The role of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors in myocardial infarction: available evidence and future perspectives.

There is an unmet need for new treatment options for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) as progress in patients' outcomes has plateaued over the past 15 years. Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have demonstrated cardio-renal benefits in various disease states, encompassing diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, and heart failure. Experimental studies further support their use in AMI, demonstrating beneficial effects in animal models by reducing infarct size and mitigating adverse cardiac remodelling. Recently, two clinical trials have been published thus paving the way for a new field to explore. This paper briefly outlines the available evidence and future perspectives regarding the use of SGLT2 inhibitors in this clinical scenario.

The effect of antithrombotic treatment on mortality in patients with acute infection: A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Acute infections cause relevant activation of innate immunity and inflammatory cascade. An excessive response against pathogens has been proved to trigger the pathophysiological process of thrombo-inflammation. Nevertheless, an association between the use of antithrombotic agents and the outcome of critically ill patients with infectious diseases is lacking. The aim of this meta-analysis is to determine the impact of antithrombotic treatment on survival of patients with acute infective disease. METHODS: MEDLINE, Embase, Cinahl, Web of Science and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) databases were systematically searched from inception to March 2021. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated any antithrombotic agent in patients with infectious diseases other than COVID-19. Two authors independently performed study selection, data extraction and risk of bias evaluation. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Summary estimates for mortality were calculated using the inverse-variance random-effects method. RESULTS: A total of 16,588 patients participating in 18 RCTs were included, of whom 2141 died. Four trials evaluated therapeutic-dose anticoagulation, 1 trial prophylactic-dose anticoagulation, 4 trials aspirin, and 9 trials other antithrombotic agents. Overall, the use of antithrombotic agents was not associated with all-cause mortality (relative risk 0.96; 95% confidence interval, 0.90-1.03). CONCLUSIONS: The use of antithrombotics is not associated with all-cause mortality in patients with infectious disease other than COVID-19. Complex pathophysiological interplays between inflammatory and thrombotic pathways may explain these results and need further investigation. REGISTRATION: PROSPERO, CRD42021241182.

Metabolic syndrome is related to vascular structural alterations but not to functional ones both in hypertensives and healthy subjects.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Metabolic Syndrome (MS) has been related to an impairment in arterial structural and functional properties with heterogeneous results. In this paper we focused on the effects of MS on arterial carotid-femoral PWV and common carotid IMT in two different populations, one of hypertensive patients and one of healthy controls. METHODS AND RESULTS: We enrolled 816 consecutive HT and 536 healthy controls. Vascular structural (IMT) and functional (PWV) properties were evaluated. NCEP-ATP-III criteria were used for diagnosis of MS. MS was diagnosed in 26.9% and 6.9% in hypertensive and control subjects, respectively. PWV was similar in controls with and without MS (7.7 ± 1.9 vs 7.6 ± 1.1 m/s, p = 0.69), while IMT was higher in controls with than those without MS (0.64 ± 0.18 vs 0.57 ± 0.13 mm, p = 0.02). Hypertensives with MS were older (57.9 ± 12.2 vs 52.7 ± 14.1 years, p < 0.001) and showed higher PWV (9.0 ± 2.3 vs 8.4 ± 2.1 m/s, p = 0.001) and IMT (0.72 ± 0.22 vs 0.65 ± 0.17 mm, p < 0.001) than those without MS, however at the age-adjusted analysis only the difference in IMT was confirmed (p = 0.007). Regression models showed that MS was an independent determinant of IMT in both controls (ß = 0.08, p = 0.03) and hypertensives (ß = 0.08, p = 0.01), but not of PWV either in controls (ß = 0.006, p = 0.886 and ß = 0.04, p = 0.19, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: the main finding of our work is that MS is a significant determinant of IMT while this is not the case for PWV. This result have been confirmed both in hypertensive subjects and in healthy controls.

Hyperuricemia prevalence in healthy subjects and its relationship with cardiovascular target organ damage.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Heterogeneous results have been obtained in the relationship between Uric Acid (UA) and Target Organ Damage (TOD). In the present study we sought to assess the prevalence of hyperuricemia in healthy subjects as well as the role of UA in determining TOD. We evaluated vascular, cardiac and renal TODs in the whole population as well as sub-grouped by gender. METHODS AND RESULTS: As many as 379 blood donors participated at the present analysis. TOD was evaluated as Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV), Left Ventricular Mass Index (LVMI) and carotid Intima-Media Thickness (IMT). Hyperuricemia was defined with the classic cut-off (>7.0 in men and >6.0 mg/dL in women) but also with a most recently defined one (5.6 mg/dL for both sex). Hyperuricemia was present in 6.3% of the whole population (7.3% males, 2.8% females) considering the classic cut-off, while, with the recently identified one, it was present in 28.2% of the whole population (37.3% males, 4.7% females). Despite all the evaluated TODs significantly correlated with UA, linear multivariate regression analysis showed that none of them, except for GFR, displayed UA as a significant covariate. Similar figures were found also when both correlation and linear regression analyses were repeated in the two genders separately. CONCLUSIONS: Hyperuricemia is an important problem also in healthy subjects and its prevalence could further increase if lower cut-off will be used. In this specific population UA is significantly associated with renal impairment while this was not the case for cardiac and vascular damage.

Nutraceuticals in Chronic Coronary Syndromes: Preclinical Data and Translational Experiences.

Non-pharmacological treatments have always been considered important in the management of Chronic Coronary Syndromes. Nutraceuticals ("Nutrition" + "Pharmaceutical") could fall both under the definition of non-pharmacological treatment and pharmacological one or, probably more correctly, in the middle of these two kinds of therapies. However, the word "nutraceuticals" never appears in the latest guidelines on this issue. This is probably determined by the fact that evidences on this topic are scarce and most of the published articles are based on preclinical data while translational experiences are available only for some molecules. In this review we will focus on nutraceutical strategies that act on the ischemic myocardium itself and not only on the cardiovascular risk factors. As demonstrated by the important number of papers published in recent years, this is an evolving topic and evaluated substances principally act on two mechanisms (cardiac energetics and ischemia-reperfusion damage) that will be also reviewed.

Use of PRECISE-DAPT Score and Admission Platelet Count to Predict Mortality Risk in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome.

The PREdicting bleeding Complications In patients undergoing Stent implantation and subsEquent Dual Antiplatelet Therapy (PRECISE-DAPT) score has been validated to predict bleeding complications in patients undergoing stent implantation and dual antiplatelet therapy. This score does not include the platelet count (PC), which has been shown to be an independent marker of mortality in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We assessed the role of the PRECISE-DAPT score calculated on admission for mortality risk prediction and evaluated whether the predictive accuracy of this score improved by adding the PC. In a retrospective cohort study of 1000 patients with ACS, after adjustment for relevant covariates, a PRECISE-DAPT score ≥25 was independently associated with mortality (hazard ratio [HR]: 7.91; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.37-14.30). When this score was combined with PC, compared to patients with PRECISE-DAPT <25 and PC ≥150 × 109/L, the adjusted HR was 7.2 (95% CI 2.4-21.6) for those with PRECISE-DAPT <25 and PC <150 × 109/L; 10.7 (95% CI: 5.2-21.9) for those with PRECISE-DAPT ≥25 and PC ≥150 × 109/L; and 17.9 (95% CI 7.0-45.4) for those with PRECISE-DAPT ≥25 and PC <150 × 109/L. Selecting thresholds for high-risk designation, the PRECISE-DAPT score integrated with PC had a higher prediction value, compared to the PRECISE-DAPT and Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events scores.