D iabetic nephropathy is a major complication of diabetes. In the early stage, microalbuminuria is observed and followed by massive proteinuria. In the advanced stage, renal function decreases and uremia occurs. If nephropathy progresses, hemodialysis has to be initiated. Accordingly, suppressing the progression of diabetic nephropathy is important and urgent for the patient’s quality of life. ...

Background: Neuropathy is one of the important complications of diabetes. Deficiency of the nerve conduction velocity (NCV) that occurs in both human diabetic neuropathy and animal diabetes models is one of the indicators for diabetic neuropathy. In the present study, we examined the effect of enalapril, angiotensinconverting enzyme inhibitor on NCV, number of endoneurial capillaries and th...

BACKGROUND Radiofrequency ablation of renal sympathetic nerve (RDN) shows effective BP reduction in hypertensive patients while the specific mechanisms remain unclear. OBJECTIVE We hypothesized that abnormal levels of norepinephrine (NE) and changes in NE-related enzymes and angiotensinconverting enzyme 2 (ACE2), angiotensin (Ang)-(1-7) and Mas receptor mediate the anti-hypertensive effects o...

Although numerous prospective randomized trials since the Veterans Administration studies clearly have attested to the efficacy and safety of antihypertensive therapy, there remain some controversial issues with all classes of antihypertensive drugs. Thiazide diuretics increase the risk for new-onset diabetes and their long-term safety has been questioned. Alpha-blockers do not reduce morbidity...

Cardiologists and generalists have been reported to diverge in terms of their self-reported use of angiotensinconverting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, but information on their actual use of ACE inhibitors has been lacking. In order to assess ACE inhibitor use in patients with heart failure in a teaching hospital and any diVerences between specialties we studied all patients in the Western Infirmary ...

Haemodialysis (HD)-associated anaphylactic and anaphylactoid reactions are found to be a complex problem, and though they have been well-documented in literature, a number of unexplored aspects remain. Anaphylaxis is a severe, life-threatening, generalized or systemic form of hypersensitivity. The clinical diagnosis is based on case history and physical examination, and includes symptoms of air...

The purpose of this paper is to review the randomized controlled trial (RCT) data investigating cardiac medical therapy for patients after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). We identified RCTs with 100 enrolled patients that examined the impact of cardiac medical therapy on outcomes 1 year after CABG. The MEDLINE database was searched for trials conducted between 1966 and 2004 on the follo...

Diabetic autonomic neuropathy is a serious and common complication of diabetes whose significance has not been fully appreciated. In this study, 50 non-cardiac diabetic patients were randomly selected to serve as cases and subjected to a standardized protocol of history, examination and a battery of autonomic function tests. 70% of them tested positive for autonomic dysfunction with its inciden...

The interaction of the renin-angiotensin system and the sympathetic nervous system in patients with congestive heart failure is not well understood. We tested the hypothesis that angiotensinconverting enzyme inhibitors can resensitize the fJ-adrenergic receptor system. Guinea pigs were given captopril, isoproterenol, or both for 2 weeks. At death, cardiac sarcolemmal and light vesicle fractions...

Thunhorst, Robert L., Terry G. Beltz, and Alan Kim Johnson. Effects of subfornical organ lesions on acutely induced thirst and salt appetite. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Regulatory Integrative Comp. Physiol. 46): R56–R65, 1999.—We examined the role of the subfornical organ (SFO) in stimulating thirst and salt appetite using two procedures that initiate water and sodium ingestion within 1–2 h of extrac...