Method: Spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity (sBRS) was estimated in 45 patients with at least a severe carotid stenosis (70%-99%). sBRS calculation was performed noninvasively, with the spontaneous sequence method, based on indirectly estimated central blood pressures from radial recordings. This method failed in three patients due to poor-quality recordings, and

eventually 42 patients were evaluated. After carotid duplex examination, carotid plaque echogenicity was graded from 1 to 4 according to Gray-Weale classification and the patients were divided into two groups: the echolucent group (grades 1 and 2) and the echogenic group (grades 3 and 4).

Results: Sixteen patients (38%) and 26 patients (62%) were included in the echolucent and selleck echogenic group, respectively. Diabetes mellitus was observed more frequently among echolucent plaques (chi(2) Capmatinib in vivo = 8.0; P < .004), while those plaques were also more commonly symptomatic compared with echogenic atheromas (chi(2) = 8.5; P < .003). Systolic arterial pressure, diastolic arterial pressure, and heart rate were similar in the two groups. Nevertheless, the mean value of baroreflex sensitivity was found to be significantly lower in the echogenic group (2.96 ms/mm Hg) compared with the echolucent one (5.0 ms/mm Hg), (F[1,

42] = 10.1; P < .003).

Conclusions:These findings suggest that echogenic plaques are associated with reduced baroreflex function compared with echolucent ones. Further investigation is warranted to define whether such an sBRS impairment could be responsible for cardiovascular morbidity associated with echogenic plaques. (J Vasc Surg 2011;54:93-99.)”
“Chronic Selumetinib price caffeine consumption has been inversely associated with the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Here we assessed whether chronic caffeine treatment prevents the behavioral and cognitive decline that male Wistar rats experience from young (approximate to 3 months) to middle age (approximate to 10 months). When animals were young they were evaluated at weekly intervals in three tests: motor activity habituation in the open field (30-min sessions at the same time on consecutive days), continuous spontaneous alternation in the Y-maze (8 min), and elevated plus-maze (5 min). Afterward, rats from the same litter were randomly assigned either to a caffeine-treated group (n=13) or a control group (n=11), which received only tap water. Caffeine treatment (5 mg/kg/day) began when animals were approximate to 4 months old, and lasted for 6 months. Behavioral tests were repeated from day 14 to day 28 after caffeine withdrawal, a time period that is far in excess for the full excretion of a caffeine dose in this species. Thirty days after caffeine discontinuation brains were processed for Golgi-Cox staining.