Tommaso Bucci

Incidence of Myocardial Infarction and Vascular Death in Elderly Patients With Atrial Fibrillation Taking Anticoagulants: Relation to Atherosclerotic Risk Factors

BACKGROUND Recent findings suggest that patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), in addition being at thromboembolic risk, are at risk of myocardial infarction (MI). Our aim was to investigate predictors of MI and cardiovascular death in a cohort of patients with AF who were taking anticoagulants. METHODS We prospectively followed up 1,019 patients with AF for a median of 33.7 months (3,223 person-years). All patients were treated with oral vitamin K antagonists. Primary outcome was a composite end point of cardiovascular events (CVEs) including fatal/nonfatal MI, cardiac revascularization, and cardiovascular death. RESULTS The mean age of the patients was 73.2 years, and 43.8% were women. At follow-up, 111 CVEs (3.43%/y) had occurred: 47 fatal-nonfatal MI/revascularization and 64 cardiovascular deaths. In addition, 31 stroke/transient ischemic attacks (0.96%/y) were recorded. Patients experiencing CVEs were older (P < .001) and had a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) (P = .005), heart failure (P = .001), and prior cardiac (P < .001) and cerebrovascular events (P < .001). On a Cox proportional hazard analysis, age (hazard ratio [HR], 1.083; 95% CI, 1.053-1.113; P < .001), smoking (HR, 2.158; 95% CI, 1.193-3.901; P = .011), history of cerebrovascular (HR, 1.704; 95% CI, 1.119-2.597; P = .013) and cardiac (HR, 1.658; 95% CI, 1.105-2.489; P = .015) events, MetS (HR, 1.663; 95% CI, 1.107-2.499; P = .014), heart failure (HR, 1.584; 95% CI, 1.021-2.456; P = .040), and male sex (HR, 1.499; 95% CI, 1.010-2.223; P = .044) predicted CVEs. CONCLUSIONS Patients with AF still experience a high rate of CVEs despite receiving anticoagulant treatment. MetS is a common clinical feature in patients with AF, which increases the risk of CVEs. A holistic approach is needed to reduce the cardiovascular risk in patients with AF. TRIAL REGISTRY ClinicalTrials.gov; No.: NCT01882114; URL: www.clinicaltrials.gov.

Urinary 11-dehydro-thromboxane B2 is associated with cardiovascular events and mortality in patients with atrial fibrillation

BACKGROUND Patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) show high residual cardiovascular (CV) risk despite oral anticoagulants. Urinary 11-dehydro-thromboxane B2 (TxB2) is associated with an increased risk of CV events (CVEs), but its predictive value in patients with anticoagulated AF is unknown. METHODS A prospective single-center cohort study, including 837 patients with AF, was conducted. Mean time of follow-up was 30.0 months, yielding 2,062 person-years of observation. Urinary 11-dehydro-TxB2 was measured at baseline. The primary end point was the occurrence of a CVE including fatal/nonfatal myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, cardiac revascularization, and CV death. RESULTS Mean age of patients was 73.1 years, and 43.6% were women. Median 11-dehydro-TxB2 levels were 100 (interquartile range 50-187) ng/mg of urinary creatinine. Overall, the anticoagulation control was adequate (63.9% of mean time in therapeutic range). A CVE occurred in 99 (11.8%) patients, and 55 were CV deaths. At baseline, 11-dehydro-TxB2 levels were higher in patients with a CVE compared with those without (186 [107-400] vs 98 [52-170], P < .001). An increased rate of CVEs (log-rank test, P < .001) and CV deaths (P < .001) was observed across tertiles of 11-dehydro-TxB2. Cardiovascular events were associated with age (hazard ratios [HR] 1.72 per 1 SD, 95% CI 1.33-2.21, P < .001), diabetes mellitus (HR 1.89, 95% CI 1.20-2.96, P = .005), heart failure (HR 1.60, 95% CI 1.01-2.54, P = .044), history of stroke/transient ischemic attack (HR 1.96, 95% CI 1.25-3.06, P = .003), and 11-dehydro-TxB2 (HR 1.64 per 1 SD, 95% CI 1.42-1.89, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS Urinary 11-dehydro-TxB2 levels are associated with a residual risk of CVEs and CV mortality in patients with AF despite anticoagulant treatment.

