Heritability of cardiovascular risk factors in a Brazilian population: Baependi Heart Study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The heritability of cardiovascular risk factors is expected to differ between populations because of the different distribution of environmental risk factors, as well as the genetic make-up of different human populations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The purpose of this analysis was to evaluate genetic and environmental influences on cardiovascular risk factor traits, using a variance component approach, by estimating the heritability of these traits in a sample of 1,666 individuals in 81 families ascertained randomly from a highly admixed population of a city in a rural area in Brazil.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Before adjustment for sex, age, age², and age × sex interaction, polygenic heritability of systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure were 15.0% and 16.4%, waist circumference 26.1%, triglycerides 25.7%, fasting glucose 32.8%, HDL-c 31.2%, total cholesterol 28.6%, LDL-c 26.3%, BMI 39.1%. Adjustment for covariates increased polygenic heritability estimates for all traits mainly systolic and diastolic blood pressure (25.9 and 26.2%, respectively), waist circumference (40.1%), and BMI (51.0%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Heritability estimates for cardiovascular traits in the Brazilian population are high and not significantly different from other studied worldwide populations. Mapping efforts to identify genetic loci associated with variability of these traits are warranted.</p

Relationship Between Risk Factors and Mortality in Type 1 Diabetic Patients in Europe: The EURODIAB Prospective Complications Study (PCS)

OBJECTIVE—The purpose of this study was to examine risk factors for mortality in patients with type 1 diabetes

Cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes mortality burden of cardiometabolic risk factors from 1980 to 2010: a comparative risk assessment

Background High blood pressure, blood glucose, serum cholesterol, and BMI are risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and some of these factors also increase the risk of chronic kidney disease and diabetes. We estimated mortality from cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes that was attributable to these four cardiometabolic risk factors for all countries and regions from 1980 to 2010. Methods We used data for exposure to risk factors by country, age group, and sex from pooled analyses of populationbased health surveys. We obtained relative risks for the eff ects of risk factors on cause-specifi c mortality from metaanalyses of large prospective studies. We calculated the population attributable fractions for- each risk factor alone, and for the combination of all risk factors, accounting for multicausality and for mediation of the eff ects of BMI by the other three risks. We calculated attributable deaths by multiplying the cause-specifi c population attributable fractions by the number of disease-specifi c deaths. We obtained cause-specifi c mortality from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors 2010 Study. We propagated the uncertainties of all the inputs to the fi nal estimates. Findings In 2010, high blood pressure was the leading risk factor for deaths due to cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes in every region, causing more than 40% of worldwide deaths from these diseases; high BMI and glucose were each responsible for about 15% of deaths, and high cholesterol for more than 10%. After accounting for multicausality, 63% (10\ub78 million deaths, 95% CI 10\ub71\u201311\ub75) of deaths from these diseases in 2010 were attributable to the combined eff ect of these four metabolic risk factors, compared with 67% (7\ub71 million deaths, 6\ub76\u20137\ub76) in 1980. The mortality burden of high BMI and glucose nearly doubled from 1980 to 2010. At the country level, age-standardised death rates from these diseases attributable to the combined eff ects of these four risk factors surpassed 925 deaths per 100 000 for men in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia, but were less than 130 deaths per 100 000 for women and less than 200 for men in some high-income countries including Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, and Spain. Interpretation The salient features of the cardiometabolic disease and risk factor epidemic at the beginning of the 21st century are high blood pressure and an increasing eff ect of obesity and diabetes. The mortality burden of cardiometabolic risk factors has shifted from high-income to low-income and middle-income countries. Lowering cardiometabolic risks through dietary, behavioural, and pharmacological interventions should be a part of the globalresponse to non-communicable diseases

Kidney dysfunction and related cardiovascular risk factors among patients with type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND: Kidney dysfunction is a strong predictor of end-stage renal disease and cardiovascular (CV) events. The main goal was to study the clinical correlates of diabetic kidney disease in a large cohort of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) attending 236 Diabetes Clinics in Italy. METHODS: Clinical data of 120 903 patients were extracted from electronic medical records by means of an ad hoc-developed software. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and increased urinary albumin excretion were considered. Factors associated with the presence of albuminuria only, GFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) only or both conditions were evaluated through multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Mean age of the patients was 66.6 ± 11.0 years, 58.1% were male and mean duration of diabetes was 11.1 ± 9.4 years. The frequency of albuminuria, low GFR and both albuminuria and low GFR was 36.0, 23.5 and 12.2%, respectively. Glycaemic control was related to albuminuria more than to low GFR, while systolic and pulse pressure showed a trend towards higher values in patients with normal kidney function compared with those with both albuminuria and low GFR. Multivariate logistic analysis showed that age and duration of disease influenced both features of kidney dysfunction. Male gender was associated with an increased risk of albuminuria. Higher systolic blood pressure levels were associated with albuminuria, with a 4% increased risk of simultaneously having albuminuria and low GFR for each 5 mmHg increase. CONCLUSIONS: In this large cohort of patients with T2DM, reduced GFR and increased albuminuria showed, at least in part, different clinical correlates. A worse CV risk profile is associated with albuminuria more than with isolated low GFR

Gli score clinici nell’insufficienza cardiaca cronica: esiste uno score ideale

Numerous prognostic markers have shown to be predictive of patient outcome in heart failure (HF). The recent guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic HF have identified as many as 57 individual markers in patients with HF, including demographic data, etiology, comorbidities, clinical, radiological, hemodynamic, echocardiographic and biochemical parameters. If more accurate risk stratification is required, several scoring systems have been proposed. This article reviews scoring systems for HF prognostication. Although most of the models include readily available clinical information, usually NYHA functional class, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and comorbidities, quite a few of them comprise Doppler echocardiographic variables, other than LVEF, and circulating levels of natriuretic peptides. In order to achieve a better prediction of the outcome, an ideal score should be based on a comprehensive Doppler echocardiographic examination, the assessment of circulating biomarkers, and a more objective evaluation of exercise tolerance