View clinical trials related to Endothelial Dysfunction.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is to investigate the link between rheumatoid arthritis and cardiovascular disease by studying inflammation, joint disease, cholesterol abnormalities, and endothelial function.
Rationale: Apart from their cholesterol lowering effects, statins have cholesterol‐independent pleiotropic actions, such as upregulation of 5'‐ectonucleotidase and up‐regulation of NO‐synthase that may increase tolerance against ischemia‐reperfusion injury (IR‐injury). Several animal studies have shown reduction of IR‐injury as a result of statin treatment in both the heart and the kidney. Recently the investigators have shown, using Annexin A5 targeting after voluntary ischemic exercise to assess IR‐injury, a protective effect of a 7 day oral rosuvastatin treatment. A three day treatment with atorvastatin however failed to reduce annexin targeting. Assessment of the flow mediated dilation of the brachial artery as measure of endothelial (dys)function, is a validated model to research effects of possible protective strategies and perform mechanistic experiments on IR‐injury in humans in vivo. The investigators hypothesize that pretreatment with statins can increase endothelial tolerance against ischemia and reperfusion injury. Objective: To study the protective effect of pretreatment (both 3 day and 7 day) with rosuvastatin and atorvastatin on flow mediated dilation after 15 minutes ischemia and 15 minutes reperfusion. Study design: placebo‐controlled randomised double‐blind trial Study population: Healthy volunteers, age 18‐50 Intervention: Treatment with either rosuvastatin 20 mg, atorvastatin 80mg or placebo during either 3 or 7 days Main study parameters: Difference in flow mediated dilation before and after 15 minutes ischemia. Nature and extent of the burden and risks associated with participation, benefit and group relatedness: Treatment with rosuvastatin or atorvastatin is not expected to harm the volunteers. Most reported side effects of rosuvastatin and atorvastatin are gastro‐intestinal complains and myalgia. The volunteers will not benefit directly from participating in this study.
This study is a pilot study examining the effect of extended-release niacin (Niaspan ®) on flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) of the brachial artery, among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infected individuals with low high density lipoprotein (HDL). Brachial artery diameter will be measured by high-resolution ultrasound at entry and week 12 of study. The primary comparisons will be change in FMD from baseline to 12 weeks within each of the two arms. The second specific aim will be to investigate the proportion of the effect of extended-release niacin on other known cardiovascular markers.
Aim The principal objective of this project is: • To evaluate the efficacy of long term (18 months) L-Arginine therapy in preventing or delaying clinical onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and Metabolic Syndrome. Secondary end points are: 1. To define if a long term treatment with L-arginine is able to ameliorate insulin sensitivity and endothelial dysfunction in this population. 2. To find new risk profiles and candidate genes able to define the sub-group of patients at higher risk to develop type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methodology This is a double blind, parallel, one centre study to determine if long term oral L-arginine administration is able to delay or prevent type 2 diabetes mellitus in patients with Metabolic Syndrome. Two hundred and ninety four subjects were recruited at the Cardio-Metabolic and Clinical Trials Unit of the San Raffaele Scientific Institute. One hundred and forty two patients were randomized to enter the study and assigned to two arms: oral L-arginine (6.4 g/die) or placebo, in addition to diet and physical exercise. The treatment were maintained for 18 months. Visits were performed every 3 months for clinical evaluation, blood samples, treatment supply and collection of data on adverse events. Furthermore, patients were contacted every month by telephone to evaluate the accurate continuation of the study and they were instructed to phone to the centre in case of possible adverse events. An OGTT were performed before the enter into the study and at the end of the study period. An additional OGTT were performed at an intermediate visit if fasting glucose levels were more than 126 mg/dl. A diabetic response caused the end-point of the patient. Metabolic, hormonal and endothelial activation and inflammation parameters were measured. Evaluation of endothelium-mediated and non-endothelium-mediated vasodilatation were performed by strain gauche plethysmography evaluating forearm blood at the basal state. in post-ischemic conditions and after nitroglycerine administration. Before the enter into the study, an additional blood sample were drawn for DNA extraction and candidate genes variants evaluation. Before the enter into the study and at the end of the study period, gene expression for inflammation were measured on mRNA extraction on endothelial progenitor cells.
During myocardial infarction, inflammatory response may negatively influence ventricle wall remodeling as well as endothelium-dependent vasomotor function in the coronary and systemic arterial systems. Statins have been consistently proved to attenuate inflammation and improve endothelial function. In this study, we tested the effect of different doses of statin on inflammatory response and endothelium-dependent vasodilation.
The aim of this study is to examine the associations between inflammatory disease activity and endothelial function in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis patients treated with methotrexate and Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNFalpha)inhibitor in combination or methotrexate or TNFalpha-inhibitor alone. Further, to look for improvement in endothelial function, and decrease in bone and cartilage destruction during treatment with the combination therapy of TNFalpha-inhibitor and methotrexate in RA and Psoriatic Arthritis (PSA) patients. Last, examine the TNFalpha inhibitors influence on endothelial function and levels of bone and cartilage markers in patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS).
We will test the hypothesis that a single dose of Regadenoson will produce equivalent degrees of coronary hyperemia in patients of widely different body size. This will be a prospective, open-label, comparative trial using MRI to measure myocardial perfusion reserve (ratio of myocardial blood flow with vasodilator to myocardial blood flow at rest) during sequential administration of the coronary vasodilators adenosine and regadenoson. Non-invasive MRI measurements of resting myocardial blood flow, and sequential measurements of blood flow during adenosine infusion (weight adjusted dosing) and then blood flow during regadenoson infusion (single, fixed dose. Blood flow measurements will be obtained sequentially and in the same sequence in each subject during a two hour MRI exam. 32 subjects will be recruited for this study. The first 2 will be for testing of the protocol. Inclusion criteria: 2 subjects for initial protocol evaluation, then 30 subjects with body mass index (BMI) between 18 and 40. Exclusions are pregnancy, renal dysfunction and claustrophobia.
Up to 30 patients with lower extremity disease scheduled to undergo diagnostic angiography will undergo baseline bloodwork and IVUS (intravascular ultrasound), followed by dosing with L-arginine to assess changes in endothelial function.
Exposure to air pollution has been linked to increased cardiorespiratory morbidity and mortality. The exact component of air pollution that mediates this effect is unknown, but the link is strongest for fine combustion derived particulate matter derived from traffic sources. Recently, it has been demonstrated that inhalation of diesel exhaust impairs vascular vasomotor tone and endogenous fibrinolysis. The mechanism underlying these detrimental vascular is unclear, but is thought to be via oxidative stress and altered bioavailability of endogenous nitric oxide. In these studies we plan to elucidate the role of endogenous nitric oxide (NO) in the adverse vascular responses observed following exposure to diesel exhaust.
Exposure to air pollution has been linked to increased cardiorespiratory morbidity and mortality. The exact component of air pollution that mediates this effect is unknown, but the link is strongest for fine combustion derived particulate matter derived from traffic sources. Recently, it has been demonstrated that inhalation of diesel exhaust impairs vascular vasomotor tone and endogenous fibrinolysis. The mechanism underlying these detrimental vascular is unclear, but is thought to be via oxidative stress and altered bioavailability of endogenous nitric oxide. In these studies we plan to elucidate the role of endogenous nitric oxide synthase isoforms (NO) in the adverse vascular responses observed following exposure to diesel exhaust.