Mediterranean diet reduces thromboxane A2 production in atrial fibrillation patients

BACKGROUND & AIMS Platelet activation plays a major role in cardiovascular events (CVEs). Mediterranean diet (Med-Diet) reduces the incidence of stroke and myocardial infarction but it is still unclear if it affects platelet activation. Aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of Med-Diet on the urinary excretion of 11-dehydro-thromboxane (Tx) B2, a marker of in vivo platelet activation, in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). METHODS Prospective observational cohort study including 801 non-valvular AF patients on chronic treatment with warfarin/acenocumarol referring to I Medical Clinic - Atherothrombosis Center of Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, from February 2008 to December 2013. Adherence to Med-Diet was evaluated by a short nine-items dietary questionnaire. Urinary excretion of 11-dehydro-TxB2 was measured in all patients. RESULTS Mean follow-up was 33.9 (±19.8) months, yielding 2223 patient/year of observation. Mean age of patients was 73.3 (±8.9) years, 43.7% were female. Median value of urinary TxB2 was 105.5 [60.0-190.0] ng/mg creatinine. We found a significant inverse correlation between total Med-Diet score and 11-dehydro-TxB2 values (Rs: -0.356, p < 0.001). In a multivariable stepwise linear regression analysis, history of stroke/TIA (β = 0.146, p = 0.003), olive oil (β = -0.130, p = 0.007), wine (β = -0.102, p = 0.036) and antiplatelet drugs (β = -0.098, p = 0.045) were independently associated to 11-dehydro-TxB2. We found no differences in the rate of ischemic or bleeding events across tertiles of Med-Diet score during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS Med-Diet adherence is inversely associated to urinary excretion of 11-dehydro-TxB2, suggesting that Med-Diet may favorably affect platelet function in AF patients. Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01882114.

Adherence to Mediterranean Diet and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Effect on Insulin Resistance

Objectives:The prevalence of cardiometabolic disorders, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is increasing in western countries, because of changes in lifestyle and dietary habits. Mediterranean Diet (Med-Diet) is effective for cardiovascular prevention, but its relationship with NAFLD has been scarcely investigated.Methods:We included 584 consecutive outpatients presenting with one or more cardiovascular risk factor such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), arterial hypertension, overweight/obesity, and dyslipidemia. Liver steatosis was assessed using ultrasonography. Med-Diet adherence was investigated by a validated semiquantitative nine-item dietary questionnaire; patients were divided into low, intermediate, and high adherence. Insulin resistance was defined by the 75th percentile of homeostasis model of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR; ≥3.8).Results:The mean age was 56.2±12.4 years and 38.2% were women. Liver steatosis was present in 82.7%, and its prevalence decreased from low to high adherence group (96.5% vs. 71.4%, P<0.001). In a multiple logistic regression analysis, hypertriglyceridemia (odds ratio (OR): 2.913; P=0.002), log (ALT) (OR: 6.186; P<0.001), Med-Diet adherence (intermediate vs. low OR: 0.115; P=0.041, high vs. low OR: 0.093; P=0.030), T2DM (OR: 3.940; P=0.003), and high waist circumference (OR: 3.012; P<0.001) were associated with NAFLD. Among single foods, low meat intake (OR: 0.178; P<0.001) was inversely significantly associated with NAFLD. In 334 non-diabetic NAFLD patients, age (OR: 1.035, P=0.025), high waist circumference (OR: 7.855, P<0.001), hypertriglyceridemia (OR: 2.152, P=0.011), and Log (ALT) (OR: 2.549, P=0.002) were directly associated with HOMA-IR, whereas Med-Diet score was inversely associated (OR: 0.801, P=0.018).Conclusions:We found an inverse relationship between Med-Diet and NAFLD prevalence. Among NAFLD patients, good adherence to Med-Diet was associated with lower insulin resistance. Our findings suggest that Med-Diet may be a beneficial nutritional approach in NAFLD patients.

