Niacin protects against abdominal aortic aneurysm formation via GPR109A independent mechanisms: role of NAD+/nicotinamide.

Aims: Chronic adventitial and medial infiltration of immune cells play an important role in the pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). Nicotinic acid (niacin) was shown to inhibit atherosclerosis by activating the anti-inflammatory G protein-coupled receptor GPR109A [also known as hydroxycarboxylic acid receptor 2 (HCA2)] expressed on immune cells, blunting immune activation and adventitial inflammatory cell infiltration. Here, we investigated the role of niacin and GPR109A in regulating AAA formation.

Home-based Cognitive Prehabilitation in Older Surgical Patients: A Feasibility Study.

Background: Cognitive training is beneficial in various clinical settings, although its perioperative feasibility and impact remain unknown. The objective of this pilot study was to determine the feasibility of home-based cognitive prehabilitation before major surgery in older adults.

Materials And Methods: Sixty-one patients were enrolled, randomized, and allocated to either a home-based preoperative cognitive training regimen or no training before surgery.

Localization, identification, and excision of murine adipose depots.

Obesity has increased dramatically in the last few decades and affects over one third of the adult US population. The economic effect of obesity in 2005 reached a staggering sum of $190.2 billion in direct medical costs alone.

Isolation and excision of murine aorta; a versatile technique in the study of cardiovascular disease.

Cardiovascular disease is a broad term describing disease of the heart and/or blood vessels. The main blood vessel supplying the body with oxygenated blood is the aorta. The aorta may become affected in diseases such as atherosclerosis and aneurysm.