Exploring Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 and -4 mRNA Expression and Their Receptor Assessment in a Dynamic Model of Vascular Calcification.

Background: Vascular calcification (VC) is a dynamic, tightly regulated process driven by cellular activity and resembling the mechanisms of bone formation, with specific molecules playing pivotal roles in its progression. We aimed to investigate the involvement of the bone morphogenic proteins (, , , and ) system in this process. Our study used an advanced in vitro model that simulates the biological environment of the vascular wall, assessing the ability of a phosphate mixture to induce the osteoblastic switch in human coronary artery smooth muscle cells (HCASMCs).

A Dynamic Cellular Model as an Emerging Platform to Reproduce the Complexity of Human Vascular Calcification In Vitro.

Vascular calcification (VC) is a cardiovascular disease characterized by calcium salt deposition in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Standard in vitro models used in VC investigations are based on VSMC monocultures under static conditions. Although these platforms are easy to use, the absence of interactions between different cell types and dynamic conditions makes these models insufficient to study key aspects of vascular pathophysiology.

Echo state networks for the recognition of type 1 Brugada syndrome from conventional 12-LEAD ECG.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications and Machine Learning (ML) methods have gained much attention in recent years for their ability to automatically detect patterns in data without being explicitly taught rules. Specific features characterise the ECGs of patients with Brugada Syndrome (BrS); however, there is still ambiguity regarding the correct diagnosis of BrS and its differentiation from other pathologies. This work presents an application of Echo State Networks (ESN) in the Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN) class for diagnosing BrS from the ECG time series.

Proteomic Modulation in TGF-β-Treated Cholangiocytes Induced by Curcumin Nanoparticles.

Curcumin is a natural polyphenol that exhibits a variety of beneficial effects on health, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and hepato-protective properties. Due to its poor water solubility and membrane permeability, in the present study, we prepared and characterized a water-stable, freely dispersible nanoformulation of curcumin. Although the potential of curcumin nanoformulations in the hepatic field has been studied, there are no investigations on their effect in fibrotic pathological conditions involving cholangiocytes.

Protocol to generate an in vitro model to study vascular calcification using human endothelial and smooth muscle cells.

Vascular calcification is a systemic disease characterized by calcium salt deposition within vascular walls. Here, we present a protocol for establishing an advanced dynamic in vitro co-culture system using endothelial and smooth muscle cells to replicate vascular tissue complexity. We describe steps for cell culture and seeding in a double-flow bioreactor that recreates the action of blood in humans.

Association of Circulating Neutrophils with Relative Volume of Lipid-Rich Necrotic Core of Coronary Plaques in Stable Patients: A Substudy of SMARTool European Project.

Background And Aims: Coronary atherosclerosis is a chronic non-resolving inflammatory process wherein the interaction of innate immune cells and platelets plays a major role. Circulating neutrophils, in particular, adhere to the activated endothelium and migrate into the vascular wall, promoting monocyte recruitment and influencing plaque phenotype and stability at all stages of its evolution. We aimed to evaluate, by flow cytometry, if blood neutrophil number and phenotype-including their phenotypic relationships with platelets, monocytes and lymphocytes-have an association with lipid-rich necrotic core volume (LRNCV), a generic index of coronary plaque vulnerability, in a group of stable patients with chronic coronary syndrome (CCS).

Microplastics: A Matter of the Heart (and Vascular System).

Plastic use dramatically increased over the past few years. Besides obvious benefits, the consequent plastic waste and mismanagement in disposal have caused ecological problems. Plastic abandoned in the environment is prone to segregation, leading to the generation of microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs), which can reach aquatic and terrestrial organisms.

Vascular Calcification: In Vitro Models under the Magnifying Glass.

Vascular calcification is a systemic disease contributing to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The pathophysiology of vascular calcification involves calcium salt deposition by vascular smooth muscle cells that exhibit an osteoblast-like phenotype. Multiple conditions drive the phenotypic switch and calcium deposition in the vascular wall; however, the exact molecular mechanisms and the connection between vascular smooth muscle cells and other cell types are not fully elucidated.

Cardiac tissue engineering: Multiple approaches and potential applications.

The overall increase in cardiovascular diseases and, specifically, the ever-rising exposure to cardiotoxic compounds has greatly increased animal testing; however, mainly due to ethical concerns related to experimental animal models, there is a strong interest in new models focused on the human heart. In recent years, human pluripotent stem cells-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) emerged as reference cell systems for cardiac studies due to their biological similarity to primary CMs, the flexibility in cell culture protocols, and the capability to be amplified several times. Furthermore, the ability to be genetically reprogrammed makes patient-derived hiPSCs, a source for studies on personalized medicine.

Bone morphogenetic protein-4 system expression in human coronary artery endothelial and smooth muscle cells under dynamic flow: effect of medicated bioresorbable vascular scaffolds at low and normal shear stress.

Endothelial and smooth muscle cell dysfunction is an early event at the onset of atherosclerosis, a heterogeneous and multifactorial pathology of the vascular wall. Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-4, a mechanosensitive autocrine cytokine, and BMPR-1a, BMPR-1b, BMPR-2 specific receptors play a key role in atherosclerotic plaque formation and vascular calcification and BMP4 is regarded as a biomarker of endothelial cell activation. The study aimed to examine the BMP4 system expression by Real-Time PCR in Human Coronary Artery Endothelial (HCAECs) and Smooth Muscle Cells (HCASMCs) under different flow rates determining low or physiological shear stress in the presence/absence of medicated Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold (BVS).

