Inflammation plays an important role in cardiovascular disease (CVD) development. The NOD-like receptor protein-3 (NLRP3) inflammasome contributes to the development of atherosclerosis in animal models. Components of the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway such as interleukin-1β can therapeutically be targeted. Associations of genetically determined inflammasome-mediated systemic inflammation with CVD and mortality in humans are unknown. We explored the association of genetic NLRP3 variants with prevalent CVD and cardiovascular mortality in 538 167 subjects on the individual participant level in an explorative gene-centric approach without performing multiple testing. Functional relevance of single-nucleotide polymorphisms on NLRP3 inflammasome activation has been evaluated in monocyte-enriched peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Genetic analyses identified the highly prevalent (minor allele frequency 39.9%) intronic NLRP3 variant rs10754555 to affect NLRP3 gene expression. rs10754555 carriers showed significantly higher C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A plasma levels. Carriers of the G allele showed higher NLRP3 inflammasome activation in isolated human PBMCs. In carriers of the rs10754555 variant, the prevalence of coronary artery disease was significantly higher as compared to non-carriers with a significant interaction between rs10754555 and age. Importantly, rs10754555 carriers had significantly higher risk for cardiovascular mortality during follow-up. Inflammasome inducers (e.g. urate, triglycerides, apolipoprotein C3) modulated the association between rs10754555 and mortality. The NLRP3 intronic variant rs10754555 is associated with increased systemic inflammation, inflammasome activation, prevalent coronary artery disease, and mortality. This study provides evidence for a substantial role of genetically driven systemic inflammation in CVD and highlights the NLRP3 inflammasome as a therapeutic target. rs10754555 associates with higher NLRP3 mRNA expression and NLRP3 inflammasome activation, which induces the release of IL-1β and IL-18. This leads to systemic inflammation, higher risk for coronary artery disease, and cardiovascular mortality.

: Osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) is a serious adverse drug event that was initially reported with intravenous bisphosphonates (BPs) and more recently with other classes of drugs such as receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) inhibitor, antiangiogenic agents, and mammalian target of rapamycin (m-TOR) inhibitors. The purpose of this study is to analyze the ONJ cases and the associated drugs in the US Food and Drug Administration's adverse event reporting system (FAERS). The FAERS database was queried for the adverse drug events reported from the first quarter of 2010 to the first quarter of 2014. The reporting odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for each queried drug. A total of 17,119 unique ONJ cases were identified. In the overall analysis, the drugs with the highest reporting ORs were BPs: pamidronate (OR = 498.9), zoledronate (OR = 171.7), and alendronate (OR = 63.6), whereas denosumab had lower ORs than all the BPs except for etidronate. The antiangiogenic and m-TOR inhibitors had the lowest ORs. In cancer patients who were treated for prevention of skeletal-related events (SREs), the reporting ORs for zoledronate and denosumab were 125.2 and 4.9, respectively. In patients with osteoporosis, the ORs were 1.1 (1.0–1.18) for zoledronate and 0.63 (0.56–0.70) for denosumab, respectively. Our analysis of the FAERS database showed that the intravenous BPs were associated with the highest risk for ONJ, RANKL inhibitor was associated with risk comparable to BPs used for osteoporosis such as etidronate, and the antiangiogenic agents and m-TOR inhibitors were associated with the lowest risk for ONJ. The high risk for ONJ with zoledronate and denosumab was mainly observed in those who were treated for prevention of SREs, whereas there was limited evidence for such risk in those who were treated for osteoporosis. © 2015 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Background: Chronic pain conditions are characterized by significant individual variability complicating the identification of pathophysiological markers. Leukocyte telomere length (TL), a measure of cellular aging, is associated with age-related disease onset, psychosocial stress, and health-related functional decline. Psychosocial stress has been associated with the onset of chronic pain and chronic pain is experienced as a physical and psychosocial stressor. However, the utility of TL as a biological marker reflecting the burden of chronic pain and psychosocial stress has not yet been explored. Findings: The relationship between chronic pain, stress, and TL was analyzed in 36 ethnically diverse, older adults, half of whom reported no chronic pain and the other half had chronic knee osteoarthritis (OA) pain. Subjects completed a physical exam, radiographs, health history, and psychosocial questionnaires. Blood samples were collected and TL was measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Four groups were identified characterized by pain status and the Perceived Stress Scale scores: 1) no pain/low stress, 2) no pain/high stress, chronic pain/low stress, and 4) chronic pain/high stress. TL differed between the pain/stress groups ( p = 0.01), controlling for relevant covariates. Specifically, the chronic pain/high stress group had significantly shorter TL compared to the no pain/low stress group. Age was negatively correlated with TL, particularly in the chronic pain/high stress group ( p = 0.03). Conclusions: Although preliminary in nature and based on a modest sample size, these findings indicate that cellular aging may be more pronounced in older adults experiencing high levels of perceived stress and chronic pain.

