Research - November 2015 Archives

ORLANDO, Fla. — New research shows that drinking one 16-ounce energy drink can increase blood pressure and stress hormone responses significantly. This raises the concern that these response changes could increase the risk of cardiovascular events, according to a study presented today at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2015. The findings also are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “In previous research, we found that energy drink consumption increased blood pressure in healthy young adults,” says Anna Svatikova, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic cardiology fellow and the first author. “We now show that the increases in blood pressure are accompanied by increases in norepinephrine, a stress hormone chemical, and this could predispose an increased risk of cardiac events – even in healthy people.” Mayo Clinic researchers conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study on 25 healthy volunteers with an average age of 29. Each participant consumed a 16-ounce energy drink and placebo drink within five minutes, in random order, on two separate days, with a maximum of two weeks apart. The placebo drink was similar in taste, texture and color, but lacked caffeine and other stimulants of the energy drink, such as taurine, guarana and ginseng. MEDIA CONTACT: Traci Klein, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-990-1182, Klein.traci@mayo.edu

ORLANDO, Fla. — Heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) — where the heart becomes stiff and cannot relax or fill properly — did not have increased exercise tolerance after taking isosorbide mononitrate, compared to a placebo, according to a study presented today at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2015. The findings come from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Heart Failure Clinical Research Network and are also published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Importantly, the HFpEF patients’ daily activity level was assessed with accelerometers, devices patients wore to measure movement throughout the study. Daily activity progressively and significantly decreased as the dose of the nitrate increased, says Margaret Redfield, M.D., first author and cardiologist at Mayo Clinic’s Rochester, Minnesota, campus. “It is important to relieve symptoms in heart failure, so patients can be more active. Inactivity perpetuates deconditioning and frailty in heart failure,” Dr. Redfield says. “While nitrates are commonly prescribed for symptom relief in HFpEF, the effects of nitrates in patients with HFpEF have not been studied.” In a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, two-period, 12-week crossover study called the Nitrate’s Effect on Activity Tolerance in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (NEAT-HFpEF) Trial, 110 patients with HFpEF at 20 sites were studied. Patients were randomized into one of two treatment groups: Six weeks of placebo first, followed by six weeks of isosorbide mononitrate Six weeks of isosorbide mononitrate, followed by six weeks of placebo MEDIA CONTACT: Traci Klein, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-990-1182, Klein.traci@mayo.edu Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Redfield are available in the downloads. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJTkB2Gy2Hc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR6klhuVeyw ROCHESTER, Minn. — Researchers at Mayo Clinic have found that a mild to moderate reduction in calories effectively prevents and reverses polycystic kidney disease (PKD) in mice. The results appear online today in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. “Currently, there is no FDA-approved treatment, and the only thing that can be done is dialysis or renal transplantation,” explains Eduardo Chini, M.D., Ph.D., anesthesiologist and researcher for Mayo Clinic’s Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging and lead author of the study. “We have found that a very simple measure, like decreasing the amount of calories that are taken in, even by only 10 percent, can very significantly decrease the burden of this disease.” Researchers say the finding is a critical step toward effective treatment for PKD, an inherited disorder in which clusters of cysts develop primarily within the kidneys. The National Kidney Foundation estimates that 600,000 individuals in the United States have PKD, the fourth leading cause of kidney failure. MEDIA CONTACT: Megan Forliti, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Chini are available in the downloads.

Watch today's Mayo Clinic Minute The number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease has more than doubled since former President Reagan first declared November as National Alzheimer's ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Chronic inflammation, closely associated with frailty and age-related diseases, is a hallmark of aging. Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered that inhibiting key enzyme pathways reduces inflammation in human cells in culture dishes and decreases inflammation and frailty in aged mice. The results appear today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. While further studies are needed, researchers are hopeful that these findings will be a step toward treatments for frailty and other age-related chronic conditions. In the study, researchers found that Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, drugs that work to block activity of JAK enzymes, decreased the factors released by human senescent cells in culture dishes. Senescent cells are cells that contribute to frailty and diseases associated with aging. Also, these same JAK inhibitors reduced inflammatory mediators in mice. Researchers examined aged mice, equivalent to 90-year-old people, before and after JAK inhibitors. Over the course of two months, the researchers found substantial improvement in the physical function of the aged mice, including grip strength, endurance and physical activity. MEDIA CONTACT: Megan Forliti, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu  Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Kirkland are available in the downloads. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3qHn73SK3I