13.9 parts per billion [ppb] versus 6.

Effect of nitric oxide synthase inhibition on bleeding time in humans.

Endothelium-derived nitric oxide (NO) is a potent in vitro inhibitor of platelet adhesion and aggregation, but its role in regulating platelet reactivity in vivo and in humans in particular is undefined. Our primary objective was to determine whether the in vivo inhibition of NO production shortens template bleeding time (BT). The hemodynamic and platelet effects of NG-mono-methyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA), an NO synthase inhibitor, were studied in 12 normal volunteers.

Role of nitric oxide in human esophageal circular smooth muscle in vitro.

The role of nitric oxide in human esophageal smooth muscle was examined. Immunostaining for constitutive nitric oxide synthase labeled nerve fibers and bundles within longitudinal and circular smooth muscle layers of resected tissue samples. Strips of circular muscle mounted in organ baths exhibited spontaneous contractions and active tone.

Lifestyle intervention: results of the Treatment of Mild Hypertension Study (TOMHS).

Background: Questions regarding the efficacy of nonpharmacologic approaches for the treatment of stage 1 hypertension were addressed as part of the Treatment of Mild Hypertension Study (TOMHS), a 4-year, randomized clinical trial (N = 902). This report describes the lifestyle intervention program used in TOMHS, presents data on the lifestyle changes observed, and focuses on the effect of weight loss on blood pressure and blood lipid levels.

Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to receive either placebo or one of five different antihypertensive medications.

Endothelial type nitric oxide synthase in skeletal muscle fibers: mitochondrial relationships.

Immunohistochemistry shows that skeletal muscle fibers express endothelial-type (ec)-NOS in a heterogeneous pattern distinct from that of neuronal (nc)-NOS. Analysis of adjacent serial sections reveals: 1) a strong correlation of ec-NOS expression to mitochondrial content (visualized histochemically by succinate dehydrogenase); 2) lack of correlation of ec-NOS to fiber ATPase type (in contrast to nc-NOS); and 3) constitutive co-expression of ec- and nc-NOS in some fibers. Preparations of mitochondria from diaphragm exhibited calcium-dependent NOS activity, which functioned to inhibit in vitro oxygen consumption.

The relationship between dietary factors and serum lipids in Chinese urban and rural populations of Beijing and Guangzhou. PRC-USA Cardiovascular and Cardiopulmonary Research Group.

Background: Serum cholesterol (TC) levels and coronary heart disease (CHD) are lower in China than in western countries. This report examines the role of diet in determining TC.

Methods: Data were collected as part of a cross-sectional study of 10,000 men and women, 35-54 years old, conducted in 1983-1984 in four areas in China.

Enhanced colonic nitric oxide generation and nitric oxide synthase activity in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

Recent studies have suggested that nitric oxide (NO.), the product of nitric oxide synthase in inflammatory cells, may play a part in tissue injury and inflammation through its oxidative metabolism. In this study the colonic generation of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and nitric oxide synthase activity was determined in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

NO+, NO, and NO- donation by S-nitrosothiols: implications for regulation of physiological functions by S-nitrosylation and acceleration of disulfide formation.

The biological effects of S-nitrosothiols have been attributed to homolytic cleavage of the S-N bond with release of nitric oxide (NO.). Rates of NO.

Comparison of five antihypertensive monotherapies and placebo for change in left ventricular mass in patients receiving nutritional-hygienic therapy in the Treatment of Mild Hypertension Study (TOMHS).

Background: Increased left ventricular mass (LVM) by echocardiography is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Thus, it is of interest to compare the effects of both pharmacological and nonpharmacological approaches to the treatment of hypertension on reduction of LVM.

Methods And Results: Changes in LV structure were assessed by M-mode echocardiograms in a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of 844 mild hypertensive participants randomized to nutritional-hygienic (NH) intervention plus placebo or NH plus one of five classes of antihypertensive agents: (1) diuretic (chlorthalidone), (2) beta-blocker (acebutolol), (3) alpha-antagonist (doxazosin mesylate), (4) calcium antagonist (amlodipine maleate), or (5) angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (enalapril maleate).

Red blood cell sodium and potassium concentration and blood pressure. The Gubbio Population Study.

The relations of red blood cell sodium (RBC Na) and potassium (RBC K) concentrations to blood pressure and prevalence of hypertension were assessed for 1805 men and women, aged 25 to 74 years, who participated in the baseline examination of the Gubbio Population Study in north central Italy. In men, in univariate analyses, RBC Na concentration was not significantly related to systolic or diastolic blood pressure, while RBC K concentration was significantly and inversely related to blood pressure. In women RBC Na values correlated significantly and directly with systolic and diastolic pressure, but RBC K concentration was not significantly related to blood pressure.

S-nitrosothiols and the bioregulatory actions of nitrogen oxides through reactions with thiol groups.

The reactivity of selected RS-NOs has led to the misconception that these compounds are uniformly unstable under physiological conditions. Moreover, current evidence supports the notion that biological responses elicited by RS-NOs may result from either liberation of nitric oxide or from NO group transfer chemistry involving either NO+ or NO-. Some evidence suggests that such reactions may be enzymatically controlled.

Nitric oxide produced by human B lymphocytes inhibits apoptosis and Epstein-Barr virus reactivation.

Nitric oxide (NO) produced by murine macrophages is important in murine resistance to ectromelia virus, herpes simplex virus, and vaccinia virus infection. In contrast, NO production by human mononuclear cells has been difficult to demonstrate, and a role for NO in human responses to infection is uncertain. We report constitutive, low level, macrophage-type NO synthase (iNOS) expression in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-transformed human B lymphocytes and Burkitt's lymphoma cell lines.