Predictors of vascular remodelling in hypertensive subjects with well-controlled blood pressure levels

Carotid elasticity is impaired in stage 1 hypertensive patients with well-controlled blood pressure levels

Whether impaired arterial elasticity in stage 1 hypertension can be brought back to normal by antihypertensive treatment is unknown. Aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of long-term well-controlled blood pressure (BP) on carotid artery elasticity and endothelial function in stage 1 hypertensive patients. We studied 40 middle-age hypertensives (mean age 49.7 years) whose BP had been kept at target by pharmacological treatment and/or lifestyle modifications for a mean of 7.5 years. Carotid compliance coefficient (CC) and distensibility coefficient (DC) were measured by B-mode ultrasound system. Measurement of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) was performed in each carotid artery segment, bilaterally. Endothelial function was evaluated by post-occlusion flow mediated dilation (FMD). Forty normotensive subjects matched for age and sex served as controls. In the hypertensive subjects, BP levels were well controlled throughout the study period (mean office BP 133.7 ± 9.0/81.27 ± 7.0 mmHg). However, compared to controls, significantly higher office BP levels and waist circumference were present. Compared to normotensives, carotid elasticity (DC 24.5 ± 9.0 vs 37.0 ± 8.5 10^-3/kPa, and CC 0.92 ± 0.34 vs 1.28 ± 0.36 mm²/kPa, p < 0.0005 for both) as well as endothelial function (FMD 5.7 ± 2.4% vs 9.2 ± 2.9%, p < 0.0005) were significantly impaired in hypertensives. In a logistic regression, hypertensive patients had increased risk of impaired carotid vascular stiffness (odds ratio, 95% CI: 13.04 (2.27-74.96), p = 0.004). Despite the "pseudo-normalization" of BP levels, hypertensive patients with long-term well-controlled BP according to current standards exhibited increased local arterial stiffness and endothelial dysfunction suggesting that lower BP targets should be sought.

Lipid Profile and Vascular Remodelling in Young Dyslipidemic Subjects Treated with Nutraceuticals Derived from Red Yeast Rice

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

A relevant role is emerging for functional foods in cardiovascular prevention. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of a nutraceutical multitargeted approach on lipid profile and inflammatory markers along with vascular remodelling in a cohort of dyslipidemic subjects without history of cardiovascular (CV) disease.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We enrolled 25 subjects (mean age 48.2 years) with low to moderate CV risk profile and total cholesterol (TC) levels between 150 and 250 mg/dl. The patients were assigned to receive for one year a tablet/die of a nutraceutical combination containing red yeast rice (RYR) extract (Monacolin 3 mg/tablet) and coenzyme Q10 (30 mg/tablet). Treatment with the nutraceutical compounds led to a significant reduction of TC (from 227 to 201 mg/dl, p < 0.001), LDL-c (from 150 to 130 mg/dl, p = 0.001), triglycerides (from 121 to 109 mg/dl, p = 0.013), non-HDL-cholesterol (from 168 to 141 mg/dl, p < 0.001), hs-CRP (from 1.74 to 1.20 mg/l, p = 0.015), and osteoprotegerin (from 1488 to 1328 pg/ml, p = 0.045). Levels of HDL-c, Lp(a), glucose, liver enzyme, CPK, or creatinine did not change over time. An ultrasound study was performed to assess changes in mean carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and maximum IMT (M-MAX) as well as modification in local carotid stiffness by means of determining the carotid compliance coefficient (CC) and distensibility coefficient (DC). At the end of the treatment, we observed small but significant reductions in both mean-IMT (from 0.62 to 0.57 mm, p = 0.022) and M-MAX (from 0.79 to 0.73 mm, p = 0.002), and an improvement in carotid elasticity (DC from 22.4 to 24.3 × 10-3/kPa, p = 0.006 and CC from 0.77 to 0.85 mm2/kPa, p = 0.019).

CONCLUSIONS

A long-term treatment with a combination of RYR and coenzyme Q10 showed lipid-lowering activity along with a reduction of inflammatory mediators and an improvement of vascular properties in young subjects with a low-to-moderate CV risk profile.

Nondipping Pattern and Cardiovascular and Renal Damage in a Population-Based Study (The STANISLAS Cohort Study)

OBJECTIVE

The attenuation of physiological nocturnal decline of blood pressure (BP)-called nondipper pattern-has previously been reported to be associated with target organ damage in hypertensive subjects. However, this association remains debated and poorly studied in normotensive patients. This study aimed to investigate the association between nondipper pattern and subclinical cardiovascular and renal damage in an initially healthy population-based cohort study.

