Background

Smoking increases platelet aggregability, and the degree of platelet inhibition by clopidogrel on ex vivo platelet function tests. Whether smoking status affects the relationship between clopidogrel and clinical outcomes is unknown.

Methods and Results

We evaluated the relationship between smoking status (current smoker (CS), former smoker (FS), and never smoker (NS)) and treatment with clopidogrel on the risk of all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality among the 12,152 participants from the CHARISMA trial with established cardiovascular disease. Current smoking was associated with an increase in all-cause (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 2.58, [1.85–3.60]), cardiovascular (HR 2.26, [1.48–3.45]), and cancer mortality (HR 4.16, [2.46–7.03]) compared to NS. The impact of clopidogrel and mortality differed by smoking status (P for interaction = 0.018 for current smokers). Among CS, clopidogrel was associated with a reduction in all-cause mortality (HR 0.68, [0.49–0.94]); clopidogrel did not reduce all cause mortality among FS (HR 0.95, [0.75–1.19]) or NS (HR 1.14, [0.83–1.58]). A similar pattern was noted for cardiovascular mortality. As expected, no relationship was observed between clopidogrel and cancer mortality by smoking status. The risk of bleeding seemed to differ according to smoking status; randomized clopidogrel was associated with a significantly increased hazard of severe or moderate bleeding (HR 1.62, P=0.04) among CS, but a smaller and nonsignificant increase among NS (HR 1.31, P=0.15).

Conclusion

Clopidogrel therapy may be more effective, but with a greater bleeding risk in CS than in patients who are not smokers. Further studies are needed to investigate this possibility.

Context

There is conflicting information about whether sex-differences modulate short-term mortality following acute coronary syndromes (ACS).

Objective

To investigate the relationship between sex and 30-day mortality in ACS, and determine whether this relationship is modified by clinical syndrome or coronary anatomy using a large database across the spectrum of ACS and adjusting for potentially confounding clinical covariates.

Design Setting and Participants

Data from 11 ACS trials from 1993 to 2006 were pooled. Of 136,247 patients, 38,048 (28%) were women; 102,004 (26% women) STEMI, 14,466 (29% women) NSTEMI and 19,777 (40% women) unstable angina (UA).

Main Outcome Measure

Thirty-day mortality following ACS.

Results

Mortality at 30 days was 9.6% in women and 5.3% in men (odds ratio [OR] 1.91, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.83–2.00). After multivariable adjustment, mortality was not significantly different between women and men (adjusted OR 1.06, 95% CI 0.99–1.15). Importantly, a significant sex by type of ACS interaction was demonstrated (P<0.001). In STEMI, 30-day mortality was higher among women (adjusted OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.06–1.24), whereas NSTEMI (adjusted OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.63–0.95), and UA mortality was lower among women (adjusted OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.43–0.70). In a cohort of 35,128 patients with angiographic data, women more often had non-obstructive (15% vs. 8%,) and less often had 2-vessel (25% vs. 28%) and 3-vessel (23% vs. 26%) coronary disease regardless of ACS type. After additional adjustment for angiographic disease severity, 30-day mortality among women was not significantly different than men, regardless of ACS type. The relationship between sex and 30-day mortality was similar across the levels of angiographic disease severity (p-value for interaction =0.70),

Conclusions

Sex-based differences exist in 30-day mortality among ACS patients and vary depending on clinical presentation. However, these differences are markedly attenuated following adjustment for clinical differences and angiographic data.

Background

Despite compelling evidence that aspirin reduces fatal and non-fatal vascular events among the overall population in various settings, women have frequently been underrepresented and their data underreported. We sought to evaluate the relationship between aspirin use, dose (81 or 325mg) and clinical outcomes among postmenopausal women with stable cardiovascular disease.

Methods

Women with cardiovascular disease (n=8928) enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study were used for this analysis. The primary outcome was the incidence of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events (myocardial infarction, stroke and cardiovascular death).

Results

Among 8928 women with stable cardiovascular disease, 4101 (46%) reported taking aspirin, of whom 30% were on 81 and 70% were on 325mg. At 6.5 years of follow-up, no significant association was noted for aspirin use and all-cause mortality or cardiovascular events. However, after multivariate adjustment, aspirin use was associated with a significantly lower all-cause (adjusted HR 0.86, [0.75-0.99], P=0.04) and cardiovascular related mortality (adjusted HR 0.75, [0.60-0.95], P=0.01) compared with no aspirin. Aspirin use was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular events (adjusted HR 0.90, [0.78-1.04], P=0.14) which did not meet statistical significance. Compared with 325mg, use of 81mg was not significantly different for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular events or any individual endpoint.

Conclusions

After multivariate adjustment, aspirin use was associated with significantly lower risk of all-cause mortality, specifically cardiovascular mortality, among postmenopausal women with stable cardiovascular disease. No significant difference was noted between 81 and 325mg of aspirin. Overall, aspirin use was low in this cohort of women with stable cardiovascular disease.

Background

Pulmonary hypertension and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction are complications of sickle cell disease. Pulmonary hypertension is associated with hemolysis and hypoxia, but other unidentified factors are likely involved in pathogenesis as well.

