The present study was performed to compare circulating levels of tumour necrosis factor-␣ (TNF␣) and plasma endothelin 1 (ET-1), of hypertensive patients with or without renal failure and with those of normotensive healthy subjects. The study population consisted of 21 healthy normotensive subjects and 22 hypertensive patients, 11 with essential hypertension, and 11 with hypertension and chronic renal failure (CRF).Plasma ET-1 levels, serum TNF␣ and creatinine, creatinine clearance, 24-h urinary albumin excretion (UAE) were assayed, and 24-h blood pressure monitoring was obtained in all subjects. Office blood pressure was similar between hypertensive patients with and without CRF. However, 24-h blood pressure was greater in patients with CRF than in those with essential hypertension and

The stimulation of autocrine and paracrine factors such as basic fibroblast- (bFGF) and platelet-derived (PDGF) growth factors mediates many of the growth-promoting actions of angiotensin II. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of chronic AT1-receptor blockade on plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) and growth factors levels, and on left ventricular mass, in essential hypertension (EH). The study population consisted of 16 patients with mild-moderate EH, and 25 normotensive controls. In the EH patients under basal conditions, and after 3 and 6 months of chronic therapy with Losartan 50 mg/day, we measured serum levels of ET-1, bFGF and PDGF, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF). At the same time, all patients underwent 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and an echocardiographic evaluation to measure the thickness of the posterior wall (PWT) of the left ventricle and of the interventricular septum (IVS). The healthy controls underwent the same analyses, under basal conditions, at baseline and after 3 and 6 months of observation. In the EH patients, after 3 months of AT1-receptor blockade bFGF was reduced from 13.6 +/- 0.7 to 10.9 +/- 0.7 pg/mL (P < .004), and both TNF and PDGF were significantly decreased (P < .006 and P < .007, respectively). After 6 months of therapy, ET-1 was significantly diminished in comparison with baseline (6.9 +/- 0.8 v 5.5 +/- 0.1 fmol/mL; P < .05), and the reduction in the levels of growth factors were even more significant than at 3 months of treatment. Both PWT and IVS were significantly changed after 6 months of therapy with losartan after basal evaluation (P < .05, respectively). Systolic and diastolic 24-h blood pressures declined significantly after 3 and 6 months of therapy with losartan (P < .01, respectively). It seems likely that the inhibition of the action of angiotensin II by the specific AT1-receptor blockade, by reducing circulating levels of ET-1 and those of some growth factors, may offer an advantage regarding the effect on hypertensive cardiovascular changes in human hypertension.

Previous evidence has demonstrated a relationship between growth factors and cardiovascular diseases. This study was aimed at evaluating levels of some endothelium-derived growth factors, and their relationship with microalbuminuria (MAU), in essential hypertension. Ninety-nine mild-moderate essential hypertensives (EH) and 25 healthy controls were studied. All patients underwent 24-h blood pressure monitoring, serum endothelin-1 (ET-1), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), and 24-h MAU assays. Later, EH were divided into two subsets consisting of microalbuminurics (MAU >11 microg/min) and nonmicroalbuminurics (MAU <11 microg/min). In microalbuminuric EH, circulating ET-1, bFGF, and PDGF were significantly higher than in nonmicroalbuminurics (P < .0001, P < .0001, P < .005, respectively) or in controls. In the group of 99 EH, significant positive correlations of MAU with both ET-1 and bFGF (r = 0.35, P < .001, and r = 0.34, P < .001, respectively) were found. ET-1 and bFGF correlated significantly (r = 0.31, P < .002). Circulating bFGF also correlated significantly with MAU in the microalbuminuric EH subset (r = 0.49, P < .01). Our results show that in microalbuminuric EH circulating levels of certain growth factors are increased. In human essential hypertension these factors are linked with MAU, an early cardiovascular and renal damage marker.

(1) Background: we aimed to investigate the effects of physical activity on cognitive functions and deficits of healthy population and other needy groups. Secondly, we investigated the relation between healthy habits and psychopathological risks. Finally, we investigated the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on exercise addiction and possible associated disorders. (2) Methods: From April 2021 to October 2021, we conducted a review aimed at identifying the effects of physical exercise on mental health, from cognitive improvements to risk of addiction; we searched for relevant studies on PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, PsycINFO and CINHAL. (3) Results: For the first purpose, results indicated multiple effects such as better precision and response speed in information processing tasks on healthy populations; improvement of executive functions, cognitive flexibility and school performance in children; improvement of attention and executive functions and less hyperactivity and impulsiveness on children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); improvement of executive and global functions on adults; improvement of overall cognitive functioning on patients with schizophrenic spectrum disorder or bipolar disorder. Data also demonstrated that exercise addiction seems to be related to low levels of education, low self-esteem, eating disorders and body dysmorphisms. Eventually, it was found that people with lower traits and intolerance of uncertainty show a strong association between COVID-19 anxiety and compulsive exercise and eating disorder. (4) Conclusions: these findings underline on one side the beneficial effects of physical activity on cognitive function in healthy individuals in a preventive and curative key, while on the other side the importance of an adequate evaluation of psychological distress and personality characteristics associated with exercise addiction.

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