Looking for a Population-Based Definition of the Metabolic Syndrome
Carlos A. Aguilar-Salinas, Rosalba Rojas, Clicerio Gonzalez-Villalpando,
Francisco J. Gómez-Pérez, Roopa Mehta, Gustavo Olaiz, Juan A. Rull, David Cox
The publication of several definitions of the metabolic syndrome made this topic popular, but highly controversial. Nevertheless the concept of the metabolic syndrome has theoretical and practical advantages. The metabolic syndrome integrates, in a single diagnosis, the clinical manifestations of insulin resistance and/or abdominal obesity that lead to increased cardiovascular morbidity and precede type 2 diabetes.
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Searching for the Link between Insulin Resistance and Vascular Dysfunction
Eugenio Cersosimo, MD, PhD
Cardiovascular disease affects approximately 60% of the adult population over the age of 65 years and represents the number one cause of death in the United States. Coronary atherosclerosis is responsible for the vast majority of the cardiovascular events and a number of cardiovascular risk factors have been identified. In recent years it has become clear that insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction play a central role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.
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Components of the Metabolic Syndrome Predict the Development of Diabetes Plus Metabolic Syndrome
Wayne H.-H. Sheu, MD, PhD, Chen-Huan Chen, MD
According to the NCEP Adult Treatment Panel III report, subjects with the metabolic syndrome can be identified based on the presence of any three of the five easily obtainable components, namely, abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high triglyceride, low high-density lipoproteinemia, and high plasma glucose. The so-identified subjects with the metabolic syndrome have a very high risk of developing diabetes and a moderate risk of developing cardiovascular diseases in the absence of diabetes. Furthermore, the presence of the components of the metabolic syndrome in patients with diabetes also added to the cardiovascular risk.
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Biological Modulation of the Inflammatory Response by Virgin Olive Oil in Humans
Pablo Pérez-Martínez, José López-Miranda, Francisco Pérez-Jiménez
Epidemiologic evidence indicates that the Mediterranean diet (MD), in which olive oil is the principal source of fat, reduces the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) [1]. Data from controlled clinical studies have shown that monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) intake favorably affects many risk factors related to the development of CHD. Compared with saturated fatty acids (SFAs), MUFAs lower plasma total and LDL-cholesterol concentrations, increase HDL-cholesterol concentrations, and decrease total plasma triacylglycerol concentrations.
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Histamine: Experimental Tool for the Assessment of the Role of Histamine in Atherosclerosis
Hiroshi Ohtsu, MD, PhD
Histamine, 2-(4-imidazole)-ethylamine, is one of the most intensely studied molecules in medicine and is produced by various cells including central nervous system neurons, gastric enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cells, mast cells, basophils, macrophage, and lymphocytes [1]. It is a low-molecular-weight amine synthesized from L-histidine exclusively by histidine decarboxylase (HDC). Activating histamine-specific membrane receptors, which are now classified into 4 subclasses, H1 to H4 receptors [2-5], transmit the pleiotropic effects of histamine.
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Hepatitis C Promotes Insulin Resistance
Manuel Romero-Gómez, M.D.
Insulin resistance emerges as consequence of the inability of insulin to induce its effect on glucose metabolism and an abnormally large amount of insulin is required to maintain normal glucose levels. The hyperinsulinemic state induces several abnormalities in the liver, endothelium, and kidneys, and is the main feature in the metabolic syndrome.
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Birth Weight, Stress, and the Metabolic Syndrome in Adult Life
David I.W. Phillips
There is a now a large body of data linking an adverse early environment as indicated by small size at birth with a higher prevalence of cardiovascular and metabolic disease in adult life [1]. However, it is still unclear as to how events in utero can affect disease predisposition some five to six decades later. Recently there has been much interest in the possibility that the early environment may have long-term effects through resetting of a diverse array of hormonal systems that control growth and development.
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Familial Combined Hyperlipidemia, Insulin Resistance, Metabolic Syndrome and Coronary Heart Disease
Juan F Ascaso MD, PhD
Familial combined hyperlipidemia (FCH) is a frequent form (1-2% of the general population) of primary hyperlipidemia characterized by varying phenotypic expression (IIa, IIb, or IV), increased apolipoprotein B, and high incidence of premature cardiovascular disease [1-3]. The genetic and molecular bases of the disease have not been fully defined yet and specific biological markers are lacking. The lipoprotein phenotype expression of the disease is modified by genetic, metabolic and environmental factors.
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