natriuretic-peptide--brain and Fatty-Liver

Fatty liver and the liver fibrosis are known risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The severity of fatty liver can be assessed by determining the fatty liver index (FLI), and the severity of liver fibrosis can be assessed by determining the fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score. We examined the differences in the associations of these two liver scoring systems with the pathophysiological abnormalities associated with the risk of development of CVD.. The FLI and FIB-4 score were calculated in 2,437 Japanese men without any history of CVD. The serum NT-pro-BNP levels and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) were also measured at the start of the study and the end of three years' follow-up.. The FLI was significantly correlated with the baPWV (p＜0.01) and the FIB-4 score was significantly correlated with the serum NT-pro-BNP level (p＜0.01). Furthermore, the delta change of the FLI was significantly correlated with the delta change of the baPWV during the study period (p=0.01), and the delta change of the FIB-4 score was significantly correlated with the delta change of the serum NT-pro-BNP level during the study period (p＜0.01).. While the FIB-4 score may serve as a marker of the risk of development of heart failure, the FLI may be a marker of arterial stiffness in Japanese men without any history of CVD.

Topics: Adult; Ankle Brachial Index; Cardiovascular Diseases; Cross-Sectional Studies; Fatty Liver; Heart Disease Risk Factors; Humans; Japan; Liver Cirrhosis; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Middle Aged; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain; Peptide Fragments; Pulse Wave Analysis

The Lieber-DeCarli alcoholic liquid diet is a classical method for establishing animal models of alcoholic cardiomyopathy (ACM). No study has reported whether the AIN-93 diet, which is widely used as a standard diet for both long-term and short-term studies with laboratory animals, could be used to construct the ACM animal model. The present study intended to investigate whether the AIN-93 diet could be used to establish a mouse ACM model.. Twenty-four C57BL/6 male mice were randomly divided into 4 equally sized groups. In ethanol (EtOH)-fed groups, mice were fed a 4%-EtOH (w/v, 28% of total calories) alcoholic liquid diet of Lieber-DeCarli or the AIN-93 diet for chronic alcohol exposure for 180 days. In control-fed groups, mice were fed with non-EtOH liquid diets with the same calories as EtOH-fed groups. Morphological observations of the hearts and molecular investigation of the brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) were carried out by echocardiography, hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.. Echocardiography showed that mice fed with either the 4%-EtOH Lieber-DeCarli diet or the 4%-EtOH AIN-93 diet had dilated ventricles and poor cardiac function. IHC staining of BNP, qPCR of BNP mRNA, and plasma concentration of BNP showed an up-regulated expression in mice fed with both the 4%-EtOH Lieber-DeCarli and 4%-EtOH AIN-93 diets. Less fatty liver was also observed in mice fed the AIN-93 alcoholic diet than those fed the Lieber-DeCarli alcoholic diet.. The AIN-93 alcoholic liquid diet can be used to establish ACM animal models, as with the conventional Lieber-DeCarli alcoholic liquid diet.

Topics: Animals; Cardiomyopathy, Alcoholic; Central Nervous System Depressants; Diet; Disease Models, Animal; Echocardiography; Ethanol; Fatty Liver; Heart Ventricles; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Myocardium; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain

The levels of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), a marker of heart failure, are higher in women and anaemic subjects, and tend to be lower in obese people. These relationships are still largely unexplained and it is unclear whether they also apply to the N-terminal portion of BNP precursor (NT-proBNP).. This cross-sectional study was performed to assess general and abdominal obesity, sex and other variables as possible extra-cardiac determinants of NT-proBNP.. A random sample of 713 subjects aged 65-74 years resident of Pianoro (Northern Italy) underwent assessment of NT-proBNP, several haemato-chemical variables, body mass index (BMI), body fat estimation (through skinfold measurement), waist circumference, intra-abdominal thickness and possible presence of hepatic steatosis (by ultrasound examination). An echocardiogram was performed in a subset of 125 subjects. In multivariable analysis NT-proBNP was inversely associated with haematocrit (r=0.22, P<0.0001) and hepatic steatosis (r=0.13, P=0.0001), while no association was found with BMI and body fat estimation. NT-proBNP was higher in women, but this relationship disappeared when haematocrit was included in the multivariable model. The associations with haematocrit and hepatic steatosis were independent from echocardiographic measurements.. NT-proBNP is increased in subjects with low haematocrit, which explains the higher values in women. Although NT-proBNP is not affected by general adiposity, low levels of NT-proBNP are associated with hepatic steatosis.

Topics: Aged; Body Mass Index; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diabetes Mellitus; Fatty Liver; Female; Heart Rate; Hematocrit; Humans; Hypertension; Male; Multivariate Analysis; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain; Obesity; Peptide Fragments; Risk Assessment; Sex Factors; Smoking