Recently Approved and Under Investigation Drugs for Treating Patients with Heart Failure.

Heart Failure (HF) represents a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite the recent advances in the treatment of this condition, patients´ prognosis remains unfavorable in most cases. Sacubitril/valsartan and ivabradine have been recently approved to improve clinical outcomes in patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction. Drugs under investigation for treating patients with HF encompass many novel mechanisms including vasoactive peptides, blocking inflammatory- mediators, natriuretic peptides, selective non-steroidal mineralocorticoid-receptor antagonists, myocardial ß3 adrenoreceptor agonists, inhibiting the cytochrome C/cardiolipin peroxidase complex, neuregulin-1/ErbB signaling and inhibiting late inward sodium current. The aim of this manuscript is to review the main drugs under investigation for the treatment of patients with HF and give perspectives for their implementation into clinical practice.

Ventricular repolarization markers for predicting malignant arrhythmias in clinical practice.

Malignant cardiac arrhythmias which result in sudden cardiac death may be present in individuals apparently healthy or be associated with other medical conditions. The way to predict their appearance represents a challenge for the medical community due to the tragic outcomes in most cases. In the last two decades some ventricular repolarization (VR) markers have been found to be useful to predict malignant cardiac arrhythmias in several clinical conditions. The corrected QT, QT dispersion, Tpeak-Tend, Tpeak-Tend dispersion and Tp-e/QT have been studied and implemented in clinical practice for this purpose. These markers are obtained from 12 lead surface electrocardiogram. In this review we discuss how these markers have demonstrated to be effective to predict malignant arrhythmias in medical conditions such as long and short QT syndromes, Brugada syndrome, early repolarization syndrome, acute myocardial ischemia, heart failure, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity and highly trained athletes. Also the main pathophysiological mechanisms that explain the arrhythmogenic predisposition in these diseases and the basis for the VR markers are discussed. However, the same results have not been found in all conditions. Further studies are needed to reach a global consensus in order to incorporate these VR parameters in risk stratification of these patients.

Natriuretic peptides, obesity and cardiovascular diseases.

Obesity, hypertension and heart failure are conditions commonly associated with each other. Recent investigations have demonstrated that low plasmatic levels of natriuretic peptides are linked with obesity. Thus, knowing the actions of these hormones in water and salt homeostasis, it is possible to establish that low levels of natriuretic peptides may be the common denominator among obesity, hypertension and heart failure. Knowledge on this topic is crucial to develop further investigation for definitive conclusions.

Natriuretic peptides, obesity and cardiovascular diseases / Peptídeos natriuréticos, obesidade e doenças cardiovasculares

Obesity, hypertension and heart failure are conditions commonly associated with each other. Recent investigations have demonstrated that low plasmatic levels of natriuretic peptides are linked with obesity. Thus, knowing the actions of these hormones in water and salt homeostasis, it is possible to establish that low levels of natriuretic peptides may be the common denominator among obesity, hypertension and heart failure. Knowledge on this topic is crucial to develop further investigation for definitive conclusions.

Novel treatment approaches in hypertensive type 2 diabetic patients.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and hypertension represent two common conditions worldwide. Their frequent association with cardiovascular diseases makes management of hypertensive patients with T2DM an important clinical priority. Carvedilol and renal denervation are two promising choices to reduce plasma glucose levels and blood pressure in hypertensive patients with T2DM to reduce future complications and improve clinical outcomes and prognosis. Pathophysiological mechanisms of both options are under investigation, but one of the most accepted is an attenuation in sympathetic nervous system activity which lowers blood pressure and improves insulin sensitivity. Choice of these therapeutic approaches should be individualized based on specific characteristics of each patient. Further investigations are needed to determine when to consider their use in clinical practice.

Renal denervation for treating resistant hypertension: current evidence and future insights from a global perspective.

Adequate blood pressure control represents an important goal for all physicians due to the complications of hypertension which reduce patients' quality of life. A new interventional strategy to reduce blood pressure has been developed for patients with resistant hypertension. Catheter-based renal denervation has demonstrated excellent results in recent investigations associated with few side effects. With the growing diffusion of this technique worldwide, some medical societies have published consensus statements to guide physicians how to best apply this procedure. Questions remain to be answered such as the long-term durability of renal denervation, the efficacy in patients with other sympathetically mediated diseases, and whether renal denervation would benefit patients with stage 1 hypertension.