Overview of Curcumin and Piperine Effects on Glucose Metabolism: The Case of an Insulinoma Patient's Loss of Consciousness.

The hypoglycemic properties of curcumin supplements in therapeutic doses are well-known and may represent a useful tool for the treatment of chronic diseases such as metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. The poor bioavailability of curcumin can be improved with the concomitant administration of piperine, with no severe adverse effects on glycemia reported so far in the literature. In this article, we further discuss a previously reported case of a helicopter pilot, affected by grade I obesity who, under curcumin and piperine treatment, experienced a transient loss of consciousness (TLOC), during a low-altitude flight.

Physical Activity in Healthcare Workers With Low Back Pain: Effects of the Back-FIT Randomized Trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of physical activity program in healthcare workers with low back pain (LBP).

Methods: A group of healthcare workers participated voluntarily to a meeting about LBP and to be accepted, were randomly allocated to workplace program or to home-based exercises, illustrated in a booklet and in a video available on the company intranet website. Both programs consisted in 7 weeks of moderate intensity exercises adapted to LBP.

L-arginine, asymmetric dimethylarginine, and symmetric dimethylarginine in plasma and synovial fluid of patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the involvement of the nitric oxide (NO) pathway in osteoarthritis (OA).

Material And Methods: The study groups consisted of 32 patients with knee OA and 31 healthy controls. In peripheral venous blood samples (from the OA patients and the controls) and in synovial fluid samples (from the OA patients), the concentrations of L-arginine (ARN), asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), and symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) were evaluated.

Silent cardiovascular involvement in patients with diffuse systemic sclerosis: a controlled cross-sectional study.

Objective: An association between systemic autoimmune diseases and atherosclerosis has been described in many connective tissue diseases, and this association is known to lead to increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is characterized by multisystem organ inflammation, endothelial wall damage, and vasculopathy. There are many markers of endothelial dysfunction and/or atherosclerotic risk, such as asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), arterial stiffness parameters, carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), and coronary flow reserve (CFR) assessed by transthoracic echocardiography.

Cardiovascular injury in systemic autoimmune diseases: an update.

It is well known in literature that systemic autoimmune diseases (SADs) are associated with enhanced atherosclerosis and impaired endothelial function early after the onset of the disease. Cardiovascular (CV) disease represents one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in SADs. There is considerable evidence suggesting a pathogenetic role of chronic inflammation and immune dysregulation for enhanced atherosclerosis in SADs, as demonstrated in several recent studies.

Coronary flow reserve and asymmetric dimethylarginine levels: new measurements for identifying subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with psoriatic arthritis.

Objective: To identify the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and healthy controls using intima-media thickness (IMT), coronary flow reserve (CFR), and the plasma concentration of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), to evaluate the correlations among ADMA, IMT, and CFR.

Methods: The study involved 22 patients who fulfilled the ClASsification of Psoriatic ARthritis study group criteria for PsA and a cohort of 35 healthy controls with no history or current signs of coronary artery disease (CAD). Common carotid IMT was measured using high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography.

Robotic treadmill training improves cardiovascular function in spinal cord injury patients.

Background: Body weight supported treadmill training (BWSTT) assisted with a robotic driven gait orthosis (DGO) is an emerging tool in rehabilitating patients with lost sensorimotor function. Few information about the effects of BWSTT on cardiovascular system are available. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of BWSTT on: 1) left ventricular (LV) systo-diastolic function; 2) coronary flow reserve (CFR); 3) endothelial function in patients with lost sensorimotor function due to neurologic lesions.

The heart in rheumatoid arthritis.

Morbidity and mortality rates are higher in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients than in the general population. Many studies have shown that coronary artery disease is one of the most common causes of death in RA and seems to occur at a younger age than in the general population. RA per se is as much a cardiovascular (CV) risk factor as diabetes, arterial hypertension and dyslipidemia etc.

Non-invasive assessment of coronary flow reserve and ADMA levels: a case-control study of early rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Objective: Plasma concentration of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), a major endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, is considered a novel risk factor for endothelial dysfunction associated with enhanced atherosclerosis. Coronary microcirculation abnormalities have been demonstrated in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) without any signs or symptoms of coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of the study was to compare the ERA and control groups with ADMA, intima-media thickness (IMT) and coronary flow reserve (CFR) levels.

Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA): an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase and a novel cardiovascular risk molecule.

Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), a methyl derivate of the amino acid arginine, is produced by the physiological degradation of methylated proteins. ADMA is the major endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), the enzyme which synthesizes nitric oxide (NO), a molecule endowed with important anti-atherosclerotic properties. Increased plasma ADMA concentrations cause impaired NO synthesis leading to endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerotic vascular disease.

Cardiovascular involvement in systemic autoimmune diseases.

Autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), primary antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), systemic sclerosis and systemic vasculitis, affect a large number of people in whom one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality is cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease is associated with the development of accelerated atherosclerosis. It seems to occur at a younger age than in the general population, is often asymptomatic and, in addition to traditional risk factors, also involves specific risk factors as chronic inflammation, the duration and activity of the autoimmune disease, and immunosuppressive therapy.

Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) induces vascular endothelium impairment and aggravates post-ischemic ventricular dysfunction in rats.

Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is an endogenous nitric oxide (NO) inhibitor recognized as an independent risk factor for endothelial dysfunction and coronary heart diseases. This study investigated whether ADMA (10 mg/kg day for 14 days) affected endothelial function and aggravated post-ischemic ventricular dysfunction in the perfused rat heart. Systolic blood pressure and heart rate, plasma levels of ADMA and nitrite/nitrate were measured in vehicle- and ADMA-treated rats.

Nitric oxide and prostacyclin pathways: an integrated mechanism that limits myocardial infarction progression in anaesthetized rats.

Nitric oxide (NO) and cyclooxygenase-derived prostaglandins, such as prostacyclin (PGI2), are involved in vascular homeostasis. To better understand the reciprocal role of both NO and PGI2 on myocardial infarction in the rat, we have investigated the cardioprotective effect of nitro-naproxen, isosorbide dinitrate (ISDN), L-arginine, defibrotide and naproxen. In this study, male Wistar rats were treated orally once a day for 5 consecutive days with the compounds under investigation and then, under anesthesia, the animals were subjected to acute myocardial ischemia (30 min) and reperfusion (120 min).

Angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonism improves endothelial vasodilator function in L-NAME-induced hypertensive rats by a kinin-dependent mechanism.

Objective: This study was designed to investigate the ability of a chronic blockade of angiotensin II type 1 receptors with losartan to reverse the endothelial dysfunction present in N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME)-treated hypertensive rats and the possible dependence of this effect on bradykinin B2-receptor activation.

Methods: Rats treated with L-NAME alone (60 mg/kg per day for 8 weeks) or with L-NAME + losartan, L-NAME + icatibant (a bradykinin B2-receptor antagonist) and L-NAME + losartan + icatibant were studied. Losartan, icatibant or losartan + icatibant were co-administered with L-NAME during the last 4 weeks of the experiment.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition and angiotensin AT1-receptor antagonism equally improve endothelial vasodilator function in L-NAME-induced hypertensive rats.

Male Sprague-Dawley rats given N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) in drinking water for 8 weeks showed: (1) a clear-cut increase in systolic blood pressure; (2) a consistent decrease of endothelial-cell nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene expression in aortic tissue; (3) a marked reduction of plasma nitrite/nitrate concentrations; (4) a reduction of the relaxant activity of acetylcholine (ACh, from 10(-10) to 10(-4) M) on norepinephrine-precontracted aortic rings (reduction by 48+/-5%); (5) a marked decrease (-58%) of the basal release of 6-keto-prostaglandin F1alpha (6-keto-PGF1alpha) from aortic rings. In L-NAME-treated rats, administration in the last 4 weeks of either the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor enalapril (10 mg/kg/day in tap water) or the angiotensin AT(1)-receptor antagonist losartan (10 mg/kg/day in tap water) decreased systolic blood pressure levels, completely restored eNOS mRNA levels in aortic tissue and plasma nitrite/nitrate levels, and allowed a consistent recovery of both the relaxant activity of acetylcholine and the generation of 6-keto-PGF1alpha. Coadministration of icatibant, a bradykinin B(2)-receptor antagonist (200 microg/kg/day), with enalapril blunted the stimulatory effect of the ACE inhibitor on eNOS mRNA expression, circulating levels of nitrite/nitrate, the relaxant activity of ACh and the release of 6-keto-PGF1alpha in L-NAME-treated rats.

GH-related and extra-endocrine actions of GH secretagogues in aging.

Growth hormone (GH) secretion declines with aging in mammals, including humans. Defective pituitary function does not play a major role in this event. Rather, age-related changes involving the function of specific hypothalamic peptides for GH regulation, GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) and somatostatin (SS), appear to be the fundamental factors.

Enalapril and quinapril improve endothelial vasodilator function and aortic eNOS gene expression in L-NAME-treated rats.

Endothelial dysfunction ensuing inhibition of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) was investigated in male Sprague-Dawley rats given N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) in drinking water for 8 weeks. Age-matched rats served as controls. L-NAME-treated rats, as compared to control animals, showed: (1) a clear-cut increase in systolic blood pressure; (2) a consistent decrease of endothelial-cell NOS (eNOS) gene expression in aortic tissue; (3) a reduction of the relaxant activity of acetylcholine (ACh, from 10(-10) to 10(-4) M) on norepinephrine-precontracted aortic rings (reduction by 52+/-5%); (4) a marked decrease (-50%) of the basal release of 6-keto-prostaglandin F(1 alpha) (6-keto-PGF(1 alpha)) from aortic rings.