1. Twenty-two British Friesian bull calves were used in a comparative slaughter experiment to determine the effects of a P-agonist (clenbuterol) on body composition and energy retention. Four calves were slaughtered at 18 d of age and constituted the initial slaughter group. Of the remaining calves, eight (group A, controls) were given milk replacer only, and ten calves (groups B and C, five calves per group) were given milk replacer plus clenbuterol(O.1 and 1.0 mg clenbuterol/kg milk replacer equivalent to approximately 2 and 20 pg/kg body-weight respectively over the 105k3 d of the experimental period). Calves were slaughtered over the weight range 146177 kg.2. Clenbuterol had no significant effect on dry matter (DM) intake, daily live-weight gain or feed conversion ratio. DM digestibility of the milk replacer was not affected by treatment. Nitrogen balance was measured on three separate occasions starting when the calves weighed approximately 60, 110 and 130 kg. N retention was increased over the experimental period in clenbuterol-treated calves, although the effect only achieved significance in calves weighing approximately 110 kg live weight (P < 0.05).3. Clenbuterol (20 pg/kg body-weight) increased estimated mean daily N retention in the carcass of the calves from 22 to 25 g whilst N retention in the non-carcass components decreased from 10 to 8 g/d. Effects of clenbuterol on N retention occurred mainly in skeletal muscle. Fat in both carcass and non-carcass components was reduced by treatment with clenbuterol. The total energy content of live-weight gain was reduced from 1077 to 897 MJ in clenbuterol-treated calves and mean daily heat production was estimated to increase from 23.1 in controls to 25.9 MJjd in calves in group C.4. In calves of mean live weight during balance of 120 and 136 kg, clenbuterol significantly increased daily urinary creatinine excretion and in 120 kg calves W-methylhistidine was significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Based on estimates of muscle mass from urinary creatinine and protein degradation from N7-methylhistidine excretion, the fractional breakdown rate of muscle protein in clenbuterol-treated calves was only 0.66 of that in the controls when the calves weighed 120 kg.Several reports Dalrymple et al. 1984;Ricks et al. 1984;Jones et al. 1985;Moser et al. 1986) have identified that the ,!I-adrenergic agonists clenbuterol (benzyl alcohol, 4-amino-R-(t-butyl-amino)methyl-3,5-dichloro) and cimaterol (CL263,780), when added to the diet of steers, lambs, poultry and pigs, produce an increase in muscle and a decrease in fat accretion which have been attributed to a shift in nutrient partitioning. From chemical analysis of the 9th to I Ith rib sections it was estimated that carcass protein in clenbuterol-treated steers was 1.15 and carcass fat 0.75 of that in controls . Estimation of body composition from rib analysis in animals treated with clenbuterol assumes that relations between rib composition and body composition which were obtained using untreated animals are the same for trea...

In healthy individuals LV size, competitive sport, age, and LV mass are independent determinants of LAVi. Body mass index and the E/e' ratio affect LAVi only in non-athletes. These findings may have practical implications when assessing normalcy of LA size in the clinical setting.

The DISCOVERY multicenter registry, with a case-control group, is the first large prospective study aimed at assessing the role of SCAD in the pathogenesis of ACS and at identifying the role of different therapeutic strategies in this unusual, multifaceted and probably underestimated pathologic condition.

ObjectiveLipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) is deemed to play a role in atherosclerosis and plaque destabilization as demonstrated in animal models and in prospective clinical studies. However, most of the literature is either focused on high-risk, apparently healthy patients, or is based on cross sectional studies. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that serum Lp-PLA2 mass and activity are useful for predicting cardiovascular (CV) events over the coronary atherosclerotic burden and conventional risk factors in high-risk coronary artery disease patients.Methods and ResultsIn a prospective cohort study of 712 Caucasian patients, who underwent coronary angiography and measurement of both Lp-PLA2 mass and activity at baseline, we determined incident CV events at follow-up after splitting the patients into a high and a low Lp-PLA2 mass and activity groups based on ROC analysis and Youden index. Kaplan-Meier and propensity score matching analysis were used to compare CV event-free survival between groups. Follow-up data were obtained in 75% of the cohort after a median of 7.2 years (range 1–12.7 years) during which 129 (25.5%) CV events were observed. The high Lp-PLA2 activity patients showed worse CV event-free survival (66.7% vs. 79.5%, p = 0.023) and acute coronary syndrome-free survival (75.4% vs. 85.6%, p = 0.04) than those in low Lp-PLA2 group.ConclusionsA high Lp-PLA2 activity implies a worse CV prognosis at long term follow up in high-risk Caucasian patients referred for coronary angiography.

We showed that warfarin, but not rivaroxaban, could induce calcific valve degeneration in a mouse model of atherosclerosis. Both the treatments did not significantly affect the progression of atherosclerosis. Overall, these data suggest a safer profile of rivaroxaban on the risk of cardiovascular disease progression.