Characterization and referral patterns of ST-elevation myocardial infarction patients admitted to chest pain units rather than directly to catherization laboratories. Data from the German Chest Pain Unit Registry.

Background: Direct transfer to the catheterization laboratory for primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is standard of care for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Nevertheless, a significant number of STEMI-patients are initially treated in chest pain units (CPUs) of admitting hospitals. Thus, it is important to characterize these patients and to define why an important deviation from recommended clinical pathways occurs and in particular to quantify the impact of deviation on critical time intervals.

Predictors of outcome in patients with parvovirus B19 positive endomyocardial biopsy.

Objective: Primary objective was to establish the prognostic value of the myocardial load of PVB19 genomes in patients presenting for work-up of myocarditis and/or unclear cardiomyopathy in comparison to clinical, and CMR parameters.

Methods: 108 consecutive patients who underwent EMB because of suspected myocarditis and/or unclear cardiomyopathy, and had evidence of myocardial PVB19 genome, were enrolled. Primary endpoint was all-cause mortality; secondary endpoint was a composite of cardiac mortality and hospitalization for heart failure.

Coronary vasomotor abnormalities in patients with stable angina after successful stent implantation but without in-stent restenosis.

Background: Coronary angiography is often performed in patients with recurrent or ongoing angina after successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in search of an in-stent restenosis (ISR). However, in many of these patients, no significant ISR can be detected. We speculate that enhanced coronary vasoconstriction represents an alternative explanation for angina in these patients.

Performance evaluation of the Sysmex XE-5000 hematology analyzer for white blood cell analysis in cerebrospinal fluid.

Context: The newest generation hematology analyzer, Sysmex XE-5000 (Sysmex Corporation, Kobe, Japan) is equipped with an improved body fluid analysis mode.

Objective: To evaluate the applicability of the XE-5000 analyzer to white blood cell (WBC) analysis in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

Design: A total of 425 routinely collected, consecutive CSF samples were included in the study.

Identification of oncostatin M as a STAT5-dependent mediator of bone marrow remodeling in KIT D816V-positive systemic mastocytosis.

Systemic mastocytosis is a neoplastic disease of mast cells harboring the activating KIT mutation D816V. In most patients, mast cell infiltration in the bone marrow is accompanied by marked microenvironment alterations, including increased angiogenesis, osteosclerosis, and sometimes fibrosis. Little is known about the mast cell-derived molecules contributing to these bone marrow alterations.

Increased total cytokeratin-18 serum and urine levels in chronic kidney disease.

Background: Increased cell death in chronic kidney disease (CKD) by either necrosis or apoptosis has been confirmed by a variety of studies. Possible sources are an inadequate persistent inflammation and ischemia as a consequence of CKD or caused by the underlying renal disease. Detection of total or caspase cleaved cytokeratin 18 (CK-18) is a novel and elegant method to determine necrosis or apoptosis of epithelial cells in the patients' sera and urine.

Interference of Mycoplasma infection in a gene expression study: it was the environment and not the gene.

We show that short-term exposure to doxycycline, as used in tetracycline-inducible gene expression models, protects cells from stress-induced death in cultures infected with Mycoplasma arginini. Coinciding with the expected maximum level of gene activity, antimicrobial effects of tetracyclines might be mistaken for antiapoptotic properties of the expressed gene product.

Comparison of multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification and real-time PCR accuracy for gene copy number quantification using the beta-defensin locus.

The reliable quantification of gene copy number variations is a precondition for future investigations regarding their functional relevance. To date, there is no generally accepted gold standard method for copy number quantification, and methods in current use have given inconsistent results in selected cohorts. In this study, we compare two methods for copy number quantification.

Cardiac glycosides induce cell death in human cells by inhibiting general protein synthesis.

Background: Cardiac glycosides are Na(+)/K(+)-pump inhibitors widely used to treat heart failure. They are also highly cytotoxic, and studies have suggested specific anti-tumor activity leading to current clinical trials in cancer patients. However, a definitive demonstration of this putative anti-cancer activity and the underlying molecular mechanism has remained elusive.