[ESH/ESC 2007 Guidelines for the management of arterial hypertension]

Postprandial Apolipoprotein B48 is Associated with Subclinical Atherosclerosis in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objective: To describe postprandial lipemia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to analyze its association with subclinical atherosclerosis measured as carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT). Methods: We performed an observational study of 40 patients with RA and 40 sex and age-matched controls. Patients with dyslipidemia were excluded. Pathologically increased cIMT was defined as a carotid thickness greater than the 90th percentile (>p90) for age and sex. Fasting and postprandial plasma lipids, cholesterol, triglycerides, apolipoprotein B48 (ApoB48), and total ApoB were evaluated. The other variables included were clinical and laboratory values, Framingham score, and the 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28). Two multivariate models were constructed to identify factors associated with pathologic cIMT in patients with RA. Results: Fasting lipid values were similar in patients with RA and controls, although those of postprandial ApoB48 were higher (median (IQR), 14.4 (10.8–12.1) vs. 12.1 (2.3–9,8); p = 0.042). Pathologic cIMT was recorded in 10 patients with RA (25%) and nine controls (22.5%). In patients with RA, pathologic cIMT was associated with postprandial ApoB48 (OR (95% CI), 1.15 (1.0–1.3)) and total ApoB (OR [95% CI], 1.12 [1.1–1.2]). The second model revealed a mean increase of 0.256 mm for cIMT in patients with elevated anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs). Conclusion: Postprandial ApoB48 levels in patients with RA are higher than in controls. Postprandial ApoB48 and total ApoB levels and markers of severity, such as ACPAs, are associated with pathologic cIMT in patients with RA. Our findings could indicate that these atherogenic particles have a negative effect on the endothelium.

Insulin resistance and levels of adipokines in patients with untreated early rheumatoid arthritis

The aim of this study is to investigate the presence of insulin resistance (IR) in patients with untreated early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) and its relationship with adipokines, inflammatory cytokines, and treatment. In this prospective study, we enrolled 46 ERA patients with a disease duration of <1 year, and 45 sex-, age-, race-, and body mass index (BMI)-matched controls. Patients and controls with diabetes or a history of glucocorticoid (GC) or disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) use were excluded. Patients were assessed at the time of diagnosis (visit 1) and after 6 months of treatment (visit 2). The main outcomes were homeostatic model assessment of IR (HOMA-IR) and β-cell function (HOMA-β) and quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI). A multivariate regression analysis was performed to analyze IR adjusting according to lipids, body composition, physical activity, nutrition, and inflammatory cytokine and adipokine levels. The baseline HOMA-IR, HOMA-β, and QUICKI values were similar in both groups. However, patients showed lower levels of physical activity, total cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein. Moreover, the inflammatory cytokines and resistin concentrations were higher in patients than controls. Multivariate analysis indicated that BMI and baseline rheumatoid factor levels were positively associated with HOMA-IR and HOMA-β, and negatively with QUICKI. After DMARD treatment, patients showed improvements in inflammatory parameters and lipids whereas IR remained stable. Furthermore, adiponectin and resistin concentrations decreased slightly. Our data suggest that IR is not present in ERA patients either at diagnosis or at 6 months after treatment. However, symptom duration and fat mass appear to be related.

Association of Aortic Diameters with Coronary Artery Disease Severity and Albumin Excretion

Introduction. Aortic diameters, aortic distensibility, microalbuminuria, coronary artery disease which are all together related to vascular aging are investigated in this paper. Methods. Eighty consecutive nondiabetic patients undergoing elective coronary angiography were enrolled into the study. Systolic and diastolic aortic diameters, aortic distensibility, CAD severity by angiogram with the use of Gensini scoring, and albumin excretion rates were determined. Results. Cases with CAD had significantly larger systolic (30,72 ± 3,21 mm versus 34,19 ± 4,03 mm for cases without and with CAD, resp.) and diastolic aortic diameters measured 3 cm above aortic valve compared to patients without CAD (33,56 ± 4,07 mm versus 29,75 ± 3,12 mm). The systolic and diastolic diameters were significantly higher in albuminuria positive patients compared to albuminuria negative patients (p = 0.017 and 0.008, resp., for systolic and diastolic diameters). Conclusion. In conclusion aortic diameters are increased in patients with coronary artery disease and in patients with microalbuminuria. In CAD patients, systolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, aortic systolic and diastolic pressure, and albumin excretion rate were higher and aortic distensibility was lower.

