Search

Objective: Visceral obesity and the lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) have received increasing attention. However, the relationship between dynamic changes in visceral obesity and CVD has not been studied. We aimed to determine the association of visceral adiposity index (VAI) transition with CVD risk., Methods: A total of 5395 participants were recruited in 2011-2012 and followed up until 2018 from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. The cut-off value of the VAI was obtained by the receiver-operating characteristic curve. Participants were grouped based on VAI change patterns during the follow-up period (2011-2015): the low-low group, low-high group, high-low group, and high-high group. CVD was defined as a medical diagnosis of heart disease and/or stroke. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the correlation between VAI transition and CVD., Results: Over a median follow-up period of 7 years, 969 participants (17.9 %) developed CVD. VAI change patterns were significantly associated with CVD risk after adjustment for demographic characteristics and risk factors. The high-high group (hazard ratio (HR): 1.65, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.39-1.97) and the low-high group (HR: 1.29, 95 % CI: 1.04-1.61) were associated with a higher risk of CVD after adjusting for demographic characteristics and traditional risk factors compared to the low-low group, while the effect in the high-low group was not significant., Conclusions: VAI transition was significantly associated with the risk of CVD. Monitoring the dynamics of the VAI in public health practice would help prevent CVD., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare that we have no financial or personal relationships with other individuals or organizations that could inappropriately influence our work and that there are no professional or other personal interests of any nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in or the review of this manuscript., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) become a major public health concern. Evidence concerning the effects of outdoor artificial light at night (ALAN) on CVD in adults is scarce. We aimed to investigate the extent to which outdoor ALAN could affect the risk of CVD over a exposure range. Data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, a population-based longitudinal study, launched in 2011-2012 and follow up till 2018, covering 28 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across mainland China. This study included 14,097 adults aged ≥45 years. Outdoor ALAN exposure (in nanowatts per centimeters squared per steradian) within 500 m of each participant's baseline residence was obtained from satellite image data. CVD was defined from medical diagnosis. The population was divided into three groups based on outdoor ALAN exposure from low to high. Cox regression model was used to estimate the association between outdoor ALAN exposure and incident CVD with hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs). The mean (SD) age of the cohort was 57.6 (9.1) years old and 49.3 % were males. Outdoor ALAN exposure of study participants ranged from 0.02 to 39.79 nW/cm 2 /sr. During 83,033 person-years of follow-up, 2190 (15.5 %) cases of CVD were identified. Both low (HR: 1.21; 95 % CI: 1.02-1.43) and high (HR: 1.23; 95 % CI: 1.04-1.46) levels of outdoor ALAN exposure group were associated with higher risk of CVD compared with intermediate levels of outdoor ALAN exposure group. Body mass index was a significant effect modifier in the association between outdoor ALAN and risk of CVD, with stronger effects among those who was overweight or obese. The findings of this study suggest that low and high outdoor ALAN exposure were associated with a higher risk for CVD. More attention should be given to the cardiovascular effects associated with outdoor ALAN exposure., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) caused by air pollution poses a considerable burden on public health. We aim to examine whether lifestyle factors mediate the associations of air pollutant exposure with the risk of CVD