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Biomedical subjects

J Garcia-Puig

Publications and source records attributed to J Garcia-Puig.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Hyperuricemia and renal function.

Increased serum urate concentration is commonly seen in clinical practice. It does not represent a specific disease, nor is it an indication for therapy. Hyperuricemia can be the consequence of increased uric acid production and/or decreased renal capacity to excrete uric acid. In essential hypertension, it has been described in up to one third of patients and is directly related to an increase in renal vascular resistance and inversely correlated with renal plasma flow. In other words, abnormal renal hemodynamics, commonly seen in the initial stages of the disease, account for the increased serum urate concentration. This can be maintained if a decrease in glomerular filtration rate takes place. The increase in uric acid has been shown to be a potent predictor of the development of cardiovascular events and death. In addition, uric acid, particularly when elevated, could represent an independent risk factor. On the other hand, an altered renal function predicts in an independent manner a higher cardiovascular risk. For this reason, the predictive capacity of uric acid could be partly dependent on the fact that hyperuricemia runs in parallel with a deranged renal function.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗

The efficacy and tolerability of losartan versus atenolol in patients with isolated systolic hypertension. Losartan ISH Investigators Group.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and tolerability of angiotensin II (Ang II) antagonist losartan and the beta-blocker atenolol in the treatment of patients with isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) after 16 weeks of treatment. METHODS: A double-blind, randomized, multi-country study was carried out in 273 patients with ISH. Patients with a sitting systolic blood pressure (SiSBP) of 160-205 mmHg, and a sitting diastolic blood pressure (SiDBP) < 90 mmHg at screening and at placebo baseline were subjected to a 4-week placebo period and then randomly grouped to receive 50 mg losartan or 50 mg atenolol once daily for 16 weeks. At 8 and 12 weeks, patients not controlled (SiDBP > or = 160 mmHg) were given additional treatment of 12.5 mg hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) once daily. RESULTS: Similar significant reductions in SiSBPs (mean +/- SD) were obtained with 50 mg losartan and 50 mg atenolol, from 173.7 +/- 10.3 and 173.5 +/- 10.7 mmHg at baseline to 149.0 +/- 15.5 and 148.2 +/- 15.3 mmHg after 16 weeks of losartan or atenolol treatment respectively. Sixty-seven percent of the losartan-treated and 64% of the atenolol-treated patients remained on monotherapy throughout the study. Only 1.5% of the losartan-treated patients withdrew because of a clinical adverse event (CAE) compared with 7.2% in the atenolol-treatment group (P= 0.035). Drug-related CAEs were observed significantly more frequently with atenolol than with losartan treatment (20.3 versus 10.4%; P = 0.029). CONCLUSION: It is concluded that 50 mg losartan and 50 mg atenolol produced comparable reductions in SiSBP in patients with ISH but losartan was better tolerated. This is the first demonstration of the therapeutic value of selective Ang II receptor blockade with losartan in the treatment of ISH.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗

Greater reduction of urinary albumin excretion in hypertensive type II diabetic patients with incipient nephropathy by lisinopril than by nifedipine.

A double-blind, randomised, parallel group, multicentre, multinational study compared the effects of 12 months' treatment with lisinopril (10-20 mg once daily) or nifedipine retard tablets (20-40 mg twice daily) in 239 males (aged 18-75 years) and 96 post-menopausal females (aged 40-75 years). They all had a history of clinically stable type II diabetes > 3 months, microalbuminuria and early diabetic nephropathy (a urinary albumin excretion (UAE) rate ranging from 20 to 300 micrograms/min) and a sitting diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 90-100 mm Hg (Korotkoff phase V) inclusive at both entry and after 3-4 weeks' placebo treatment. The aim of treatment was to achieve a reduction in sitting DBP to < 90 mm Hg 24-30 h after the last dose of lisinopril or 12-18 hours after the last dose of nifedipine and to evaluate the effect of these treatments on UAE over 12 months. The effect of the two treatments on ambulatory blood pressure (BP) was also evaluated in a subset of patients. Management of diabetes with oral hypoglycaemic drugs, diet and insulin alone or in combination was permitted. Median UAE fell on lisinopril from 65.5 (range 20-297) micrograms/min at baseline to 39.0 (2-510) micrograms/min after 12 months. On nifedipine median UAE fell from 63.0 (range 20-289) micrograms/min at baseline to 58.0 (9-1192) micrograms/min after 12 months. The estimated median difference between the effects of the two treatments was 20 micrograms/min (P = 0.0006). Over 12 months both treatments produced similar falls in sitting BP from 163 +/- 17/99 +/- 6 mm Hg (mean +/- s.d.) to 147 +/- 18/88 +/- 10 mm Hg for lisinopril and from 161 +/- 18/97 +/- 5 mm Hg to 150 +/- 18/88 +/- 9 mm Hg for nifedipine. Ambulatory BP was assessed in a subset of patients and using areas under the BP-time curve (AUC) a comparison of the effects of the two treatments showed no between-treatment differences. Creatinine clearance, glycaemic control (HbA1c) and lipid profiles did not change significantly during either treatment. Frequency of withdrawals and adverse events were similar for both treatments. We conclude that lisinopril has a significantly more beneficial effect on UAE than nifedipine despite similar effects on both BP and glycaemic control in type II diabetic patients with hypertension.

Adolescent↗

Incidence and clinical significance of peripheral and bone marrow basophilia.

We reviewed 2110 bone marrow aspirations from the same number of patients to establish the incidence and associations of peripheral and bone marrow basophilia. Of these, 125 cases of marrow basophilia (5.9% incidence) and 63 cases of peripheral basophilia (3.0% incidence) were identified. There were 33 patients with simultaneous marrow and peripheral basophilia, which was only significantly associated with chronic myelogenous leukemia (24 cases). Isolated peripheral basophilia was rarely seen (30 patients, 1.4% incidence) and it did not reflect any significant pathologic association. Marrow basophilia was significantly present in chronic myeloproliferative disorders, idiopathic myelodysplasia, certain erythrocyte disorders, such as iron deficiency anemia, and aplastic anemia. The incidence of marrow basophilia in patients with lymphoma, acute leukemia, or solid carcinoma was not significantly different from what it would be as a chance occurrence. Our findings suggest that marrow basophilia is a specific, but not sensitive, marker of myeloproliferative and dysmyelopoietic syndromes.

Adult↗