The short-term effect of bariatric surgery on non-invasive markers of artery function in patients with metabolic syndrome

BACKGROUND

An improved understanding of the vascular function, measured in non-invasive way, in constantly growing group of patients at increased risk of cardiovascular events is necessary. To evaluate the effects of metabolic syndrome in morbidly obese patients and body mass reduction secondary to gastric bypass surgery on convenient and new non-invasive markers of artery function: pulse wave velocity (PWV), flow- and nitroglycerin-mediated dilatation (FMD, NTG).

METHODS

There were 40 patients included into prospective study, who were qualified for bariatric surgery (OB1) and evaluated again 6 m after surgery (OB2). A control group (CG) consisted of 15 healthy women. A second control group (CG2) consisted of 15 women with grade 1 obesity. PWV, FMD, NTG were assessed.

RESULTS

The reduction of BMI (kg/m(2)) from 47.73 ± 6.18 (OB1) to 35.22 ± 5.20 (OB2) was observed. The PWV turned out to be higher before bariatric surgery (OB1 vs. OB2 8.53 ± 1.76 vs. 7.82 ± 1.49 m/s; p < 0.001), however it was no different than PWV in CG. In OB1 group PWV showed correlation with age (r = 0.492, p = 0.001), HR (r = 0.324, p = 0.04), %FM (r = 0.328; p = 0.039), NTG% (r = -0.332, p = 0.036) as well as hsCRP (r = 0.394, p = 0.014). A multivariate analysis showed that the most significant factors influencing PWV were age (p = 0.0005) and hsCRP (p = 0.0014), pseudo R(2) index 0.44365. The values of FMD differed between OB1 and OB2 groups (12.83 ± 5.15 vs. 17.52 ± 5.50 %; p < 0.0001), however, they were similar to results obtained in CG (14.45 ± 6.14 %; NS). The values of nitroglycerin-mediated dilatation differed between OB1 and OB2 groups (21.47 ± 8.31 vs. 28.54 ± 8.16 %; p < 0.0001) and were lower as compared with CG (31.42 ± 5.95 %; p = 0.0005).

CONCLUSION

Body mass reduction secondary to bariatric surgery in patients with severe obesity and metabolic syndrome results in improvement of functional markers of artery function and advantageous metabolic changes. The improvement in functional markers of artery function (NTG%) was correlated with change in triglyceride blood concentration.

Management of sleep apnea without high pretest probability or with comorbidities by three nights of portable sleep monitoring

STUDY OBJECTIVES

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) diagnosis using simplified methods such as portable sleep monitoring (PM) is only recommended in patients with a high pretest probability. The aim is to determine the diagnostic efficacy, consequent therapeutic decision-making, and costs of OSA diagnosis using polysomnography (PSG) versus three consecutive studies of PM in patients with mild to moderate suspicion of sleep apnea or with comorbidity that can mask OSA symptoms.

DESIGN AND SETTING

Randomized, blinded, crossover study of 3 nights of PM (3N-PM) versus PSG. The diagnostic efficacy was evaluated with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Therapeutic decisions to assess concordance between the two different approaches were performed by sleep physicians and respiratory physicians (staff and residents) using agreement level and kappa coefficient. The costs of each diagnostic strategy were considered.

PATIENTS AND RESULTS

Fifty-six patients were selected. Epworth Sleepiness Scale was 10.1 (5.3) points. Bland-Altman plot for apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) showed good agreement. ROC curves showed the best area under the curve in patients with PSG AHI ≥ 5 [0.955 (confidence interval = 0.862-0.993)]. For a PSG AHI ≥ 5, a PM AHI of 5 would effectively exclude and confirm OSA diagnosis. For a PSG AHI ≥ 15, a PM AHI ≥ 22 would confirm and PM AHI < 7 would exclude OSA. The best agreement of therapeutic decisions was achieved by the sleep medicine specialists (81.8%). The best cost-diagnostic efficacy was obtained by the 3N-PM.

