Issue Highlights

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HomeCirculationVol. 111, No. 15Issue Highlights Free AccessIn BriefPDF/EPUBAboutView PDFView EPUBSections ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload citationsTrack citationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InMendeleyReddit Jump toFree AccessIn BriefPDF/EPUBIssue Highlights Originally published19 Apr 2005https://doi.org/10.1161/circ.111.15.1865Circulation. 2005;111:1865ENLARGED WAIST COMBINED WITH ELEVATED TRIGLYCERIDES IS A STRONG PREDICTOR OF ACCELERATED ATHEROGENESIS AND RELATED CARDIOVASCULAR MORTALITY IN POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN, by Tankó et al.Is it really that easy to predict all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality in postmenopausal women—just a waist circumference >88 cm (35 in) and fasting serum triglyceride level >1.69 mmol/L (128 mg/dL)? Yes, according to a community-based study of 557 women (48 to 76 years old) in Denmark who were followed up for 8.5 years for all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality and the annual progression rate of aortic calcification. With adjustments for age, smoking, and LDL cholesterol, a waist circumference >88 cm and triglycerides >1.69 was associated with a 4.7-fold increased risk, compared with 3.2-fold in women with the metabolic syndrome as defined by the National Cholesterol Education Program. Although these risks were not different, more progression of aortic calcification was seen with the simpler measure (P<0.05) See p 1883.FATNESS IS A BETTER PREDICTOR OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE RISK FACTOR PROFILE THAN AEROBIC FITNESS IN HEALTHY MEN, by Christou et al.Is it fatness or is it fitness? The literature is mixed, but this detailed study of 135 carefully screened healthy men revealed a relatively weak independent relationship between fitness and cardiovascular disease risk with a much stronger inverse association of various measures of fatness and cardiovascular disease risk. This relative strength of fatness versus fitness was particularly evident for hemodynamic versus metabolic cardiovascular disease risk factors. The major limitation of this study is its cross-sectional nature with already published longitudinal data favoring fitness more than fatness. The bottom-line message is that neither fitness nor fatness should be ignored. See p 1904.INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES INTERLEUKIN-6 AND ONCOSTATIN M INDUCE PLASMINOGEN ACTIVATOR INHIBITOR-1 IN HUMAN ADIPOSE TISSUE, by Rega et al.Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 is the primary inhibitor of plasminogen activation. Levels are increased in obesity, and adipose tissue is an important source of plasma plasminogen activator inhibitor-1. Evidence for a novel pathway of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 stimulation by the gp130 (inflammatory) ligands interleukin-6 and oncostatin M from human subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue is provided. This pathway of paracrine regulation in adipose tissue may contribute to the increased cardiovascular disease risk in patients with obesity. See p 1938.Download figureDownload PowerPointVisit www.circ.ahajournals.org:Cardiology Patient PageObesity. See p e257. Previous Back to top Next FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails April 19, 2005Vol 111, Issue 15 Advertisement Article InformationMetrics https://doi.org/10.1161/circ.111.15.1865 Originally publishedApril 19, 2005 PDF download Advertisement