Nutrition, food production and health - an agenda also for cardiologists.

The relationship of cardiovascular disease to food has become more complicated on a scientific level yet starkly simpler on the level of policies for producing food for planetary as well as human health. Accordingly, we argue that professional societies in medicine should take a broader view of the scientific methods necessary to understand the complex issues of nutrition and cardiovascular and other disease, and they should lend greater support to policies for agriculture and the food industry that protect ecosystems, combat climate change and promote cardiovascular health.

Reduction of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 and macrophage migration inhibitory factor by a polyphenol-rich extract in subjects with clustered cardiometabolic risk factors.

Inflammation is a hallmark of the metabolic syndrome, which also contributes to a pro-atherogenic state. NF-κB activation, a critical step in regulating inflammatory reactions, can be inhibited by polyphenol (PF) extracts, at least in vitro. In the present study, we set out to study whether a PF-rich extract could attenuate the chronic inflammatory state and/or an acute immune response in vivo in subjects with clustered metabolic risk factors. A commercially available, PF-rich extract (500 mg daily) or placebo was administered for 4 weeks to thirty-four subjects with two or more metabolic risk factors using a randomised, double-blind, cross-over design. During the final study visit, an acute inflammatory challenge (lipopolysaccharide (LPS) 1 ng/kg body weight) was administered to a random subgroup of subjects (PF-rich extract (n 12) and placebo (n 12)). The PF-rich extract modestly reduced the inflammatory chemokines monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) and macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) (MCP-1 - 6.5 % (PF, median 116 (interquartile range 97-136) pg/ml v. placebo, median 124 (interquartile range 105-153) pg/ml; P < 0.05); MIF - 10.8 % (PF, median 2512 (interquartile range 1898-3972) pg/ml v. placebo, median 2814.5 (interquartile range 2296-3852) pg/ml; P < 0.05); however, other measured markers of inflammation and cardiometabolic disease, such as C-reactive protein, IL-6, HDL-cholesterol, adiponectin and oxidised LDL, remained unaffected. Following the LPS challenge, we found a statistically significant 48 % reduction of MCP-1 production in the PF-rich extract group (n 12) v. placebo (n 12) over 6 h (PF 766 (sd 155) v. placebo 1466 (sd 989) ng/ml; P < 0.05, area under the curve). In conclusion, short-term oral administration of the PF-rich extract caused a modest anti-inflammatory effect in subjects with clustered metabolic risk factors. Further dose-ranging studies are needed to evaluate whether and to what extent PF-rich extracts can be used to reduce the pro-inflammatory state in subjects with metabolic diseases at increased cardiovascular risk.

Five-year outcomes after coronary stenting versus bypass surgery for the treatment of multivessel disease: the final analysis of the Arterial Revascularization Therapies Study (ARTS) randomized trial.

OBJECTIVES: The long-term (five-year) comparative results of treatment of multivessel coronary artery disease with stenting or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is at present unknown. BACKGROUND: The Arterial Revascularization Therapies Study (ARTS) was designed to compare CABG and stenting in patients with multivessel disease. METHODS: A total of 1,205 patients with the potential for equivalent revascularization were randomly assigned to CABG (n = 605) or stent implantation (n = 600). The primary clinical end point was freedom from major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) at one year; MACCE at five-year follow-up constituted the final secondary end point. RESULTS: At five years, there were 48 and 46 deaths in the stent and CABG groups, respectively (8.0% vs. 7.6%; p = 0.83; relative risk [RR], 1.05; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.71 to 1.55). Among 208 diabetic patients, mortality was 13.4% in the stent group and 8.3% in the CABG group (p = 0.27; RR, 1.61; 95% CI, 0.71 to 3.63). Overall freedom from death, stroke, or myocardial infarction was not significantly different between groups (18.2% in the stent group vs. 14.9% in the surgical group; p = 0.14; RR, 1.22; 95% CI, 0.95 to 1.58). The incidence of repeat revascularization was significantly higher in the stent group (30.3%) than in the CABG group (8.8%; p < 0.001; RR, 3.46; 95% CI, 2.61 to 4.60). The composite event-free survival rate was 58.3% in the stent group and 78.2% in the CABG group (p < 0.0001; RR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.60 to 2.28). CONCLUSIONS: At five years there was no difference in mortality between stenting and surgery for multivessel disease. Furthermore, the incidence of stroke or myocardial infarction was not significantly different between the two groups. However, overall MACCE was higher in the stent group, driven by the increased need for repeat revascularization.