CONCLUSIONS

Three consecutive nights of portable monitoring at home evaluated by a qualified sleep specialist is useful for the management of patients without high pretest probability of obstructive sleep apnea or with comorbidities.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

http://www.clinicaltrials.gov, registration number: NCT01820156.

CITATION

Guerrero A, Embid C, Isetta V, Farre R, Duran-Cantolla J, Parra O, Barbé F, Montserrat JM, Masa JF. Management of sleep apnea without high pretest probability or with comorbidities by three nights of portable sleep monitoring.

Reduced L-carnitine transport in aortic endothelial cells from spontaneously hypertensive rats

Impaired L-carnitine uptake correlates with higher blood pressure in adult men, and L-carnitine restores endothelial function in aortic rings from spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). Thus, endothelial dysfunction in hypertension could result from lower L-carnitine transport in this cell type. L-Carnitine transport is mainly mediated by novel organic cation transporters 1 (Octn1, Na⁺-independent) and 2 (Octn2, Na⁺-dependent); however, their kinetic properties and potential consequences in hypertension are unknown. We hypothesize that L-carnitine transport kinetic properties will be altered in aortic endothelium from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). L-Carnitine transport was measured at different extracellular pH (pH_o 5.5–8.5) in the absence or presence of sodium in rat aortic endothelial cells (RAECs) from non-hypertensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats and SHR. Octn1 and Octn2 mRNA relative expression was also determined. Dilation of endothelium-intact or denuded aortic rings in response to calcitonine gene related peptide (CGRP, 0.1–100 nmol/L) was measured (myography) in the absence or presence of L-carnitine. Total L-carnitine transport was lower in cells from SHR compared with WKY rats, an effect due to reduced Na⁺-dependent (Na⁺_dep) compared with Na⁺-independent (Na⁺_indep) transport components. Saturable L-carnitine transport kinetics show maximal velocity (V_max), without changes in apparent K_m for Na⁺_indep transport in SHR compared with WKY rats. Total and Na⁺_dep component of transport were increased, but Na⁺_indep transport was reduced by extracellular alkalization in WKY rats. However, alkalization reduced total and Na⁺_indep transport in cells from SHR. Octn2 mRNA was higher than Octn-1 mRNA expression in cells from both conditions. Dilation of artery rings in response to CGRP was reduced in vessels from SHR compared with WKY rats. CGRP effect was endothelium-dependent and restored by L-carnitine. All together these results suggest that reduced L-carnitine transport (likely via Na⁺-dependent Octn2) could limit this compound's potential beneficial effects in RAECs from SHR.

Nocturnal medications dosing: does it really make a difference in blood pressure control among patients with chronic kidney disease?

Ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring is superior to clinic BP monitoring in predicting long-term consequences of hypertension. This has raised interest in diurnal variation in BP and elevation in nighttime BP as a prognostic and therapeutic target. Several studies have identified prevalence of nocturnal hypertension in patients with accelerated progression of chronic kidney disease and target organ damage. Some studies suggest that nocturnal BP can be lowered by changing administration of antihypertensive medication to bed time; whether that results in retarding kidney disease progression is not very clear. Further research is needed to determine if certain classes of medications or interventions are superior in controlling nocturnal hypertension, and protocols need to be developed to screen patients for monitoring nocturnal BP. Further studies are needed to evaluate long-term renal outcomes of evening dosing in patients with nocturnal hypertension and chronic kidney disease.

Local and systemic cardiovascular effects from monochromatic infrared therapy in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study

Infrared (IR) therapy is used for pain relief in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). However, IR's effects on the cardiovascular system remain uncertain. Therefore, we investigated the local and systemic cardiovascular effects of monochromatic IR therapy on patients with knee OA in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Seventy-one subjects with knee OA received one session of 40 min of active or placebo monochromatic IR treatment (with power output of 6.24 W, wavelength of 890 nm, power density of 34.7 mW/cm² for 40 min, total energy of 41.6 J/cm² per knee per session) over the knee joints. Heart rate, blood pressure, and knee arterial blood flow velocity were periodically assessed at the baseline, during, and after treatment. Data were analyzed by repeated-measure analysis of covariance. Compared to baseline, there were no statistically significant group x time interaction effects between the 2 groups for heart rate (P = 0.160), blood pressure (systolic blood pressure: P = 0.861; diastolic blood pressure: P = 0.757), or mean arterial blood flow velocity (P = 0.769) in follow-up assessments. The present study revealed that although there was no increase of knee arterial blood flow velocity, monochromatic IR therapy produced no detrimental systemic cardiovascular effects.

