Comparison by computed tomographic angiography-the presence and extent of coronary arterial atherosclerosis in South Asians versus Caucasians with diabetes mellitus.

South Asians in the Western world have a high prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and an increased risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) and mortality compared with Caucasians. CAD in asymptomatic South Asian patients with type 2 DM has not been investigated. The aim of this observational cohort study was to investigate CAD in asymptomatic South Asian patients with type 2 DM and to compare with matched Caucasian patients.

Glycated hemoglobin measurement and prediction of cardiovascular disease.

Importance: The value of measuring levels of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) for the prediction of first cardiovascular events is uncertain.

Objective: To determine whether adding information on HbA1c values to conventional cardiovascular risk factors is associated with improvement in prediction of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Analysis of individual-participant data available from 73 prospective studies involving 294,998 participants without a known history of diabetes mellitus or CVD at the baseline assessment.

Networks for improving care in patients with acute coronary syndrome: A framework.

In recent years, it has become evident that the level of guideline adherence in patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is highly correlated with patient outcomes. Unfortunately, guideline adherence is low in some geographic areas and especially in those patients at high-risk. Regional networks including ambulance systems and hospitals with catheterization laboratories are able to increase guideline adherence and patient outcomes by streamlining the critical pre- and intra-hospital processes as well as improving timely access to invasive procedures and recommended medication.

Brown adipose tissue volume in healthy lean south Asian adults compared with white Caucasians: a prospective, case-controlled observational study.

Background: Individuals of south Asian origin have a very high risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared with white Caucasians. We aimed to assess volume and activity of brown adipose tissue (BAT), which is thought to have a role in energy metabolism by combusting fatty acids and glucose to produce heat and might contribute to the difference in incidence of type 2 diabetes between ethnic groups.

Methods: We enrolled Dutch nationals with south Asian ancestry and matched Caucasian participants at The Rijnland Hospital (Leiderdorp, Netherlands).

Temporal trends of system of care for STEMI: insights from the Jakarta Cardiovascular Care Unit Network System.

Aim: Guideline implementation programs are of paramount importance in optimizing acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) care. Assessment of performance indicators from a local STEMI network will provide knowledge of how to improve the system of care.

Methods And Results: Between 2008-2011, 1505 STEMI patients were enrolled.

Novel genetic markers associate with atrial fibrillation risk in Europeans and Japanese.

Objectives: This study sought to identify nonredundant atrial fibrillation (AF) genetic susceptibility signals and examine their cumulative relations with AF risk.

Background: AF-associated loci span broad genomic regions that may contain multiple susceptibility signals. Whether multiple signals exist at AF loci has not been systematically explored.

Body fat, especially visceral fat, is associated with electrocardiographic measures of sympathetic activation.

Objective: Obesity is associated with sympathetic activation, but the role of different fat depots is unclear. The association between body fat, specifically visceral fat, and electrocardiographic measures of sympathetic activation in a population with structurally normal hearts was investigated.

Methods: In this cross-sectional baseline analysis of the Netherlands Epidemiology of Obesity study, body fat percentage was assessed with BIA and abdominal subcutaneous (SAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging.

Homocysteine levels and treatment effect in the PROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk.

Objectives: To assess the effect of preventive pravastatin treatment on coronary heart disease (CHD) morbidity and mortality in older persons at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), stratified according to plasma levels of homocysteine.

Design: A post hoc subanalysis in the PROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER), started in 1997, which is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial with a mean follow-up of 3.2 years.

The Use of Intra-aortic Balloon Pump in a Real-World Setting: A Comparison between Survivors and Nonsurvivors from Acute Coronary Syndrome Treated with IABP. The Jakarta Acute Coronary Syndrome Registry.

Real-world data on acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients who received intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) support are limited. The objective of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of ACS patients who received IABP support from a real-world ACS registry. Patients with ACS (N = 121) who received IABP support were enrolled.

Leukocyte telomere length associates with prospective mortality independent of immune-related parameters and known genetic markers.

Background: Human leukocyte telomere length (LTL) decreases with age and shorter LTL has previously been associated with increased prospective mortality. However, it is not clear whether LTL merely marks the health status of an individual by its association with parameters of immune function, for example, or whether telomere shortening also contributes causally to lifespan variation in humans.

Methods: We measured LTL in 870 nonagenarian siblings (mean age 93 years), 1580 of their offspring and 725 spouses thereof (mean age 59 years) from the Leiden Longevity Study (LLS).

