Hypertension is characterized by structural and functional changes in blood vessels that travel with increased arterial stiffness, vascular inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction. Some antihypertensive drugs have been shown to improve endothelial function and reduce levels of inflammatory markers regardless of the effect of blood pressure lowering. Third-generation β-blockers, such as nebivolol and carvedilol, because they have additional properties, have been shown to improve endothelial function in patients with hypertension. Calcium channel antagonists, because they have antioxidant effects, may improve endothelial function and vascular inflammation.The Angiotensin Receptor Blocker (ARBs) are able to improve endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation in patients with hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have shown beneficial effects on endothelial function in patients with hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases, however there are few studies evaluating the effect of treatment with this class on the reduction of C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Further studies are needed to assess whether treatment of endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation may improve the prognosis of patients with essential hypertension.

Cancer continues to be one of the most important health problems worldwide, and the identification of novel drugs and treatments to address this disease is urgent. During recent years, marine organisms have proven to be a promising source of new compounds with action against tumoral cell lines. Here, we describe the synthesis and anticancer activity of eight new 3-alkylpyridine alkaloid (3-APA) analogs in four steps and with good yields. The key step for the synthesis of these compounds is a Williamson etherification under phase-transfer conditions. We investigated the influence of the length of the alkyl chain attached to position 3 of the pyridine ring on the cytotoxicity of these compounds. Biological assays demonstrated that compounds with an alkyl chain of ten carbon atoms (4c and 5c) were the most active against two tumoral cell lines: RKO-AS-45-1 and HeLa. Micronucleus and TUNEL assays showed that both compounds are mutagenic and induce apoptosis. In addition, Compound 5c altered the cellular actin cytoskeleton in RKO-AS-45-1 cells. The results suggest that Compounds 4c and 5c may be novel prototype anticancer agents.

Introduction: Studies have shown that the renin angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS) and inflammation are related to kidney injury progression. The aim of this study was to evaluate RAAS molecules and chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2) in 82 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods: Patients were divided into two groups: patients diagnosed with CKD and patients without a CKD diagnosis. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) were determined, as well as plasma levels of angiotensin-(1-7) [Ang-(1-7)], angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)1, ACE2, and plasma and urinary levels of CCL2. Results: CCL2 plasma levels were significantly higher in patients with CKD compared to the control group. Patients with lower GFR had higher plasma levels of ACE2 and CCL2 and lower ratio ACE1/ACE2. Patients with higher ACR values had higher ACE1 plasma levels. Conclusion: Patients with CKD showed greater activity of both RAAS axes, the classic and alternative, and higher plasma levels of CCL2. Therefore, plasma levels of RAAS molecules and CCL2 seem to be promising prognostic markers and even therapeutic targets for CKD.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) increases the risk of cardiovascular complications, and artificial intelligence (AI) offers promising tools for early risk prediction. To develop AI models capable of identifying predictors of cardiovascular events in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Retrospective multicentre cohort, which included adult COVID-19 patients from 25 hospitals (March/2021–August/2022). Cardiovascular outcomes, inluding arrhythmia, acute heart failure, myocardial infarction, myocarditis, and pericarditis, were combined into a composite outcome. Two predictive models were developed using the Light gradient-boosting machine (LightGBM): model 1 used 59 variables (demographic, clinical, laboratory, and socioeconomic data) while model 2 used 52 variables (excluding socioeconomic factors). Model performance was assessed using accuracy, macro-F1, recall, precision, and area under the receiving operating characteristic curve (AUROC). Shapley additive explanation (SHAP) values identified the most influencial predictors. To address class imbalance, we applied random oversampling. Among 10,700 patients (median age 59 years [interquatile range 48–70]), 5.3% experienced the composite outcome. Both models showed moderate discrimination (AUROC: 0.752 and 0.760) and high accuracy (94.6% and 94.5%). However, class imbalance resulted in low macro-F1 scores (51.2% and 50.7%). F1 scores were high for the majority class (non-events: 97.2%) but very low for the minority class (cardiovascular events: 5.2% and 4.2%). Even after oversampling, performance for the minority class remained limited, with a maximum F1 score of 21.5%, primarily driven by gains in recall. SHAP analysis identified age, urea, platelet count, and oxygen saturation/inspired oxygen fraction (SatO2/FiO2) as key predictors. Despite moderate AUROC and high accuracy, both AI models demonstrated limited ability to detect cardiovascular events due to class imbalance. The persistently low F1 score for the minority class underscores this limitation. Traditional rebalancing techniques produced only small gains, mostly improving recall occurring at the expense of precision. Age, urea levels, platelet count, and SatO2/FiO2 were identified as the most relevant predictors of cardiovascular complications in this cohort.