To investigate the changes in nitric oxide (NO) and angiotensin (AⅡ) in rat with spontaneous hypertension (SHR) and the effect of benazepril on production of NO/AⅡ. The animals were divided into three groups: normotensive (WKY) group, SHR control group and benazepril group. Blood pressure was measured by the tail-cuff method. NO - 3 concentration in serum was assayed by activated cadmium reduction method; cGMP and AⅡ levels in vascular tissue were assayed by RIA (radioimmunoassay). The results showed that blood NO - 3 concentration and vascular cGMP level were all lower in SHR group compared with WKY rats(P

Objective To investigate different clinicopathologic changes in myocardial infarction with and without cardiac rupture in the gerontal patients. Methods 107 gerontal patients with myocardial infarction (rupture group 22, non-rupture group 85) confirmed by necropsy during Jan. 1980 to Oct. 2003 were analyzed to compare the clinicopathologic findings between patients with cardiac rupture and without rupture. Results The mean age of rupture group was higher than that of non-rupture (79.1?9.1 vs 71.8?10.9 years old, P=0.0059). The number of female patients (50.0% vs 24.6%, P=0.0209) and the the number of patients suffering from myocardial infarction for the first time (57.3% vs 52.3%, P=0.0312) were both greater in the rupture group. Previous angina pectoris was significantly less frequently found in the rupture group compared with non-rupture group (45.5% vs 87.1%, P=0.0000). The mean number of major coronary arteries with over 75% stenosis was significantly lower in the rupture group (1.64 vs 2.28 branches/person, P=0.0068). The percentage of single major coronary arteries with significant stenosis was more often seen in the rupture group (59.1% vs 33.8%, P=0.0325). The site of cardiac rupture was more frequenfly located in anterior wall near the apex. Conclusion The results suggested that cardiac rupture occurred more often in older and female patients, in first myocardial infarction episode, with infrequent previous angina pectoris, and frequently involving a severe single coronary artery disease compared with those patients without cardiac rupture. The common location of rupture was anterior wall near the apex.

Objective:To observe the clinical effects of oral Tedral SA on the elderly patients with sinus bradycardia. 　　Methods:Tedral SA(1/2 to one tablet/day in two divided doses)was administered orally to 14 elderly patients with sinus bradycardia.Twenty-four-hour Holter monitoring was performed before and one month after oral Tedral SA. 　　Results:After oral Tedral SA,resting heart rate of 14 patients was maitained between 50 to 70 beats/min.The minimum heart rates before and during therapy has significant difference statistically(34.93±2.79 vs.44.21±2.91,p＜0.001).The heart rate during oral Tedral SA was significantly increased.A few patients complained of palpitation,which disappeared as the dosage of Tedral SA was decreased.Subjective symptoms associated with sinus bradycardia such as dizziness,faintness disappeared completely in 14 patients. 　　Conclusion:Tedral SA was a effective and safe drug for treatment of elderly patients with severe sinus bradycardia.

ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism on endothelial dysfunction of spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHR).MethodsThe animals were divided into two groups: SHRs (n=8) and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats (n=7) all aged 17 months. Blood pressure was measured by the tail-cuff method. NO3- concentration in serum was assayed by activated cadmium reduction method; endothelin (ET) and cGMP levels were assayed by RIA.ResultsCompared with WKY rats, blood NO3- concentration, ET level and vascular cGMP level of SHRs were all reduced significantly (P<0.01); vascular ET level was only uplifted slightly with no significant difference (P>0.05).ConclusionIt indicates that the vascular endothelial dysfunction in SHR is induced possibly by a diminished synthesis or release of NO, not by changes of ET level.

Background and objective The value of D-dimer in the risk stratification of patients with coronary artery diseas(CAD)and the relationship between D-dimer and the diseased coronary arteries remains controversial or unclear.especially in the elderly.Thisstudy was to evaluate the usefulness of D-djmer as a biomarker in assessing the vuinerable blood in the elderly patients with coronarydisease.Methods Sixty elderly (≥60 years old)male patients with suspected CAD were enrolled in this prospective study.Patients were divided into CAD group(n=41,10 with stable angina and 31 with unstable angina)and control group(n=19)according to their coronary angiography Results Clinicalinformation including age,body mass index(BMI),smoking index,and thecomplications of Primary hypertension or diabetes.and CAD family history was collected.Venous blood was sampled serially for thedetermination of total cholesterol,HDL cholesterol,LDL cholesterol,triglycerides,apoAl,apoB,glucose,uric acid,homocysteine(Hey),hs-CRP,soluble thrombomodulin(sTM),and marker of fibrinolytic system and hypercoagulability,such as D-dimer,fibrinogen,etc.The extent of coronary atherosclerosis was assessed.using the Gensini scoring system on the basis of coronary angiography.Results Compared with the controls.the patients with CAD had significantly higher levels of D-dimer.D-dimer level wassignificantly correlated to age.hs-CR P.Hcy,and PAI-1.Patients with D-dimer levels in the top triplicate of D-dimer level hadsignificantly higher prevalence of unstable angina compared with patients in the lowest triplicate(OR=4.8,Z=3.28,P=0.001).In anordinal logistic regression.the OR value ofdeveloping more serious CAD augmented 3.1-foid with each increasing triplicate of D-dimer.Patients with unstable angina had a significantly higher level of D-dimer than the controls(P=0.005),and an increasing trend comparedwith patients with stable angina (P=0.059).whereas there was no difference between the patients with stable angina and the controls(P=0.885).D-dimer was significantly correlated with Gensini scores(r=0.3930,P=0.0019).Ordinal logistic regression showed that theOR value ofincreasing one or two triplicates of Gensini's scores augmented 1.44.fold with each increasing triplicate of D-dimer(OR=2.44,Z=2.87,P=0.004). Conclusions D-dimer may be a helpful biomarker in identifying the severity of vulnerable blood in elderlypatients with CAD.

Objective Both decreased glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and arterial stiffness were considered as risk factors for atherosclerosis. Previous studies have suggested the association between central arterial stiffness and the degree of GFR loss. Whether decreased GFR contributes to peripheral artery stiffness remains controversial. Moreover, data analyzed from a cohort of Chinese women are rare. Our aim was to explore the relationship between GFR and regional arterial stiffness in Chinese women. Methods In this cross-sectional study, we randomly recruited 1131 adult women residents with GFR ≥ 60 mL/min per 1.73 m2 estimated by the Chinese Modification of Diet in Renal Disease equation from three large communities. Central and peripheral arterial stiffness were estimated simultaneously by measuring carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWVcf) and carotid-radial PWV (PWVcr) using a validated automatic device. Augmentation Index at heart rate 75 beats/minutes (AIx-75) was measured by pulse wave analysis as a composite parameter reflecting both large and distal arterial properties. Results The mean estimated GFR (eGFR) of the study group was 100.05 ± 23.26 mL/minute per 1.73 m2. Subjects were grouped by tertiles of eGFR level. PWVcf and AIx-75 increased ongoing from the top to the bottom eGFR tertile, while the values of PWVcr were comparable. Both univariate Pearson correlations and multiple stepwise regression analyses showed that eGFR significantly correlated to PWVcf, but not to PWVcr and AIx-75. Conclusions In Chinese women with normal to mildly impaired renal function, decreased eGFR affected carotid-to-femoral rather than carotid-to-radial stiffening. This provides rational to conduct future prospective studies to investigate predictors of atherosclerosis in this population.