Sex differences and determinants of coronary microvascular function in asymptomatic adults with type 2 diabetes.

Background: Coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) is a significant complication in type 2 diabetes (T2D) and may be more common in women. We aimed to evaluate the sex differences and sex-specific clinical determinants of CMD in adults with T2D without prevalent cardiovascular disease.

Methods: Single center pooled analysis of four prospective studies comparing asymptomatic people with T2D and controls.

Both Maternal High-Fat and Post-Weaning High-Carbohydrate Diets Increase Rates of Spontaneous Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Aged-Mouse Offspring.

Both maternal obesity and postnatal consumption of obesogenic diets contribute to the development of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, there is no consensus as to whether diets that are high in fat or carbohydrates/sugars differentially influence the development of HCC. Moreover, the long-term effects of prenatal HF exposure on HCC and whether this is influenced by postnatal diet has not yet been evaluated.

Hemostatic disorders in patients with infective endocarditis undergoing urgent surgical valve replacement - Rethinking current beliefs.

Background: Although infective endocarditis (IE) represents a unique model of thrombo-inflammatory disease, the most frequent early complications of surgical valve replacement (SVR) in IE population are coagulopathy and bleeding. The hemostatic capacity and procedure-related coagulation disorders of IE patients undergoing SVR are unknown. The aims of this study were to test periprocedural hemostasis in IE patients undergoing urgent SVR, and to assess the association between disorders of hemostasis and early bleeding as well as with thromboembolic events.

Women leaders in Cardiology. Contemporary profile of the WHO European region.

Aims: Women's participation is steadily growing in medical schools, but they are still not sufficiently represented in cardiology, particularly in cardiology leadership positions. We present the contemporary distribution of women leaders in cardiology departments in the World Health Organization European region.

Methods And Results: Between August and December 2020, we applied purposive sampling to collect data and analyse gender distribution of heads of cardiology department in university/third level hospitals in 23 countries: Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, North Macedonia, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the UK.

PHACTR1 modulates vascular compliance but not endothelial function: a translational study.

Aims: The non-coding locus at 6p24 located in Intron 3 of PHACTR1 has consistently been implicated as a risk allele in myocardial infarction and multiple other vascular diseases. Recent murine studies have identified a role for Phactr1 in the development of atherosclerosis. However, the role of PHACTR1 in vascular tone and in vivo vascular remodelling has yet to be established.

Association between dose of catecholamines and markers of organ injury early after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Background: Catecholamines are recommended as first-line drugs to treat hemodynamic instability after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). The benefit-to-risk ratio of catecholamines is dose dependent, however, their effect on metabolism and organ function early after OHCA has not been investigated.

Methods: The Post-Cardiac Arrest Syndrome (PCAS) pilot study was a prospective, observational, multicenter study.

Risks and benefits of percutaneous coronary intervention in spontaneous coronary artery dissection.

Objective: To investigate percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) practice in an international cohort of patients with spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD). To explore factors associated with complications and study angiographic and longer term outcomes.

Methods: SCAD patients (n=215, 94% female) who underwent PCI from three national cohort studies were investigated and compared with a matched cohort of conservatively managed SCAD patients (n=221).

Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection: Insights on Rare Genetic Variation From Genome Sequencing.

Background: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) occurs when an epicardial coronary artery is narrowed or occluded by an intramural hematoma. SCAD mainly affects women and is associated with pregnancy and systemic arteriopathies, particularly fibromuscular dysplasia. Variants in several genes, such as those causing connective tissue disorders, have been implicated; however, the genetic architecture is poorly understood.

Acute respiratory failure and inflammatory response after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: results of the Post-Cardiac Arrest Syndrome (PCAS) pilot study.

Background: Although the lungs are potentially highly susceptible to post-cardiac arrest syndrome injury, the issue of acute respiratory failure after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest has not been investigated. The objectives of this analysis were to determine the prevalence of acute respiratory failure after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, its association with post-cardiac arrest syndrome inflammatory response and to clarify its importance for early mortality.

Methods: The Post-Cardiac Arrest Syndrome (PCAS) pilot study was a prospective, observational, six-centre project (Poland 2, Denmark 1, Spain 1, Italy 1, UK 1), studying patients resuscitated after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of cardiac origin.

