1,720,973 research outputs found
Hyperuricaemia and vascular risk: the debate continues
No full textPurpose of review: To update the evidence about the role of elevated levels of uric acid as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The review includes the most recent epidemiological evidence as well as the possible mechanisms supporting the interaction between uric acid and cardiovascular, metabolic and renal disease.
Recent findings: The confirmed role of uric acid as involved in the onset and progression of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. In particular, the review will focus on the possible mechanism of action of uric acid and the level of involvement of xanthine-oxidase as a mechanism responsible for both hyperuricaemia and oxidative stress. The review also briefly summarizes the most recent findings of the studies carried out with xanthine-oxidase inhibitors in patients at risk of cardiovascular disease by focusing on the possible benefits.
Summary: Elevated levels of serum uric acid have been demonstrated to be closely related to the development of cardiovascular, metabolic and renal disease. The mechanism responsible for such interaction directly or indirectly involves xanthine-oxidase activation and the inflammatory system leading to structural and functional abnormalities. Preliminary results from different trials have demonstrated the favourable effects of urate-lowering treatment in the prevention of cardiovascular disease beyond the treatment of gout
Reader Response: Statin Use and All-Cause Mortality in Nursing Home Residents With and Without Dementia: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using Claims Data
No full textPregnancy 3 months after inclisiran injection: a unique case report including newborn baby monitoring
Full text linkBackground: Data on the safety of inclisiran, a lipid-lowering small interfering RNA (siRNA) inhibiting proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) secretion, during pregnancy are absent. Case summary: A 30-year-old woman suffering from heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia started treatment with inclisiran 25 weeks before the start of gestation and received a second administration 13 weeks before the start of gestation. As soon as we became aware of the unplanned pregnancy, given the absence of any data regarding the administration of inclisiran during this period, the treatment was discontinued and the pregnancy was closely monitored. After a normal and full-term gestation, birth occurred at 41 + 0 gestational weeks. The baby was female and healthy, with normal anthropometry for her gestational age; her growth and development in the first 8 months of life followed a normal course. Discussion: Potential harms to the foetus with systemic malformations have been highlighted with the genetically proxied LDL cholesterol lowering through PCSK9. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of pregnancy initiated few months after inclisiran administration, without reporting any adverse effect on the patient or the baby. More data are needed on the pharmacodynamics and safety of siRNAs in general, and of inclisiran in particular, to confirm that this drug could be safe even in this specific setting
Osteocrin/musclin and the natriuretic peptides system: A novel focus in metabolism and cardiovascular prevention
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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Severe impaired blood pressure control caused by baroreflex failure as a late sequela of neck irradiation
No full textA 64-year-old man, whose medical history was significant only for locally advanced squamocellular carcinoma of the right palatine tonsil treated with extended neck radiotherapy 9 years before, was evaluated for traumatic cerebral haemorrhage secondary to syncope after a postural change. The selective angiographic study of cerebral vessels was negative. No heart arrhythmias were recorded at ECG monitoring. The 24-h ABPM revealed sudden pressor and depressor episodes during day-time and a reverse dipper pattern during night-time. Noninvasive autonomic nervous system function testing showed supine hypertension and orthostatic hypotension caused by afferent baroreflex failure. According to literature, even if only few cases are described, neck irradiation can be assumed to be the major cause of baroreflex failure. No treatment is currently approved. The patient was treated with a selective beta-blocker (bisoprolol) administered at bedtime. Repeated ABPM after 1 month of therapy showed absence of sudden pressor and depressor episodes and no dipper pattern during night-time