Is NOX2 Upregulation Implicated in Myocardial Injury in Patients with Pneumonia

In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that oxidative stress could be implicated in myocardial damage during the acute phase of pneumonia. NOX2 activation, the catalytic subunit of NADPH oxidase, and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) elevation have been analyzed in two hundred forty-eight consecutive patients hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia. Serum NOX2-derived peptide (sNOX2-dp), a marker of NOX2 activation, and 8-isoprostaglandin F2α (8-iso-PGF2α), a marker of oxidative stress, were measured upon admission; serum hs-cTnT and ECG were measured every 12 and 24 h, respectively. One hundred thirty-five patients (54%) showed elevated serum levels of hs-cTnT (>0.014 μg/L). A logistic regression analysis showed sNOX2-dp (p<0.001), Pneumonia Severity Index score (p<0.001), renal failure (p=0.024), and ejection fraction (p<0.001) as independent predictors of elevated serum levels of hs-cTnT. Serum sNOX2-dp was linearly correlated with hs-cTnT (Rs=0.538; p<0.001) and 8-iso-PGF2α (Rs=0.354; p<0.001). The study provides the first evidence of a significant association between serum cardiac Troponin T elevation and NOX2 upregulation in patients with pneumonia. This finding raises the hypothesis that NOX2-derived oxidative stress may be implicated in myocardial injury and that its inhibition could be a novel therapeutic strategy to limit it.

Relationship between Mediterranean diet and time in therapeutic range in atrial fibrillation patients taking Vitamin K antagonists

AIMS It is unclear if atrial fibrillation (AF) patients treated with oral vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) must follow a specific diet to avoid interference with anticoagulation. The aim of this study was to assess if Mediterranean diet (Med-Diet) may affect quality of anticoagulation, as expressed by the time in therapeutic range (TTR). METHODS AND RESULTS A prospective observational study including 553 non-valvular AF patients. Time in therapeutic range was calculated for all patients treated with VKAs, and adherence to Med-Diet was evaluated with a validated nine-item dietary questionnaire. Cardiovascular events (CVEs), such as cardiovascular death and fatal/non-fatal stroke or myocardial infarction, and bleedings were recorded. The median follow-up was 31.6 months. The median number of international normalized ratios for each patient was 63.0 (35.0-98.0) and 38 730 blood samples were analysed. In the whole cohort, the mean TTR was 65.5 ± 17.8%. The mean Med-Diet score was 5.19 ± 1.6, with frequent use of olive oil (90.1%), fruits (88.4%), and vegetables (69.3%) and low meat intake (71.2%). There were no differences among tertiles of Med-Diet score regarding TTR. A multivariable linear regression analysis showed that diabetes (β: -0.105, P = 0.015) and the use of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blockers (β: 0.153, P < 0.001) were associated with TTR. Compared with those without, AF patients with a CVE had significantly lower TTR (65.9 ± 17.9 vs. 59.6 ± 15.9, P = 0.029) and Med-Diet score (5.2 ± 1.5 vs. 4.4 ± 1.9, P = 0.004). A reduction of CVE was observed for each point of the Med-Diet score (hazard ratio 0.790, P = 0.017). CONCLUSION In our cohort of AF patients, Med-Diet is not associated with changes in TTR, and thus can be recommended for AF patients who are taking VKAs.

Similar Reduction of Cholesterol-Adjusted Vitamin E Serum Levels in Simple Steatosis and Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis

Objectives:Reduced vitamin E levels have been reported in patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), but no conclusive data on patients with simple steatosis (SS) are available. Aim of this study was to investigate the association between serum vitamin E levels and SS.Methods:A cohort of 312 patients with cardio-metabolic risk factors was screened for liver steatosis by ultrasonography (US). We reasonably classified as SS patients with US-fatty liver, normal liver function tests (LFTs) and with Cytokeratin 18 <246 mIU/ml. Liver biopsy was performed in 41 patients with US-fatty liver and persistent elevation of LFTs (>6 months). Serum cholesterol-adjusted vitamin E (Vit E/chol) levels were measured.Results:Mean age was 53.9±12.5 years and 38.4% were women. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was detected at US in 244 patients; of those 39 had biopsy-proven NASH and 2 borderline NASH. Vit E/chol was reduced in both SS (3.4±2.0, P<0.001), and NASH (3.5±2.1, P=0.006) compared with non-NAFLD patients (4.8±2.0 μmol/mmol chol). No difference was found between SS and NASH (P=0.785). After excluding patients with NASH, a multivariable logistic regression analysis found that Vit E/chol (odds ratio (OR): 0.716, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.602–0.851, P<0.001), alanine aminotransferase (ALT, OR: 1.093, 95% CI 1.029–1.161, P=0.004), body mass index (OR: 1.162, 95% CI 1.055–1.279, P=0.002) and metabolic syndrome (OR: 5.725, 95% CI 2.247–14.591, P<0.001) were factors independently associated with the presence of SS.Conclusions:Reduced vitamin E serum levels are associated with SS, with a similar reduction between patients with SS and NASH, compared with non-NAFLD patients. Our findings suggest that the potential benefit of vitamin E supplementation should be investigated also in patients with SS.

