Association between transforming growth factor β1 and atrial fibrillation in essential hypertensive patients.

Background: Transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1) was one of the main factors for accelerating atrial fibrosis and has been reported with significantly higher level in plasma of the patients with essential hypertension (EH), especially in those with target organ damage. The contribution of TGFβ1 in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation (AF) in EH patients remains unknown.

Methods: 75 EH patients with documented AF were divided into the paroxysmal AF group (EH+pAF, n = 44) or the chronic AF group (EH+cAF, n = 31), and 37 EH patients with sinus rhythm (SR) were assigned into the EH+SR group.

Effect of a single high loading dose of rosuvastatin on percutaneous coronary intervention for acute coronary syndromes.

Objectives: A high loading dose of atorvastatin has been confirmed to reduce postprocedural events in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). In this study, we sought to investigate the protective effects of rosuvastatin in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) undergoing PCI and to determine the effect of rosuvastatin pretreatment on the postprocedural levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1).

Methods: A total of 125 patients with non-ST-segment elevation ACS were randomized to pretreatment with rosuvastatin (20 mg 2-4 hours before PCI [n = 62]) or placebo (n = 63).