Cardiovascular pathologies are frequently associated with anxiety
and other behavioral disturbances. Ivabradine, an inhibitor of the
hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channels in
the sinoatrial node, decreases heart rate and provides
cardiovascular protection. Although ivabradine is increasingly
used in cardiovascular medicine, the data on its behavioral
effects are lacking. The aim of this work was to show
ivabradine’s potential effect on behavior in healthy and
hypertensive rats. After a four-week treatment period, systolic
blood pressure was increased in the N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl
ester (L-NAME)-group and ivabradine significantly reduced it.
Furthermore, it reduced the heart rate in both the control and
L-NAME-group. In the control group, ivabradine enhanced the
time spent in and transition to the open arms of the elevated
plus maze test (EPM). In the L-NAME-group, ivabradine does not
show a significant effect on the time spent in the EPM open arms
and the number of transitions into them. Furthermore, ivabradine
has no impact on cognitive function in both control and L-NAME
groups. We conclude that ivabradine showed no undesirable
effects on anxiety, locomotion or learning; in fact, some of these
parameters were even improved. For the first time it has been
shown that ivabradine is a safe cardiovascular drug regarding its
effect on psycho-behavioral manifestations.
Increased concentration of uric acid (UA) is positively associated with the clinical severity but negatively associated with the prognosis of heart failure (HF). However, data related to the association between UA concentration and N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) are still lacking. The aim of the study was to analyze the relationships between UA, NT-proBNP, clearance of creatinine and NYHA function class and echocardiographic variables in the Slovak population of primary care patients diagnosed with HF. The association between UA and NT-proBNP was assessed by multivariate analysis. 848 patients (402 men, 446 women) with HF were included in the study. NT-proBNP correlated with UA in both men and women after adjustment based on age, BMI and glomerular filtration rate (r=0.263, p<0.0001; r=0.293, p<0.0001). UA concentration rose with the severity of the NYHA class and was significantly higher in patients with moderate and severe systolic dysfunctions as well as with diastolic dysfunction in the multivariate analysis. In conclusion, our study in Slovak population with HF has revealed a positive correlation between the concentration of UA and NT-proBNP, and the independency of this association on confounding factors. The results support the role of UA as a biochemical marker of HF severity and prognosis.