Barbagallo Carlo Maria
@unipa.it
Universita di Palermo
Scopus Publications
- Obesity rise plateaus in developed nations and accelerates in developing nations
NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC), Bin Zhou, Nowell H. Phelps, Agnese Galeazzi, Olivia N. O’Driscoll, et al.
Nature, 2026
Global reporting of obesity is commonly based on comparisons over multiple decades 1 and lacks a granular and systematic analysis of its dynamics. We used 4,050 population-based studies with measured height and weight data on 232 million participants to assess the worldwide dynamics of obesity from 1980 to 2024. The rise in obesity decelerated in school-aged children and adolescents throughout the 1990s in many high-income countries, and subsequently plateaued in most at age-standardized prevalences spanning 20 percentage points, from 3–4% for girls in Japan, Denmark and France to 23% for boys in the USA. There were indications of a small decline in obesity in children and adolescents in some high-income western countries (for example, Italy, Portugal and France) since the 2000s. Similar trends were seen in some countries in Central and Eastern Europe. In adults, the rise in obesity slowed down in high-income western countries about a decade after children, followed by a plateau or possibly a small reversal of the rise in some countries (for example, Spain). In most low-income and middle-income countries, the annual absolute change in prevalence has remained stable or increased over time, even though prevalence has surpassed that of high-income countries. These highly varied dynamics suggest that the social, economic and technological trends that influence the availability, affordability and use of different foods may have helped control the rise in obesity in high-income countries, but require policy interventions in low-income and middle-income countries. - Echocardiographic Red Flags in Wild-Type Transthyretin Amyloidosis: Sex-Specific Gaps for Wall Thickness and Left Ventricular Mass
Emilio Nardi, Carola Maria Gagliardo, Davide Noto, Carlo Maria Barbagallo, Antonina Giammanco, et al.
Life, 2026
Background: Wild-type transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRwt) diagnosis remains challenging. Echocardiographic “red flags” play a significant role in raising diagnostic suspicion. Methods: Retrospective study including 33 patients diagnosed with ATTRwt. All patients underwent comprehensive echocardiographic evaluation focusing on the red flags for ATTRwt. Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) was defined as interventricular septal wall thickness (IVST) ≥ 12 mm and/or LV mass indexed for body surface area (LVMI) ≥ 115 g/m2 in men and ≥ 95 g/m2 in women. Results: Relative wall thickness > 0.42 and early diastolic myocardial velocity < 7 cm/s were detected in 100% of patients. Severe diastolic dysfunction (grade ≥ 3) (72.7%), apical sparing (36.4%), granular sparkling pattern (30.3%), and pericardial effusion (39.4%) were also observed. Females were younger than males (median age 68 vs. 74.5 years), and IVST ≥ 12 mm was lower in females than in males (64.4% vs. 100%, respectively, p < 0.05). The combined criterion of IVST ≥ 12 mm in men and LVMI ≥ 95 g/m2 in women was encountered in 100% of the global cohort. Conclusions: IVST is a good predictor of LVH in males but shows limited sensitivity for ATTRwt in females; a gender-differenced approach (IVST for men and LVMI for women) might better stratify for ATTRwt suspicion. - Long-term efficacy and safety of lomitapide in patients with familial chylomicronemia syndrome: Data from an expanded access program
Antonina Giammanco, Laura D’Erasmo, Gabriella Iannuzzo, Davide Noto, Anna Montali, et al.
Journal of Clinical Lipidology, 2026 - Triglyceride–glucose index and its derived anthropometric indices: a comparative analysis for mortality prediction in the population cohort of the URRAH study
Lanfranco D'Elia, Ferruccio Galletti, Agostino Virdis, Edoardo Casiglia, Valerie Tikhonoff, et al.
Nutrition Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases, 2026 - Predictive value of TG/HDL-C and GFR-adjusted uric acid levels on cardiovascular mortality: the URRAH study
Elisa Russo, Francesca Viazzi, Roberto Pontremoli, Fabio Angeli, Carlo Maria Barbagallo, et al.
Lipids in Health and Disease, 2025 - Triglyceride-glucose index threshold for cardiovascular mortality in hypertensive individuals - URRAH project
Lanfranco D’Elia, Ferruccio Galletti, Masulli Maria, Agostino Virdis, Edoardo Casiglia, et al.
American Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 2025 - Echocardiographic Calcium Score of Aortic Valve Correlates with Coronary Artery Calcium Score in Heterozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia
Angelo Baldassare Cefalù, Emilio Nardi, Antonina Giammanco, Carola Maria Gagliardo, Carlo Maria Barbagallo, et al.
