Active clinical trials for "Atherosclerosis"

To study the genetic cause of low HDL-C, a risk factor for premature atherosclerotic vascular disease in patients with normal total cholesterol. The focus is primarily on the identification of a single mutation, as has been demonstrated in one family.

The aim of GEOMETRY study is to investigate the correlation between coronary plaque geometric modifications and lesion vulnerability in patients with suspected coronary artery disease referred for cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA). Furthermore the study will evaluate the impact of plaque eccentricity and morphology on the rate of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) for a 2 years follow-up period.

Atherosclerosis is accompanied by microvascular dysfunction (an impairment of blood vessels to dilate or constrict in response to demand). The ability to reliably measure microvascular dysfunction would help identify patients at risk of myocardial infarction and test new treatments. All existing measures of microvascular dysfunction suffer significant limitations. Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) is an imaging method that uses an infrared light-source and detector (called optodes) to painlessly shines light into tissue and collect reflected light at different wavelengths. This data allows quantification of the amount of haemoglobin (blood) in the tissue and whether it is oxygenated or de-oxygenated. Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is a powerful analysis technique for data collected from multiple NIRH optodes. Unlike most NIRS studies that use a single pair of optodes and collects a single datapoint for each wavelength over time, DOT allows three-dimensional spatial reconstruction of haemodynamic and anatomic changes in a large region of tissue over time. In preliminary work DOT had the potential to measure forearm reactive hyperaemia, a key indicator of microvascular function. Team will test whether DOT can detect differences between patients and healthy volunteers. In this work, 30 patients will be recruited with type 2 diabetes, 30 patients who have had a previous myocardial infarction and 30 healthy volunteers. The Investigator will also recruit 50 patients who are on waiting lists for coronary angiography. The DOT will be used to measure participants' microvascular function after brachial artery occlusion by a blood pressure cuff. The Investigator will then examine whether DOT can detect differences between healthy volunteers, diabetics, and patients with a previous heart attack, and whether DOT is able to predict existence of coronary artery disease on angiography. If successful, DOT can be developed for assessment of microvascular function to the point where it could be applied to clinical studies.

At a given level of serum cholesterol, patients with T2D have an increased risk of developing atherosclerosis compared with nondiabetic subjects. In a previous study we showed that the interstitial fluid-to-serum gradient of LDL and VLDL cholesterol is reduced in T2D patients compared with healthy controls. This was not found for HDL cholesterol. However, the cholesterol transporting function of HDL particles from interstitial fluid from patients with T2D were lower than in healthy controls. We hypothesize that that the apo B-containing particles in T2D patients are more susceptible to be retained or consumed in the extravascular space. We are to study if skin biopsies from T2D patients contain more cholesterol than biopsies from healthy controls. We hypothesize that samples from T2D patients are richer in cholesterol, which could explain why VLDL and LDL cholesterol are lower in relation to their plasma levels in T2D.

Background: Diabetes, and especially diabetic kidney disease is associated with the development of cardiovascular disease such as calcification in the coronary arteries and heart failure. Sleep apnea is frequent among patients with diabetes and diabetic kidney disease and sleep apnea itself is a solitary risk factor in the development of cardiovascular disease. Nonetheless, sleep apnea is underdiagnosed in diabetes patients because of a discrepancy between sleep apnea severity and actual oxygen deficiency symptoms which makes the diagnosis difficult. For that reason, many diabetics have undiagnosed sleep apnea together with cardiovascular disease. Early discovery of sleep apnea among high risk diabetic patients may therefore be considered crucial before cardiovascular complications develop. For this reason, sleep apnea screening of high-risk diabetics can possibly improve early diagnostics of cardiovascular disease. Aim: This study will seek to establish the association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and coronary calcification and heart failure in patients with diabetic kidney disease. The basic hypothesis of the study is that patients with diabetic kidney disease and concurrent OSA have a higher prevalence and severity of coronary calcification and heart failure compared to patients without OSA. Methods: Diabetic adult patients with scheduled check-ups at Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus, or Department of Renal Medicine on Aarhus University Hospital will be included in the study. Firstly, all included patients are screened for sleep apnea with the devices SomnoTouch® and ApneaLink®. Based on the sleep apnea determination; 40 patients with moderate-severe sleep apnea are compared with 40 patients without sleep apnea. In both groups, the patients are examined for calcification in the coronary vessels using a CT-scan while the function of the heart is examined by ultrasound (echocardiography). The stiffness of aorta is measured and performed using radial artery tonometry (SphygmoCor®). Furthermore, range of blood- and urine samples will be performed The perspectives are that patients with diabetes should be regularly evaluated for sleep apnea and that patients with moderate/severe sleep apnea should undergo further examination for cardiovascular disease even though the patients don't display any symptoms of either cardiovascular disease or sleep apnea.