A genome-wide copy number association study of osteoporotic fractures points to the 6p25.1 locus.

Background: Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disease characterised by reduced bone mineral density and increased susceptibility to fracture; these traits are highly heritable. Both common and rare copy number variants (CNVs) potentially affect the function of genes and may influence disease risk.

Aim: To identify CNVs associated with osteoporotic bone fracture risk.

Varespladib and cardiovascular events in patients with an acute coronary syndrome: the VISTA-16 randomized clinical trial.

Importance: Secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) generates bioactive phospholipid products implicated in atherosclerosis. The sPLA2 inhibitor varespladib has favorable effects on lipid and inflammatory markers; however, its effect on cardiovascular outcomes is unknown.

Objective: To determine the effects of sPLA2 inhibition with varespladib on cardiovascular outcomes.

Total cerebral blood flow and mortality in old age: a 12-year follow-up study.

Objective: To examine the association of total cerebral blood flow (CBF) with all-cause, noncardiovascular, and cardiovascular mortality in older subjects at risk of cardiovascular disease.

Methods: We included 411 subjects with a mean age of 74.5 years from the MRI substudy of the Prospective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk.

Erythrocyte-bound apolipoprotein B in relation to atherosclerosis, serum lipids and ABO blood group.

Introduction: Erythrocytes carry apolipoprotein B on their membrane, but the determining factors of erythrocyte-bound apolipoprotein B (ery-apoB) are unknown. We aimed to explore the determinants of ery-apoB to gain more insight into potential mechanisms.

Methods: Subjects with and without CVD were included (N = 398).

BMP7 activates brown adipose tissue and reduces diet-induced obesity only at subthermoneutrality.

Background/aims: Brown adipose tissue (BAT) dissipates energy stored in triglycerides as heat via the uncoupling protein UCP-1 and is a promising target to combat hyperlipidemia and obesity. BAT is densely innervated by the sympathetic nervous system, which increases BAT differentiation and activity upon cold exposure. Recently, Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7 (BMP7) was identified as an inducer of BAT differentiation.

Outcome after ST elevation myocardial infarction in patients with cancer treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

The simultaneous occurrence of cancer and coronary heart disease is increasing in the Western world. Nevertheless, the influence of cancer on ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has not been investigated extensively. This multicenter registry included patients with STEMI treated with primary PCI from 2006 to 2009.

Common variants in Mendelian kidney disease genes and their association with renal function.

Many common genetic variants identified by genome-wide association studies for complex traits map to genes previously linked to rare inherited Mendelian disorders. A systematic analysis of common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes responsible for Mendelian diseases with kidney phenotypes has not been performed. We thus developed a comprehensive database of genes for Mendelian kidney conditions and evaluated the association between common genetic variants within these genes and kidney function in the general population.

Long-term effects of statin treatment in elderly people: extended follow-up of the PROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER).

Background: The PROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER), a placebo-controlled trial of pravastatin, demonstrated a 19% reduction in coronary outcomes (p=0.006) after a mean of 3.2 years, with no impact on stroke outcomes or all-cause mortality.

Circulating cells as predictors of secondary manifestations of cardiovascular disease: design of the CIRCULATING CELLS study.

Biomarkers for primary or secondary risk prediction of cardiovascular disease (CVD) are urgently needed to improve individual treatment and clinical trial design. The vast majority of biomarker discovery studies has concentrated on plasma/serum as an easily accessible source. Although numerous markers have been identified, their added predictive value on top of traditional risk factors has been limited, as the biological specimen does not specifically reflect expression profiles related with CVD progression and because the signal is often diluted by marker release from other organs.

Multiethnic meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in >100 000 subjects identifies 23 fibrinogen-associated Loci but no strong evidence of a causal association between circulating fibrinogen and cardiovascular disease.

Background: Estimates of the heritability of plasma fibrinogen concentration, an established predictor of cardiovascular disease, range from 34% to 50%. Genetic variants so far identified by genome-wide association studies explain only a small proportion (<2%) of its variation.

Methods And Results: We conducted a meta-analysis of 28 genome-wide association studies including >90 000 subjects of European ancestry, the first genome-wide association meta-analysis of fibrinogen levels in 7 studies in blacks totaling 8289 samples, and a genome-wide association study in Hispanics totaling 1366 samples.