Naveed Sattar

..INTERPRETATION: These data show that statins can mediate modest but clinically apparent anti-inflammatory effects with modification of vascular risk factors in the context of high-grade autoimmune inflammation...

..Despite the growing emphasis on the inclusion of ethnic minority patients in research, there is little published on the recruitment of these populations especially to randomised, community based, lifestyle intervention trials in the UK...

..The Psychosocial and Biological Determinants of Ill-health (pSoBid) study was designed to uncover novel biomarkers of chronic disease that may help explain pathways between socioeconomic adversity and poorer physical and mental health...

....

..The role of C-reactive protein (CRP) in predicting vascular events and response to statin therapy remains uncertain. Additional large prospective studies are required...

....

....

..Adiponectin levels appear weakly linked to incident vascular disease, but the high molecular weight (HMW) fraction may be more relevant...

..g. metabolic syndrome) to identify individuals at risk of both CHD and diabetes...

..We report new data from a prospective study in the context of a meta-analysis of previously published prospective studies...

..This review critically appraises this evidence and also evaluates the data linking metabolic syndrome to type 2 diabetes...

..Therefore, the current focus in clinical practice should remain on established risk factors (e.g. smoking, lipids and blood pressure), both to determine coronary heart disease risk and to reduce it...

..Ongoing clinical trials will further determine the value of lifestyle factors and insulin sensitising agents in reducing risk of vascular and metabolic disease in high risk subjects...

..This paper reviews the emerging evidence to support this fascinating concept, addresses potential mechanisms and discusses potential clinical implications...

..To summarise recent evidence for elevated risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and explore explanatory mechanisms and modalities that may lessen such risk...

..The simplicity of ALT measurement and its availability in routine clinical practice suggest that this enzyme activity could be included in future diabetes prediction algorithms...

..Unraveling such complex relationships in which exaggerated inflammation-risk factor interactions are prevalent may elicit novel insights to effector mechanisms in vascular disease generally...

..However, potential associations between the low-grade inflammatory response as represented by C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations and low birth weight have been sparsely examined...

..In this issue of Clinical Science, Fichtlscherer and co-workers describe a link between endothelial function and sPLA(2) (secretory non-pancreatic type II phospholipase A(2)) serum activity...

..However, it remains unclear whether such criteria help clinical practice. This review will evaluate the usefulness of metabolic syndrome criteria to enhance risk prediction for either cardiovascular disease or diabetes...

..To assess whether waist circumference at the first antenatal visit predicts risk of developing hypertension later in pregnancy...

..We aimed to establish by a meta-analysis of published and unpublished data whether any relation exists between statin use and development of diabetes...

..We tested whether interleukin (IL)-6, C-reactive protein (CRP), and fibrinogen more strongly associate with fatal compared to nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke...

....

..Limited evidence suggests NT-proBNP improves prediction of coronary heart disease (CHD) events but further data are needed, especially in people without pre-existing CHD and in women...

..This study sought to better determine the link between leptin and coronary heart disease (CHD)...

....

..Finally, there is recent strong evidence to suggest that increased postprandial circulating concentrations of triglyceride-rich particles and remnant particles may be deleterious to the endothelium...

..We investigated to what extent metabolic syndrome and its individual components were related to risk for these two diseases in elderly populations...

..Information on the prospective association of this definition for coronary heart disease (CHD) and type 2 diabetes is currently limited...

..They also have significantly impaired skin microvascular function as assessed by laser Doppler imaging, consistent with generalized vascular dysfunction, a finding with potential diagnostic implications...

..The cytokine interleukin (IL)-33 and its receptor ST2 are expressed in adipose tissue, but their role in adipose tissue inflammation during obesity is unclear...

..The goal of this study was to examine the association of the antiinflammatory interleukin-10 (IL-10) with risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD)...

..Clearly, these data provide further rationale to examine the potential benefits of preconceptual weight loss and antenatal exercise...

