Background: Hypertensive patients are at particular risk of cardiovascular complications, possibly related to endothelial damage or dysfunction, or to abnormal angiogenesis. These pathophysiologic processes are assessable by measurement of plasma levels of von Willebrand factor (vWf), and by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its soluble receptor (sFlt-1). We hypothesized that these markers would correlate with the Framingham cardiovascular risk score and would be responsive to treatment.
Methods: We measured these markers by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 286 patients with hypertension (239 men; mean age 63 years; mean systolic blood pressure [BP]/diastolic BP 162/89 mm Hg) and additional risk factors, and related them to the patient's cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cerebrovascular accident (CVA) risk, using the Framingham equation. Patients were compared with 60 healthy normotensive controls. In 248 patients, the effects of 6 months of intensified cardiovascular risk factor management, including BP and (where appropriate) lipid-lowering treatment, were investigated.
Results: Plasma VEGF and vWf levels were higher, but sFlt-1 levels lower (all P <.001), in the hypertensive patients compared with the controls. The VEGF and vWf levels correlated significantly with age, systolic and diastolic BP, 10-year CVD risk, and CVA risk scores (all P <.01), whereas sFlt-1 was negatively correlated with these risk scores (P <.01). After intensified cardiovascular risk factor management, total cholesterol, BP, VEGF, and vWf levels were all reduced, yet sFlt-1 levels increased (all P <.05).
Conclusions: In hypertension, the processes of endothelial damage and angiogenesis are abnormal, and correlate with overall cardiovascular risk. Indices of endothelial damage and angiogenesis are beneficially changed by intensive cardiovascular risk factor management.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0895-7061(02)03149-7 | DOI Listing |
Drugs Aging
January 2025
Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation, and Immunity, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 60 Fenwood Road, no. 6016U, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Purpose Of Review: The purpose of this review is to outline considerations for treating older adults with rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) as it relates to infection, comorbidities, cancer, and quality of life.
Recent Findings: The recent 2023 American College of Rheumatology/American College of Chest Physicians guideline conditionally recommended specific disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), antifibrotics, and short-term glucocorticoids to treat RA-ILD. Since RA-ILD often affects older adults, we contextualize these pharmacologic options related to infection, gastrointestinal (GI) effects, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and quality of life.
Eur J Med Res
January 2025
Department of Pediatric Cardiac Center, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100029, China.
Background: An effective prognostic nomogram to predict the prognosis for supravalvular aortic stenosis (SVAS) patients is lacking.
Methods: A multi-center retrospective study of consecutive SVAS patients with surgery between 2002 and 2020 was conducted. Patients underwent McGoon repairs, Doty repairs, and other repairs.
Nat Commun
January 2025
Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
People living with HIV are at higher risk of heart failure and associated left atrial remodeling compared to people without HIV. Mechanisms are unclear but have been linked to inflammation and premature aging. Here we obtain plasma proteomics concurrently with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in two independent study populations to identify parallels between HIV-related and aging-related immune dysfunction that could contribute to atrial remodeling and clinical heart failure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Gen Psychiatry
January 2025
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, 1-1-1 Honjo, Chuo-Ku, Kumamoto, 860-8556, Japan.
Background: Seizure threshold increases with age and the frequency of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Therefore, therapeutic seizures can be difficult to induce, even at maximum stimulus charge with available ECT devices. Such cases are known as difficult-to-induce-seizures electroconvulsive therapy cases (DECs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis
December 2024
Department of Geriatrics Cardiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710004, China. Electronic address:
Background And Aim: The Naples Prognostic Score (NPS) predicts outcomes in various diseases, but its impact on cardiovascular disease (CVD) is understudied. This study investigates the association between NPS and CVD prevalence and mortality among US adults.
Methods And Results: This study utilized data from the Continuous National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted between 1999 and 2016, with mortality follow-up data available through December 31, 2019.
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