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Study suggests estrogen deficiency can lead to obesity-induced high blood pressure after menopause

08-08-2007 · EurekAlert!

At menopause, women lose hormone protection against heart and kidney diseases, and are likely to become obese. A research team has tested the idea that estrogen deficiency in aged females may trigger the development of high blood pressure and obesity. The results of their study, using an animal model, suggest that estrogen depletion can have these effects.

Keywords: study, suggests, estrogen, deficiency, lead, obesity-induced, blood, pressure, menopause, suggest, obesity, induced

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Advance in understanding of blood pressure gene could lead to new treatments
02-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
Research by scientists at UCL (University College London) has clearly demonstrated for the first time the structure and function of a gene crucial to the regulation of blood pressure. The discovery could be important in the search for new treatments for illnesses such as heart disease, the UK's biggest killer. In a paper published online today in Nature Medicine, the team, led by Professor Patrick Vallance and Dr James Leiper, UCL Department of Medicine, reveal the role of the human gene dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH), showing that loss of DDAH activity disrupts nitric oxide (NO) production. NO is critical in the regulation of blood pressure, nervous system functions and the immune system. The role of DDAH is to break down modified amino acids (Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and monomethyl arginine (L-NMMA)) that are produced by the body and have been shown to inhibit NO synthase. These molecules accumulate in various disease states including diabetes, renal failure and pulmonary and systemic hypertension, and their concentration in plasma (the fluid component of blood) is strongly predicative of cardiovascular disease and death. In a healthy human body, the majority of ADMA is eliminated through active metabolism by DDAH. Scientists have hypothesised that if DDAH function is impaired, NO production is reduced, and that this could be an important feature of increased cardiovascular risk. To examine this pathway in more detail, the researchers deleted the DDAH gene in mice. These mice went on to develop hypertension, or high blood pressure. They also designed specific inhibitors (small molecules) which bind to the active site of human DDAH. These small molecule inhibitors also induced hypertension in mice, confirming the importance of DDAH in the regulation of blood pressure. Dr Leiper, UCL Medicine, said: “These genetic and chemical approaches to disrupt DDAH showed remarkably consistent results, and provide compelling evidence that loss of DDAH function increases the concentration of ADMA and thereby disrupts vascular NO signalling. “There has been considerable scientific interest in this pathway and the role of ADMA as a novel risk factor, but so far there's been little evidence to support the idea that it's a cause of disease, rather than just a marker. Genes and their pathways are crucial to our understanding of cardiovascular disease and a better understanding of DDAH-1 could lead to important new treatments. “It could help us to establish if genetic variation predisposes certain people to these diseases, or whether environmental factors exert some of their effects through modulation of DDAH activity. “Our research also shows that this pathway could be harnessed therapeutically to limit production of NO in certain situations where too much nitric oxide is a bad thing; for example, hypotension and septic shock. These are some of the biggest problems in intensive care medicine and there is a huge unmet need for drug treatments.” The study, which was carried out at UCL's Rayne Institute, was funded by grants from the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "The unexpected finding in the 1980s that a simple gas, nitric oxide (NO), is made by cells in the blood vessel wall and is a powerful control of blood vessel relaxation led to the award of the Nobel Prize in 1998 to its discoverers. "More recently, there has been increasing evidence that impairment of NO production is likely to be an important factor in the development of heart and circulatory disease, but the mechanisms responsible are not fully understood. "This study suggests for the first time that the loss of the activity of the enzyme DDAH-1 leads to reduced NO production and may cause heart and circulatory disease. These findings are likely to be important in the search for new ways to optimise the health of our blood vessels." ### Notes for Editors 1. For more information, please contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk2. 'Disruption of methylarginine metabolism impairs vascular homeostasis' is published in the February issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Advance online publication is embargoed to 18.00 GMT (13.00 US Eastern) Sunday 4 February 2007. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.3. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. About UCL Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. In the government's most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 59 UCL departments achieved top ratings of 5* and 5, indicating research quality of international excellence. UCL is the fourth-ranked UK university in the 2006 league table of the top 500 world universities produced by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. UCL alumni include Mahatma Gandhi (Laws 1889, Indian political and spiritual leader); Jonathan Dimbleby (Philosophy 1969, writer and television presenter); Junichiro Koizumi (Economics 1969, Prime Minister of Japan); Lord Woolf (Laws 1954, Lord Chief Justice of England & Wales); Alexander Graham Bell (Phonetics 1860s, inventor of the telephone), and members of the band Coldplay.
