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“Background-Tpeak-Tend interval (TpTe) and T-wave amplitude (Tamp) carry diagnostic and prognostic information regarding cardiac morbidity and mortality. Heart rate and QT interval are known to be heritable traits. The heritability of T-wave morphology parameters such as TpTe and Tamp is unknown. TpTe and Tamp were evaluated in a large sample of twins.

Methods and Results-Twins from the GEMINAKAR study (611 pairs, 246 monozygotic, 365 dizygotic; mean age, 38 +/- 11 years; 49% men) who had selleck chemicals an

ECG performed during 1997 to 2000 were included. Tamp was measured in leads V1 and V5. Duration variables (RR interval, QTpeak and QTend interval) were measured and averaged over 3 consecutive beats in lead V5. TpTe was calculated as the QTend- and QTpeak-interval difference. Heritability was assessed using structural 5-Fluoracil clinical trial equation models adjusting for age, sex, and body mass index. All models were reducible to a model of additive genetics and unique environment.

All variables had considerable genetic components. Adjusted heritability estimates were as follows: TpTe, 46%; Tamp lead V1, 34%; Tamp lead V5, 47%; RR interval, 55%; QT interval, 67%; and Bazett-corrected QT interval, 42%.

Conclusions-RR interval, QT interval, Tamp, and TpTe interval are heritable ECG parameters. (Circ Cardiovasc Genet. 2011; 4:516-522.)”
“Introduction: Blockade of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is a critical approach to the management of hypertension, especially in proteinuric patients. It is well proven that the direct renin inhibitor aliskiren shows comparable clinical efficacy to the angiotensin II receptor blocker valsartan on blood pressure control and albuminuria. However, there is only limited data on the hand-to-hand effectiveness of these two RAS blockers in improving arterial

stiffness. We tested whether aliskiren or valsartan would improve arterial stiffness in hypertensive patients with albuminuria who are already on antihypertensive therapy.

Material and methods: ZIETDFMK Thirty-four patients with hypertension and albuminuria < 1 g, after a wash-out period of three weeks, were randomized to aliskiren or valsartan in a 24-week randomized parallel-group study.

Results: A nonsignificant difference in blood pressure was seen between the two treatment groups. Albuminuria was significantly reduced in both groups (56% for the aliskiren group, p < 0.05, and 38% for the valsartan group, p < 0.05). Only valsartan but not aliskiren significantly reduced carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (-1.1 0.8 m/s (p = 0.02) for valsartan and +0.1 +/- 0.7 m/s (ns) for aliskiren).

Conclusion: The results of our study showed that valsartan improves arterial stiffness to a significantly greater extent than aliskiren, despite a similar antihypertensive and antiproteinuric effect.”
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