Short-term treatment with atorvastatin significantly reduces the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events after vascular surgery.

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SummaryObesity has become a very frequent condition with important consequences for the health of affected individuals. Current evidence shows that the excess of adipose tissue as observed in obesity is responsible for secreting inflammatory mediators in a deregulated manner, thus inducing a chronic state of systemic low-grade inflammation that underlies the metabolic and cardiovascular outcomes in these populations. This article reviews the state of the art regarding mediators produced in the adipose tissue, their roles in the pathophysiology of obesity-associated insulin resistance and diabetes, and finally, tries to build a bridge between these mechanistically oriented insights and clinical practice.

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1ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE BACKGROUND: Recent research efforts on bariatric surgery have focused on metabolic and diabetes mellitus resolution. Randomized trials designed to assess the impact of bariatric surgery in patients with obesity and hypertension are needed. METHODS:In this randomized, single-center, nonblinded trial, we included patients with hypertension (using ≥2 medications at maximum doses or >2 at moderate doses) and a body mass index between 30.0 and 39.9 kg/m 2 . Patients were randomized to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass plus medical therapy or medical therapy alone. The primary end point was reduction of ≥30% of the total number of antihypertensive medications while maintaining systolic and diastolic blood pressure <140 mm Hg and 90 mm Hg, respectively, at 12 months. RESULTS:We included 100 patients (70% female, mean age 43.8±9.2 years, mean body mass index 36.9±2.7 kg/m2), and 96% completed follow-up. Reduction of ≥30% of the total number of antihypertensive medications while maintaining controlled blood pressure occurred in 41 of 49 patients from the gastric bypass group (83.7%) compared with 6 of 47 patients (12.8%) from the control group with a rate ratio of 6.6 (95% confidence interval, 3.1-14.0; P<0.001). Remission of hypertension was present in 25 of 49 (51%) and 22 of 48 (45.8%) patients randomized to gastric bypass, considering office and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, respectively, whereas no patient submitted to medical therapy was free of antihypertensive drugs at 12 months. A post hoc analysis for the primary end point considering the SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial) target reached consistent results, with a rate ratio of 3.8 (95% confidence interval , 1.4-10.6; P=0.005). Eleven patients (22.4%) from the gastric bypass group and none in the control group were able to achieve SPRINT levels without antihypertensives. Waist circumference, body mass index, fasting plasma glucose, glycohemoglobin, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and 10-year Framingham risk score were lower in the gastric bypass than in the control group. CONCLUSIONS:Bariatric surgery represents an effective strategy for blood pressure control in a broad population of patients with obesity and hypertension. 2 Several patients with hypertension require >2 medications to achieve blood pressure control, 3 which creates challenges for long-term adherence to treatment, and it is well documented that hypertension is poorly controlled in patients with obesity. 4 Bariatric surgery represents the most effective method to treat obesity. 5,6 Although much recent research efforts have focused on metabolic improvement and diabetes mellitus resolution, previous studies suggest that a significant percentage of patients with coexisting obesity and hypertension are able to reduce or even discontinue their antihypertensive medications after bariatric surgery. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:7-10 Because blood pressure control was n...

Inflammatory cytokines released from adipose tissue play an important role in different pathological processes. In the present study, we investigated the inflammatory cytokine response of human subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) by applying the open-flow microperfusion technique. Four standard 18-gauge microperfusion catheters were inserted into periumbilical SAT of eight healthy male volunteers [29 Ϯ 3 yr, BMI 24.3 Ϯ 1.9 (mean Ϯ SD)]. SAT probe effluents were collected at 60-min intervals for 8 h after catheter insertion. Different perfusion fluids were used to measure the local effect of insulin and/or glucose on the cytokine response. SAT probe effluents were analyzed for IL-1␤, IL-6, CXCL8 (IL-8), and TNF-␣. SAT concentrations of IL-1␤ increased 100-fold from 1.0 Ϯ 0.2 pg/ml (mean Ϯ SE) to 101.5 Ϯ 23.2 pg/ml (P Ͻ 0.001) after 8 h. A 130-fold increase was observed for CXCL8, from 49 Ϯ 29 to 6,554 Ϯ 1,713 pg/ml (P Ͻ 0.001). Furthermore, a 20-fold increase of IL-6 was observed within the first 5 h (from 159 Ϯ 123 to 3,554 Ϯ 394 pg/ml; P Ͻ 0.001), and a significant decline to 2,154 Ϯ 216 pg/ml (P Ͻ 0.01) was seen thereafter. Finally, TNF-␣ increased from 1.4 Ϯ 0.6 to 2.5 Ϯ 0.5 pg/ml (P Ͻ 0.05) in hour 2 and remained stable thereafter. Local administration of insulin exerted a stimulatory effect on the inflammatory response of IL-6. In conclusion, SAT exerts a highly reproducible and consistent proinflammatory cytokine response after minimally invasive trauma caused by the insertion of a catheter in humans.