Cardiovascular Risk Assessment and Control in Outpatients Evaluated by 24-hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure and Different LDL-C Equations
Full text linkIntroduction: Office blood pressure (OBP) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) calculated by the Friedewald formula (F) are the cornerstones of the cardiovascular risk (CVR) assessment and management based on the SCORE2/SCORE2-OP model proposed by the 2021 ESC Guidelines on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention. Aim: We compared the CVR stratification estimated by the old SCORE and the SCORE2/SCORE2-OP using OBP and ambulatory blood pressure measurement (ABPM), and we evaluated the prevalence of LDL-C control, after calculating it using three validated equations, in outpatients referred for arterial hypertension. Methods: A cross-sectional study on 1539 consecutive patients with valid ABPM. LDL-C was calculated using the Friedewald formula (F), its modification by Martin (M), and the Sampson (S) equation. SCORE and SCORE2/SCORE2-OP were estimated using OBP, mean daytime (+ 5 mmHg adjustment), and mean 24-hour systolic blood pressure (+ 10 mmHg adjustment). Individual CVR by 2021 ESC Guidelines (and SCORE2/SCORE2-OP) was compared to the 2019 ESC/EAS Guidelines (and SCORE). Differences in the prevalence of LDL-C control according to the three methods to calculate LDL-C were also analysed. Results: Mean age was 60 +/- 12 years, with male prevalence (54%). Mean LDL-C values were 118 +/- 38 mg/dL (F), 119 +/- 37 mg/dL (M), and 120 +/- 38 mg/dL (S), respectively. Within the same population, SCORE and SCORE2/SCORE2-OP significantly varied, but no differences emerged after comparing the average SCORE2/SCORE2-OP calculated with OBP (6% IQR 3-10), mean 24-hour systolic BP (7% IQR 4-11), and mean daytime systolic BP (7% IQR 4-11). SCORE2/SCORE2-OP and 2021 ESC Guidelines reclassified the CVR independently of the method used for BP measurement. The low-moderate risk group decreased by 32%, whereas the high and veryhighrisk groups increased by 18% and 12%, respectively. We found a significant reduction in reaching the LDL-C goals regardless of the equation used to calculate it, except for those > 65 years, in whom results were confirmed only by using the M. Conclusion: SCORE2/SCORE2-OP and 2021 ESC Guidelines recommendations led to a non-negligible CVR reclassification and subsequent lack of LDL-C goal, regardless of estimating SCORE2 using OBP or ABPM. Calculating the LDL-C with the M may be the best choice in specific settings
High-protein diet with excess leucine prevents inactivity-induced insulin resistance in women
Full text linkBackground and aims: Muscle inactivity leads to muscle atrophy and insulin resistance. The branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) leucine interacts with the insulin signaling pathway to modulate glucose metabolism. We have tested the ability of a high-protein BCAA-enriched diet to prevent insulin resistance during long-term bed rest (BR). Methods: Stable isotopes were infused to determine glucose and protein kinetics in the postabsorptive state and during a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp in combination with amino acid infusion (Clamp + AA) before and at the end of 60 days of BR in two groups of healthy, young women receiving eucaloric diets containing 1 g of protein/kg per day (n = 8) or 1.45 g of protein/kg per day enriched with 0.15 g/kg per day of BCAAs (leucine/valine/isoleucine = 2/1/1) (n = 8). Body composition was determined by Dual X-ray Absorptiometry. Results: BR decreased lean body mass by 7.6 ± 0.3 % and 7.2 ± 0.8 % in the groups receiving conventional or high protein-BCAA diets, respectively. Fat mass was unchanged in both groups. At the end of BR, percent changes of insulin-mediated glucose uptake significantly (p = 0.01) decreased in the conventional diet group from 155 ± 23 % to 84 ± 10 % while did not change significantly in the high protein-BCAA diet group from 126 ± 20 % to 141 ± 27 % (BR effect, p = 0.32; BR/diet interaction, p = 0.01; Repeated Measures ANCOVA). In contrast, there were no BR/diet interactions on proteolysis and protein synthesis Clamp + AA changes in the conventional diet and the high protein-BCAA diet groups. Conclusion: A high protein-BCAA enriched diet prevented inactivity-induced insulin resistance in healthy women
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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