Although the metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with adverse cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in the general population, it is not clear whether its existence is independently associated with CVD in hypertensives. We investigated the presence of MetS in subjects with hypertension and its impact on the incidence of CVD. We prospectively investigated 1007 hypertensive individuals. The MetS was assessed using the National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III) criteria. The incidence of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events was ascertained during a median follow-up period of 2.1 years. The prevalence of MetS was 42.1% (39.0% in men and 44.7% in women). In addition to hypertension, four MetS components were present in 3.6% of the individuals, three in 13.7%, two in 24.8%, and only one in 33.7%. The incidence of cardiac, cerebrovascular, and total cardiovascular events/1000 person-years was higher among MetS subjects than among those without (31.0% v 21.3%, P = .050, 25.5% v 13.7%, P = .045, and 55.4% v 35.8% P = .009, respectively). After adjustment, MetS subjects had higher risk for cardiac, cerebrovascular, and total cardiovascular events (by 72%, 90%, and 75%, respectively). Hypertensive subjects with three or more components of MetS had threefold higher risk for cardiac events, 2.59 for cerebrovascular, and 2.26 for total cardiovascular events compared with those with no other component. The MetS is a significant predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The clustering of three or more components of the syndrome in addition to hypertension recognizes a population of even higher cardiovascular risk independently of other traditional risk factors.

This prospective study included 152 elderly patients (mean age, 80 years; range, 72–88 years) with a hip fracture treated surgically. Comorbidities were evaluated, and B-type natriuretic peptide was measured at baseline and at postoperative days 4 and 5 in addition to troponin I. Major cardiac events were recorded, and 1-year mortality was assessed. Comorbidity models with the important multivariate predictors of 1-year mortality were analyzed. Overall, 9 patients (6%) experienced major cardiac events postoperatively during their hospitalization. Three patients (2%) died postoperatively, at days 5, 7, and 10, from autopsy-confirmed myocardial infarction. Three patients (2%) experienced a nonfatal myocardial infarction, and 3 patients (2%) experienced acute heart failure. At 1-year follow-up, 37 patients (24%) had died. Age older than 80 years ( P =.000), renal failure ( P =.016), cardiovascular disease ( P =.003), respiratory disease ( P =.010), Parkinson disease ( P =.024), and dementia ( P =.000) were univariate predictors of 1-year mortality. However, in the multivariate model, only age older than 80 years ( P =.000) and dementia ( P =.024) were important predictors of 1-year mortality. In all comorbidity models, age older than 80 years and dementia were important predictors of 1-year mortality. Postoperative increase in B-type natriuretic peptide was the most important predictor of 1-year mortality. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed a threshold of 90 ng/mL of preoperative B-type natriuretic peptide (area under the curve=0.773, 95% confidence interval, 0.691–0.855, P <.001) had 82% sensitivity and 62% specificity to predict 1-year mortality. Similarly, a threshold of 190 ng/mL of postoperative B-type natriuretic peptide (area under the curve=0.753, 95% confidence interval, 0.662–0.844, P <.001) had 70% sensitivity and 77% specificity to predict the study endpoint. [ Orthopedics. 2017; 40(3):e417–e424.]

We investigated whether the addition of metformin to the treatment of overweight and obese individuals further reduces the incidence of type2 diabetes mellitus (T₂DM), prediabetes and metabolic syndrome (MetS) and improves cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors (RFs). Design and methods: We studied 366 adults (mean age 53.0±0.5 SE years, and mean BMI 32.3±0.2 SE Kg/m² ) without CVD. All subjects received lifestyle recommendations and drug management of CVD-RFs, whilst 95 of them were additionally given metformin. The follow-up period lasted 12 months. Results: At the end of the study the frequency of T₂DM in the metformin and non-metformin group was 1.1 and 8.1%, respectively (risk difference=−7% with 95% CI from −12.7% to −1.4%, p=0.012). Participants with prediabetes displayed a greater reduction in the incidence of T₂DM after taking metformin compared to those who had not received this drug (risk difference=−18.5% with 95%CI from −33.1% to −3.9%, p=0.010). Metformin had a similar beneficial impact on subjects with MetS (risk difference=−12.9% with 95% from −25% to −0.7%, p=0.040) and this was attributed to the greater increase in HDL-C (p=0.046) and decrease in fasting plasma glucose levels (p=0.024). Metformin also achieved a greater reduction in total cholesterol and LDL-C levels (metformin vs. non-metformin treated subjects: −31.9 vs. −17.3 mg/dl, p=0.001, and −26.2 vs. −15.9 mg/dl, p=0.006, respectively). Conclusions: Metformin reduces the occurrence of T₂DM in overweight and obese non-diabetic adults and decreases the rate of MetS by improving the CVD risk factor profile.

