Regression of carotid atherosclerosis by control of morning blood pressure peak in newly diagnosed hypertensive patients.

BACKGROUND: Morning blood pressure (BP) peak may be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Whether morning BP should be a target of hypertension treatment is not known. We investigated the relationship between morning BP variations, carotid internal-medial thickness (CIMT), circulating inflammatory markers, and sympathetic activity in hypertensive patients with different patterns of morning BP increase at baseline and after antihypertensive treatment. METHODS: One hundred twenty-eight hypertensive patients with morning BP peak (MP+) were compared with 196 hypertensive patients without morning BP peak (MP-). All patients performed 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring, assessment of CIMT, circulating concentration of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-18 (IL-18), and urinary catecholamines. RESULTS: Compared with MP- patients, MP+ patients had higher CIMT and urinary catecholamine output (P < .001), as well as CRP, IL-6, and IL-18 (P < .001). We randomly assigned 128 drug-naive MP+ patients to either metoprolol or carvedilol, two antihypertensive drugs with different effects on sympathetic activity. The primary outcome was change in CIMT and circulating inflammatory markers at 12 months. Morning BP decreased more among patients in the carvedilol group (P < .001), whereas clinic BP showed a similar decrease in both groups. The CIMT (P < .001), IL-6 (P < .001), IL-18 (P < .001), and CRP (P < .001) decreased more in the carvedilol group than in the metoprolol group. The CIMT regression was observed in 49% of patients in the carvedilol group and 18% of patients in the metoprolol group (P < .01). Reduction in CIMT was directly associated with changes in morning BP. CONCLUSIONS: Higher CIMT and circulating inflammatory markers coexist in hypertensive patients with morning BP peak, and might contribute to their increased cardiovascular risk. Carotid atherosclerosis can be prevented by control of morning BP.

Dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibition may facilitate healing of chronic foot ulcers in patients with type 2 diabetes.

The pathophysiology of chronic diabetic ulcers is complex and still incompletely understood, both micro- and macroangiopathy strongly contribute to the development and delayed healing of diabetic wounds, through an impaired tissue feeding and response to ischemia. With adequate treatment, some ulcers may last only weeks; however, many ulcers are difficult to treat and may last months, in certain cases years; 19-35% of ulcers are reported as nonhealing. As no efficient therapy is available, it is a high priority to develop new strategies for treatment of this devastating complication. Because experimental and pathological studies suggest that incretin hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 may improves VEGF generation and promote the upregulation of HIF-1α through a reduction of oxidative stress, the study evaluated the effect of the augmentation of GLP-1, by inhibitors of the dipeptidyl peptidase-4, such as vildagliptin, on angiogenesis process and wound healing in diabetic chronic ulcers. Although elucidation of the pathophysiologic importance of these aspects awaits further confirmations, the present study evidences an additional aspect of how DPP-4 inhibition might contribute to improved ulcer outcome.

Morning blood pressure peak, QT intervals, and sympathetic activity in hypertensive patients.

We investigated the relation between morning blood pressure (BP) variations, sympathetic activity, and QT intervals in 156 never-treated subjects with essential hypertension and different patterns of morning BP increase. The morning BP peak (MP) was defined as a rise in systolic BP >or=50 mm Hg and/or diastolic BP >or=22 mm Hg during early morning (6:00 to 10:00 AM) compared with mean BP during the night. Clinical characteristics of patients with morning BP peak (MP+, n= 69, morning systolic BP=+54+/-4, diastolic BP=+32+/-5 mm Hg) did not differ from patients without BP peak (MP-, n= 87, morning systolic BP=+24+/-5, diastolic BP=+19+/-3 mm Hg). The daytime (10:00 AM to 10:00 PM) and the nighttime (10:00 PM to 6:00 AM) BP profile did not differ between the two groups. During daytime and nighttime ECG monitoring, the corrected QT (QTc) interval, and QTc dispersion did not differ significantly between the two groups, whereas during the morning period the QT values were significantly broader in the MP+ group compared with the MP- group (P

Sympathovagal balance, nighttime blood pressure, and QT intervals in normotensive obese women.

OBJECTIVE: We describe associations among the heart-rate-corrected QT (QTc) interval, QTc dispersion (QTc-d), circadian BP variation, and autonomic function in obese normotensive women and the effect of sustained weight loss. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: In 71 obese (BMI = 37.14 +/- 2.6 kg/m(2)) women, 25 to 44 years of age, circadian BP variations (24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring), autonomic function (power spectral analysis of RR interval oscillations), and cardiac repolarization times (QTc-d and QTc interval) were recorded at baseline and after 1 year of a multidisciplinary program of weight reduction. RESULTS: Compared with nonobese age-matched women (n = 28, BMI = 23 +/- 2.0 kg/m(2)), obese women had higher values of QTc-d (p < 0.05) and QTc (p < 0.05), an altered sympathovagal balance (ratio of low-frequency/high-frequency power, p < 0.01), and a blunted nocturnal drop in BP (p < 0.01). In obese women, QTc-d and the QTc interval correlated with diastolic nighttime BP (p < 0.01) and sympathovagal balance (p < 0.01). Waist-to-hip ratio, free fatty acids, and plasma insulin levels correlated with QT intervals and reduced nocturnal drops in both systolic and diastolic BP and sympathovagal balance (p < 0.01). After 1 year, obese women lost at least 10% of their original weight, which was associated with decrements of QTc-d (p < 0.02), the QTc interval (p < 0.05), nighttime BP (p < 0.01), and sympathovagal balance (p < 0.02). DISCUSSION: Sustained weight loss is a safe method to ameliorate diastolic nighttime BP drop and sympathetic overactivity, which may reduce the cardiovascular risk in obese women.