The purpose of our study was to analyze the relationship between various BP measurements, traditional risk factors, markers of asymptomatic atherosclerosis [left ventricular mass (LVM), carotid intima media thickness (IMT)], and cardiovascular mortality in HD patients. Methods: Seventy-three patients (44 males and 29 females; mean age: 54.2 years) were included. BP was measured before and after HD and 48-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) was performed. Using sonography, the LVM index and carotid IMT were measured.

Results: During a follow-up period up to 3,664 days, 28 patients died – 16 of them from cardiovascular causes. In a Cox regression model, which included age, gender, smoking, diabetes, sensitive C-reactive protein, albumin, hemoglobin, selleck chemicals troponin T, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, calcium, phosphorus, carotid IMT, and LVM index, only

48-hour systolic ABPM (p = 0.037) and 48-hour diastolic ABPM (p = 0.006) turned out to be independent predictors of cardiovascular death. Conclusion: Only 48-hour ABPM and not single BP measurements before QNZ purchase or after HD were associated with cardiovascular mortality in HD patients. Copyright (c) 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel”
“Growing evidence indicates that an increase of orexin (or hypocretin) signaling is involved in the pathophysiology of major depression, but little is known regarding the causal link between the orexinergic system and depressive-like states. Here we blocked orexin receptors in mice subjected to unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) to investigate putative those antidepressant-like effects of this treatment, as well

as the underlying mechanisms. BALB/c mice were exposed to 9 weeks of UCMS and from the third week onward treated daily with fluoxetine (20 mg/kg per day, per as) or with the dual orexin receptor antagonist almorexant (100 mg/kg per day, per os). The effects of UCMS regimen and pharmacological treatments were assessed by physical measures and behavioral testing. The dexamethasone suppression test was performed to examine the integrity of the negative feedback of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, and immunohistochemical markers were used to assess cell proliferation (Ki-67), immature newborn neurons (doublecortin), and mature newborn neurons (5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine/NeuN) in the dorsal and ventral parts of the hippocampus. Our results show that 7 weeks of fluoxetine or almorexant treatments counteract the UCMS-induced physical and behavioral alterations. Both treatments prevented the HPA axis dysregulation caused by UCMS, but only fluoxetine reversed the UCMS-induced decrease of hippocampal cell proliferation and neurogenesis, while chronic almorexant treatment decreased cell proliferation and neurogenesis specifically in the ventral hippocampus.