Efficacy of Flaxseed Compared to ACE Inhibition in Treating Anthracycline- and Trastuzumab-Induced Cardiotoxicity.

Background: Although the current combination of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy is used in the breast-cancer setting, the administration of the anticancer drugs doxorubicin and trastuzumab is associated with an increased risk of developing heart failure. The aim of this study is to determine whether dietary flaxseed is comparable and/or synergistic with the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor perindopril in the treatment of doxorubicin- and trastuzumab-mediated cardiotoxicity.

Methods: In a chronic murine model (n = 110), doxorubicin and trastuzumab (8 mg/kg and 3 mg/kg, respectively) were administered weekly for 3 weeks.

Scleraxis and fibrosis in the pressure-overloaded heart.

Aims: In response to pro-fibrotic signals, scleraxis regulates cardiac fibroblast activation in vitro via transcriptional control of key fibrosis genes such as collagen and fibronectin; however, its role in vivo is unknown. The present study assessed the impact of scleraxis loss on fibroblast activation, cardiac fibrosis, and dysfunction in pressure overload-induced heart failure.

Methods And Results: Scleraxis expression was upregulated in the hearts of non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy patients, and in mice subjected to pressure overload by transverse aortic constriction (TAC).

Comparing Flaxseed and Perindopril in the Prevention of Doxorubicin and Trastuzumab-Induced Cardiotoxicity in C57Bl/6 Mice.

Background: Two anti-cancer agents, doxorubicin (DOX) and trastuzumab (TRZ), are commonly used in the management of breast cancer in women. Despite their efficacy in reducing the morbidity and mortality of individuals with breast cancer, the use of these agents is limited by adverse cardiotoxic side effects. Both the nutraceutical agent flaxseed (FLX) and the pharmaceutical drug perindopril (PER) have been studied individually in the prevention of chemotherapy-mediated cardiac dysfunction.

Elimination of endogenous high molecular weight FGF2 prevents pressure-overload-induced systolic dysfunction, linked to increased FGFR1 activity and NR1D1 expression.

Fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2), produced as high (Hi-) and low (Lo-) molecular weight isoforms, is implicated in cardiac response to injury. The role of endogenous FGF2 isoforms during chronic stress is not well defined. We investigated the effects of endogenous Hi-FGF2 in a mouse model of simulated pressure-overload stress achieved by transverse aortic constriction (TAC) surgery.

The Cardioprotective Role of Flaxseed in the Prevention of Doxorubicin- and Trastuzumab-Mediated Cardiotoxicity in C57BL/6 Mice.

Background: Although the combination of doxorubicin (DOX) and trastuzumab (TRZ) reduces the progression and recurrence of breast cancer, these anticancer drugs are associated with significant cardiotoxic side effects.

Objective: We investigated whether prophylactic administration of flaxseed (FLX) and its bioactive components, α-linolenic acid (ALA) and secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG), would be cardioprotective against DOX + TRZ-mediated cardiotoxicity in a chronic in vivo female murine model.

Methods: Wild-type C57BL/6 female mice (10-12 wk old) received daily prophylactic treatment with one of the following diets: 1) regular control (RC) semi-purified diet; 2) 10% FLX diet; 3) 4.

Right ventricular free wall dyskinesis in the setting of left ventricular non compaction: a case report.

Background: Left ventricular non compaction is a relatively rare congenital disorder characterized by prominent trabeculations and intertrabecular recesses with the potential for thromboembolism, arrhythmias, and sudden cardiac death as adverse effects. Echocardiography has traditionally been employed as the primary mode of imaging; however, with the advent of cardiac magnetic resonance as a more precise imaging technique, the disorder known as left ventricle non compaction is becoming more broadly defined with increasing recognition of right ventricle (RV) involvement.

Case Presentation: This report describes a 52-year-old Caucasian female with new onset atrial fibrillation with an unusual finding of left ventricular non compaction and right ventricular dysfunction on transthoracic echocardiogram with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction.

Mechanisms of MEOX1 and MEOX2 regulation of the cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors p21 and p16 in vascular endothelial cells.

Senescence, the state of permanent cell cycle arrest, has been associated with endothelial cell dysfunction and atherosclerosis. The cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors p21(CIP1/WAF1) and p16(INK4a) govern the G(1)/S cell cycle checkpoint and are essential for determining whether a cell enters into an arrested state. The homeodomain transcription factor MEOX2 is an important regulator of vascular cell proliferation and is a direct transcriptional activator of both p21(CIP1/WAF1) and p16(INK4a).