Life, 2025
Background: Patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) are at a high risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The coronary artery calcification (CAC) score by the Ct-scan Agatston calcium score (ACS) > 100 classifies FH at a higher risk. The echocardiographic calcium score (ECS) evaluates aortic valve calcifications and is considered a good predictor of the atherosclerotic burden and cardiovascular outcome. Objective: To test the ECS as a predictor of ACS > 100 in a HeFH cohort. Methods: A coronary calcium CT scan with the calculation of ACS and an at rest-transthoracic echocardiogram with ECS evaluation were performed in 81 HeFH patients. Patients were divided into two groups according to the ACS: high-risk ACS patients (High-ACS) with Agatston value > 100 and low risk ACS patients (Low-ACS) with Agatston value ≤ 100. Patients were stratified according to ECS = 0 or ECS > 0. Results: High-ACS patients were older than Low-ACS patients; BMI, waist circumference, and blood systolic pressure were significantly higher (p < 0.001) in High-ACS patients. The ECS predicted an ACS > 100 with sensitivity = 0.84, specificity = 0.89, accuracy = 0.86, and precision = 0.76. Conclusions: The ECS could be a good surrogate of a coronary calcium CT scan for ACS evaluation in the specific subset of HeFH patients. - Do genetically determined very high and very low LDL levels contribute to Lp(a) plasma concentration?
Antonina Giammanco, Davide Noto, Emilio Nardi, Carola Maria Gagliardo, Chiara Scrimali, et al.
Nutrition Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases, 2025 - Coronary Artery Calcium Is Independently Associated with Arterial Stiffness and LDL Cholesterol Burden in Patients with Familial Hypercholesterolemia
Alessandro Mattina, Antonina Giammanco, Davide Noto, Giulio Geraci, Emilio Nardi, et al.
Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2025
Background: Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a genetic disorder characterized by high plasma levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and exposing patients to higher risk of early cardiovascular (CV) atherosclerotic diseases. Though the estimated prevalence of heterozygous FH (HeFH) is about 1 in 200, FH is still underdiagnosed and undertreated. Coronary artery calcification (CAC) assessment and arterial stiffness measured as pulse wave velocity (PWV) have demonstrated their accuracy in CV risk assessment, but data on HeFH are lacking. This study aims to evaluate CAC and PWV in a population of HeFH patients to improve risk stratification and therapy timing and setting. Methods: One hundred genetically characterized HeFH patients, regularly followed up since diagnosis, were recruited at our outpatient clinic. In all patients, CAC, PWV measurement, and LDL-C burden calculation were assessed. Results: The mean age was 45 ± 16 years. A total of 25% of patients had hypertension, and 15% were in secondary prevention. Through univariate analysis, we found strong positive correlations between CAC and both PWV (r = 0.52 p > 0.0001) and total LDL-C burden (r = 0.52 p < 0.0001). No other associations with lipid parameters were found. Multivariate analysis showed that CAC was independently associated with PWV adjusted for sex, total LDL-C burden, systolic blood pressure, smoking, LDL-C, HDL-C, and statin treatment. Conclusions: Arterial stiffness is strongly associated with CAC in HeFH patients with similar total LDL-C burden and CV risk profiles. Personalized risk assessment based on arterial stiffness and CAC evaluation enhances the stratification and management of cardiovascular risk in FH patients, supporting individualized therapeutic approaches. - Triglyceride-glucose Index and Mortality in a Large Regional-based Italian Database (URRAH Project)
Lanfranco D’Elia, Maria Masulli, Agostino Virdis, Edoardo Casiglia, Valerie Tikhonoff, et al.
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2025
Purpose Recently, a novel index [the triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index]) was considered a surrogate marker of insulin resistance (IR); in addition, it was estimated to be a better expression of IR than widely used tools. Few and heterogeneous data are available on the relationship between this index and mortality risk in non-Asian populations. Therefore, we estimated the predictive role of baseline TyG on the incidence of all-cause and cardiovascular (CV) mortality in a large sample of the general population. Moreover, in consideration of the well-recognized role of serum uric acid (SUA) on CV risk and the close correlation between SUA and IR, we also evaluated the combined effect of TyG and SUA on mortality risk. Methods The analysis included 16 649 participants from the URRAH cohort. The risk of all-cause and CV mortality was evaluated by the Kaplan–Meier estimator and Cox multivariate analysis. Results During a median follow-up of 144 months, 2569 deaths occurred. We stratified the sample by the optimal cut-off point for all-cause (4.62) and CV mortality (4.53). In the multivariate Cox regression analyses, participants with TyG above cut-off had a significantly higher risk of all-cause and CV mortality than those with TyG below the cut-off. Moreover, the simultaneous presence of high levels of TyG and SUA was associated with a higher mortality risk than none or only 1 of the 2 factors. Conclusion The results of this study indicate that these TyG (a low-cost and simple, noninvasive marker) thresholds are predictive of an increased risk of mortality in a large and homogeneous general population. In addition, these results show a synergic effect of TyG and SUA on the risk of mortality. - Worldwide trends in diabetes prevalence and treatment from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 1108 population-representative studies with 141 million participants
Bin Zhou, Archie W Rayner, Edward W Gregg, Kate E Sheffer, Rodrigo M Carrillo-Larco, et al.
