Alline M. Beleigoli

Strain imaging in morbid obesity: insights into subclinical ventricular dysfunction.

Obesity has become an important health problem throughout the world. Early detection of cardiovascular abnormalities may be useful in the future for patient management. This study aimed to identify subclinical ventricular dysfunction in obese patients.

Natriuretic peptides: linking heart and adipose tissue in obesity and related conditions--a systematic review.

The objective of this study was to investigate the association between natriuretic peptides, obesity and related comorbidities. A systematic review of the English language literature from 1996 to 2008 was performed with Pubmed/MEDLINE and the ISI Web of Knowledge. ‘Natriuretic peptides’, ‘atrial natriuretic factor’, ‘brain natriuretic peptide’, ‘obesity’, ‘body mass index’, ‘lipolysis’ and ‘adipose tissue’ were used as Mesh terms. We also conducted a handle search among the references of the original articles selected. Finally, seventy‐five studies were considered eligible for inclusion in the review. Natriuretic peptides are widely known as body homeostasis regulators. Recently, their action as lipolytic agents has been identified. Obese patients, especially those with hypertension and metabolic risk factors, have reduced plasma levels of natriuretic peptides. Whether this precedes or follows obesity and its complications remains undefined. The lipolytic effect of natriuretic peptides indicates that they may be involved in the pathophysiology of obesity. In general, studies with obese patients support paradoxical reduced levels of natriuretic peptides. However, the selection of subjects and classification of obesity and heart failure varied among the reviewed studies, rendering comparison unreliable.

C-Reactive Protein and B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Yield Either a Non-Significant or a Modest Incremental Value to Traditional Risk Factors in Predicting Long-Term Overall Mortality in Older Adults

Background New biomarkers may aid in preventive and end-of-life decisions in older adults if they enhance the prognostic ability of traditional risk factors. We investigated whether C-reactive protein (CRP) and/or B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) improve the ability to predict overall mortality among the elderly of the Bambuí, Brazil Study of Aging when added to traditional risk factors. Methods From 1997 to 2007, 1,470 community-dwelling individuals (≥60 years) were followed-up. Death was ascertained by continuous verification of death certificates. We calculated hazard ratios per 1 standard deviation change (HR) of death for traditional risk factors only (old model), and traditional risk factors plus CRP and/or BNP (new models) and assessed calibration of the models. Subsequently, we compared c-statistic of each of the new models to the old one, and calculated integrated discriminative improvement (IDI) and net reclassification improvement (NRI). Results 544 (37.0%) participants died in a mean follow-up time of 9.0 years. CRP (HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.17-1.40), BNP (HR 1.31 95% CI 1.19-1.45), and CRP plus BNP (HR 1.26, 95% CI 1.15-1.38, and HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.16-1.42, respectively) were independent determinants of mortality. All models were well-calibrated. Discrimination was similar among the old (c-statistic 0.78 [0.78-0.81]) and new models (p=0.43 for CRP; p=0.57 for BNP; and p=0.31 for CRP plus BNP). Compared to the old model, CRP, BNP, and CRP plus BNP models led to an IDI of 0.009 (p<0.001), -0.005 (p<0.001) and -0.003 (p=0.84), and a NRI of 0.04 (p=0.24), 0.07 (p=0.08) and 0.06 (p=0.10), respectively. Conclusions Despite being independent predictors of long-term risk of death, compared to traditional risk factors CRP and/or BNP led to either a modest or non-significant improvement in the ability of predicting all-cause mortality in older adults.

Overweight and Class I Obesity Are Associated with Lower 10-Year Risk of Mortality in Brazilian Older Adults: The Bambuí Cohort Study of Ageing

