Atherosclerosis
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Methylarginines have been shown to interfere with nitric oxide (NO) formation by inhibiting NO synthase (asymmetric dimethylarginine, ADMA, and monomethylarginine, NMMA) and the cellular l-arginine uptake system (ADMA, NMMA and symmetric dimethylarginine, SDMA), thereby causing endothelial dysfunction. ADMA is a predictor of cardiovascular events and mortality in diverse populations. ⋯ Our study demonstrates that SDMA is an independent predictor of total mortality after acute stroke irrespective of renal function. SDMA is associated with atrial fibrillation, endothelial and platelet activation, and may therefore play a previously unknown role in the pathophysiology of stroke.
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Although anti-retroviral therapy (ART) prolonged survival in HIV-infected persons, an increase in cardiovascular disease has also been observed. A frequent complication of ART is the development of lipodystrophy (LD) with its multiple phenotypes that may be associated with cardiovascular disease. We assessed the contribution of chronic HIV infection, ART use and LD to the presence of sub-clinical atherosclerosis as evaluated by coronary artery calcium (CAC) imaging. ⋯ CAC is common among long-term ART users. The association between CAC and LD underscores the potential atherosclerosis risk inherent with ART and the need to undertake routine cardiovascular surveillance in patients treated with these drugs.
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Methylarginines like asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) are formed by post-translation methylation of arginine residues in proteins. ADMA inhibits nitric-oxide synthase and predicts clinical outcomes in various diseases including end stage renal disease (ESRD). SDMA competes with L-arginine for cell entry and is associated with organ failure in patients with severe illness. We investigated the inter-relationships between methylargines, L-arginine and other risk factors and tested the prediction power of methylargines for mortality in a prospective cohort study including 288 ESRD patients. ⋯ Methylarginines ADMA and SDMA are inter-related. ADMA is associated with L-arginine while SDMA correlates inversely with haemoglobin. ADMA but not SDMA is a death predictor in ESRD. Given the exceedingly high risk for death of this population, establishing whether or not ADMA is causally implicated in the high death risk of ESRD is a research priority.
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Angiopoietin-like protein 3, a liver-derived plasma protein, increases plasma triglycerides (TG) in mice by suppressing the activity of lipoprotein lipase, a key enzyme in plasma TG clearance. Uremic dyslipidemia is characterized by increased TG-rich lipoproteins such as very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) and intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL), lowered high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and TG-enrichment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and HDL. Since the role of angiopoietin-like protein 3 (ANGPTL3) in uremic dyslipidemia is unknown, we examined its possible association with the lipoprotein abnormalities in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). ⋯ The reduced ANGPTL3 level in hemodialysis patients was consistently associated with the major components of uremic dyslipidemia. ANGPTL3 may be a novel factor contributing to uremic dyslipidemia.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of exercise training on cardiometabolic risk markers among sedentary, but metabolically healthy overweight or obese post-menopausal women with elevated blood pressure.
To investigate the effect of exercise training on markers of the lipoprotein-lipid profile and inflammatory markers in post-menopausal overweight/obese women with a moderately elevated systolic blood pressure. ⋯ Although exercise training significantly increased cardiorespiratory fitness in these sedentary, but metabolically healthy obese/overweight women with a moderately elevated systolic blood pressure, no significant improvements were observed in their cardiometabolic risk profile.