METHODS

The STANISLAS Cohort is a single-center, familial longitudinal cohort composed of 1,006 families (4,295 subjects) recruited in 1993-1995 for a 5-year periodic health examination. A total of 1,334 subjects from the 4th visit (2011-2016) of the STANISLAS cohort were included. This 4th examination included estimated glomerular filtration rate, albumin/creatinine ratio, pulse wave velocity, central systolic BP, carotid intima-media thickness and distensibility, left ventricular mass index, left ventricular hypertrophy, diastolic dysfunction, and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). Nondipping status was defined as a mean reduction in systolic BP (SBP) or diastolic BP (DBP) lower than 10% during nighttime.

RESULTS

Data were obtained from 798 normotensive subjects (45 ± 14 years, 395 [49%] nondippers, SBP/DBP mmHg 24 hours: 116/71 ± 7/5) and 536 hypertensive patients (56 ± 11 years, 257 [48%] nondippers, SBP/DBP mmHg 24 hours: 127/78 ± 10/7). Mean 24-hour and daytime ABPM measurements were within the normal range, even in hypertensive participants (19% treated). The nondipping pattern was not associated with cardiovascular or renal alterations in this population.

CONCLUSION

In this middle-aged population with an overall 24-hour optimal BP control, the nondipper pattern was not associated with increased cardiovascular or renal damage.

Intima-media thickness remodelling in hypertensive subjects with long-term well-controlled blood pressure levels

Aim of this study was to evaluate in a long follow-up the carotid artery remodelling in a cohort of young hypertensive subjects having good blood pressure (BP) control. We studied 20 grade I hypertensives (HT) by assessing the B-mode ultrasound of mean carotid intima-media thickness (mean-IMT) and maximum IMT (M-MAX) in each carotid artery segment (common, bulb, internal), bilaterally. We compared their ultrasound measurements with those recorded 5 and 10 years earlier. While the first 5-year follow-up was observational, in the second 5-year follow-up, lifestyle modifications and/or pharmacological therapy were started to obtain well-controlled BP levels. Office BP was measured at the time of the ultrasound studies and every 6 months during the follow-up. BP levels were: 10 years 144/91 mmHg, 5 years 143/90 mmHg and 129 ± 79 mmHg at the time of the study. In the first 5-year observational follow-up, both mean-IMT and M-MAX increased (Δ 0.116 and Δ 0.165 mm, respectively, p < 0.0005). In the 5-year intervention follow-up, characterized by well-controlled BP, mean-IMT slightly but significantly increased (Δ 0.084 mm, p = 0.004), whereas M-MAX remained stable (Δ 0.026 mm). In our HT, well-controlled BP levels were able to prevent pro-atherogenic remodelling (expressed by M-MAX). Conversely, good BP control slightly decreased but did not stop the progression in mean-IMT, which is likely to reflect some hypertrophy of the arterial media layer.

Mechanisms involved in extracellular matrix remodeling and arterial stiffness induced by hyaluronan accumulation

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Hyperglycemia induces hyaluronan (HA) accumulation in the vasculature. Excessive accumulation of HA around the vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) results in increased aortic stiffness and strength and accelerated atherosclerosis in ApoE(-)/(-) mice. We hypothesized that HA accumulation primes the vasculature for atherosclerosis by crosslinking and reorganizing the extracellular matrix (ECM) and by pushing VSMC differentiation towards a less mature phenotype.

METHODS

Aortas from HAS-2 transgenic (Tg) mice and wild type mice were used for all experiments. Biomechanics and cross-sectional area measurements were performed before and after HA digestion. The vessel and ECM composition was examined by immunoblotting and electron microscopy. Primary VSMC cultures were examined by qPCR and thymidine incorporation.

RESULTS

Tg mice aorta cross-sectional area was increased before (14%, p = 0.0148), but not after HA digestion (p = 0.3437). The increase in vessel stiffness (32%, p = 0.0217) and strength (31%, p = 0.0043) in the Tg aorta persisted after HA digestion. Crosslinking of HA by heavy chains from Inter-α-Inhibitor was increased (175%, p = 0.0006). The Tg VSMCs have the appearance of a synthetic phenotype supported by a 40% decrease in α-smooth muscle actin isoform X1 (p = 0.0296) and an increase in proliferation (63%, p = 0.0048) and osteoprotegerin production (133%, p = 0.0010) in cultured Tg VSMCs.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results show that induced HA accumulation is followed by increased HA crosslinking and create a shift in VSMC phenotype and proliferation. These findings may provide a mechanism for how hyperglycemia through HA accumulation prime the vascular wall for cholesterol and leucocyte accumulation and development of atherosclerosis.