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Does being overweight in old age cause memory problems?
09-19-2007 · EurekAlert!
While obesity has been shown to contribute to high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes, being overweight in old age does not lead to memory problems, according to a study published Sept. 19, 2007, in the online edition of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
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New study suggests special cocoa may lead to sustained improvement in blood vessel function
03-06-2007 · EurekAlert!
A new study published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology found that regular consumption of a special Mars, Inc., cocoa containing cocoa flavanols may have a sustained benefit on blood vessel health. This is the first study to suggest the cardiovascular benefits of flavanol-rich cocoa could be long-term.
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Feeling hot, hot, hot: New study suggests ways to control fever-induced seizures
08-21-2007 · EurekAlert!
Scientists at the University of Toronto Mississauga and Queen's University show that genetic variation in the foraging gene results in different tolerance for heat stress and demonstrate how the use of specific drugs can replicate this effect in fruit flies and locusts. While the findings are at an early stage, the researchers suggest that they could lead to ways to rapidly protect the brain from extremely high fevers in mammals, including humans.
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Eating junk food whilst pregnant and breastfeeding may lead to obese offspring
08-14-2007 · EurekAlert!
Mothers who eat junk food during pregnancy and breastfeeding may be putting their children at risk of overeating and developing obesity, according to a study funded by the Wellcome Trust and carried out at the Royal Veterinary College, London. The research suggests that pregnant and breastfeeding women should not indulge in fatty, sugary and salty foods under the misguided assumption that they are "eating for two."
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Obesity and lack of exercise could enhance the risk of pancreatic cancer
08-15-2007 · EurekAlert!
Obesity and aversion to exercise have become hallmarks of modern society -- and a new study suggests that a blood protein linked to these lifestyle factors may be an indicator for an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Researchers from the Dana Farber Cancer Institute report their findings in the Aug. 15 issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
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Specific antagonism lowers blood pressure
08-16-2007 · EurekAlert!
High blood pressure is associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. A new study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation now shows that antagonists of a receptor known as EP1 reduce hypertension in mice and rats. The authors therefore suggest that targeting the PGE2 receptor EP1 might be a viable approach to treating hypertension.
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Obesity-linked high blood volumes render PSA prostate cancer test less effective, study suggests
11-20-2007 · EurekAlert!
The extra blood volume produced in the obese may so dilute levels of a telltale protein produced by prostates that the popular PSA test may be essentially useless for diagnosing prostate cancer in men carrying extra pounds, a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests.
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Government dietary guidelines, unintended consequences and public policy
01-30-2008 · EurekAlert!
In the years following the government promotion of a low-fat diet, obesity in America has reached almost epidemic levels. What role did the federal guidelines play? In a study published in the March 2008 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Paul R Marantz, Elizabeth Bird, Michael H. Alderman, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, suggest that the government issued these recommendations based on limited scientific data and assumed that no harm would result, but the evidence now suggests otherwise.
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New nutritional research: College students face obesity, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome
06-14-2007 · EurekAlert!
Obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and inactivity: They're not just your father's problems any more, University of New Hampshire research finds. New data on the widely unstudied demographic of college students indicates that this group of 18 to 24-year-olds are on the path toward chronic health diseases. Although limited, national data suggest the trend is not unique to UNH.
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