Six grams of beta-glucan from oats added to the AHA Step II diet and moderate physical activity improved lipid profile and caused a decrease in weight and, thus, reduced the risk of cardiovascular events in overweight male individuals with mild to moderate hypercholesterolemia. The diet with added beta-glucan was well accepted and tolerated.

A diet incorporating a fat replacer and non-sucrose sweeteners produced a greater improvement in metabolic and anthropometric variables in well controlled type 2 diabetic patients when compared with a diet based on American Diabetic Association's nutrition recommendations.

Our results suggest that exposure to cigarette smoke increases NO synthesis, such that NO may act in a compensatory way as an inhibitor of lipid peroxidation. Smoking also activates other antioxidative mechanisms such as involving vitamin C. These protective mechanisms appear to be enough in preventing accumulation of oxidative products such as MDA and avoiding oxidative damage.

Serum levels of malondialdehyde increase, and serum levels of nitric oxide diminish within 24 hours after the onset of thrombotic stroke onset. This suggests that serum malondialdehyde level could be used as potentially reliable and sensitive marker for reperfusion, whereas nitric oxide levels could acts as potential biochemical sensor for nonreflow phenomenon.

Metformin plus low-dose glimepiride (plus ADA diet and physical activity) is a more effective treatment for type 2 diabetes than either metformin plus ADA diet and physical activity or ADA diet and physical activity alone. Determination of HOMA(IR) and HOMA(beta-cell) values is an inexpensive, reliable, less invasive, and less labor-intensive method than other tests to estimate insulin resistance and beta-cell function in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Trimetazidine is a drug with cardioprotective properties used in coronary artery disease. Its effect has been attributed to the inhibition of the long chain fatty acids intramitochondrial transport via carnitine-palmitoyl-transferase-1. Clinical evidence supports the possibility that trimetazidine is able to improve the fasting glycemia in diabetic patients. For this reason, the objective of the present study was to determine the effect of trimetazidine on serum glucose of Sprague-Dawley rats with fasting hyperglycemia. All animals received water and food "ad libitum." Blood glucose was measured weekly to confirm fasting hyperglycemia in rats. The rats were treated for 1 month with trimetazidine (1 mg/kg), and blood samples were collected (in the fasting period) on the last day of treatment (the 30th day); and then on the 15th day posttreatment, measurements of plasma glucose were taken. Fasting plasma levels after 30 days of trimetazidine administration decreased significantly from 141.2 +/- 3.3 mg/dL (pre-drug) to 120.9 +/- 5.8 mg/dL (P<0.01). 15 days after the end of treatment, fasting plasma glucose levels (137.0 +/- 7.0 mg/dL) were close to the pretreatment levels but significantly different (P<0.05) from levels on day 30 of treatment. These data suggest that trimetazidine improved blood glucose utilization in rats with fasting hyperglycemia.

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