Atherosclerosis
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The impact of Greece's economic crisis on healthcare is of great concern. The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of economic crisis on the prevention of cerebral ischemic events. ⋯ Our study supports that at present financial crisis has not significantly affected the prevention of cerebrovascular events in the citizens of a provincial city area. Data from other regions and time-periods are needed for the final verdict.
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Multicenter Study
Association between parental history and genetic risk scores for coronary heart disease prediction: The population-based CoLaus study.
Parental history (PH) and genetic risk scores (GRSs) are separately associated with coronary heart disease (CHD), but evidence regarding their combined effects is lacking. We aimed to evaluate the joint associations and predictive ability of PH and GRSs for incident CHD. ⋯ After adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors, PH and a weighted, polygenic GRS were jointly associated with CHD and provided additive information for coronary events prediction.
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Vascular calcification (VC) is closely related to cardiovascular events in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Apelin has emerged as a potent regulator of cardiovascular function, but its role in VC during CKD remains unknown. We determined whether apelin plays a role in phosphate-induced mineralization of human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) and in adenine-induced CKD rats with aortic calcification. ⋯ Apelin ameliorates VC by suppressing osteoblastic differentiation of VSMCs through downregulation of Pit-1. These results suggest apelin may have potential therapeutic value for treatment of VC in CKD.
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Comparative Study
Plasma levels of trimethylamine-N-oxide are confounded by impaired kidney function and poor metabolic control.
After ingestion of phosphatidylcholine, l-carnitine or betaine, trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) is formed by gut microbiota and liver enzymes. Elevated TMAO plasma levels were associated with increased cardiovascular risk and other diseases. Also betaine and choline itself were recently associated with increased cardiovascular risk. ⋯ Plasma levels of TMAO are confounded by impaired kidney function and poor metabolic control but are not associated with the history, presence or incidence of symptoms or events of coronary heart disease.
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Pregnancy exerts metabolic changes with increasing levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides as prominent features. Maternal hypercholesterolemia may thus contribute to an unfavorable in utero environment potentially influencing the susceptibility of adult cardiovascular disease in the offspring. We investigated the impact of maternal familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) on pre-treatment plasma lipids and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in non-statin treated FH children. ⋯ Maternal inheritance of FH was not associated with detectable long-term effects in the offspring's phenotype measured by adverse lipid profiles and increased CRP levels, whereas a LDL receptor negative mutation was associated with an unfavorably phenotype in FH offspring. Our findings do not support the fetal origin of adulthood disease hypothesis, while at the same time not excluding the hypothesis since other pathways leading to atherosclerosis may be involved.