The imbalance between energy intake and expenditure is the main cause of excessive overweight and obesity. Technically, obesity is defined as the abnormal accumulation of ≥20% of body fat, over the individual's ideal body weight. The latter constitutes the maximal healthful value for an individual that is calculated based chiefly on the height, age, build and degree of muscular development. However, obesity is diagnosed by measuring the weight in relation to the height of an individual, thereby determining or calculating the body mass index. The National Institutes of Health have defined 30 kg/m2 as the limit over which an individual is qualified as obese. Accordingly, the prevalence of obesity in on the increase in children and adults worldwide, despite World Health Organization warnings. The growth of obesity and the scale of associated health issues induce serious consequences for individuals and governmental health systems. Excessive overweight remains among the most neglected public health issues worldwide, while obesity is associated with increasing risks of disability, illness and death. Cardiovascular diseases, the leading cause of mortality worldwide, particularly hypertension and diabetes, are the main illnesses associated with obesity. Nevertheless, the mechanisms underlying obesity-associated hypertension or other associated metabolic diseases remains to be adequately investigated. In the present review, we addressed the association between obesity and cardiovascular disease, particularly the biological mechanisms linking obesity and hypertension.

Objective The optimal dose of Fasudil is still controversial in congenital heart disease accompanied with severe pulmonary hypertension (CHD‐PAH). This study aimed to compare acute hemodynamic changes after different doses of Fasudil in 60 consecutive adult patients with CHD‐PAH. Design Prospective randomized controlled trial. Setting Tertiary cardiology center. Patients Adult patients with CHD‐PAH. Interventions Patients were randomized to Fasudil 30 or 60 mg. Outcome Measures The hemodynamic parameters were measured at baseline and after 30 minutes of Fasudil through right cardiac catheterization. Blood gas results were obtained from the pulmonary artery, right ventricle, right atrium, superior and inferior vena cava, and femoral artery. Pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and systemic arterial resistance (SVR) were calculated. Results The changes in systolic pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP) (−13.1% vs −9.3%, P < .05), diastolic PAP (dPAP) (−17.6% vs −14.5%, P < .05), mean PAP (mPAP) (−12.4% vs −8.5%, P < .05), and PVR (−35.8% vs −22.2%, P < .05) were more pronounced in the 60‐mg group than in the 30‐mg group. All patients had no obvious adverse reactions related to peripheral blood pressure. Conclusions Fasudil could improve the hemodynamics of patients with CHD‐PAH, especially with the 60‐mg dose. There were no serious adverse reactions.

Salidroside (SAL) is the major ingredient of Rhodiola rosea, and has been traditionally used in Chinese medicine for decades. Numerous studies have demonstrated the protective effects of SAL for myocardial ischemia. However, it is yet to be deciphered whether SAL has cardioprotective effects after myocardial infarction (MI) in vivo. In the present study, we established a mouse MI model via coronary artery ligation. The aim was to investigate whether SAL treatment could reduce mortality, improve cardiac function and attenuate myocardial remodeling in MI mice. Post-surgery, mice were randomly administered SAL or normal saline. After 21 days, SAL was found to significantly reduce mortality, improve cardiac function, reduce fibrosis and infarct size compared to normal saline. In addition, oral administration of SAL could attenuate myocardial inflammation and apoptosis and promote angiogenesis. SAL down-regulated the expression levels of TNF-α, TGF-β1, IL-1β, Bax and up-regulate the expression of Bcl-2, VEGF, Akt and eNOS. These results indicated that SAL could alleviate the pathological processes of myocardial remodeling in MI mice, and may be a potentially effective therapeutic approach for the management of clinical ischemic cardiovascular diseases.

Background To evaluate the efficacy and safety of surgical treatment of tuberculosis destroyed lung (TDL), and the influence of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) on the outcomes of surgical treatment of TDL. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of 113 patients with TDL who underwent surgical treatment from January 2005 to December 2019. Among them, 30 of these cases were complicated with CPA. The patients were divided into two groups: TDL group and TDL + CPA group. We analyzed the effectiveness and safety of surgical treatment of TDL, and further compared the effectiveness and safety of surgical treatment of TDL with or withoutthe presence of CPA. Results The TDL + CPA group had a significantly higher age (P=0.003), symptoms of hemoptysis (P=0.000), and a higher proportion of patients with preoperative serum albumin <30 g/L (P=0.014) as compared with TDL group. For all enrolled patients, the incidence of severe postoperative complications was 12.4% (14/113) and the postoperative mortality within 30 days after discharge was 4.4% (5/113). 86.7% (98/113) of the patients recovered and discharged, the incidence of severe postoperative complications in the TDA + CPA group was higher than that of TDL group (23.3% vs 8.4%, P = 0.034), although there was no difference in mortality between the two groups (P = 1.000). A binary logistic regression analysis showed that the independent risk factors for severe postoperative complications were male (OR 25.24, 95% CI 2.31–275.64; P = 0.008) and age ≥ 40 years (OR 10.34, 95% CI 1.56–68.65; P = 0.016). Conclusion Surgical treatment for patients with TDL is effective with an acceptable mortality rate whether or not the disease is complicated with CPA. The independent risk factors identified for severe postoperative complications in patients with TDL were male and ≥ 40 years old. It implies that when treating patients with TDA + CPA, particular attention should be paid to these patients who have these independent risk factors to avoid a poor outcome.