and the extent of the interaction between lifestyles and air pollutant exposure regarding CVD outcomes., Methods: We included 7000 participants in 2011-2012 and followed up until 2018. The lifestyle evaluation consists of six factors as proxies, including blood pressure, blood glucose, blood lipids, body mass index, tobacco exposure, and physical activity, and the participants were categorized into three lifestyle groups according to the number of ideal factors (unfavorable, 0-1; intermediate, 2-4; and favorable, 5-6). Satellite-based spatiotemporal models were used to estimate exposure to ambient air pollutants (including particles with diameters ≤ 1.0 μm [PM 1 ], ≤ 2.5 μm [PM 2.5 ], ≤ 10 μm [PM 10 ], nitrogen dioxide [NO 2 ], and ozone [O 3 ]). Cox regression models were used to examine the associations between air pollutant exposure, lifestyles and the risk of CVD. The mediation and modification effects of lifestyle categories on the association between air pollutant exposure and CVD were analyzed., Results: After adjusting for covariates, per 10 μg/m 3 increase in exposure to PM 1 (HR: 1.09, 95% CI: 1.05-1.14), PM 2.5 (HR: 1.04, 95% CI: 1.00-1.08), PM 10 (HR: 1.05, 95% CI: 1.03-1.08), and NO 2 (HR: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.05-1.18) was associated with an increased risk of CVD. Adherence to a healthy lifestyle was associated with a reduced risk of CVD compared to an unfavorable lifestyle (HR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.56-0.76 for intermediate lifestyle and HR: 0.41, 95% CI: 0.32-0.53 for favorable lifestyle). Lifestyle played a significant partial mediating role in the contribution of air pollutant exposure to CVD, with the mediation proportion ranging from 7.4% for PM 10 to 14.3% for PM 2.5 . Compared to an unfavorable lifestyle, the relative excess risk due to interaction for a healthier lifestyle to reduce the effect on CVD risk was - 0.98 (- 1.52 to - 0.44) for PM 1 , - 0.60 (- 1.05 to - 0.14) for PM 2.5 , - 1.84 (- 2.59 to - 1.09) for PM 10 , - 1.44 (- 2.10 to - 0.79) for NO 2, and - 0.60 (- 1.08, - 0.12) for O 3 ., Conclusions: Lifestyle partially mediated the association of air pollution with CVD, and adherence to a healthy lifestyle could protect middle-aged and elderly people from the adverse effects of air pollution regarding CVD., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Echocardiogram is commonly used to evaluate cardiac remodeling in hypertension (HTN). However, study on echocardiographic phenotypes and their prognostic implications in HTN is limited., Objective: We aimed to evaluate the prognostic implications echocardiographic phenotypes in community hypertensive patients., Method: A total of 1881 community hypertensive patients without overt cardiovascular disease and severe renal disease (mean age 62.8 years, women 57.9%) were included. Using Two-Step cluster analysis with four conventional echocardiographic variables, two clusters with distinct echocardiographic phenotypes were identified., Result: The Cluster 1 (namely "mild-remodeling" HTN; n  = 1492) had low prevalence of enlarged left atrium (LA; 0.9%) and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH; 16.2%) and better LV diastolic function. They were younger and more likely to be men and had lower comorbid burden. The Cluster 2 (namely "severe-remodeling" HTN; n  = 389) had higher prevalence of enlarged LA (26.0%) and LVH (83.0%) and worse LV diastolic function. They were older and more likely to be women and had higher comorbid burden. After a median follow-up of 4.2 years, compared to the Cluster 1, the Cluster 2 had higher incidence of cardiovascular (4.1% vs 1.7%; P  = .006) and all-cause (9.8% vs 4.8%; P  < .001) death, with adjusted hazard ratio of 2.80 (95% CI 1.39-5.62; P  = .004) and 2.04 (95% CI 1.32-3.14; P  < .001) respectively., Conclusion: These findings indicate that the conventional echocardiographic variables-based algorithm could help identify asymptomatic community hypertensive patients at risk for cardiovascular and all-cause death. Further studies are needed to develop and validate phenotype-specific prevention and intervention strategies in HTN.