..Large randomized controlled trials of such low dose preparations, powered for cardiovascular end points, are now needed...

..05). CONCLUSIONS: A session of prior exercise improves fasting and postprandial vascular function in middle-aged men. This may be one mechanism by which exercise influences cardiovascular risk...

..Together with their known vasculoprotective effects, this growing body of evidence provides compelling support for longer-term trials of statin therapy in human disease such as rheumatoid arthritis...

..Women with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) are at increased cardiovascular risk and have impaired endothelial function. Any benefits of HRT on endothelial function in this group are of particular interest...

..However, whether established or putative novel cardiovascular risk factors including vascular and metabolic function are disrupted in women who delivered small for gestational age (SGA) offspring is unknown...

..To clarify the association of circulating levels of leptin with risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) events and new-onset diabetes in men and women...

....

..Better understanding of mechanisms by which this HRT improves liver function tests could help the design of new therapies to treat individuals with NAFLD...

..We examined whether these biomarkers were elevated at birth in offspring of type 1 diabetic mothers (OT1DM)...

..In conclusion, preeclampsia is associated with short- and long-term changes in inflammatory status...

..High serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels have been associated with increased risk of diabetes and with increased mortality, but associations of variations of ALT in the normal range with outcomes have been less well studied...

....

..We aimed to determine the predictive value of the GFR for mortality and morbidity using data from the 5,804 participants randomized in the Prospective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER)...

..However, there is now evidence of a differential effect of risk factors on fatal and non-fatal CHD events, with markers of inflammation more strongly associated with fatal than non-fatal events...

..We examined the influence of maternal diabetes on cord lipids at birth and relationship to body composition, cord insulin, leptin, and other hormonal measures...

....

..Pre-eclampsia (PE) and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) may both arise secondary to inadequate trophoblast invasion. Maternal vascular disease is evident only in PE. Little mechanistic evidence exists to explain this dichotomy...

..In conclusion, men with AS have perturbances in several CHD risk factors, which appear to be driven principally by systemic inflammatory mediators. Inflammation-driven atherogenesis potentially contributes to the excess CHD risk in AS...

..Associations between adiposity and circulating inflammation markers are assumed to be causal, although the direction of the relationship has not been proven...

..Inflammation may play an important role in atherothrombosis and in promoting cerebral damage after stroke. We hypothesized that plasma adipocytokine concentrations would be associated with risk of stroke in older people...

..The evidence base for fasting plasma glucose (FPG) in the non-diabetic range as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) is inconclusive. We investigated this question in the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study (WOSCOPS)...

..Moreover, such data obtained in chronic inflammatory diseases likely have relevance to primary atherosclerosis...

..However, metformin did reduce markers of insulin resistance. The data suggest that hirsutism may be effectively treated by reducing hyperinsulinemia...

..We aimed to determine retrospectively whether pravastatin reduces the incidence of AF and whether any electrocardiographic measures or clinical conditions might be risk factors for its development...

..LDI can be used to assess peripheral vascular response with good repeatability as long as measurements are corrected for skin resistance, which affects drug delivery. This has important implications for the future use of LDI...

....

..Our aim was to study vascular function and metabolic and inflammatory risk factors during the antenatal and postpartum periods in women with type 1 diabetes compared with healthy control subjects...

..This exercise-induced reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was independent of the decrease in C-reactive protein levels...

..To determine whether elevated serum lipid levels resulting from feeding animals a high-fat diet can affect the inflammatory process in C57BL/6 (B6) wild-type (WT) and B6 ApoE(-/-) mouse models of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA)...

..Assessment of cutaneous vascular function may be a useful, non-invasive surrogate indicator of vascular risk in RA, inclusive of myocardial microvascular abnormalities...

..They also add to the notion that low-grade inflammation is important in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes...

..We sought to investigate whether allopurinol alters expression of inflammatory markers after acute ischemic stroke...