Lancet, 2024 - General and abdominal adiposity and hypertension in eight world regions: a pooled analysis of 837 population-based studies with 7·5 million participants
Bin Zhou, James E Bennett, Aidan P Wickham, Rosie K Singleton, Anu Mishra, et al.
Lancet, 2024 - Risk of Cardiovascular Events in Metabolically Healthy Overweight or Obese Adults: Role of LDL-Cholesterol in the Stratification of Risk
Paolo Palatini, Agostino Virdis, Stefano Masi, Alessandro Mengozzi, Edoardo Casiglia, et al.
Diagnostics, 2024 - Serum Uric Acid, Hypertriglyceridemia, and Carotid Plaques: A Sub-Analysis of the URic Acid Right for Heart Health (URRAH) Study
Claudia Agabiti Rosei, Anna Paini, Giacomo Buso, Alessandro Maloberti, Cristina Giannattasio, et al.
Metabolites, 2024 - Worldwide trends in underweight and obesity from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 3663 population-representative studies with 222 million children, adolescents, and adults
Nowell H Phelps, Rosie K Singleton, Bin Zhou, Rachel A Heap, Anu Mishra, et al.
Lancet, 2024 - Serum Uric Acid/Serum Creatinine Ratio and Cardiovascular Mortality in Diabetic Individuals—The Uric Acid Right for Heart Health (URRAH) Project
Lanfranco D’Elia, Maria Masulli, Pietro Cirillo, Agostino Virdis, Edoardo Casiglia, et al.
Metabolites, 2024 - Prognostic Value and Relative Cutoffs of Triglycerides Predicting Cardiovascular Outcome in a Large Regional-Based Italian Database
Valérie Tikhonoff, Edoardo Casiglia, Agostino Virdis, Guido Grassi, Fabio Angeli, et al.
Journal of the American Heart Association, 2024 - Global variation in diabetes diagnosis and prevalence based on fasting glucose and hemoglobin A1c
Bin Zhou, Kate E. Sheffer, James E. Bennett, Edward W. Gregg, Goodarz Danaei, et al.
Nature Medicine, 2023 - Consensus document on Lipoprotein(a) from the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis (SISA)
Giulia Chiesa, Maria Grazia Zenti, Andrea Baragetti, Carlo M. Barbagallo, Claudio Borghi, et al.
Nutrition Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases, 2023 - The Results of the URRAH (Uric Acid Right for Heart Health) Project: A Focus on Hyperuricemia in Relation to Cardiovascular and Kidney Disease and its Role in Metabolic Dysregulation
Alessandro Maloberti, Alessandro Mengozzi, Elisa Russo, Arrigo Francesco Giuseppe Cicero, Fabio Angeli, et al.
High Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Prevention, 2023 - Serum uric acid and left ventricular mass index independently predict cardiovascular mortality: The uric acid right for heart health (URRAH) project
Maria Lorenza Muiesan, Claudia Agabiti Rosei, Anna Paini, Edoardo Casiglia, Massimo Cirillo, et al.
European Journal of Internal Medicine, 2023 - Statin-induced autoimmune myositis: a proposal of an “experience-based” diagnostic algorithm from the analysis of 69 patients
Carola Maria Gagliardo, Davide Noto, Antonina Giammanco, Silvia Maltese, Luca Vecchio, et al.
Internal and Emergency Medicine, 2023 - Diminishing benefits of urban living for children and adolescents’ growth and development
Anu Mishra, Bin Zhou, Andrea Rodriguez-Martinez, Honor Bixby, Rosie K. Singleton, et al.
Nature, 2023 - Hyperuricemia increases the risk of cardiovascular mortality associated with very high HdL-cholesterol level
Paolo Palatini, Agostino Virdis, Stefano Masi, Alessandro Mengozzi, Edoardo Casiglia, et al.
Nutrition Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases, 2023 - Serum Uric Acid Predicts All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality Independently of Hypertriglyceridemia in Cardiometabolic Patients without Established CV Disease: A Sub-Analysis of the URic acid Right for heArt Health (URRAH) Study
Alessandro Mengozzi, Nicola Riccardo Pugliese, Giovambattista Desideri, Stefano Masi, Fabio Angeli, et al.
Metabolites, 2023
