This pilot study, with small treatment numbers, did not demonstrate a significant effect of NSAID treatment in AD, but the trends observed justify further investigations with a larger number of participants. D/M is safe in AD patients, but its tolerability is not optimal.

The increased SAC and decreased PWV in women receiving hormonal therapy suggest that such therapy may decrease stiffness of the aorta and large arteries in postmenopausal women, with potential benefit for age-related cardiovascular disorders. The reduction of arterial compliance with age appears to be altered with hormonal therapy.

Blood-brain barrier disruption with a hyperosmolar agent, mannitol, has previously been demonstrated to increase intracerebral methotrexate levels in rats. To determine the optimum conditions for blood-brain barrier disruption without producing neurological sequelae, adult Sprague-Dawley rats were infused with mannitol via the internal carotid artery at rates varying from 0.25 to 0.5 ml.s-1.kg-1. Methotrexate and Evans blue were used as markers of blood-brain barrier disruption. The optimum rate of mannitol that produced blood-brain barrier disruption without neurological sequelae was 0.25 ml.s-1.kg-1 for 20 s. The duration of blood-brain barrier opening was maximal for approximately 5 min and then rapidly reversed. Methotrexate levels on the mannitol-infused side were four to five times that of the noninfused hemisphere. Light microscopy and electron microscopy did not demonstrate any consistent changes that could be attributed to blood-brain barrier disruption nor did it elucidate the mechanism. This model should prove useful in the investigation of the treatment of intracerebral tumors with blood-brain barrier disruption. This study shows that maximal intracerebral methotrexate levels were obtained when methotrexate was infused before or within 5 min of the mannitol infusion.

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This study demonstrates a positive relationship between diastolic filling and arterial compliance in the older population. However, in multiple regression analysis, heart rate, diastolic blood pressure, and left ventricular mass were the independent predictors of diastolic filling (E/A), whereas arterial compliance was not. These findings imply that therapeutic modulation of aortic stiffness would not, of itself, contribute to improvement in diastolic function.