Background Prospective studies mostly with European and North-American populations have shown inconsistent results regarding the association of overweight/obesity and mortality in older adults. Our aim was to investigate the relationship between overweight/ obesity and mortality in an elderly Brazilian population. Methods and Findings Participants were 1,450 (90.2% from total) individuals aged 60 years and over from the community-based Bambuí (Brazil) Cohort Study of Ageing. From 1997 to 2007, 521 participants died and 89 were lost, leading to 12,905 person-years of observation. Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) were assessed at baseline and at the 3rd and 5th years of follow-up. Multiple imputation was performed to deal with missing values. Hazard ratios (HR) of mortality for BMI or WC alone (continuous and categorical), and BMI and WC together (continuous) were estimated by extended Cox regression models, which were fitted for clinical, socioeconomic and behavioral confounders. Adjusted absolute rates of death at 10-year follow-up were estimated for the participants with complete data at baseline. Continuous BMI (HR 0.85; 95% CI 0.80–0.90) was inversely related to mortality, even after exclusion of smokers (HR 0.85; 0.80–0.90), and participants who had weight variation and died within the first 5 years of follow-up (HR 0.83; CI 95% 0.73–0.94). Overweight (BMI 25–30 kg/m2) was inversely (HR 0.76; 95%CI 0.61–0.93) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2; HR 0.85; 95% CI 0.64–1.14) not significantly associated with mortality. Subjects with BMI between 25–35 kg/m2 (23.8–25.9%) had the lowest absolute rates of death at 10-years follow-up. The association between WC and death was not significant, except after adjusting WC for BMI levels, when the relationship turned into marginally positive (HR 1.01; CI 95% 1.00–1.02). Conclusions The usual BMI and WC cut-off points should not be used to guide public health and clinical weight control interventions in elderly in Brazil.

Reduced brain natriuretic peptide levels in class III obesity: the role of metabolic and cardiovascular factors.

Objective: Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) has potent lipolytic action and, probably, a role in the biological mechanisms of obesity. Clinically, high levels are found in subjects with heart failure (HF). Low levels and inverse relation to BMI lead to questioning of its clinical utility in obese subjects, but heterogeneous results are found in severe obesity. Methods: In order to describe BNP behavior and its metabolic and cardiovascular determinants in class III obesity, we performed BNP measurement as well as clinical and echocardiographic evaluation of 89 subjects from two public hospitals in Brazil. Multivariate logistic ordinal regression with BNP tertiles as the dependent variable was performed. Results: Mean (± SD) age and BMI (± SD) was 44 ± 11.5 years and 53.2 ± 7.9 kg/m2, respectively. 72 (81%) participants were women, and 18 (20%) had HF. Median BNP was 9.5 pg/ml(Q1 4.9; Q3 21.2 pg/ml). 30% of BNP values were below the detection limit of the method. In multivariate analysis, left atrial volume (LAV) was the only determinant of BNP levels (p 0.002) with odds-ratio of 1.1 (95% CI 1.03–1.16). Conclusion: BNP levels are low in severe obesity, even in subjects with HF. LAV, which marks diastolic dysfunction, determines BNP levels, but not BMI and metabolic abnormalities.

The “obesity paradox” in an elderly population with a high prevalence of Chagas disease: The 10-year follow-up of the Bambuí (Brazil) Cohort Study of Aging

adverse clinical outcomes among patients treated with clopidogrel predominantly for PCI: a meta-analysis. JAMA 2010;304(16):1821–30. [5] Hulot JS, Collet JP, Silvain J, et al. Cardiovascular risk in clopidogrel-treated patients according to cytochrome P450 2C19*2 loss-of-function allele or proton pump inhibitor coadministration: a systematic meta-analysis. J Am Coll Cardiol 2010;56(2):134–43. [6] Bellemain-AppaixA, Brieger D, Beygui F, et al. NewP2Y12 inhibitors versus clopidogrel in percutaneous coronary intervention: a meta-analysis. J Am Coll Cardiol 2010;56(19):1542–51.

B-type natriuretic peptide and anthropometric measures in a Brazilian elderly population with a high prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection

B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a diagnostic and prognostic tool in heart failure and also in Chagas disease, which is caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi and has cardiomyopathy as a main feature. BNP lipolytic actions and T. cruzi infection in the adipose tissue have been recently described. We aim to investigate the relationship between BNP and anthropometric measures and whether it is influenced by T. cruzi infection. We measured BNP, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), triceps skin-fold thickness (TSF) and performed serological, biochemical and electrocardiographic exams in 1398 subjects (37.5% infected with T. cruzi) in a community-dwelling elderly population in Bambui city, Brazil. Linear multivariate regression analysis was performed to investigate determinants of BNP levels. BNP levels were significantly (p<0.05) higher in T. cruzi-infected subjects than in the non-infected group (median=121 and 64pg/mL, respectively). BMI, WC and TSF in infected subjects were significantly lower than those in non-infected subjects (24.3 vs. 25.5kg/m2; 89.2 vs. 92.4cm; and 14.5 vs. 16.0mm, respectively). There was an inverse relationship between BNP levels and BMI (b=-0.018), WC (b=-0.005) and TSF (b=-0.193) levels. Infected and non-infected groups showed similar inverse relationships between BNP and BMI (b=-0.021 and b=-0.015, respectively). In conclusion, there was an inverse relationship between BNP levels and the anthropometric measures. Despite the actions in the adipose tissue, T. cruzi infection did not modify the associations between BNP and BMI, suggesting that body mass does not modify the accuracy of BNP in Chagas disease.

