Claudio Passino

..We assessed the hypothesis that right ventricular (RV) overload might significantly contribute to plasma elevation of cardiac natriuretic hormones in patients with heart failure...

..We used evidence-based laboratory medicine principles to compare the diagnostic accuracy of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and the N-terminal part of the propeptide of BNP (NT-proBNP) assays for the diagnosis of heart failure...

..The aim of the study was to determine whether altered chemosensitivity either to hypoxia or hypercapnia could underlie inappropriate hyperventilation in cirrhotic patients...

..To investigate the influence of autonomic imbalance and LVH on QT interval in hypertensive patients, we compared two different models of LVH: hypertension and endurance physical training...

..Heart failure (HF) is characterised by reduced tolerance to effort, associated with progressive fatigue and dyspnoea. Neuro-hormonal activation is a hallmark of HF and influences its clinical evolution...

..We sought to evaluate the effect of physical training on neurohormonal activation in patients with heart failure (HF)...

..Because several of these diseases may be present in patients with left ventricular dysfunction, the possible influence on diagnostic and prognostic accuracy of natriuretic peptides in heart failure will be discussed...

..To examine the neurohormonal effects of a scuba dive, focusing on the acute changes in the plasma concentrations of the different peptide fragments from the B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) precursor...

..To assess the effects of acute exposure to simulated high altitude on baroreflex control of mean cerebral blood flow velocity (MCFV)...

..The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of circadian behavior of blood pressure, left ventricular hypertrophy, and autonomic function on QTc interval duration in untreated hypertensive patients...

..Endothelial dysfunction, commonly observed in chronic heart failure (HF) patients is positively affected by physical training...

..PRA might help to select those patients needing an enhanced therapeutic effort, possibly targeting incomplete renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system blockade...

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..We compared the diagnostic accuracy of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and amino-terminal proBNP (NT-proBNP) for diagnosis of preclinical and mild heart failure (HF)...

..Its implementation in this setting in screening programs and diagnostic algorithms might contribute to decrease the apparent disparity between the general practitioner and the specialist approach to disease management...

..Both low free triiodothyronine (fT3) and high brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) have been separately described as prognostic predictors for mortality in heart failure (HF). We investigated whether their prognostic value is independent...

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..We aimed to study the prevalence, clinical correlates, risk factors and prognostic relevance of daytime CS, as well as its relation with neurohormonal derangement...

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..The prevalence of myocardial damage in asymptomatic addicts has never been evaluated by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), which allows non-invasive detection of myocardial oedema and fibrosis...

..The aim of the present study was to investigate the prognostic significance of chemosensitivity to hypercapnia in chronic heart failure (HF)...

..Our goal was to identify the determinants of the GGT fractions (b-, m-, s-, and f-GGT) and their association with established cardiovascular risk factors in healthy subjects...

..Essential hypertension is characterized by both increased oxidative stress and sympathetic traffic. Experimental studies have shown that reactive oxygen species can modulate autonomic activity...

..Despite the importance of NPs in heart failure (HF), the role of these polymorphisms in HF has not been evaluated...

..These findings suggest a pathophysiological role for this peptide that, for its vasorelaxing activity, could influence the endothelial vasomotor response in CHF...

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..We investigated the prognostic role of myocardial fibrosis by delayed enhancement (DE) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) in nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NICM) patients with no or mild symptoms of heart failure (HF)...

..Due to its higher analytical feasibility, this determination could become widespread in clinical biochemistry laboratories and serve as a complementary marker of disease conditions...

..Respiratory adaptations induced by the practice of yoga may represent an efficient strategy to cope with altitude-induced hypoxia...

..0001 and p = 0.001, respectively). The sensitivity, accuracy and variability levels of the method proposed for CNP assay was suitable for reliable detection of changes in CNP plasma levels in the clinical setting...

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..CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study strengthen the hypothesis that C-type natriuretic peptide is produced by the heart in patients with chronic heart failure...

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..However, to-date its value has not been compared with C-reactive protein (CRP) and other indexes in a multimarker prognostic strategy in patients with coronary artery disease...

..We tested the effects of physical training on baroreceptors-mediated control of heart rate and blood pressure in recently heart-transplanted subjects...

..We evaluated the influence of inflammation on cardiac endocrine function in autoimmune rheumatic disease (RD) patients with preserved left ventricular systolic function...

..Further insights into potential therapeutic interest will probably be derived from studies investigating the origin of GGT activity in plaque tissue...

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..Serum gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) activity is a sensitive but non-specific marker of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Recently, four GGT fractions (big-, medium-, small-, free-GGT) were described in humans...

..However, it is associated with reduced maximal workload achieved during effort and increased chemosensitivity to hypercapnia, inducing a reduction in the ventilatory efficiency...

..Then, different reference values, as well as cut-off values, should be taken into account for the clinical use of these two immunoassays...

..In fact, CNP may represent an important new local autocrine and endocrine mediator in CHF although further evaluations are required to define its full pathophysiological role in this disease...

..While awaiting more accurate studies, we suggest that variations of plasma BNP three-fold greater than the analytical imprecision should be considered as potentially relevant from a physiological and clinical point of view...

..However, after cardiac magnetic resonance, the typical amyloidotic pattern is found and the final diagnosis of multiple myeloma is made at osteomedullary biopsy...

..We assessed GGT fractions correlates and their reference values in the Offspring Cohort of the Framingham Heart Study...

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..Finally, we present a scheme to search for more efficient diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for HF...

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..We investigated the relationship between nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT) and left ventricular (LV) dilatation, function, remodeling, and scar tissue extent in patients with previous myocardial infarction (MI)...

..Finally, we will review the pathophysiological role and the clinical relevance of both peripheral maturation of the precursor of B-type natriuretic peptides and hormone signal transduction...

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..Our aim was to analyze the predictive ability for cardiac events of differential WBC, which is still not well characterized, against established risk factors in angiographically proven CAD patients...

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..Higher resting BP delays occurrence of syncope during hypoxia. Therapeutic measures preventing hypoxia/hypocapnia may correct cardiovascular accidents in patients with FD...

..We hypothesised that this uncertainty arose from the differing responses of the vagus (fast) and sympathetic (slow) arms of the autonomic effectors, and to differing sympatho-vagal balance at different exercise intensities...

..Improving oxygenation can represent a possible therapeutic option for this syndrome...

..05) and healthy subjects with elevated serum GGT (p<0.01). In addition, a relative decrease of total serum GGT was observed in CAD subjects of older age as compared to younger ones (p<0.005)...