Proteomic exploration of common pathophysiological pathways in diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Aims: The epidemiological association between diabetes and cardiovascular disease is well established, but the pathophysiological link is complex and multifactorial. We investigated seven proteins, previously linked to incident diabetes mellitus, and their association with cardiovascular disease and mortality.

Methods And Results: Plasma samples from 1713 individuals from the Swedish population-based Malmö Preventive Project (mean age 67.

How to check whether a blood pressure monitor has been properly validated for accuracy.

Hypertension guidelines recommend that blood pressure (BP) should be measured using a monitor that has passed validation testing for accuracy. BP monitors that have not undergone rigorous validation testing can still be cleared by regulatory authorities for marketing and sale. This is the situation for most BP monitors worldwide.

Coronary flow impairment in asymptomatic patients with early stage type-2 diabetes: Detection by FFR.

Purpose: To determine the occurrence of physiological significant coronary artery disease (CAD) by coronary CT angiography (CTA) derived fractional flow reserve (FFR) in asymptomatic patients with a new diagnosis (<1 year) of type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Methods: FFR-analysis was performed from standard acquired coronary CTA data sets. The per-patient minimum distal FFR-value (d-FFR) in coronary vessels (diameter ⩾1.

Hyperlipidemia does not affect development of elastase-induced abdominal aortic aneurysm in mice.

Background And Aims: Hyperlipidemia is a suggested risk factor for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). However, whether hyperlipidemia is causally involved in AAA progression remains elusive. Here, we tested the hypothesis that hyperlipidemia aggravates AAA formation in the widely used porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE) model of AAA in mice with varying levels of plasma lipids.

Local IGF Bioactivity Associates with High PAPP-A Activity in the Pericardial Cavity of Cardiovascular Disease Patients.

Objective: Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) has been suggested as a proatherogenic enzyme by its ability to locally increase insulin-like growth factor (IGF) activity through proteolytic cleavage of IGF binding protein-4 (IGFBP-4). Recently, stanniocalcin-2 (STC2) was discovered as an inhibitor of PAPP-A. This study aimed to investigate IGFBP-4, PAPP-A, and STC2 as local regulators of IGF bioactivity in the cardiac microenvironment by comparing levels in the pericardial fluid with those in the circulation of patients with cardiovascular disease.

Intraluminal infusion of Penta-Galloyl Glucose reduces abdominal aortic aneurysm development in the elastase rat model.

Background: An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a progressive chronic dilatation of the abdominal aorta with terminally rupture when the aortic wall is so weakened that aortic wall stress exceeds wall strength. No effective medical treatment exists so far. We aimed to test whether intraluminal admission of Penta-Galloyl Glucose (PGG) treatment in a rodent AAA model could hold the potential to inhibit aneurysmal progression.

Prognostic implications of left ventricular hypertrophy diagnosed on electrocardiogram vs echocardiography.

It is unclear whether 12-lead ECG employing standard criteria for left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) provides similar information with respect to long-term cardiovascular risk as echocardiography. The authors performed a retrospective cohort study of 1376 individuals without cardiovascular disease, who underwent ECG (LVH defined using the Sokolow-Lyon voltage combination (>35 mm) or the Cornell voltage-duration product (>2440 mm × ms)) and echocardiography (LVH defined as LV mass index (LVMI) >95 g/m for women and >115 g/m for men). The prognostic ability of LVH was assessed in Cox regression models adjusted for age, sex, smoking, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, antihypertensive medication, and fasting glucose.

Nonvalidated Home Blood Pressure Devices Dominate the Online Marketplace in Australia: Major Implications for Cardiovascular Risk Management.

Self-home blood pressure (BP) monitoring is recommended to guide clinical decisions on hypertension and is used worldwide for cardiovascular risk management. People usually make their own decisions when purchasing BP devices, which can be made online. If patients purchase nonvalidated devices (those not proven accurate according to internationally accepted standards), hypertension management may be based on inaccurate readings resulting in under- or over-diagnosis or treatment.

Exploration of pathophysiological pathways for incident atrial fibrillation using a multiplex proteomic chip.

Objective: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia and associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Its increasing prevalence calls for novel biomarkers to identify underlying pathophysiological mechanisms as well as patients at risk.

Methods: Plasma samples from 1694 individuals from the Swedish population-based Malmö Preventive Project (mean age 69.

Survival, Prevalence, Progression and Repair of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms: Results from Three Randomised Controlled Screening Trials Over Three Decades.

Aim: The prevalence and mortality of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) has been reported to decline. The aim of this study is to compare survival, prevalence, and repair rate of AAA in Denmark in the 1990s, the 2000s and the 2010s - and to examine any change in factors known to influence the prevalence.

Methods: Baseline status and up to 5-year outcomes of 34,079 general population men aged 65-74 were obtained from three RCTs; the Viborg study (1994-1998, n=4,860), the Viborg Vascular (VIVA) trial (2008-2011, n=18,748), and the Danish Cardiovascular (DANCAVAS) trial (2015-2018, n=10,471).