Magnesium and vascular changes in hypertension

Many factors have been implicated in the pathogenesis of hypertension, including changes in intracellular concentrations of calcium, sodium, potassium, and magnesium. There is a significant inverse correlation between serum magnesium and incidence of cardiovascular diseases. Magnesium is a mineral with important functions in the body such as antiarrhythmic effect, actions in vascular tone, contractility, glucose metabolism, and insulin homeostasis. In addition, lower concentrations of magnesium are associated with oxidative stress, proinflammatory state, endothelial dysfunction, platelet aggregation, insulin resistance, and hyperglycemia. The conflicting results of studies evaluating the effects of magnesium supplements on blood pressure and other cardiovascular outcomes indicate that the action of magnesium in the vascular system is present but not yet established. Therefore, this mineral supplementation is not indicated as part of antihypertensive treatment, and further studies are needed to better clarify the role of magnesium in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

[All-cause mortality and incidence of major cardiovascular events in hypertensive patients with ASCOT-type profile in a Spanish population setting]

OBJECTIVES

Mediterranean populations are traditionally considered to be associated with lower incidence of cardiovascular events (CVE). However, this might not be homogeneous throughout different patient strata. The goal was to compare the incidence of CVE and all-causes mortality in hypertensive patients with an ASCOT-type profile with that of the rest hypertensive subjects.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis was carried out using a claim database. Hypertensive patients without known cardiovascular disease on antihypertensive therapy included during year 2006 were followed up for two consecutive years to ascertain the incidence of all-causes mortality and any CVE. CVE included any of the following: coronary heart disease, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), angina, stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA) and peripheral artery disease. Patients with ASCOT and ASCOT-LLA type profiles were identified and compared with non-ASCOT-type profile hypertensive subjects.

RESULTS

A total of 11,104 were included in the analysis; 68.0+/-11.4 years, 41.6% males. More than 73% of subjects fulfilled criteria for ASCOT-type profile. All-causes mortality were numerically higher in ASCOT and ASCOT-LLA subjects compared with non-ASCOT-type; hazard ratio (95% CI)=1.3 (0.8-1.9) and 1.6 (0.9-2.8), respectively. However, any-coronary event rate was significantly higher in ASCOT-type [2.3 (1.8-2.8), p<0.001], as well as in ASCOT-LLA subjects [1.8 (1.3-2.4), p<0.001].

CONCLUSIONS

Hypertensive patients on treatment with ASCOT-type profile are more likely to have any cardiovascular event than those hypertensive patients without ASCOT profile in a Mediterranean setting in Spain.

Association of LT-alpha Ala252Gly gene polymorphism and the genetic predisposition of coronary heart disease in Chinese

About the role of lymphotoxin alpha (LTA) gene in coronary heart disease, controversy reports exists. So the purpose of the present study was to investigate the possible involvement of LTA in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and MI in Chinese. In a cross-sectional design, we studied 57 coronary heart disease patients with family history of coronary heart disease and in another control group of 62 healthy subjects (mean age 56 years; range 32-78 years). Body mass index, the levels of blood pressure, the plasma levels of lipoproteins, cholesterol, and triglycerides were measured, smoking data were self-reported, and LTA genotypes were determined. LTA Ala252Gly gene polymorphism had two alleles (LTA1 and LTA2) and three kinds of genotype: homozygote LTA G/G, LTA A/A, and heterozygote LTA A/G. No population significant differences were detected in LTA genotypes and allele frequencies between coronary heart disease patients or healthy controls (chi(2) = 1.479, P = 0.477 > 0.05). LTA Ala252Gly gene polymorphism was not associated with the genetic predisposition of coronary heart disease.