Magnetocardiography predicts coronary artery disease in patients with acute chest pain.

BACKGROUND: The value of magnetocardiography (MCG) for the detection of cardiac electrical disturbances associated with myocardial ischemia was studied. METHODS: Sensitivity and predictivity of admission MCG for the presence of coronary artery disease (CAD) were prospectively evaluated in 264 consecutive patients presenting with acute chest pain and without ST-segment elevation. MCG findings were compared with 12-lead ECG, echocardiography (ECHO), and troponin-I in a head-to-head design. Coronary angiography was used for CAD diagnosis. RESULTS: The visual assessment of magnetocardiograms by the experienced reader (R1) was superior to that by the unexperienced reader (R2) and superior to the automated computer analysis. Specificity and positive predictive value of MCG by R1 were comparable with those of ECG and troponin-I (>90%), while ECHO specificity and ECHO positive predictive value were lower (76.2% and 87.9%, respectively). Sensitivity and negative predictive value of MCG were twice as high as those in the ECG, troponin-I, and ECHO tests. CONCLUSION: For the prediction of CAD in patients presenting with acute chest pain and without ST-segment elevation, an admission MCG test was superior to an admission ECG, ECHO, and troponin-I. The results of the study, however, are applicable only to a highly selected population comprising patients in whom immediate coronary angiography can be performed based on their clinical course in the hospital.

Silicon carbide-coated stents in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Silicon carbide (aSIC-C) is a stent coating with antithrombogenic as well as anti-inflammatory properties as compared with uncoated stainless steal based on in vitro and in vivo studies. This study investigated the potential of this coating in patients with unstable angina. At 38 study sites, 485 patients were randomized to an aSIC-C (n = 238) or a conventional stainless steal stent (n = 247). Patient were classified according to angina at rest within last 48 hr to Braunwald in class IIB (= 314) and IIIB (n = 171). The primary endpoint was a combination of death, myocardial infarction, or ischemia-driven target vessel revascularization at 6 months. Complications of procedures performed at 0.4 +/- 1.1 days after admission occurred at lower rates than previously reported in this high-risk population, but the primary endpoint was not different between the study groups. Only in Braunwald class IIIB patients did the primary endpoint occur less frequently in patients with an aSIC-C stent as compared to patients with a conventional stent (5.8% vs. 15.3%; P = 0.049). At 9-month follow-up, the level of difference was maintained, but statistical significance was lost. Quantitative angiography revealed no significant difference between the stents in the subgroups. This study suggests that aSIC-C stents exert clinically measurable effects in patients with unstable angina with recent symptoms at rest. This coating deserves further clinical investigation and may serve as platform for antiproliferative drugs.

The Lescol(R) Intervention Prevention Study (LIPS): a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial of the long-term effects of fluvastatin after successful transcatheter therapy in patients with coronary heart disease.

BACKGROUND: The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) inhibit atherosclerosis and reduce both morbidity and mortality in patients with coronary heart disease. No randomised prospective study, however, has investigated the long-term effect of statins on clinical outcomes in patients who have undergone first successful transcatheter therapy. METHODS: The Lescol((R)) Intervention Prevention Study (LIPS) is a double-blind randomized trial designed to compare the effect of fluvastatin (Lescol) with that of placebo on the time which patients with serum cholesterol >/= 3.5 mmol/l and < 7.0 mmol/l (135-270 mg/dl) remain free of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) after successful first transcatheter therapy (TCT). Patients, aged 18-80 years inclusive, will be randomized in a 1 : 1 ratio to receive fluvastatin, 40 mg, or placebo, twice daily for three to five years. The primary endpoint is the survival time during which patients remain MACE free after first TCT. Secondary endpoints are the incidence of MACE, noncardiac death, hospitalization for other atherosclerotic diseases, changes in serum lipid concentrations and anginal status. SUMMARY: LIPS is unique because it is the first study that will investigate whether MACE can be prevented or reduced by fluvastatin in patients who have undergone successful first transcatheter therapy for coronary heart disease.