Design and Methods

Plasma concentrations of three angiogenic markers (fibroblast growth factor, platelet derived growth factor–BB [PDGF-BB], vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF]) and seven inflammatory markers implicated in pulmonary hypertension in other settings were determined by Bio-Plex suspension array in 237 children and adolescents with sickle cell disease at steady state and 43 controls. Tricuspid regurgitation velocity (which reflects systolic pulmonary artery pressure), mitral valve E/Edti ratio (which reflects left ventricular diastolic dysfunction), and a hemolytic component derived from four markers of hemolysis and hemoglobin oxygen saturation were also determined.

Results

Plasma concentrations of interleukin-8, interleukin-10 and VEGF were elevated in the patients with sickle cell disease compared to controls (P≤0.003). By logistic regression, greater values for PDGF-BB (P = 0.009), interleukin-6 (P = 0.019) and the hemolytic component (P = 0.026) were independently associated with increased odds of elevated tricuspid regurgitation velocity while higher VEGF concentrations were associated with decreased odds (P = 0.005) among the patients with sickle cell disease. These findings, which are consistent with reports that PDGF-BB stimulates and VEGF inhibits vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation, did not apply to E/Etdi.

Conclusions

Circulating concentrations of angiogenic and pro-Inflammatory markers are altered in sickle cell disease children and adolescents with elevated tricuspid regurgitation velocity, a subgroup that may be at risk for developing worsening pulmonary hypertension. Further studies to understand the molecular changes in these children are indicated.

Background

Recently, a large meta-analysis including over 28,000 participants identified nine different loci with association to serum uric acid (UA) levels. Since elevated serum UA levels potentially cause gout and are a possible risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD) and myocardial infarction (MI), we performed two large case-control association analyses with participants from the German MI Family Study. In the first study, we assessed the association of the qualitative trait gout and ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) markers that showed association to UA serum levels. In the second study, the same genetic polymorphisms were analyzed for association with CAD.

Methods and Findings

A total of 683 patients suffering from gout and 1,563 healthy controls from the German MI Family Study were genotyped. Nine SNPs were identified from a recently performed genome-wide meta-analysis on serum UA levels (rs12129861, rs780094, rs734553, rs2231142, rs742132, rs1183201, rs12356193, rs17300741 and rs505802). Additionally, the marker rs6855911 was included which has been associated with gout in our cohort in a previous study. SNPs rs734553 and rs6855911, located in SLC2A9, and SNP rs2231142, known to be a missense polymorphism in ABCG2, were associated with gout (p = 5.6*10−7, p = 1.1*10−7, and p = 1.3*10−3, respectively). Other SNPs in the genes PDZK1, GCKR, LRRC16A, SLC17A1-SLC17A3, SLC16A9, SLC22A11 and SLC22A12 failed the significance level. None of the ten markers were associated with risk to CAD in our study sample of 1,473 CAD cases and 1,241 CAD-free controls.

Conclusion

SNP markers in SLC2A9 and ABCG2 genes were found to be strongly associated with the phenotype gout. However, not all SNP markers influencing serum UA levels were also directly associated with the clinical manifestation of gout in our study sample. In addition, none of these SNPs showed association with the risk to CAD in the German MI Family Study.

Background

Atherosclerosis is the primary cause of coronary artery disease (CAD). There is increasing recognition that lesion composition rather than size determines the acute complications of atherosclerotic disease. Low serum adiponectin levels were reported to be associated with coronary artery disease and future incidence of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The impact of adiponectin on lesion composition still remains to be determined.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We measured serum adiponectin levels in 303 patients with stable typical or atypical chest pain, who underwent dual-source multi-slice CT-angiography to exclude coronary artery stenosis. Atherosclerotic plaques were classified as calcified, mixed or non-calcified. In bivariate analysis adiponectin levels were inversely correlated with total coronary plaque burden (r = −0.21, p = 0.0004), mixed (r = −0.20, p = 0.0007) and non-calcified plaques (r = −0.18, p = 0.003). No correlation was seen with calcified plaques (r = −0.05, p = 0.39). In a fully adjusted multivariate model adiponectin levels remained predictive of total plaque burden (estimate: −0.036, 95%CI: −0.052 to −0.020, p<0.0001), mixed (estimate: −0.087, 95%CI: −0.132 to −0.042, p = 0.0001) and non-calcified plaques (estimate: −0.076, 95%CI: −0.115 to −0.038, p = 0.0001). Adiponectin levels were not associated with calcified plaques (estimate: −0.021, 95% CI: −0.043 to −0.001, p = 0.06). Since the majority of coronary plaques was calcified, adiponectin levels account for only 3% of the variability in total plaque number. In contrast, adiponectin accounts for approximately 20% of the variability in mixed and non-calcified plaque burden.

Conclusions/Significance

Adiponectin levels predict mixed and non-calcified coronary atherosclerotic plaque burden. Low adiponectin levels may contribute to coronary plaque vulnerability and may thus play a role in the pathophysiology of ACS.