The psychological burden of waiting for procedures and patient-centred strategies that could support the mental health of wait-listed patients and caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A scoping review.

Background: Waiting for procedures delayed by COVID-19 may cause anxiety and related adverse consequences.

Objective: To synthesize research on the mental health impact of waiting and patient-centred mitigation strategies that could be applied in the COVID-19 context.

Methods: Using a scoping review approach, we searched 9 databases for studies on waiting lists and mental health and reported study characteristics, impacts and intervention attributes and outcomes.

The Canadian Women's Heart Health Alliance ATLAS on the Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Management of Cardiovascular Disease in Women-Chapter 2: Scope of the Problem.

Background: This Atlas chapter summarizes the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women in Canada, discusses sex and gender disparities, and examines the intersectionality between sex and other factors that play a prominent role in CVD outcomes in women, including gender, indigenous identity, ethnic variation, disability, and socioeconomic status.

Methods: CVD is the leading cause of premature death in Canadian women. Coronary artery disease, including myocardial infarction, and followed by stroke, accounts for the majority of CVD-related deaths in Canadian women.

COVID-19 Pandemic: Global Impact and Potential Implications for Cardiovascular Disease in Canada.

Background: The literature indicates that cardiovascular disease (CVD; including stroke), older age, and availability of health care resources affect COVID-19 case fatality rates (CFRs). The cumulative effect of COVID-19 CFRs in global CVD populations and the extrapolated effect on access to health care services in the CVD population in Canada are not fully known. In this study we explored the relationships of factors that might affect COVID-19 CFRs and estimated the potential indirect effects of COVID-19 on Canadian health care resources.

Recent Trends in Hospitalizations for Cardiovascular Disease, Stroke, and Vascular Cognitive Impairment in Canada.

Background: We analyzed hospitalization rates for a broad set of cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) between 2007 and 2016 in Canada to characterize population-level trends and demographic and provincial/territorial variation in inpatient health care utilization.

Methods: Record-level administrative hospitalization data from April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2017 for individuals aged 0-105 years were obtained from the Canadian Institute for Health Information Discharge Abstract Database. Data were available for all provinces and territories, except Quebec.

Introducing the Canadian Women's Heart Health Alliance ATLAS on the Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Management of Cardiovascular Diseases in Women.

Despite a global understanding that indicators and outcomes of cardiovascular disease (CVD) are known to differ between men and women, uptake of the recognition of sex and gender influences on the clinical care of women has been slow or absent. The Canadian Women's Heart Health Alliance (CWHHA) was established as a network of experts and advocates to develop and disseminate evidence-informed strategies to transform clinical practice and augment collaborative action on women's cardiovascular health in Canada. As an initial project, the CWHHA membership undertook an environmental scan of CVD in women in Canada from which a scientific statement could be developed to summarize critical sex- and gender-specific issues in CVD.

The conundrum of contrast-induced acute kidney injury.

More than sixty years have elapsed since contrast induced nephropathy (CIN) was first described in the medical literature. This term has since been extensively explored, with a variety of studies conducted to investigate its incidence and various mechanisms examined to explain its pathophysiology. However, the topic of CIN remains one of controversy with a widely variable and often questionable incidence derived from various studies.

Utility of Serial Protocol Biopsies Performed After 1 Year in Predicting Long-Term Kidney Allograft Function According to Histologic Phenotype.

Objectives: Prognostic implications of early protocol biopsies have been studied; however, the value of late protocol biopsy in predicting graft outcome has not been well defined. Here, we compared the effects of early and late protocol biopsy histologic findings in stable kidney allografts and aimed to understand the significance of "borderline" rejection on allograft function.

Materials And Methods: We studied 261 biopsies from 159 renal transplant recipients who were on a steroid-free, calcineurin inhibitor and mycophenolate mofetil regimen and who received transplants between 2004 and 2012 with mean follow-up of 5 years.

Potential Complementary Therapy for Adverse Drug Reactions to Sulfonamides: Chemoprotection Against Oxidative and Nitrosative Stress by TCM Constituents and Defined Mixtures.

Purpose: Our working hypothesis is that bioactive phytochemicals that are important constituents of Traditional Chinese Medicine and their defined mixtures have potential as complementary therapy for chemoprotection against adverse drug reactions whose toxicity is not related to the pharmacological action of the drug but where oxidative and nitrosative stress are causative factors.