Background: Epidemiologic evidence suggested that remnant cholesterol (RC) is associated with the occurrence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). In recent years, RC has been connected with different types of cardiometabolic disorders. We aim to clarify the relationship among RC, metabolic syndrome (MetS) and subsequent CVD., Methods: We enrolled 7471 individuals into our study from China Health and Nutrition Survey in 2009 and followed participants till 2015. RC was calculated as total cholesterol minus low-density lipoprotein cholesterol minus high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. CVD was defined as myocardial infarction and stroke. Multivariate logistic regression and Cox regression models were used to evaluate the association between RC and MetS as well as CVD. We further investigated whether the association between RC and CVD was mediated by MetS., Results: Of all subjects, 24.73% were diagnosed with MetS and 2.74% developed CVD. Multivariate logistic regression analysis elucidated that per-tertile-increase in RC was associated with MetS after adjusting all the confounder factors, (odds ratio: 3.49, 95% confidence interval CI 3.21-3.79, P for trend < 0.001). And per-tertile-increase RC had a significant increased risk of CVD (hazard ratio: 1.26, 95% CI 1.06-1.50, P for trend = 0.008). Meanwhile, we found that RC level is associated with the prevalence of all the components of MetS. Significant indirect effects of RC between MetS and CVD were found, with the index mediated at 48.46% of the association., Conclusions: Our study provides the evidence that RC level is independently associated with the prevalence of MetS and each component of MetS. MetS partially mediated the association between RC level and CVD risk., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

Objectives: Epidemiological evidence suggests associations between ambient air pollution and cardiovascular disease (CVD), while circadian rhythm dysregulation, presented by circadian syndrome (CircS), is emerging as a new proxy to cardiovascular disorder that could provide a bridge between them. The present study aims to clarify the effect of high levels ambient air pollution exposure on CircS and CVD in China., Methods: From the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we recruited 9116 Chinese participants in 2011 and followed them to 2015. A spatiotemporal model was applied to estimate exposure to particles with diameters ≤2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ). The variable CircS was defined based on 7 components, including the 5 components used to define metabolic syndrome as well as other two components, lack of sleep and depression. The associations between PM 2.5 exposure and prevalent CircS as well as incident CVD were modeled via logistic regression analysis displaying odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % CIs (confidence intervals). A mediation analysis was undertaken to identify the potential mediating role of CircS between PM 2.5 exposure and CVD., Results: The mean age (standard deviation) was 59 (9) and 48.22 % were male. The OR (95 % CI) between the highest (Q4) and the lowest (Q1) quartile of PM 2.5 exposure for CircS was 1.13 (1.01-1.28) in 2011 and 1.44 (1.22-1.72) in 2015. The cumulative effect of the components of CircS became more obvious with the increase of the PM 2.5 quartile exposure. For the Q4 versus Q1 of PM 2.5 increment, the multivariate-adjusted OR (95 % CI) was 1.66 (1.20-2.29) for CVD incidence. CircS partially mediated the association between PM 2.5 exposure and CVD., Conclusions: Exposure to PM 2.5 is a risk factor for CircS and CVD, and the effect of PM 2.5 on CVD may be explained by CircS. Improving air quality would have high value in preventing CircS as well as CVD in public health., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: We aimed to evaluate the burden of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors in the community populations of Guangdong Province and its association with sociodemographic status (SDS)., Method: The data were from the community populations of Guangdong Province who have participated in the China PEACE Million Persons Project between 2016 and 2020 (n = 102,358, women 60.5% and mean age 54.3 years). The prevalence of CV risk factors (smoking, drinking, overweight/obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes mellitus) and its association with SDS (age, sex and socioeconomic status [SES]) was evaluated cross-sectionally., Results: The prevalence of overweight/obesity was 48.9%, hypertension 39.9%, dyslipidemia 18.6%, smoking 17.2%, diabetes mellitus 16.1% and drinking 5.3%. Even in young adults (aged 35-44), nearly 60% had at least 1 CV risk factor. Overweight/obesity often coexisted with other risk factors, including smoking, hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes mellitus. The proportion of people with no risk factor decreased with increasing age. Women were more likely than men to have no CV risk factor (29.4% vs. 12.7%). People with ≥ high school degree were more likely than those with < high school to have no risk factor (28.5% vs. 20.4%), and farmers were less likely than non-farmers to have no risk factor (20.8% vs. 23.1%)., Conclusion: The burden of CV risk factors is high and varied by SDS in the community populations of Guangdong Province. Cost-effective and targeted interventions are needed to reduce the burden of CV risk factors at the population level., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

While cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are commonly diagnosed by cardiologists via inspecting electrocardiogram (ECG) waveforms, these decisions can be supported by a data-driven approach, which may automate this process. An automatic diagnostic approach often employs hand-crafted features extracted from ECG waveforms. These features, however, do not generalise well, challenged by variation in acquisition settings such as sampling rate and mounting points. Existing deep learning (DL) approaches, on the other hand, extract features from ECG automatically but require construction of dedicated networks that require huge data and computational resource if trained from scratch. Here we propose an end-to-end trainable cross-domain transfer learning for CVD classification from ECG waveforms, by utilising existing vision-based CNN frameworks as feature extractors, followed by ECG feature learning layers. Because these frameworks are designed for image inputs, we employ a stacked spectrogram representation of multi-lead ECG waveforms as a preprocessing step. We also proposed a fusion of multiple ECG leads, using plausible stacking arrangements of the spectrograms, to encode their spatial relations. The proposed approach is validated on multiple ECG datasets and competitive performance is achieved.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a major modifiable risk factor of hypertension and hypertensive patients with OSA are at increased risk for cardiovascular diseases. A substantial number of studies have revealed that OSA and hypertension have synergistic effects on the cardiovascular system and, therefore, it is clinically important and relevant to increase our understanding of the pathophysiological interactions between OSA and hypertension. In our present review, after briefly reviewing the characteristics and pathophysiological effects of OSA, we focus on the current understanding of OSA-associated hypertension, the potential approaches for treatment of OSA and the effect of OSA treatment on hypertension management. We hope our present review will shed light for future studies that investigate effective therapeutic strategies to simultaneously improve the management of OSA and hypertension.

In past decades, growing evidence from basic and clinical researches reveal that small guanosine triphosphate binding protein ras homolog gene family, member A (RhoA) and its main effector Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) play central and complex roles in cardiovascular systems, and increasing RhoA and ROCK activity is associated with a broad range of cardiovascular diseases such as congestive heart failure, atherosclerosis, and hypertension. Favorable outcomes have been observed with ROCK inhibitors treatment. In this review, we briefly summarize the pathophysiological roles of RhoA/ROCK signaling pathway on cardiovascular system, displaying the potential benefits in the cardiovascular system with controlling RhoA/ROCK signaling pathway.

Objective: To observe the long-term relationship between body mass index (BMI) and cardiovascular events in male elderly hypertensive patients., Methods: A total of 839 male elderly (>65 years old) hypertensive patients were included in this prospective study. Baseline data were obtained on January 2004 and participants were followed up yearly till January 2014. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to their BMI: normal weight group (18.5 kg/m² ≤ BMI<24.0 kg/²), overweight group (24.0 kg/m² ≤ BMI<28.0 kg/m²), obese group (BMI ≥ 28.0 kg/m²). All-cause death and cardiovascular events were compared., Results: The average age of all 839 hypertension men was (75.4 ± 4.8) years at baseline. Baseline systolic blood pressure was (133.7 ± 14.6) mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa), diastolic blood pressure was (74.3 ± 9.3)mmHg. Baseline systolic and diastolic blood pressure was similar among the three groups. All 839 patients completed follow-up. There were 178 all-cause deaths, 54 cardiovascular deaths, 51 new/recurrent myocardial infarctions and 105 new/recurrent strokes during follow up. Incidence of all-cause mortality in overweight group (16.74%,72/430) was significantly lower than in normal weight group (27.01% (74/274), P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier curves showed the all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality were higher in normal weight group than in the other two groups. According to the Cox proportional hazards regression model, the risk of all-cause mortality (RR=0.867, 95% CI: 0.792-0.949) and cardiovascular death (RR=0.179, 95% CI : 0.05-0.645) in patients with a BMI ≥ 24.0 kg/m² were lower than in the group with BMI<24.0 kg/m²., Conclusion: Obesity paradox phenomenon is observed in elderly male hypertensive patients in that higher BMI is associated with lower mortality risks in elderly male hypertensive patients during the 10 years follow-up.