Association between antecedent blood pressure, hypertension-mediated organ damage and cardiovascular outcome.

The objective of this study was to test if combining antecedent systolic blood pressure (SBP) with traditional risk factors and hypertension-mediated organ damage (HMOD) improves risk stratification for subsequent cardiovascular disease. 1910 subjects participated in this study. Antecedent SBP was defined as the average of measurements obtained in 1982 and in 1987.

Lancet Commission on Hypertension group position statement on the global improvement of accuracy standards for devices that measure blood pressure.

: The Lancet Commission on Hypertension identified that a key action to address the worldwide burden of high blood pressure (BP) was to improve the quality of BP measurements by using BP devices that have been validated for accuracy. Currently, there are over 3000 commercially available BP devices, but many do not have published data on accuracy testing according to established scientific standards. This problem is enabled through weak or absent regulations that allow clearance of devices for commercial use without formal validation.

The effects of adding angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitors to usual care in patients with heart failure: a protocol for a systematic review of randomised clinical trials with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis.

Background: Heart failure is a highly prevalent disease with a global prevalence of 37 million, and the prevalence is increasing. Patients with heart failure are at an increased risk of death and morbidity. Traditionally, patients with heart failure have been treated with a beta-blocker in addition to an inhibitor of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system.

Plasma CCN2 is independently related to subsequent need for abdominal aorta aneurysm repair.

The objective of this study was to determine if plasma CCN2 is associated with abdominal aorta aneurysm (AAA), and future need for AAA repair, and further to assess the potential clinical value of CCN2 in predicting disease outcome. CCN2 was quantified in plasma samples obtained from a cohort of 679 men aged 65-74 at initial ultrasound screening for AAA in the Viborg Vascular (VIVA) screening trial. Plasma CCN2 was correlated with need for future surgical repair in the whole study population (HR = 1.

PAPP-A and the IGF system in atherosclerosis: what's up, what's down?

Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) is a metalloproteinase with a well-established role in releasing bioactive insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) from IGF-binding protein-2, -4, and -5 by proteolytic processing of these. The IGF system has repeatedly been suggested to be involved in the pathology of atherosclerosis, and both PAPP-A and IGF-1 are proposed biomarkers and therapeutic targets for this disease. Several experimental approaches based on atherosclerosis mouse models have been undertaken to obtain causative and mechanistic insight to the role of these molecules in atherogenesis.

Antihypertensive therapy prevents new-onset atrial fibrillation in patients with isolated systolic hypertension: the LIFE study.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with increased cardiovascular risk and the incidence increases with age, hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Reducing in-treatment systolic blood pressure (SBP) prevents new-onset AF but has previously not been studied in patients with isolated systolic hypertension (ISH). We aimed to investigate the effect on preventing new-onset AF by decreased in-treatment SBP in patients with ISH compared to patients with non-ISH.

Optimizing observer performance of clinic blood pressure measurement: a position statement from the Lancet Commission on Hypertension Group.

: High blood pressure (BP) is a highly prevalent modifiable cause of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and death. Accurate BP measurement is critical, given that a 5-mmHg measurement error may lead to incorrect hypertension status classification in 84 million individuals worldwide. This position statement summarizes procedures for optimizing observer performance in clinic BP measurement, with special attention given to low-to-middle-income settings, where resource limitations, heavy workloads, time constraints, and lack of electrical power make measurement more challenging.

Using a Targeted Proteomics Chip to Explore Pathophysiological Pathways for Incident Diabetes- The Malmö Preventive Project.

Multiplex proteomic platforms provide excellent tools for investigating associations between multiple proteins and disease (e.g., diabetes) with possible prognostic, diagnostic, and therapeutic implications.

Petition to replace current OGTT criteria for diagnosing prediabetes with the 1-hour post-load plasma glucose ≥ 155 mg/dl (8.6 mmol/L).

Many individuals with prediabetes, as presently defined, will progress to diabetes (T2D) despite the considerable benefit of lifestyle modification. Therefore, it is paramount to screen individuals at increased risk with a more sensitive method capable of identifying prediabetes at an even earlier time point in the lengthy trajectory to T2D. This petition reviews findings demonstrating that the 1-hour (1-h) postload plasma glucose (PG) ≥ 155 mg/dl (8.

Effects of menaquinone-7 supplementation in patients with aortic valve calcification: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Aortic stenosis is a common heart valve disease, and due to the growing elderly population, the prevalence is increasing. The disease is progressive with increasing calcification of the valve cusps. A few attempts with medical preventive treatment have failed; thus, presently, the only effective treatment of aortic stenosis is surgery.

Characteristics of healthy vascular ageing in pooled population-based cohort studies: the global Metabolic syndrome and Artery REsearch Consortium.

Objective: Arterial ageing is characterized by increasing arterial stiffness as measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV). This process is enhanced in participants with early vascular ageing (EVA), but slowed in participants with healthy vascular ageing (HVA). We aimed to describe characteristics of EVA and HVA in a transcontinental study including 11 cohorts.