Plasma adiponectin levels are significantly associated with coronary lesion complexity in men with CAD. Low adiponectin levels may contribute to coronary plaque vulnerability.
Smoking cessation is associated with increased plasma adiponectin levels in men with stable angina, suggesting that the significance of smoking cessation may be partly explained by the increase in adiponectin level.
Circulation Journal Official Journal of the Japanese Circulation Society http://www. j-circ.or.jp oronary artery disease (CAD) is a life-threatening condition that encompasses systemic atherosclerosis. Many basic-research, epidemiological, and clinical studies have been conducted with the aim of combating atherosclerotic disease. Together with aging, the progression of atherosclerosis leads to an increase in stiffening of the aorta, and in turn an increase in pulse pressure (PP) through a reduction in arterial compliance and increased pulse wave velocity. 1 Therefore, increased PP is considered as a sign of increased arterial stiffness. Elevated PP and decreased arterial compliance are also recognized as risk factors for CAD. 1,2Indices of intrarenal vascular resistance calculated from pulsed-wave Doppler velocities, such as pulsatility index (PI) and resistive index (RI), correlate positively with PP and negatively with the carotid hemodynamic pattern in patients with essential hypertension. 3 This pattern was determined by calculating the ratio of diastolic to systolic mean velocity in pulsed Doppler flow recordings of the common carotid artery. The same ratio also showed a significant negative correlation with PP and carotid arterial stiffness. 4 These findings suggest that hemodynamic Doppler flow patterns may reflect not only peripheral vascular resistance but also systemic arterial stiffness.The ophthalmic artery (OA) is the first major branch of the internal carotid artery and divides into many branches in the orbital area. Doppler imaging of the OA was recently made possible by improvements in Doppler equipment. 5 Changes in OA blood flow assessed on pulsed Doppler (OA Doppler) have provided new insights into various vascular disorders including ophthalmic diseases, carotid artery stenosis, and diabetes mellitus. 5 OA Doppler has particular anatomical advantages due to the absence of ultrasonic obstacles and the vertical angle, which differs from the parallel-signaling of carotid artery Doppler to the transducer. Such findings in the ocular fundus are associated closely with systemic atherosclerosis, with previous reports showing that atherosclerotic changes in retinal arteries are potential markers of systemic cardiovascular disease. 6,7 OA Doppler flow patterns may also reflect the severity of diabetes retinopathy. 8,9 Fukuda et al showed that the ratio of systolic to diastolic mean velocity in OA Doppler is closely involved in age and the severity of diabetic retinopathy. 10 There is little information on the relationship between OA Doppler flow and systemic atherosclerosis. We hypothesized Background: Doppler imaging of ophthalmic artery (OA), the first major branch of the internal carotid artery, provides anatomical advantages due to the vertical angle to the body surface and absence of ultrasonic obstacles. It was hypothesized that the Doppler waveform indices of OA correlate with severity of systemic atherosclerosis.
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