Coronary heart disease and myocardial infarction have become a major threat to the health of our people. Their incidence rate and mortality rate are still rising. Dyslipidemia is one of the important risk factors. However, little is known about the genetic information of myocardial infarction and dyslipidemia, especially in Chinese population. This project aims to identify new loci related to myocardial infarction and blood lipid level in Chinese population, compare these gene variations with 94 gene variations related to myocardial infarction and blood lipid level in European population, and extract gene variations related to myocardial infarction and blood lipid level in Chinese population. In this case-control study, 3998 blood samples and 702 new blood samples were collected from the sample bank of Peking University Third Hospital and first hospital, respectively. The blood samples were collected from Asian heart disease hospital, Taiyuan cardiovascular disease hospital, Beijing Third Hospital and Shijingshan community follow-up population According to the results of carotid ultrasound or treadmill exercise test, the samples were divided into myocardial infarction group and control group, and the corresponding blood lipid levels were collected. The samples were genotyped by the metabochip gene chip of Illumina company. The data were processed by the calling algorithm of BeadStudio Gentrain 1.0 and the GenoSNP software. The related genes of myocardial infarction were analyzed by logistic regression, and the related genes of blood lipid level were analyzed by linear regression.

One hundred Spanish postmenopausal women accepted to be investigated for cardiovascular risk actors including clinical features, serum biochemical parameters, single nucleotide polymorphisms for estrogen receptor, and imaging parameters, carotid intima-media thickness (91 women) and coronary computed tomography (32 women). Multivariable analysis confirmed that both age and glucose level directly affected IMT. Estrogenic exposure, as measured by the allele associated with lower expression of the ER beta gene, was protective at the sinus and the wall. Findings at the coronary arteries, either moderate or high calcium index (CAC) and/or significant lumen stenosis were sporadic and did not allow for establishing association with any of the variables assessed.

There are currently no studies evaluating the effect of anacetrapib on blood vessel function and stiffness of the arteries. The REVEAL-Vasc trial will assess whether anacetrapib, in addition to atorvastatin (LDL-C lowering drug) treatment, results in greater endothelial-dependent vascular function and aortic stiffness in patients with established cardiovascular disease, compared to adding placebo. Participants will be asked to provide a blood sample and pulse Wave Velocity/Pulse Wave Analysis and Flow Mediated Dilation will be carried out to assess blood vessel function and stiffness of the arteries. REVEAL-Vasc is an investigator led sub-study of HPS3/TIMI 55: REVEAL (Randomized Evaluation of the Effects of Anacetrapib through Lipid modification): A large-scale, randomized placebo-controlled trial of the clinical effects of anacetrapib among people with established vascular disease (NCT01252953) which is coordinated by OXFORD CTSU. No treatment will be received on this sub-study, therefore only participants who have been enrolled in HPS3/TIMI55 REVEAL in which participants received anacetrapib with atorvastatin or placebo will be considered for this trial.

A-HIT2, is also designed as a National FH registry. At least 1000 FH patients will be recruited from 30 outpatient clinics representing the 12 Nuts statistical Regions in Turkey proportional to the 2015 Turkey's Population distribution.[14] Both HeFH and HoFH patients are eligible for enrollment. Sites specialized on cardiology, internal medicine, and endocrinology were invited by the Turkish Society of Cardiology.

Heart attacks and strokes caused by the unstable atherosclerotic plaques remain the leading cause of death in the United States. Unstable plaques often have more fat than stable plaques. This study will investigate if a treatment with LDL-lowering plus HDL-raising compared with LDL-lowering alone would more effectively reduce the plaque fat content assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), therefore, further reducing heart attacks and strokes.