Cardiovasular disease

A recently (2002) published, randomised, double blind placebo controlled trial of hormone replace ment therapy (HRT), the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), is not consistent with the decrease in cardiovascular disease under CEE/HPA seen in observational primary prevention studies like the Nurses' Health Study. Baseline characteristics of participants like age, body mass index, years since menopause and preexistent cardiovascular diseases may be responsible for the lack of benefit seen in this trial. Clinical outcome data of HRT from randomised trials in secondary prevention of cardiovasular diseases are limited...

Serum uric acid represents an important, independent risk factor for cardiovascular and renal disease in patients with hypertension, heart failure, or diabetes. Elevated serum uric acid is highly predictive of mortality in patients with heart failure or coronary artery disease and of cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes. Although the mechanism(s) by which uric acid may play a pathogenetic role in cardiovascular disease is unclear, hyperuricemia is associated with deleterious effects on endothelial dysfunction, oxidative metabolism, platelet adhesiveness, hemrheology, and aggregation...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between insulin resistance and endothelial function in type 2 diabetes patients with or without microalbuminuria and to explore the pathophysiological mechanisms of the increased macrovascular risk in type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS: Twelve type 2 diabetes patients with microalbuminuria (urinary albumin 30-300 g/mg creatinine, DM-MA) and 12 type 2 diabetes patients without microalbuminuria (urinary albumin <30 g/mg creatinine, DM-NA) were recruited, matched for their sex, age, body mass index (BMI), diabetes duration, antidiabetic therapy...

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Age-associated dysfunction in cardiac microvascular endothelial cells with impaired induction of cardioprotective platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-dependent pathways suggests that alterations in critical vascular receptor(s) may contribute to the increased severity of cardiovascular pathology in older persons. In vivo murine phage-display peptide library biopanning revealed a senescent decrease in cardiac microvascular binding of phage epitopes homologous to tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), suggesting that its receptor(s) may be downregulated in older cardiac endothelial cells...

There is increasing evidence that aldehydes generated endogenously during the degradation process of biological molecules are involved in many of the pathophysiologies associated with cardiovasular diseases such as atherosclerosis and the long-term complications of diabetes. Major sources of reactive aldehydes in vivo are lipid peroxidation, glycation, and amino acid oxidation. Although the types of aldehydes are varied, the important aldehydes that can exert biological effects relevant to the pathobiology of oxidant injury are represented by 2-alkenals, 4-hydroxy-2-alkenals, and ketoaldehydes...

The anti-senility effects of Kuangquan 851 Oral Liquor type R and type Y were studied and compared with Qing Chun Bao Oral Liquor as control in 303 subjects of geratic period or presenium with senile syndromes of Kidney or Spleen Deficiency. The results indicated that both type R and Y could improve the Kidney and Spleen Deficiency. The effective rates of type R and Y were 96.6% and 92.3% respectively and were much better than that of the control group. The laboratory findings before and after treatment revealed that effects of Kuangquan 851 Oral Liquor were as follows: increasing antioxidation and clearing away free-radicals; promoting collagen metabolism; enhancing the function of T lymphocytes; improving pulmonary, cardiovasular, brain function; raising male serum testosterone and estradiol levels...

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