BackgroundRecent experimental studies have revealed that n-3 fatty acids, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) regulate postprandial insulin secretion, and correct postprandial glucose and lipid abnormalities. However, the effects of 6-month EPA treatment on postprandial hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia, insulin secretion, and concomitant endothelial dysfunction remain unknown in patients with impaired glucose metabolism (IGM) and coronary artery disease (CAD).Methods and resultsWe randomized 107 newly diagnosed IGM patients with CAD to receive either 1800 mg/day of EPA (EPA group, n = 53) or no EPA (n = 54). Cookie meal testing (carbohydrates: 75 g, fat: 28.5 g) and endothelial function testing using fasting-state flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) were performed before and after 6 months of treatment. The primary outcome of this study was changes in postprandial glycemic and triglyceridemic control and secondary outcomes were improvement of insulin secretion and endothelial dysfunction. After 6 months, the EPA group exhibited significant improvements in EPA/arachidonic acid, fasting triglyceride (TG), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). The EPA group also exhibited significant decreases in the incremental TG peak, area under the curve (AUC) for postprandial TG, incremental glucose peak, AUC for postprandial glucose, and improvements in glycometabolism categorization. No significant changes were observed for hemoglobin A1c and fasting plasma glucose levels. The EPA group exhibited a significant increase in AUC-immune reactive insulin/AUC-plasma glucose ratio (which indicates postprandial insulin secretory ability) and significant improvements in FMD. Multiple regression analysis revealed that decreases in the TG/HDL-C ratio and incremental TG peak were independent predictors of FMD improvement in the EPA group.ConclusionsEPA corrected postprandial hypertriglyceridemia, hyperglycemia and insulin secretion ability. This amelioration of several metabolic abnormalities was accompanied by recovery of concomitant endothelial dysfunction in newly diagnosed IGM patients with CAD.Clinical Trial Registration UMIN Registry number: UMIN000011265 (https://www.upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr/ctr.cgi?function=brows&action=brows&type=summary&recptno=R000013200&language=E)Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12933-016-0437-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
We previously published a comparative study of 2-D speckle tracking longitudinal strain from RV free wall (RV-free) as an independent echocardiographic predictor of hemodynamic RV performance including mPAP and PVR, and current conventional echocardiographic techniques including tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), RV fractional area change (RVFAC), RV index of myocardial performance (RIMP), and tissue Doppler-derived tricuspid lateral annular systolic velocity (S'). 6 Of the conventional techniques, TAPSE is well known as a highly reproducible and robust non-invasive measure of RV function and is predictive of outcome for patients with PH. 7, 8 The present objective was to test the hypothesis that RV-free can predict long-term outcome after the addition of PH-specific drugs for the treatment of PH. We also tested the hypothesis that the addition of an RV-free-based assessment to that based on TAPSE using conventional echocardiographic parameters can enhance the capability of the ulmonary hypertension (PH) is a clinical syndrome characterized by progressive increases in pulmonary vascular load, leading to marked increases in pulmonary artery pressure and exercise intolerance, and is usually associated with a poor outcome. 1-5 The natural history of patients with PH is heterogeneous, with more rapid clinical deterioration seen in patients with the highest degree of right ventricular (RV) dysfunction. Recently, several investigators reported that PH-specific drugs reduced the mortality and morbidity for patients with PH. 3 Consequently, interest is high in the assessment of RV performance for predicting long-term outcome after treatment with PH-specific drugs. While the assessment of RV function has thus become increasingly important in the management of patients with PH, most standard techniques for assessing RV hemodynamics, such as mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) or pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) are invasive and time-consuming. Background: The development of right ventricular (RV) dysfunction in pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients is associated with adverse outcome, so that the assessment of RV function has become increasingly important in the management of such patients. The present objective was to test the hypothesis that RV free-wall longitudinal speckle-tracking strain (RV-free), an independent echocardiographic predictor of hemodynamic RV performance, can predict long-term outcome.
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