Endothelial cell (EC)-specific CTGF/CCN2 Expression Increases EC Reprogramming and Atherosclerosis.

Arterial endothelial cells (ECs) reside in a complex biomechanical environment. ECs sense and respond to wall shear stress. Low and oscillatory wall shear stress is characteristic of disturbed flow and commonly found at arterial bifurcations and around atherosclerotic plaques.

Dietary Inflammatory Score and Incident Heart Failure in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study.

Background: Inflammation plays a key role in the development of heart failure (HF), and diet is a known modifiable factor that modulates systemic inflammation. The dietary inflammatory score (DIS) is a tool to quantify the inflammatory components of diet. We sought to determine whether the DIS is associated with incident HF events.

Serum Biomarkers of Pulmonary Damage and Risk for Progression of Rheumatoid Arthritis-Associated Interstitial Lung Disease.

Objective: To investigate baseline and change of pulmonary damage biomarkers (serum Krebs von den Lungen 6 [KL-6], human surfactant protein D [hSP-D], and matrix metalloproteinase 7 [MMP-7]) with rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) progression.

Methods: In the Korean Rheumatoid Arthritis Interstitial Lung Disease (KORAIL) cohort, a prospective cohort, we enrolled patients with RA and ILD confirmed by chest computed tomography imaging and followed annually. ILD progression was defined as worsening in physiological and radiological domains of the 2022 American Thoracic Society, European Respiratory Society, Japanese Respiratory Society, and Latin American Thoracic Society guideline for progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF).

Impact of Concomitant Injuries on Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Isolated versus Non-Isolated Traumatic Brain Injury.

Objective: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) often occurs alongside injuries to other body regions, worsening patient outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of concomitant injuries on clinical outcomes in patients with isolated versus non-isolated TBI.

Method: A retrospective cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data from the Emergency Department-based Injury In-depth Surveillance System (EDIIS), encompassing 180,058 TBI patients admitted to 23 tertiary hospitals from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2022.