chondroitin-sulfates and Hypertension

To investigate severity of endothelial damage and its function in osteoarthrosis patients, changes in endothelial dysfunction in response to teraflex treatment.. Eighty patients with manifest gonarthrosis of stage I-II participated in the trial. They received teraflex for 3 months. Treatment efficacy was estimated by Leken's index, pain in the joints, need in analgetics, treatment efficacy in the opinion of the doctor and patient. Endothelial function was assessed by changes in antithrombogenic properties of vascular walls (anticoagulatory and fibrinolytic activity of the vascular wall), in activity of Willebrand factor, circulating endothelial cells. Examination was made before the treatment, after 1 and 3 months of therapy.. A positive effect of teraflex manifested with a significant regress of the Lekken's index, pain syndrome, need in nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, relief of endothelial damage, improvement of antithrombogenic activity of vascular wall.. Teraflex has a manifest symptom-modifying effect, good tolerance, reduces endothelial damage.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Chondroitin Sulfates; Drug Combinations; Endothelium, Vascular; Female; Glucosamine; Humans; Hypertension; Male; Middle Aged; Osteoarthritis, Knee; Range of Motion, Articular; Severity of Illness Index; Treatment Outcome

To assess duration of a clinical response and tolerance of structum in patients with low back pain (LBP) and comorbid cardiovascular disease.. 25 patients with primary LBP and coronary heart disease (n = 13) and/or essential arterial hypertension (n = 18) were examined and treated for 6 months with structum.. To the end of the first treatment months structum significantly relieved pain intensity, spinal motility, increased exercise tolerance. Excellent and good response to structum were observed in 71% patients, no response was in 29%. Tolerance of the drug was good in 23 (92%) patients. The effect persisted for 3 months. CHD characteristics did not change while arterial pressure went down noticiably.. Structum is highly effective in the treatment of LBP. Its long-term intake had no effect on CHD.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Chondroitin Sulfates; Coronary Disease; Drug Therapy, Combination; Enalapril; Exercise Tolerance; Female; Humans; Hypertension; Low Back Pain; Male; Middle Aged; Syndrome; Treatment Outcome

Pathogenesis, frequency, and management of heparin-induced thrombocytopaenia are well-known. They may be related with both unfractioned heparin and low-molecular weight heparin. Suspected heparin must be discontinued as soon as the diagnosis is established. Orgaran (danaparoid sodium) may be used for management of patients with heparin-associated thrombocytopaenia but can itself be associated with a thrombocytopaenia. Our case report allows us to catch in mind such a crossed complication.

Topics: Aged; Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors; Anticoagulants; Captopril; Carotid Stenosis; Chondroitin Sulfates; Dermatan Sulfate; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1; Diabetic Angiopathies; Drug Combinations; Female; Heparin; Heparitin Sulfate; Humans; Hypertension; Stroke; Thrombocytopenia

Glucosamine (G), often combined with chondroitin sulfate (CS), is a popular natural supplement used widely to treat osteoarthritis. However, use of glucosamine has been linked to development of insulin resistance. To assess the association between glucosamine and insulin resistance more closely, we challenged two rat strains highly sensitive to sugar-induced insulin resistance-Sprague-Dawley (SD) and Spontaneously Hypertensive (SHR) rats. Since elevations of systolic blood pressure (SBP) have been found to be an early and highly sensitive sign of insulin resistance in these two rat strains, we used this parameter as our primary endpoint. Four groups of both rat strains received either no agent (control), G, CS, or a combination of both for 9 weeks. The intake of each agent was calculated to be approximately 3-7 times comparable to human dose. Throughout the study, SBP of both strains consuming the two ingredients alone and in combination were not elevated. Rather, they were significantly lower than control, contrary to what is found in glucose-induced insulin resistance in rats. Over the study period, body weights of the four groups of SD and SHR did not vary significantly. Furthermore, no consistent trends in circulating glucose concentrations were found among the four different groups in the two strains after oral challenge with glucose. Finally, no significant histological differences were found in hearts, kidneys, and livers among the various groups of SHR and SD. From the above result, we conclude that glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate given alone or together do not produce insulin resistance or other related perturbations in two rat strains highly sensitive to sugar-induced insulin resistance.