Impaired flow-mediated dilation in hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia

BACKGROUND Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is complicated by cardiovascular events as myocardial infarction and stroke but the underlying mechanism is still unclear. We hypothesized that endothelial dysfunction may be implicated and that endotoxemia may have a role. METHODS Fifty patients with CAP and 50 controls were enrolled. At admission and at discharge, flow-mediated dilation (FMD), serum levels of endotoxins and oxidative stress, as assessed by serum levels of nitrite/nitrate (NOx) and isoprostanes, were studied. RESULTS At admission, a significant difference between patients with CAP and controls was observed for FMD (2.1±0.3 vs 4.0±0.3%, p<0.001), serum endotoxins (157.8±7.6 vs 33.1±4.8pg/ml), serum isoprostanes (341±14 vs 286±10 pM, p=0.009) and NOx (24.3±1.1 vs 29.7±2.2μM). Simple linear correlation analysis showed that serum endotoxins significantly correlated with Pneumonia Severity Index score (Rs=0.386, p=0.006). Compared to baseline, at discharge CAP patients showed a significant increase of FMD and NOx (from 2.1±0.3 to 4.6±0.4%, p<0.001 and from 24.3±1.1 to 31.1±1.5μM, p<0.001, respectively) and a significant decrease of serum endotoxins and isoprostanes (from 157.8±7.6 to 55.5±2.3pg/ml, p<0.001, and from 341±14 to 312±14 pM, p<0.001, respectively). Conversely, no changes for FMD, NOx, serum endotoxins and isoprostanes were observed in controls between baseline and discharge. Changes of FMD significantly correlated with changes of serum endotoxins (Rs=-0.315; p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS The study provides the first evidence that CAP is characterized by impaired FMD with a mechanism potentially involving endotoxin production and oxidative stress.

Response to “Digoxin or digoxin prescribed patient? Randomized trials are essential to discriminate the principal risk factor for the association of digoxin and increased mortality”

ReplyWe thank Dr Yildiz and Dr Soydinc for their interest and commentsonourrecentworkregardingtheassociationbetweentheuseofdigox-in and increased mortality in patients affected by atrial fibrillation (AF)[1].IntheirLettertotheEditor[2],Authorsraisemanyinterestingques-tions, suggesting that other factors, in addition to those reported in ourobservational study, may influence the incidence of cardiovascularoutcome in AF digoxin-treated patients.A crucialpointraisedby theAuthorsconcernsthe dosageof digoxinand blood concentrations, as these two factors contribute to the in-creasedriskofmortality[3].Digoxinserumlevelsabovethetherapeuticrangecanbefoundinapercentageofpatientsrangingfrom4to10%[4],and are known to be associated with cardiac toxicity and increasedmortality [5]. However, in a large cohort of 5100 patients in whichblood concentration of digoxin was measured, clinical toxicity attribut-ed to thepro-arrhythmic effectof digoxin havebeensuspected for only0.25% of total patients treated with digitalis [3].Renal dysfunction is another critical issue, which requires digoxintailoring to avoid toxicity; thus, 50%–70% of digitalis is excreted un-changed by the kidney [6].Noteworthy, in the large RIKS-HIA trial [7] including 1493 patientswith and 5540 without digoxin, the relative risk for death betweenpatients discharged with and without digoxin, after adjustment forpropensity score, was independent from baseline serum creatinine.Recent findings from the TREAT-AF study [8] confirmed that, in avery large cohort of 122,465 AF patients (353,168 person-years), theincreased mortality by digoxin was apparently independent from theestimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), the effect persisting alsoin the propensity-matched cohort.Inourpopulation,wefoundnodifferencesinrenalfunctionbetweenAF patients treated (n = 90, eGFR calculated by MDRD formula, 69.5[56.4–88.9] ml/min) or not (n = 426, eGFR 73.6 [59.5–87.3] ml/min,p = 0.601) with digoxin.Body mass composition did not apparently influence results fromour study, as at baseline no differences of body mass index (27.4 ±5.0 vs. 27.4 ± 4.7 kg/m