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Previous studies have shown that ticagrelor reduced risk of pneumonia in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) compared to clopidogrel, however, its effect in patients with non-ACS cardiovascular diseases remains uncertain. The aim was to investigate the effect of ticagrelor on pneumonia and pneumonia-specific death compared to clopidogrel in non-ACS patients in Hong Kong. This was a population-based cohort study. We included consecutive patients using ticagrelor or clopidogrel admitted for non-ACS conditions in Hong Kong public hospitals from March 2012 to September 2019. Patients using both drugs were excluded. The outcomes of interest were incident pneumonia, all-cause death, and pneumonia-specific death. Multivariable survival analysis models were used to estimate the effects [hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI)]. Propensity score matching, adjustment and weighting were performed as sensitivity analyses. In total, 90,154 patients were included (mean age 70.66 years, males 61.7%). The majority of them (97.2%) used clopidogrel. Ticagrelor was associated with a lower risk of incident pneumonia [0.59 (0.46–0.75)], all-cause death [0.83 (0.73–0.93)] and pneumonia-specific death [0.49 (0.36–0.67)]. Sensitivity analyses yielded similar results. Ticagrelor was associated with lower risk of all-cause death, pneumonia-specific death, and incident pneumonia in patients with non-ACS cardiovascular conditions, consistent with previous evidence in patients with ACS. This additional effect of anti-pneumonia should be considered when choosing a proper P2Y12 inhibitor for patients with high risk of pneumonia.

Lead is a heavy metal without a biological role. High level of lead exposure is known to be associated with hypertension, but the risk at low levels of exposure is uncertain. In this study, data from US NHANES 1999–2016 were analyzed. Adults with blood lead and blood pressure measurements, or self-reported hypertension diagnosis, were included. If not already diagnosed, hypertension was defined according to the AHA/ACC 2017 hypertension guideline. Results were analyzed using R statistics version 3.5.1 with sample weight adjustment. Logistic regression was used to study the association between blood lead level and hypertension. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were estimated. Altogether, 39,477 participants were included. Every doubling in blood lead level was associated with hypertension (OR [95%CI] 1.45 [1.40–1.50]), which remained significant after adjusting for demographics. Using quartile 1 as reference, higher blood lead levels were associated with increased adjusted odds of hypertension (Quartile 4 vs. Quartile 1: 1.22 [1.09–1.36]; Quartile 3 vs. Quartile 1: 1.15 [1.04–1.28]; Quartile 2 vs. Quartile 1: 1.14 [1.05–1.25]). In conclusion, blood lead level is associated with hypertension in the general population with blood lead levels below 5 µg/dL. Our findings suggest that reducing present levels of environmental lead exposure may bring cardiovascular benefits by reducing blood pressure.

Observational studies have found associations between urinary sodium (UNa) with obesity, body shape and composition; but the findings may be biased by residual confounding. The objective of this two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study was to analyze their causal associations in both sex-combined and sex-specific models. Genome-wide association studies of UNa, body mass index (BMI), BMI-adjusted waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), body fat (BF) percentage and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were identified. We initially extracted fifty SNPs associated with UNa at significance level of 5 × 10–8, but further removed those SNPs with potential horizontal pleiotropy. Univariable and multivariable MR with adjustment for eGFR were performed. Inverse-variance weighted MR was performed as the primary analysis, with MR-Egger methods as sensitivity analysis. The potential bidirectional association between BMI and UNa was investigated. All exposure and outcomes were continuous, and the effect measure was regression coefficients (beta) and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). The total sample size was up to 322 154. UNa was causally associated with increased BMI in both men [eGFR-adjusted beta 0.443 (0.163–0.724)] and women [0.594 (0.333–0.855)]. UNa caused BF percentage increase in men [0.622 (0.268–0.976)] and women [0.334 (0.007–0.662)]. UNa significantly elevated BMI-adjusted WHR in men [0.321 (0.094–0.548)], but not in women [0.170 (− 0.052 to 0.391)]. Additionally, we found that BMI causally increased UNa [0.043 (0.023–0.063)]. UNa increased BMI and BF percentage. Salt intake affects male body shape by increasing BMI-adjusted WHR, but showed no effects on female body shape. The bidirectional association between BMI and UNa suggested that salt reduction measures and weight reduction measures should be implemented simultaneously to break the vicious cycle and gain more health benefits.