Factors associated with metabolically healthy status in obesity, overweight, and normal weight at baseline of ELSA-Brasil.

AbstractThe primary aim of this study was to evaluate metabolically healthy status (MHS) among participants in obesity, overweight, and normal weight groups and characteristics associated with this phenotype using baseline data of Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil). The secondary aim was to investigate agreement among 4 different MHS criteria. This cross-sectional study included 14,545 participants aged 35 to 74 years with a small majority (54.1%) being women. Of all participants, 22.7% (n = 3298) were obese, 40.8% (n = 5934) were overweight, and 37.5% (n = 5313) were of normal weight.Socio-demographic, behavioral, and anthropometric factors related to MHS were ascertained. Logistic regression models estimated the odds of associations. We used 4 different criteria separately and in combination to define MHS: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP-ATPIII), the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and comorbidities, and the agreement between them were evaluated by Cohen-kappa coefficient.MHS was present among 12.0% (n = 396) of obese, 25.5% (n = 1514) of overweight, and 48.6% (n = 2582) of normal weight participants according to the combination of the 4 criteria. The agreement between all the 4 MHS criteria was strong (kappa 0.73 P < 0.001). In final logistic models, MHS was associated with lower age, female sex, lower body mass index (BMI), and weight change from age 20 within all BMI categories.This study showed that, despite differences in prevalence among the 4 criteria, MHS was associated with common characteristics at every BMI category.Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text

Comparing the value of BNP in predicting mortality among community-dwelling elderly with and without overweight/obesity: the Bambuí (Brazil) Cohort Study of Aging.

patients require further evaluation. Furthermore,while previous studies have attributed this phenomenon to disease-related atrophy and cachexia, we show that even in patients with average physique, adiponectin levels remain elevated in patients with diagnosed HF. Future studies should seek correlations between prognosis and body composition, in order to determine if adiponectin could potentially be used as a prognosticator among this patient population. This study was funded by VA Merit Award F4726R. References

Two (or more) sides of a coin

There has been a lot of controversy concerning the prognostic role of obesity on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Several studies with cardiovascular patients (heart failure, coronary, cerebrovascular and peripheral artery diseases, hypertension and atrial fibrillation) have reported better or similar risk of cardiovascular events and mortality among overweight and obese individuals as compared to lean ones.1 Since obesity is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, these findings initially surprised researchers, who coined the term ‘obesity paradox’. The increasingly debated ‘metabolically healthy’ or ‘metabolically benign’ obese phenotype might be an explanation to the ‘obesity paradox’ in cardiovascular diseases. In their article, van der Leeuw and colleagues add more fuel to the discussion by investigating the influence of adiposity and cardiometabolic dysfunction on recurrent major cardiovascular events (stroke, myocardial infarction, retinal infarction and vascular mortality) and mortality in a sample of the Secondary Manifestations of ARTerial disease (SMART) study population without diabetes.2 In a population of 5232 patients with previously diagnosed cardiovascular disease (58.5% coronary artery disease), the authors created six groups by the combination of adiposity, as defined by Body Mass Index (BMI) strata (normal weight, BMI 20–24.9 kg/m2; overweight, BMI 25–29.9 kg/m2; obesity, BMI≥30 kg/m2), and cardiometabolic dysfunction, which was based on the presence of at least three criteria of a modified National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) metabolic syndrome definition (waist circumference replaced by C-reactive protein). Over a mean follow-up time of 6 years, they found that, as compared to the normal weight without cardiometabolic dysfunction group, overweight and obesity without cardiometabolic dysfunction were not associated with a higher risk of recurrent major cardiovascular events and mortality, whereas, all groups with cardiometabolic dysfunction showed similarly increased risks of both outcomes. As expected, cardiometabolic dysfunction was highest within the obese category (75%), but the prevalence was high …