Blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors among treated hypertensives in Swedish primary health care

Objective - To evaluate antihypertensive treatment and other cardiovascular risk factors in primary health care. Design - Cross-sectional survey of consecutive patients with treated hypertension in 1999. Setting - 17 primary care centres in Sweden. Subjects - 512 patients (mean age 67; SD 11 years). Main outcome measures - Antihypertensive treatment, cardiovascular risk factors. Results - Patients with high diastolic BP (greater than or equal to 100 mmHg) and systolic BP ( > 180 mmHg) values were few. The proportions with diastolic BP <90, BP <160/95 and < 140/90 mmHg were 64%, 54% and 15%. Mono-therapy was given in 51%, and &GE; 3 drugs in 13%. Hypertensives with hyperlipidaemia were 42%, and only 26% of them were given lipid-lowering drugs, mainly statins, 21%. Smokers were 10%, 23% had diabetes, and many had overweight BMI =25 kg/m(2), 72%. Conclusion - Although two-thirds had diastolic BP <90 mmHg, few had BP below the current treatment target < 140/90 mmHg. More than half of the hypertensives had at least one additional cardiovascular risk factor, and these hypertensives also had low proportions within several current treatment targets of hypertension and hyperlipidaemia, implying a need for intensified multiple risk factor intervention

Molecular cloning and characterization of two pathogenesis-related beta-1,3-glucanase genes ScGluA1 and ScGluD1 from sugarcane infected by Sporisorium scitamineum

Key message: Two β-1,3-glucanase genes from sugarcane were cloned and characterized. They were all located in apoplast and involves in different expression patterns in biotic and abiotic stress. Smut caused by Sporisorium scitamineum is a serious disease in the sugarcane industry. β-1,3-Glucanase, a typical pathogenesis-related protein, has been shown to express during plant-pathogen interaction and involves in sugarcane defense response. In this study, β-1,3-glucanase enzyme activity in the resistant variety increased faster and lasted longer than that of the susceptible one when inoculated with S. scitamineum, along with a positive correlation between the activity of the β-1,3-glucanase and smut resistance. Furthermore, two β-1,3-glucanase genes from S. scitamineum infected sugarcane, ScGluA1 (GenBank Accession No. KC848050) and ScGluD1 (GenBank Accession No. KC848051) were cloned and characterized. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that ScGluA1 and ScGluD1 clustered within subfamily A and subfamily D, respectively. Subcellular localization analysis demonstrated that both gene products were targeted to apoplast. Escherichia coli Rosetta (DE3) cells expressing ScGluA1 and ScGluD1 showed varying degrees of tolerance to NaCl, CdCl, PEG, CuCl and ZnSO. Q-PCR analysis showed up-regulation of ScGluA1 and slight down-regulation of ScGluD1 in response to S. scitamineum infection. It suggested that ScGluA1 may be involved in the defense reaction of the sugarcane to the smut, while it is likely that ScGluD1 was inhibited. The gene expression patterns of ScGluA1 and ScGluD1, in response to abiotic stresses, were similar to sugarcane response against smut infection. Together, β-1,3-glucanase may function in sugarcane defense mechanism for S. scitamineum. The positive responses of ScGluA1 and the negative responses of ScGluD1 to biotic and abiotic stresses indicate they play different roles in interaction between sugarcane and biotic or abiotic stresses