ABSTRACT:By irradiating ultrasonic wave (20kHz) to calf thymus deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in aqueous solution (2 mg ml-1 containing 0.2 M NaCI) at ooc, the molecular weight (M w) was degraded from 8 x 10 6 to ca. 2 x 10 5 without any noticeable denaturation. The dependence of the molecular weight of sonicated DNA on the irradiation intensity was examined by varying ultrasonic energy levels. The molecular weights were remarkably decreased with the increase in ultrasonic power from 25 to 105W, and reached a steady value (Mw=2.4x 10 5 ) at !00-200W.
Background
Hypertension and diabetes frequently coexist; however, it has not yet been clarified if the bidirectional longitudinal relationships between arterial stiffness and hypertension are independent of those between arterial stiffness and diabetes.
Methods and Results
In this 16‐year prospective observational study, 3960 middle‐aged employees of a Japanese company without hypertension/diabetes at the study baseline underwent annual repeated measurements of blood pressure, serum glycosylated hemoglobin A
1c
levels, and brachial‐ankle pulse wave velocity. By the end of the study period, 664, 779, 154, and 406 subjects developed hypertension, prehypertension, diabetes, and prediabetes, respectively. Increased brachial‐ankle pulse wave velocity at the baseline was associated with a significant odds ratio (per 1 SD increase) for new onset of prehypertension/hypertension with (2.45/3.28;
P
<0.001) or without (2.49/2.76;
P
<0.001) coexisting prediabetes/diabetes, but not for new onset of prediabetes/diabetes without coexisting hypertension. Analyses using the latent growth curve model confirmed the bidirectional relationships between brachial‐ankle pulse wave velocity and hypertension, but no such relationship was observed between brachial‐ankle pulse wave velocity and abnormal glucose metabolism.
Conclusions
In middle‐aged employees of a Japanese company, while bidirectional relationships were found to exist between increased arterial stiffness and hypertension, such a relationship was not found between increased arterial stiffness and diabetes. Therefore, it appears that increased arterial stiffness may be associated with the development of hypertension but not with that of diabetes.
Aims:
This prospective observational study, which utilized repeated annual measurements performed over a 9-year period, applied mixed model analyses to examine age-related differences in longitudinal associations between alcohol intake and arterial stiffness, pressure wave reflection, and inflammation.
Methods:
In 4016 middle-aged (43±9 years) healthy Japanese male employees, alcohol intake, brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), radial augmentation index (rAI), and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were measured annually during a 9-year study period.
Results:
The estimated marginal mean baPWV (non-drinkers=1306 cm/s, mild–moderate drinkers=1311 cm/s, and heavy drinkers=1337 cm/s,
P
<0.01) and that of rAI showed significant stepped increases in an alcohol dose-dependent manner in the entire cohort, but an increase in rAI was not observed in subjects aged ≥ 50 years. The estimated slope of the annual increase in baPWV, but not rAI, was higher for heavy drinkers than for non-drinkers (slope difference, 1.84;
P
<0.05), especially for subjects aged <50 years (slope difference, 2.84;
P
<0.05).
Conclusion:
In middle-aged male Japanese employees, alcohol intake may attenuate inflammatory activity. While alcohol intake may exacerbate the progression of arterial stiffening in a dose-dependent manner without mediating inflammation, especially in subjects under 50 years of age, it may promote pressure wave reflection abnormalities with aging at earlier ages without further exacerbation at older ages.
Background:
This prospective observational study examined whether hyperuricemia may be associated with impaired left ventricular (LV) systolic function and increased cardiac load resulting from increased arterial stiffness.
Methods and Results:
In 1,880 middle-aged (mean [±SD] age 45±9 years) healthy men, serum uric acid (UA) levels, pre-ejection period/ejection time (PEP/ET) ratio, serum N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels, and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) were measured at the start and end of the 3-year study period. Linear regression analysis revealed that serum UA levels measured at baseline were significantly associated with the PEP/ET ratio, but not with serum NT-proBNP levels, measured at baseline (β=0.73×10
−1
, P<0.01) and at the end of the study period (β=0.68×10
−1
, P<0.01). The change in the PEP/ET ratio during the study period was significantly greater in the High-UA (UA >7 mg/dL in 2009 and 2012) than Low-UA (UA ≤7 mg/dL in 2009 and 2012) group. Mediation analysis demonstrated both direct and indirect (via increases in baPWV) associations between serum UA measured at baseline and the PEP/ET ratio measured at the end of the study period.
Conclusions:
In healthy middle-aged Japanese men, hyperuricemia may be associated with an accelerated decline in ventricular systolic function, both directly and indirectly, via increases in arterial stiffness.
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