Hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) is a feature of numerous metabolic disorders including dyslipidemias, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes mellitus type 2 and can increase the risk of premature coronary artery disease. HTG may also be due to genetic factors (called primary HTG) and particularly the severe/extreme HTG (SEHTG), which is a usually rare genetic disorder. Even rarer are secondary cases of SE...

Mitochondrial Ca2+ transport is important in the maintenance of intracellular ion homeostasis, and also a key factor in the pathogenesis of many diseases. We discuss here the main aspects of mitochondrial Ca2+ transport, and how this transport is linked to changes in energy metabolism and redox state. Mitochondrial permeability transition, a consequence of excessive mitochondrial Ca2+ accumulat...

Probiotics, because of their role in the maintenance of normal gastrointestinal flora, can facilitate human resistance to opportunistic infection and positively impact the outcome in a variety of clinical situations. Probiotics have been used successfully to facilitate treatment of bacterial vaginosis, recurrent urinary tract infections, diarrhea, bladder cancer, complications of antibiotic the...

The metabolic syndrome is a cluster of symptoms associated with insulin resistance and known to precede the onset of type 2 diabetes. Overweight and obesity contribute significantly to the development of the metabolic syndrome. In fact, weight loss has a huge impact in decreasing the symptoms associated with the metabolic syndrome. Several studies have demonstrated that just by losing 7% to 10%...

Obesity, which has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. and is increasing worldwide, is closely associated with insulin resistance (peripheral and hepatic) and with a state of lowgrade inflammation, the latter characterized by elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines in blood and tissues (1). Insulin resistance and inflammation in turn are associated with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, ...

Hypercholesterolemia is a major risk factor for development of coronary heart disease. Proper diagnosis and adequate treatment are vital to reducing morbidity and mortality associated with elevated serum lipid levels. The amount of literature in this area is overwhelming. To aid practitioners and educators in organizing this large body of information, we compiled key articles, guidelines, and c...

Over the past 2 years, the pace of scientific discovery in human genetics related to atherothrombotic disease and vascular biology has been rapid, with no shortage of innovative articles published in ATVB. Several studies have identified novel loci by genetic association approaches, whereas others focused on validating genome-wide association study (GWAS) data functionally. Strides were also ma...

The recent publication of new pediatric lipid screening guidelines represents a change in recommendations regarding lipid screening and management for pediatric patients that will affect all health care professionals who care for children and adolescents. The guidelines differ from the selective screening recommended by the 2007 US Preventive Services Task Force, instead recommending routine li...