Chronic infarct size after spontaneous coronary artery dissection: implications for pathophysiology and clinical management.

Aims: To report the extent and distribution of myocardial injury and its impact on left ventricular systolic function with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) following spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) and to investigate predictors of myocardial injury.

Methods And Results: One hundred and fifty-eight angiographically confirmed SCAD-survivors (98% female) were phenotyped by CMR and compared in a case-control study with 59 (97% female) healthy controls (44.5 ± 8.

Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection: Pathophysiological Insights From Optical Coherence Tomography.

Objectives: This study used optical coherence tomography to investigate the mechanism of false lumen (FL) formation in spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) by studying: 1) differences between fenestrated and nonfenestrated SCAD; 2) vasa vasorum density; and 3) light attenuation characteristics of the FL.

Background: SCAD is an increasingly recognized cause of acute coronary syndromes, characterized by FL formation and compression of the true lumen (TL). The mechanisms underlying FL formation remain poorly understood.

Association of the PHACTR1/EDN1 Genetic Locus With Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection.

Background: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is an increasingly recognized cause of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) afflicting predominantly younger to middle-aged women. Observational studies have reported a high prevalence of extracoronary vascular anomalies, especially fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) and a low prevalence of coincidental cases of atherosclerosis. PHACTR1/EDN1 is a genetic risk locus for several vascular diseases, including FMD and coronary artery disease, with the putative causal noncoding variant at the rs9349379 locus acting as a potential enhancer for the endothelin-1 (EDN1) gene.

Autolytic recanalisation of a thrombotic artery.

This case describes a patient who presented with an occluded and ectatic right coronary artery. Initial aspiration and, later, guide catheter thrombectomy, liberated large volumes of thrombus but did not appear to restore significant flow. Thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) 3 flow was, however, evident 2 weeks later, demonstrating the combined effect of vigorous thrombectomy and autolysis on a heavily thrombotic section of coronary artery.

Cocaine use and delayed myocardial ischaemia and/or infarction.

A 37-year-old woman was admitted into the coronary care unit following chest pain after using cocaine. She was found to have significant myocardial ischaemia on blood and ECG investigations despite a recent coronary angiogram that had not demonstrated flow-limiting coronary disease. This case report summarises the risks of myocardial ischaemia and/or infarction for patients taking cocaine and the pathophysiology behind it, focusing in particular on the risks of delayed reaction some time after cocaine ingestion.

Availability of 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) to APCs controls the balance between regulatory and inflammatory T cell responses.

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D(3) [1,25(OH)(2)D(3)], the active form of vitamin D, exerts potent effects on several tissues including cells of the immune system, where it affects T cell activation, differentiation and migration. The circulating, inactive form of vitamin D, 25(OH)D(3), is generally used as an indication of vitamin D status. However, use of this precursor depends on its uptake by cells and subsequent conversion by the enzyme 25(OH)D(3)-1α-hydroxylase (CYP27B1) into active 1,25(OH)(2)D(3).

Variability of sputum inflammatory mediators in COPD and α1-antitrypsin deficiency.

There is inherent daily variability of sputum inflammatory mediators in stable-state patients with usual chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The variability of pulmonary inflammation in patients with α(1)-antitrypsin deficiency (A1ATD) is unknown. Our study aimed to quantify this variability, in comparison to patients with usual COPD, in order to facilitate power calculations for proof of concept trials of putative specific anti-inflammatory agents in both groups.

Association of IREB2 and CHRNA3 polymorphisms with airflow obstruction in severe alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

Background: The development of COPD in subjects with alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency is likely to be influenced by modifier genes. Genome-wide association studies and integrative genomics approaches in COPD have demonstrated significant associations with SNPs in the chromosome 15q region that includes CHRNA3 (cholinergic nicotine receptor alpha3) and IREB2 (iron regulatory binding protein 2).We investigated whether SNPs in the chromosome 15q region would be modifiers for lung function and COPD in AAT deficiency.

A novel model and molecular therapy for Z alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

Animal models that closely resemble human disease can present a challenge. Particularly so in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (α(1)ATD), as the mouse alpha-1 antitrypsin (α(1)AT) cluster encodes five highly related genes compared with the one in humans. The mouse PI2 homologue is closest to the α(1)AT human gene.