The heart failure paradox: an epidemic of scientific success. Presidential Address at the American Heart Association 2013 Scientific Sessions

Affairs of the Heart: Innovation in Cardiovascular Research and Development

Cardiovascular disease represents the single largest contributor to morbidity and mortality, yet the flow of therapeutic innovation is lagging. Globally, academia, industry, and regulatory agencies must work together to address this gap, and ensure new disruptive therapeutic modalities to address growing needs of patients and society.

Advances in the pharmacotherapy of chronic heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: an ideal opportunity for precision medicine

INTRODUCTION

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), which comprises approximately 50% of all heart failure patients, is a challenging and complex clinical syndrome that is often thought to lack effective treatments. Areas covered: Despite the common mantra that HFpEF has no effective treatments, closer inspection of HFpEF clinical trials reveals that several of the drugs tested are associated with benefits in exercise capacity and quality of life, and reduction in heart failure hospitalization. Here we review major randomized controlled trials in HFpEF, focusing on renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system antagonists, organic nitrates, digoxin, beta-blockers, and phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors. In addition, we review several classes of drugs currently in development for HFpEF such as neprilysin inhibitors, inorganic nitrates (nitrites), and soluble guanylate cyclase stimulators. Expert opinion: HFpEF should not be viewed as lacking effective treatments. While there have been no breakthrough clinical trials showing a reduction in mortality, several existing medications are likely to benefit specific subgroups of HFpEF patients. HFpEF is now well known to be a heterogeneous syndrome; thus, the clinical management of HFpEF patients and future HFpEF clinical trials will both likely require a nuanced, phenotype-specific approach instead of a one-size-fits-all tactic. Drug development for HFpEF therefore represents an exciting opportunity for personalized medicine.

The utility of biomarker risk prediction score in patients with chronic heart failure

Background

Chronic heart failure (CHF) has been remained a leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortaluty. The risk stratification of CHF individuals based on clinical criteria and biomarkers' models may improve medical care and probably increase efficacy of treatment strategy. However, various predictive models approved for CHF patients appear to be distinguished in their prognostications. The study aim was to evaluate whether biomarker risk prediction score is powerful tool for risk assessment of three-year fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events in CHF patients.

Methods

It was studied prospectively the incidence of fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events in a cohort of 388 patients with ischemic-induced CHF within 3 years. Circulating biomarkers were collected at baseline of the study.

Results

Independent predictors of clinical outcomes in patients with CHF were NT-pro-BNP, galectin-3, hs-CRP, osteoprotegerin, CD31⁺/annexin V⁺ endothelail-derived microparticles (EMPs) and CD31⁺/annexin V⁺ EMPs to CD14⁺CD309⁺ monuclear progenitor cells (MPCs) ratio. Index of cardiovascular risk was calculated by mathematical summation of all ranks of independent predictors, which occurred in the patients included in the study. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients with CHF and the magnitude of the risk of less than 4 units have an advantage in survival when compared with patients for whom obtained higher values of cardiovascular risk score ranks.

Conclusion

Biomarker risk score for cumulative cardiovascular events, constructed by measurement of circulating NT-pro-BNP, galectin-3, hs-CRP, osteoprotegerin, CD31+/annexin V+ EMPs and CD31⁺/annexin V⁺ EMPs to CD14⁺CD309⁺ MPCs ratio, allowing reliably predict the probability survival of patients with CHF.

Stem cell therapy for heart failure: Ensuring regenerative proficiency

Patient-derived stem cells enable promising regenerative strategies, but display heterogenous cardiac reparative proficiency, leading to unpredictable therapeutic outcomes impeding practice adoption. Means to establish and certify the regenerative potency of emerging biotherapies are thus warranted. In this era of clinomics, deconvolution of variant cytoreparative performance in clinical trials offers an unprecedented opportunity to map pathways that segregate regenerative from non-regenerative states informing the evolution of cardio-regenerative quality systems. A maiden example of this approach is cardiopoiesis-mediated lineage specification developed to ensure regenerative performance. Successfully tested in pre-clinical and early clinical studies, the safety and efficacy of the cardiopoietic stem cell phenotype is undergoing validation in pivotal trials for chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy offering the prospect of a next-generation regenerative solution for heart failure.

Nebivolol and valsartan as a fixed-dose combination for the treatment of hypertension

INTRODUCTION

The fixed-dose combination of nebivolol and valsartan drug has been clinically evaluated and demonstrated to represent a unique combination of nebivolol, a selective β1-adrenoceptor antagonist and a β3-adrenoceptor agonist; β3 receptor activation increases endothelial nitric oxide and produces vasodilation. Valsartan is highly selective angiotensin AT1 receptor blocker and exerts its major pharmacological effect by decreasing angiotensin II-induced vasoconstriction and production of aldosterone. The addition of nebivolol counteracts the effects of increased angiotensin II concentrations resulting from potent AT1 blockade. This review describes a recently completed trial establishing the efficacy of the nebivolol/valsartan combination.

AREAS COVERED

This review provides a literature search of pertinent pharmacological and clinical data that describes the mechanisms of both drugs individually and the results of a clinical trial comparing fixed-dose combinations of nebivolol with valsartan as compared with each drug as monotherapy.

EXPERT OPINION

Fixed-dose combination drugs are intended to improve patient compliance and reduce drug costs, as well as to reduce long-term cardiovascular event rates and block counter-regulatory effects due to monotherapy. The vast majority of hypertensive patients will require at least two medications. We believe that the clinical evidence suggests that the combination of nebivolol with valsartan offers a definite clinical benefit, combining β1-adrenoceptor and angiotensin AT1 receptor blockade with β3 receptor activation and resultant increase in nitric oxide and vasodilation.

Clinical utility of fixed-dose combinations in hypertension: evidence for the potential of nebivolol/valsartan

Despite significant advances in pharmacologic approaches to treat hypertension during the last decades, hypertension- and hypertension-related organ damage are still a high health and economic burden because a large proportion of patients with hypertension do not achieve optimal blood pressure control. There is now general agreement that combination therapy with two or more antihypertensive drugs is required for targeted blood pressure accomplishment and reduction of global cardiovascular risk. The goals of combination therapies are to reduce long-term cardiovascular events by targeting different mechanism underlying hypertension and target organ disease, to block the counterregulatory pathways activated by monotherapies, to improve tolerability and decrease the adverse effects of up-titrated single agents, and to increase persistence and adherence with antihypertensive therapy. Multiple clinical trials provide evidence that fixed-dose combinations in a single pill offer several advantages when compared with loose-dose combinations. This review discusses the advances in hypertension control and associated cardiovascular disease as they relate to the prospect of combination therapy targeting a third-generation beta (β) 1-adrenergic receptor (nebivolol) and an angiotensin II receptor blocker (valsartan) in fixed-dose single-pill formulations.