lipoprotein colesterol (r ¼ -0.41, p ¼ 0.004). In males such significant correlations were not found.Conclusions: Cortisol can be considered as one of factors which regulate metabolic background of essential arterial hypertension. Its plasma concentration is dependent of gender and probably is associated with atherogenic dyslipidemia in hypertensive females.Objective: The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is recognized as a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors. We sought to study the prevalence of MetS, defined by the Adult Treatment Panel III criteria, in patients with Essential Hypertension.Methods: We studied 541 hypertensives (205 men), of median age 60 (range: 19-87) years. A health questionnaire was completed for all participants, including personal history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM), ischemic heart disease (IHD), smoking habits and medications taken. The waist circumference and blood pressure were measured. Fasting blood samples were obtained in order to measure glucose, and a complete lipid profile.Results: Three hundred sixty one out of 541 patients (66.7%) met the criteria for MetS. MetS was more prevalent in females than in males (70.2% vs 61.0%, p < 0.05). The overall prevalence of MetS in hypertensives was about 3 fold higher compared with that of the general Greek population (20%).

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telomere length than aortic segments. On the other hand, telomere length was shorter in aortic tissues which presented atherosclerotic lesions compared to corresponding tissues without atherosclerotic lesions. There was a negative correlation between pulse pressure and telomere length only in atherosclerotic tissues. In conclusion, the present data suggest an in situ regulation of telomere length in different arterial tissues with or without atheroma. These results also suggest tissue regulation of telomere size by local factors likely related to oxidative stress responses.Objective: Hypertension is associated with increased oxidative stress, which may have an impact on further cardiovascular risk. There are only a few and controversial data on the effect of beta-blockers on oxidative stress. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of nebivolol (NEB) and metoprolol (MET) succinate on oxidative stress in hypertension. Design and Method:In a double-blind study 80 mild to moderate essential hypertension patients (mean age 47 AE 10 years; 41 male, 39 female) were randomized to receive either MET succinate 50-100 mg or NEB 5 mg once daily for 1 year. Peripheral blood pressure (BP), plasma oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL), total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, glucose, urine excretion of 8-iso PGF-2a adjusted to urine creatinine were measured at baseline and after 1 year of treatment.

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