Topics: Administration, Oral; Animals; Blood Glucose; Blood Pressure; Body Weight; Chondroitin Sulfates; Glucosamine; Glucose; Hypertension; Insulin Resistance; Male; Rats; Rats, Inbred SHR; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Time Factors

Vascular cells express different phenotypes in adult and fetal vessels, and the extracellular matrix they synthesize should reflect these differences. Alterations of vascular proteoglycan/glycosaminoglycan is verified in disorders such as hypertension and diabetes, and when occurring during pregnancy, they bring about structural changes to fetal vessels that often lead to impaired fetus growth. Yet there is little data about the extracellular matrix of an important human fetal vessel, the umbilical artery.. This study involved the biochemical characterization of the extracellular matrix of normal umbilical arteries, umbilical arteries from complicated pregnancies (maternal hypertension and diabetes and intrauterine growth retardation syndrome), and, for purpose of comparison, normal adult arteries (aorta and iliac and pulmonary arteries). Although the collagen types I:III ratio was determined in some cases, emphasis was placed on analysis of glycosaminoglycans.. Normal umbilical arteries differ from normal adult arteries in that they contain greater concentrations of hyaluronic acid and lesser concentrations of heparan sulfate and chondroitin 4- and 6-sulfate. The umbilical artery also differs from adult arteries in the disaccharide composition of its chondroitin and heparan sulfates and in the molecular weight of this latter glycosaminoglycan. The glycosaminoglycan distribution in umbilical arteries derived from complicated pregnancies is roughly similar to that of controls. However, total glycosaminoglycan and collagen were significantly reduced, and the collagen I:III ratio was increased in the umbilical arteries from hypertension-complicated pregnancies.. The glycosaminoglycan composition of the normal umbilical artery, a fully differentiated tissue, differs in many aspects from that of normal adult arteries. Of the cases of complicated pregnancies studied, the extracellular matrix of umbilical arteries was altered only in maternal hypertension. The changes, notably a mild fibrosis, were not very pronounced and should not impair hemodynamic properties of the vessel.

Topics: Adult; Arteries; Chondroitin Sulfates; Chromatography, DEAE-Cellulose; Collagen; Female; Fetal Growth Retardation; Glycosaminoglycans; Humans; Hypertension; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications; Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular; Pregnancy in Diabetics; Reference Values; Umbilical Arteries

The vascular proteoglycans probably have an important influence on the biomechanical properties of blood vessels and, therefore, may play a role in the development or maintenance of hypertension. In the aorta of the spontaneously hypertensive rat, the authors previously observed an increased content of chondroitin sulfate, an increased incorporation of [35S]sulfate into proteoglycans, and qualitative alterations in the [35S]polysaccharides compared to the normotensive Wistar Kyoto rat. To determine if these differences were related to hypertension or to strain variations, normotensive and hypertensive Dahl S rats were studied. There was a significant elevation (70%) in the aorta content of chondroitin sulfate, whereas the dermatan sulfate and hyaluronic acid contents were similar in the two groups. The in vitro incorporation of [35S]sulfate was increased 2.6-fold in the hypertensive animals. No differences between the two groups were observed with respect to the gel chromatographic profiles of the [35S]proteoglycans or the charge density of the [35S]glycosaminoglycans, as assessed by ion exchange chromatography. It was concluded that the increase in chondroitin sulfate and [35S]sulfate incorporation into proteoglycans occurred as a result of hypertension, regardless of genetic factors.

Topics: Animals; Aorta; Chondroitin Sulfates; Dermatan Sulfate; Disease Models, Animal; Hyaluronic Acid; Hypertension; Male; Proteoglycans; Rats; Sodium Chloride