Methods: In this investigation we measured cytotoxicity, lipid peroxidation, protein carbonylation and ROS/NOS-mediated changes in the disulfide proteome of Jurkat E6.1 cells resulting from exposure to sulfamethoxazole N-hydroxylamine with or without pre-treatment with low µM concentrations of baicalein, crocetin, resveratrol and schisanhenol alone and in defined mixtures to compare the ability of these treatment regimens to protect against ROS/RNS toxicity to Jurkat E6.

The elastic properties of valve interstitial cells undergoing pathological differentiation.

Increasing evidence indicates that the progression of calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is influenced by the mechanical forces experienced by valvular interstitial cells (VICs) embedded within the valve matrix. The ability of VICs to sense and respond to tissue-level mechanical stimuli depends in part on cellular-level biomechanical properties, which may change with disease. In this study, we used micropipette aspiration to measure the instantaneous elastic modulus of normal VICs and of VICs induced to undergo pathological differentiation in vitro to osteoblast or myofibroblast lineages on compliant and stiff collagen gels, respectively.

Inhibition of pathological differentiation of valvular interstitial cells by C-type natriuretic peptide.

Objective: Calcific aortic valve disease is associated with the differentiation of valvular interstitial cells (VICs) to myofibroblast and osteoblast-like cells, particularly in the fibrosa layer of the valve. Previous studies suggested that C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) protects against calcific aortic valve disease to maintain homeostasis. We aimed to determine whether CNP inhibits VIC pathological differentiation as a mechanism to explain its protective effects.

The aortic valve microenvironment and its role in calcific aortic valve disease.

In calcific aortic valve disease, fibrotic and calcific lesions form focally in the fibrosa layer of the valve leaflets. Layer-specific pathosusceptibility suggests that the fibrosa microenvironment is permissive to pathological development. The cellular microenvironment in the aortic valve is defined by a variety of biomechanical-, biochemical-, and extracellular-mediated factors, some of which are unique to the fibrosa.

β-catenin mediates mechanically regulated, transforming growth factor-β1-induced myofibroblast differentiation of aortic valve interstitial cells.

Objective: In calcific aortic valve disease, myofibroblasts and activation of the transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and Wnt/β-catenin pathways are observed in the fibrosa, the stiffer layer of the leaflet, but their association is unknown. We elucidated the roles of β-catenin and extracellular matrix stiffness in TGF-β1-induced myofibroblast differentiation of valve interstitial cells (VICs).

Methods And Results: TGF-β1 induced rapid β-catenin nuclear translocation in primary porcine aortic VICs in vitro through TGF-β receptor I kinase.

Calcification by valve interstitial cells is regulated by the stiffness of the extracellular matrix.

Objective: Extensive remodeling of the valve ECM in calcific aortic valve sclerosis alters its mechanical properties, but little is known about the impact of matrix mechanics on the cells within the valve interstitium. In this study, the influence of matrix stiffness in modulating calcification by valve interstitial cells (VICs), and their differentiation to pathological phenotypes was assessed.

Methods And Results: Primary porcine aortic VICs were cultured in standard media or calcifying media on constrained type I fibrillar collagen gels.

Identification and characterization of aortic valve mesenchymal progenitor cells with robust osteogenic calcification potential.

Advanced valvular lesions often contain ectopic mesenchymal tissues, which may be elaborated by an unidentified multipotent progenitor subpopulation within the valve interstitium. The identity, frequency, and differentiation potential of the putative progenitor subpopulation are unknown. The objectives of this study were to determine whether valve interstitial cells (VICs) contain a subpopulation of multipotent mesenchymal progenitor cells, to measure the frequencies of the mesenchymal progenitors and osteoprogenitors, and to characterize the osteoprogenitor subpopulation because of its potential role in calcific aortic valve disease.

Interplay between the nuclear receptor pregnane X receptor and the uptake transporter organic anion transporter polypeptide 1A2 selectively enhances estrogen effects in breast cancer.

The ligand-activated nuclear receptor pregnane X receptor (PXR) is known to play a role in the regulated expression of drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters. Recent studies suggest a potential clinically relevant role of PXR in breast cancer. However, the relevant pathway or target genes of PXR in breast cancer biology and progression have not yet been fully clarified.

Autoinducer-2-regulated genes in Streptococcus mutans UA159 and global metabolic effect of the luxS mutation.

Autoinducer 2 (AI-2) is the only species-nonspecific autoinducer known in bacteria and is produced by both gram-negative and gram-positive organisms. Consequently, it is proposed to function as a universal quorum-sensing signal for interaction between bacterial species. AI-2 is produced as the by-product of a metabolic transformation carried out by the LuxS enzyme.