Background: Cyclin‐dependent kinase (CDK) 4 and 6 inhibitors have significantly improved survival in patients with hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer. There are few data regarding the epidemiology of cardiovascular adverse events (CVAEs) with these therapies. Methods and Results: Using the OneFlorida Data Trust, adult patients without prior cardiovascular disease who received at least 1 CDK4/6 inhibitor were included in the analysis. CVAEs identified from International Classification of Diseases , Ninth and Tenth Revisions ( ICD‐9/10 ) codes included hypertension, atrial fibrillation(AF)/atrial flutter (AFL), heart failure/cardiomyopathy, ischemic heart disease, and pericardial disease. Competing risk analysis (Fine–Gray model) was used to determine the association between CDK4/6 inhibitor therapy and incident CVAEs. The effect of CVAEs on all‐cause death was studied using Cox proportional hazard models. Propensity‐weight analyses were performed to compare these patients to a cohort of patients treated with anthracyclines. A total of 1376 patients treated with CDK4/6 inhibitors were included in the analysis. CVAEs occurred in 24% (35.9 per 100 person‐years). CVAEs were slightly higher in patients who received CKD4/6 inhibitors compared with anthracyclines ( P =0.063), with higher death rate associated with the development of AF/AFL or cardiomyopathy/heart failure in the CDK4/6 group. The development of cardiomyopathy/heart failure and AF/AFL was associated with increased all‐cause death (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 4.89 [95% CI, 2.98–8.05]; and 5.88 [95% CI, 3.56–9.73], respectively). Conclusions: CVAEs may be more common with CDK4/6 inhibitors than previously recognized, with increased death rates in these patients who develop AF/AFL or heart failure. Further research is needed to definitively determine cardiovascular risk associated with these novel anticancer treatments.

Background: The CYP2C19 nonfunctional genotype reduces clopidogrel effectiveness after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Following clinical implementation of CYP2C19 genotyping at University Florida (UF) Health Shands Hospital in 2012, where genotype results are available approximately 3 days after PCI, testing was expanded to UF Health Jacksonville in 2016 utilizing a rapid genotyping approach. We describe metrics with this latter implementation. Methods: Patients at UF Health Jacksonville undergoing left heart catheterization with intent to undergo PCI were targeted for genotyping using the Spartan RX™ system. Testing metrics and provider acceptance of testing and response to genotype results were examined, as was antiplatelet therapy over the 6 months following genotyping. Results: In the first year, 931 patients, including 392/505 (78%) total patients undergoing PCI, were genotyped. The median genotype test turnaround time was 96 min. Genotype results were available for 388 (99%) PCI patients prior to discharge. Of 336 genotyped PCI patients alive at discharge and not enrolled in an antiplatelet therapy trial, 1/6 (17%) poor metabolizers (PMs, with two nonfunctional alleles), 38/93 (41%) intermediate metabolizers (IMs, with one nonfunctional allele), and 119/237 (50%) patients without a nonfunctional allele were prescribed clopidogrel (p = 0.110). Clopidogrel use was higher among non-ACS versus ACS patients (78.6% vs. 42.2%, p < 0.001). Six months later, among patients with follow-up data, clopidogrel was prescribed in 0/4 (0%) PMs, 33/65 (51%) IMs, and 115/182 (63%) patients without a nonfunctional allele (p = 0.008 across groups; p = 0.020 for PMs versus those without a nonfunctional allele). Conclusion: These data demonstrate that rapid genotyping is clinically feasible at a high volume cardiac catheterization facility and allows informed chronic antiplatelet prescribing, with lower clopidogrel use in PMs at 6 months. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02724319; registered March 31, 2016; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02724319?term=angiolillo&rank=7