Whether newer P2Y12 inhibitors are more efficacious and safer than clopidogrel and whether there is a superior one remain uncertain. We compared the effect of P2Y12 inhibitors on clinical outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Randomized controlled trials comparing clopidogrel, prasugrel, ticagrelor, or cangrelor, in combination with aspirin were searched. Sixteen trials with altogether 77,896 patients were included. Compared to clopidogrel, cardiovascular mortality was reduced with prasugrel (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.75–0.97) and ticagrelor (0.82, 0.73–0.93). Myocardial infarction (0.75, 0.63–0.89) and major adverse cardiovascular events (0.80, 0.69–0.94) were reduced by prasugrel. Stent thrombosis was reduced by prasugrel (0.49, 0.38–0.63), ticagrelor (0.72, 0.57–0.90), and cangrelor (0.59, 0.43–0.81). It was reduced more by prasugrel than ticagrelor (0.69, 0.51–0.93). There were more major bleeds with prasugrel (1.24, 1.05–1.48). Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) major bleeding was increased with prasugrel compared to clopidogrel (1.36, 1.11–1.66) and ticagrelor (1.33, 1.06–1.67). TIMI minor bleeding was increased with prasugrel (1.44, 1.16–1.77) and cangrelor (1.47, 1.01–2.16) compared to clopidogrel while it was increased with prasugrel compared to ticagrelor (1.32, 1.01–1.72). Prasugrel is preferable to those ACS patients at low bleeding risk to reduce cardiovascular events whereas ticagrelor is a relatively safe antiplatelet drug of choice for most patients.

Phytosterols found naturally in plants are known to reduce cholesterol absorption in the gut. The traditional southern Chinese diet typically contains many vegetables and not much meat, and there is high prevalence of lactose intolerance in Chinese; we therefore aimed to test if phytosterols-enriched milk is effective in lowering serum LDL-cholesterol in Chinese. Two hundred and twenty-one participants (41 men and 180 women; age 24–79) without cholesterol-lowering drugs or diabetes mellitus were randomized to daily intake of phytosterols-enriched low-fat milk which contained 1.5 g phytosterols per day (N = 110) or a conventional low-fat milk (N = 111) for three weeks. Fasting bloods were taken before and at the end of the study for the measurement of lipid and glucose profile. Physical examination was also performed. Comparing treatment with control, treatment group had significant decrease in serum LDL-cholesterol level (9.5 ± 2.0%; p

Patients receive dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) for 6–12 months after drug-eluting stents (DES) implantation. The efficacy and safety of prolonged DAPT has been questioned. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis on randomised trials comparing different DAPT durations. Literature was searched on trials comparing different DAPT durations. For inclusion, reports must report frequency of cardiovascular and bleeding events. Ten trials were included. Compared to 12 months, DAPT beyond 12 months was associated with fewer myocardial infarctions (OR 0.58 95%CI: 0.40–0.84) and stent thrombosis (OR 0.35 95%CI: 0.20–0.62), but more major bleeds (OR 1.60 95%CI: 1.22–2.11) and all-cause (OR 1.30 95%CI: 1.02–1.66) mortality. There was no significant alteration in risk of stroke (OR 0.93 95%CI: 0.66–1.31) or cardiac (OR 1.12 95%CI: 0.73–1.71) mortality. Compared to less than 12 months DAPT, 12 months DAPT did not reduce risk of myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis, strokes, cardiac or all-cause mortality, but increased the risk of major bleeds (OR 1.60 95%CI: 1.22–2.11). DAPT beyond 12 months reduce risk of myocardial infarction and stent thrombosis, but there is substantial increase in major bleeding risk and all-cause mortality which need to be addressed. DAPT beyond 12 months does not appear to alter the risk of stroke.