..18; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.39; P=0.05) at the expense of C-reactive protein. CONCLUSIONS: We show, for the first time, in a large prospective study that leptin is a novel, independent risk factor for coronary heart disease...

..In addition, a reduction in von Willebrand factor antigen is consistent with an improvement in endothelial function. We suggest that the regimen used in this study may have the potential to reduce CHD risk in women with type 2 diabetes...

..Outcome following stroke is thus related more strongly to triglyceride-rich than to cholesterol-rich lipoprotein concentrations. The mechanisms explaining this require further investigation...

..Rather markedly elevated ICAM-1 concentrations and specific but subtle features of the metabolic syndrome (glucose, blood pressure) are likely to be involved...

..GH replacement may lead to differentially altered production of vasorelaxant agents from the endothelium of large and small arteries. Reduction in vascular inflammation may be associated with reduced vascular risk...

..Adiponectin concentration is inversely related to body weight and, in animals, causes weight loss. We, therefore, measured adiponectin concentration in patients with heart failure (HF) and cachexia...

....

....

....

..These findings have implications for clinical studies that use the iontophoresis technique for assessing vascular function...

..Pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia may identify women at risk of vascular disease in later life and may provide the opportunity for lifestyle and risk factor modification to alter maternal vascular disease risk...

..Translation to clinical studies will facilitate genetic dissection of human metabolic syndrome...

..The combination of excess/altered lipid nutrient supply, suboptimal in utero metabolic environment and alterations in placental gene expression, inflammation and metabolism may also induce obesity in the offspring...

..We examined metabolic parameters in cohorts of women with and without subcutaneous estrogen therapy with concomitant supra-normal concentrations of estradiol (SE)...

..CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest the need to be more aggressive in the management of diabetes and related risk factors in South Asians...

..Data were consistent with improvements in endothelial function, vascular smooth muscle function, or both. Controlled studies are required to confirm and extend these findings...

..Each aspect is reviewed...

..To assess recent advances in cardiovascular disease biomarkers, focusing on past failings, current promise, and areas for future work...

..To determine whether activation of hemostatic function (thrombosis and fibrinolysis) is associated with cognitive decline in older people...

..Our data suggest that apoB is a better candidate risk parameter than NHDLC for identifying a subgroup of individuals with or without MetS with elevated cardiovascular risk...

..There was no impairment of vasodilation to SNAP following NEFA incubation. We conclude that NEFAs directly impair endothelial function in rat resistance arteries via an increase in oxidative stress at the vascular endothelium...

..These data support a beneficial effect of metformin in improving ovarian function in women with oligomenorrhea and polycystic ovaries...

..Assessment of ovarian responses to metformin treatment in obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)...

..Furthermore, the increase in circulating leptin concentrations after megestrol acetate treatment is not associated with any alteration in leptin binding...

..To determine whether low to moderate alcohol intake is protective against cognitive decline in older people...

..These data clearly illustrate the therapeutic potential of statin-sensitive pathways in inflammatory arthritis...

....

..9% vs 9.4%) rising to greater than threefold higher in multivariate analysis. These findings suggest that obesity-related pregnancy complications are likely to increase with implications for both mother and child...

..001). Circulating leptin concentrations in the cancer patients were not altered by the presence of an inflammatory response. These results suggest that cancer anorexia/cachexia is not due to a simple dysregulation of leptin production...

....

..In conclusion, we have shown a biological effect of potential medical importance that appears to be associated with the absorption of dietary flavonols...

..e. stimulatory in acute and suppressive in chronic situations. They also imply a physiological role for leptin in acute injury...

..These results support the concept that the magnitude of inflammation plays an important role in the regulation of circulating concentrations of vitamin antioxidants and trace elements in patients with gastrointestinal cancer...

..The aims of this study were to test the hypotheses that the fatty acid status of non-pregnant women is affected by socio-economic status and anthropometric, behavioural and obstetric factors...