Circulation research
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Sodium is an essential nutrient. Increasing sodium intake is associated with increasing blood pressure, whereas low sodium intake results in increased renin and aldosterone levels. Randomized controlled trials have reported reductions in blood pressure with reductions in sodium intake, to levels of sodium intake <1.5 g/d, and form the evidentiary basis for current population-wide guidelines recommending low sodium intake. ⋯ The increased risk of cardiovascular events associated with higher sodium intake (>5 g/d) is most prominent in those with hypertension. A major deficit in the field is the absence of large randomized controlled trials to provide definitive evidence on optimal sodium intake for preventing cardiovascular events. Pending such trials, current evidence would suggest a recommendation for moderate sodium intake in the general population (3-5 g/d), with targeting the lower end of the moderate range among those with hypertension.
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Circulation research · Feb 2015
Comparative StudyCitation impact of NHLBI R01 grants funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as compared to R01 grants funded through a standard payline.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) allowed National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to fund R01 grants that fared less well on peer review than those funded by meeting a payline threshold. It is not clear whether the sudden availability of additional funding enabled research of similar or lesser citation impact than already funded work. ⋯ Despite shorter durations and lower budgets, ARRA R01 grants had comparable citation outcomes per $million spent to that of contemporaneously funded payline R01 grants.
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Circulation research · Feb 2015
Observational StudyRemnant cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and blood pressure as mediators from obesity to ischemic heart disease.
Obesity leads to increased ischemic heart disease (IHD) risk, but the risk is thought to be mediated through intermediate variables and may not be caused by increased weight per se. ⋯ The increased IHD risk because of obesity was partly mediated through elevated levels of nonfasting remnant and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and through elevated blood pressure. Our results suggest that there may be benefit to gain by reducing levels of these risk factors in obese individuals not able to achieve sustained weight loss.
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Circulation research · Feb 2015
ReviewMolecular basis of cardioprotection: signal transduction in ischemic pre-, post-, and remote conditioning.
Reperfusion is mandatory to salvage ischemic myocardium from infarction, but reperfusion per se contributes to injury and ultimate infarct size. Therefore, cardioprotection beyond that by timely reperfusion is needed to reduce infarct size and improve the prognosis of patients with acute myocardial infarction. The conditioning phenomena provide such cardioprotection, insofar as brief episodes of coronary occlusion/reperfusion preceding (ischemic preconditioning) or following (ischemic postconditioning) sustained myocardial ischemia with reperfusion reduce infarct size. ⋯ The present review characterizes the signal transduction underlying the conditioning phenomena, including their physical and chemical triggers, intracellular signal transduction, and effector mechanisms, notably in the mitochondria. Cardioprotective signal transduction appears as a highly concerted spatiotemporal program. Although the translation of ischemic postconditioning and remote ischemic conditioning protocols to patients with acute myocardial infarction has been fairly successful, the pharmacological recruitment of cardioprotective signaling has been largely disappointing to date.