[The effect of statin treatment on inflammation in patients with metabolic syndrome]. / Metabolik sendromlu hastalarda statin tedavisinin inflamasyon üzerine etkisi.

OBJECTIVES: Inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome (MS). We investigated the effect of fluvastatin treatment on inflammatory markers in patients with MS. STUDY DESIGN: The study included 47 patients (36 females; 11 males; mean age 55+/-8 years) with MS. The diagnosis of MS was based on the presence of at least three criteria of the NCEP ATP III guidelines. All the patients received 80 mg fluvastatin treatment for six weeks. Laboratory parameters were measured before and after treatment, and flow cytometric analysis of peripheral blood leukocytes was performed. The results were compared with those of 47 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (33 females, 14 males; mean age 52+/-8 years). RESULTS: Fluvastatin treatment resulted in significant decreases in levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglyceride (p<0.005), and C-reactive protein (p<0.05). Thirty-three patients (70.2%) had insulin resistance, which remained unchanged following treatment. Flow cytometric analysis after treatment showed significant decreases in total lymphocytes, and in surface antigens of CD16+56 and CD8+(CD28+) on leukocytes, CD11c on granulocytes, and a significant increase in the CD4/CD8 ratio (p<0.05). Compared to the control group, the mean baseline values of fluorescence density (FD) of CD14, CD11b, CD11c, and CD63 on monocytes, and CD11b and CD11c on granulocytes were significantly higher in patients with MS (p<0.05). Following fluvastatin treatment, there were significant decreases in the mean FD of CD3 on lymphocytes, and of CD11b and CD11c on both monocytes and granulocytes (p<0.05); of these, all FD values were similar to those in the control group (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrate that inflammation may have a significant role in the pathogenesis of MS and that this effect can be controlled with statin treatment.

Prediction of subclinical left ventricular dysfunction with strain rate imaging in patients with mild to moderate rheumatic mitral stenosis.

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular (LV) long-axis function evaluated by Doppler tissue echocardiography-derived strain rate (SR) imaging has been shown to be a useful index of LV systolic function; however, it has not been evaluated in patients with mitral stenosis (MS). We examined the LV long-axis function of patients with pure MS and normal global systolic function as assessed by LV ejection fraction. METHOD: In all, 30 patients (22 women; 45 +/- 9 years) with mild to moderate MS (mitral valve area = 1.5 +/- 0.3 cm2) and 28 healthy volunteers (20 women; 44 +/- 10 years) were evaluated by both conventional and Doppler tissue echocardiography. Two-dimensional Doppler tissue echocardiography was performed in the apical 4-chamber view in the septal and lateral wall on the mitral annular level. Peak systolic myocardial SR and end-systolic strain data were measured for both segments. RESULTS: Peak systolic SR (1.2 +/- 0.4% vs 1.8 +/- 0.39%, P < .001) and end-systolic strain (10 +/- 5 vs 25 +/- 6 s(-1), P < .001) were both significantly lower in patients with MS than in control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with MS had significantly impaired long-axis function evaluated by Doppler tissue echocardiography-derived SR imaging despite normal global systolic function.

[Effects of beta-blockers on transmitral, pulmonary venous flows, and spontaneous echo-contrast grades in heart failure]. / Kalp yetersizliginde beta-bloker tedavisinin transmitral ve pulmoner ven akimlari ile spontan eko-kontrast düzeyi üzerine etkisi.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to investigate effects of metoprolol treatment on transmitral, pulmonary venous flows and spontaneous echo contrast in patients with heart failure. METHODS: Twenty-four patients (mean age: 55+/-8 years) with heart failure were enrolled to the study. All were given metoprolol succinate with titrated target dose of 50 mg/d controlled release tablets for 1 month. Transmitral flow and pulmonary venous flow, systolic, diastolic and atrial reversal flow velocities were measured, and compared with the pretreatment values. RESULTS: Heart rate significantly decreased. No significant change was observed in ejection fraction. When the post treatment values were compared with the pretreatment values, it was detected that isovolumetric relaxation time significantly decreased (p<0.05), mitral E wave and E/A ratio were significantly increased (p<0.05 and p<0.05, respectively) after the treatment. A significant increase was observed in pulmonary vein systolic velocity after metoprolol treatment (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Metoprolol treatment can cause an improvement in transmitral and pulmonary venous flows.