From 'essential' hypertension to intensive blood pressure lowering: the pros and cons of lower target values

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Blood pressure control and components of the metabolic syndrome: the GOOD survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The GOOD (Global Cardiometabolic Risk Profile in Patients with Hypertension Disease) survey showed that blood pressure control was significantly worse in hypertensive patients with metabolic syndrome and/or diabetes mellitus than in those with essential hypertension only. This analysis aimed to investigate which components of the metabolic syndrome are primarily associated with poor blood pressure control.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The GOOD survey was designed as an observational cross-sectional survey in 12 European countries to assess the cardiometabolic risk profile in patients with essential hypertension. Investigators were randomly selected from a list of general practitioners (70% of investigators) and a list of specialists such as internists, cardiologists and hypertension specialists (30% of investigators). Data from 3,280 outpatients with hypertension, aged at least 30 years who were receiving antihypertensive treatment or had newly diagnosed hypertension according to the European Society of Hypertension and the European Society of Cardiology criteria, were included in the analyses. Blood pressure control, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, serum triglycerides, total and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol measurements were compared in patients with diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome, with diabetes mellitus only, with metabolic syndrome only, and with neither metabolic syndrome nor diabetes mellitus.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The highest blood pressure values were found in patients with metabolic syndrome with or without diabetes mellitus. Blood pressure was significantly lower in patients with diabetes mellitus only. The highest BMI, waist circumference and serum triglycerides, and the lowest HDL cholesterol levels among the groups studied occurred in patients with metabolic syndrome, either with or without diabetes mellitus.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Among the components of the metabolic syndrome, it is not impaired glucose tolerance which is associated with the poor response to antihypertensive treatment. Instead, visceral obesity and dyslipidemia components of the metabolic syndrome, i.e. hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL cholesterol levels, are associated with resistance to antihypertensive treatment.</p

Hypertension and Genetic Variation in Endothelial-Specific Genes

Genome-wide association (GWA) studies usually detect common genetic variants with low-to-medium effect sizes. Many contributing variants are not revealed, since they fail to reach significance after strong correction for multiple comparisons. The WTCCC study for hypertension, for example, failed to identify genome-wide significant associations. We hypothesized that genetic variation in genes expressed specifically in the endothelium may be important for hypertension development. Results from the WTCCC study were combined with previously published gene expression data from mice to specifically investigate SNPs located within endothelial-specific genes, bypassing the requirement for genome-wide significance. Six SNPs from the WTCCC study were selected for independent replication in 5205 hypertensive patients and 5320 population-based controls, and successively in a cohort of 16537 individuals. A common variant (rs10860812) in the DRAM (damage-regulated autophagy modulator) locus showed association with hypertension (P = 0.008) in the replication study. The minor allele (A) had a protective effect (OR = 0.93; 95% CI 0.88-0.98 per A-allele), which replicates the association in the WTCCC GWA study. However, a second follow-up, in the larger cohort, failed to reveal an association with blood pressure. We further tested the endothelial-specific genes for co-localization with a panel of newly discovered SNPs from large meta-GWAS on hypertension or blood pressure. There was no significant overlap between those genes and hypertension or blood pressure loci. The result does not support the hypothesis that genetic variation in genes expressed in endothelium plays an important role for hypertension development. Moreover, the discordant association of rs10860812 with blood pressure in the case control study versus the larger Malmo "Preventive Project-study highlights the importance of rigorous replication in multiple large independent studies

Hemodynamic effects of quinapril, a novel angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitor

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109772/1/cptclpt1990116.pd

Amlodipine+Benazepril is Superior to Hydrochlorothiazide+Benazepril Irrespective of Baseline Pulse Pressure: Subanalysis of the ACCOMPLISH Trial

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110751/1/jch12460.pd