Current state of BP management and methods for improving BP status for hypertensive patients.
Current state of BP management and methods for improving BP status for hypertensive patients.
Proteinuria, especially albuminuria, serves as an independent risk factor for progression in cardiovascular and renal diseases. Clinical and experimental studies have demonstrated that renal nerves contribute to renal dysfunction in arterial hypertension (AH). This study hypothesizes that renal nerves mediate the mechanisms of protein endocytosis by proximal tubule epithelial cells (PTEC) and glomerular function; with dysregulation of the renal nerves contributing to proteinuria in Wistar rats with renovascular hypertension (2-kidney, 1-clip model, 2K-1C). Reduced albumin uptake and increased internalization of endocytic receptor megalin in PTEC were found in both the clipped and contralateral kidneys of 2K-1C rats. Renal denervation (DNx) or hydralazine treatment restored these parameters. Moreover, DNx, but not hydralazine, reduced serum creatinine and recovered podocyte numbers in the contralateral kidney of 2K-1C rats. Thus, our data suggest that renal nerves and high arterial pressure contribute to decreased albumin reabsorption by cellular redistribution of megalin in PTEC, while renal nerves remarkably drive glomerular dysfunction in renovascular hypertension, independently of their effect on blood pressure. Created with BioRender.com.
The ratio of serum acylcarnitines to free carnitines (AC/FC) reflects impaired cardiomyocyte β-oxidization. The effect of heart failure (HF) treatment on AC/FC remained unclear. This pilot study retrospectively examined treatment-induced AC/FC changes in patients with HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) in 148 consecutive inpatients undergoing echocardiography and carnitine measurement at admission and discharge. Symptomatic ACCF/AHA HF stage C/D patients (HFpEF, n = 40; HErEF, n = 24) received standard medical therapy and comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation. At admission, AC/FC levels in HFpEF and HFrEF were significantly higher than in asymptomatic stage A/B (n = 84), decreasing to comparable levels at discharge. AC/FC reduction was associated with improvement of left ventricular ejection fraction through HF treatment in HFpEF, particularly in HFpEF with hypertension, but not in HFrEF. Large-scale, multicenter prospective studies with precise cardiac function assessments are essential to validate the preliminary findings and to clarify the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms.
In the present analysis, we investigated the association between alcohol consumption and ambulatory blood pressure (BP) control in male patients after 8 weeks of antihypertensive therapy with two dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers. The study participants were hypertensive (clinic systolic/diastolic BP of 140-179/90-109 mmHg and 24-hour ambulatory systolic/diastolic BP ≥ 130/80 mmHg) patients enrolled in a randomized controlled trial and treated with amlodipine 5-10 mg or nifedipine gastrointestinal therapeutic system (GITS) 30-60 mg once daily. Alcohol consumption was classified as non-drinkers and drinkers. Non-dipping was defined as a BP drop from daytime to nighttime <10%. At baseline, the 131 alcohol drinkers, compared with 141 non-drinkers, had a significantly higher nighttime systolic/diastolic BP (129.3 ± 13.5/83.8 ± 9.5 vs. 125.7 ± 12.3/80.9 ± 8.2 mmHg, P ≤ 0.02), night-to-day ratio for both systolic (89.1 ± 8.5 vs. 87.0 ± 7.1%, P = 0.03) and diastolic BP (88.7 ± 8.8 vs. 86.5 ± 7.9%, P = 0.04) and prevalence of non-dippers for systolic (45.0% vs. 33.3%, P = 0.048) and diastolic BP (42.0% vs. 29.8%, P = 0.04). However, they had similar clinic and 24-hour and daytime ambulatory BP at baseline (P ≥ 0.07). Antihypertensive treatment significantly (P ≤ 0.001) reduced clinic and ambulatory systolic and diastolic BP from baseline in both alcohol drinkers and non-drinkers at 4 and 8 weeks of follow-up. However, in patients with a non-dipping pattern at baseline, the proportion of dippers for systolic/diastolic BP at 8 weeks of follow-up (36.5% vs. 58.5%) was significantly lower in 67 alcohol drinkers than in 52 non-drinkers (P = 0.035). Alcohol drinkers had higher nighttime BP and a higher prevalence of non-dippers than non-drinkers. Clinic blood pressure-guided antihypertensive treatment was insufficient in controlling nighttime BP or changing the non-dipping to dipping pattern in alcohol drinkers with sustained clinic and ambulatory hypertension. Alcohol drinkers had higher nighttime systolic and diastolic blood pressure than non-drinkers at baseline. Clinic blood pressure-guided antihypertensive treatment was insufficient in changing the non-dipping to dipping pattern in alcohol drinkers with sustained clinic and ambulatory hypertension.
Contemporary anticancer drugs are often accompanied by varying degrees of cardiovascular toxicity, with hypertension emerging as one of the most prevalent side effects, particularly linked to inhibitors of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Hypertension induced by cancer therapies contributes to increased cardiovascular mortality in cancer patients and survivors. Given the shared common risk factors and overlapping pathophysiological mechanisms, hypertension is also a prevalent comorbidity in this patient population. The mechanisms underlying hypertension induced by therapies targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling pathway primarily involve reduced nitric oxide (NO) synthesis, increased endothelin-1 (ET-1) production, oxidative stress, microvascular rarefaction and dysfunction, decreased natriuresis, activation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), and partial endothelial cell death. Research into hypertension associated with therapies targeting the VEGF signaling pathway (VSP) could facilitate the optimization of cancer treatments, improve the evaluation and management of hypertension during targeted therapy, and help to reduce cardiovascular event rates and overall patient mortality. This review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of the current advancements in this area.