Objective: The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of risk factors related to cardiovascular disease. Prediabetes, identified by impaired fasting glucose and/or impaired glucose tolerance, may predict future development of diabetes mellitus. However, it is not clear whether MetS and prediabetes represent the same or different clinical entities. This study compares MetS and prediabetes in terms of cardiovascular risk factors and target organ damage. Research Design and Methods: A total of 524 overweight and obese (body mass index, BMI ≥ 27 kg/m²) adults, mean age 53.6 ± 10.3 years, 264 men and 260 women, were studied. All participants underwent a thorough clinical and laboratory evaluation, including an oral glucose tolerance test and insulin measurements. Echocardiography, carotid ultrasonography, and pulse wave analysis were also performed for the detection of target organ damage. NCEP‐ATP III and ADA criteria were used for the diagnosis of MetS and prediabetes. Results: The prevalence of MetS and prediabetes was 38.7 and 25.4 %, respectively. Overall, 129 individuals (24.6 %) had MetS without prediabetes (group M) and another 59 (11.3 %) prediabetes without MetS (group P). Group P had decreased albumin excretion (p = 0.033) and more thickened common carotid intima-media in comparison to group M (p = 0.032). Furthermore, group M was associated with higher C-reactive protein levels. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that advanced age (p < 0.0001, OR 1.11, 95 % CI 1.06 - 1.16), low insulin secretion (p < 0.0001, OR 0.05, 95 % CI 0.02 - 0.18 for insulinogenic index), and increased insulin resistance (p = 0.0003, OR 3.22, 95 % CI 1.71 - 6.07 for HOMA‐IR) were associated with group P. Conclusions: Our data demonstrate that MetS and prediabetes have an overlapping pattern. MetS appears to have a more pronounced effect on early renal dysfunction and increased inflammatory activation, while prediabetes tends to be associated with early carotid structural changes. These findings may be due to a different pathophysiologic substrate of these clinical phenotypes in terms of insulin resistance and secretion, as well as to the varying prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors.

To investigate plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) concentrations in association with blood pressure (BP) at baseline and after antihypertensive drug treatment. We prospectively examined 186 individuals with newly diagnosed essential hypertension without target organ damage, whose mean age was 48.7 +/- 10.9 years. Treatment initiation began with irbesartan 150 mg/day and was doubled at 4 weeks in cases of inadequate BP control. If indicated, at 8-week-follow-up hydrochlorothiazide 12.5 mg alone or with amlodipine 5-10 mg was added. BNP levels were measured at baseline and after 3 months of antihypertensive treatment. At baseline plasma BNP levels were found to be related to systolic BP (r = 0.27, P < 0.001), independent of age, sex, smoking status, BMI and left ventricular mass index estimated by echocardiography (beta = 11.81, SE = 3.82, P = 0.002). Additionally, higher BNP concentrations were observed in patients with stage 2 hypertension compared with those with stage 1 (median 38.9 vs. 29.9 pg/ml, P = 0.022). Multivariate analysis showed a positive association between BNP and systolic BP variability (beta = 0.03, SE = 0.01, P = 0.034). At follow-up, 64.7% of the participants who had achieved BP control showed decreased BNP levels in contrast to those with poor BP control (median change -14.5 vs. -1.3 and median range from -34.4 to -4.4 vs. -9.6 to 10.9, respectively, P < 0.001). In this hypertensive population, increased BNP concentrations are associated with higher BP levels and systolic BP variability. The fall of BNP observed in those who achieved BP control indicates that BNP could be used as a biochemical marker of effective BP control and target organ protection.