Protocol for a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies on the Association of Exposure to Toxic Environmental Pollutants and Left Ventricular Dysfunction.

The association between environmental exposure to toxic substances and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in humans is widely recognized. However, the analysis of underlying pathophysiological mechanisms is essential to target meaningful endpoints of cardiotoxicity and allow a close-to-real life understanding of the role of chronic and acute exposure to multiple toxicants. The aim of this study is to outline the process for a systematic review of the literature that investigates the relationship between environmental pollution and left ventricular dysfunction.

Blood M2-like Monocyte Polarization Is Associated with Calcific Plaque Phenotype in Stable Coronary Artery Disease: A Sub-Study of SMARTool Clinical Trial.

Background: Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease. The balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory factors, acting on the arterial wall, promotes less or more coronary plaque macro-calcification, respectively. We investigated the association between monocyte phenotypic polarization and CTCA-assessed plaque dense-calcium volume (DCV) in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD).

Discrimination capability of pretest probability of stable coronary artery disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis suggesting how to improve validation procedures.

Objective: Externally validated pretest probability models for risk stratification of subjects with chest pain and suspected stable coronary artery disease (CAD), determined through invasive coronary angiography or coronary CT angiography, are analysed to characterise the best validation procedures in terms of discriminatory ability, predictive variables and method completeness.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Data Sources: Global Health (Ovid), Healthstar (Ovid) and MEDLINE (Ovid) searched on 22 April 2020.

Computing of Low Shear Stress-Driven Endothelial Gene Network Involved in Early Stages of Atherosclerotic Process.

Background: In the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, a central role is represented by endothelial inflammation with influx of chemokine-mediated leukocytes in the vascular wall. Aim of this study was to analyze the effect of different shear stresses on endothelial gene expression and compute gene network involved in atherosclerotic disease, in particular to homeostasis, inflammatory cell migration, and apoptotic processes.

Methods: HUVECs were subjected to shear stress of 1, 5, and 10 dyne/cm in a Flow Bioreactor for 24 hours to compare gene expression modulation.

Biomimetic engineering of the cardiac tissue through processing, functionalization, and biological characterization of polyester urethanes.

Three-dimensional (3D) tissue models offer new tools in the study of diseases. In the case of the engineering of cardiac muscle, a realistic goal would be the design of a scaffold able to replicate the tissue-specific architecture, mechanical properties, and chemical composition, so that it recapitulates the main functions of the tissue. This work is focused on the design and preliminary biological validation of an innovative polyester urethane (PUR) scaffold mimicking cardiac tissue properties.

Systemic and vascular inflammation in an in-vitro model of central obesity.

Metabolic disorders due to over-nutrition are a major global health problem, often associated with obesity and related morbidities. Obesity is peculiar to humans, as it is associated with lifestyle and diet, and so difficult to reproduce in animal models. Here we describe a model of human central adiposity based on a 3-tissue system consisting of a series of interconnected fluidic modules.

Cardiac tissue regeneration: A preliminary study on carbon-based nanotubes gelatin scaffold.

The aim of this study was set-up and test of gelatin and carbon nanotubes scaffolds. Gelatin-based (5%) genipin cross-linked (0.2%) scaffolds embedding single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs, 0.

Biological and proteomic characterization of a composite mesh for abdominal wall hernia treatment: Reference Study.

Aims: The industrial development of a product requires performing a deep analysis to highlight its characteristics useful for future design. The clinical use of a product stimulates knowledge improvement about it in a constant effort of progress. This work shows the biological characterization of CMC composite mesh.

Three-dimensional reconstruction of coronary arteries and plaque morphology using CT angiography--comparison and registration with IVUS.

Background: The aim of this study is to present a new methodology for three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of coronary arteries and plaque morphology using Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA).

Methods: The methodology is summarized in six stages: 1) pre-processing of the initial raw images, 2) rough estimation of the lumen and outer vessel wall borders and approximation of the vessel's centerline, 3) manual adaptation of plaque parameters, 4) accurate extraction of the luminal centerline, 5) detection of the lumen - outer vessel wall borders and calcium plaque region, and 6) finally 3D surface construction.

Results: The methodology was compared to the estimations of a recently presented Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) plaque characterization method.

Three-dimensional reconstruction of coronary arteries and plaque morphology using CT angiography - comparison and registration using IVUS.

The aim of this study is to present a new method for three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of coronary arteries and plaque morphology using Computed Tomography (CT) Angiography. The method is summarized in three steps. In the first step, image filters are applied to CT images and an initial estimation of the vessel borders is extracted.

Error propagation in the characterization of atheromatic plaque types based on imaging.

Imaging systems transmit and acquire signals and are subject to errors including: error sources, signal variations or possible calibration errors. These errors are included in all imaging systems for atherosclerosis and are propagated to methodologies implemented for the segmentation and characterization of atherosclerotic plaque. In this paper, we present a study for the propagation of imaging errors and image segmentation errors in plaque characterization methods applied to 2D vascular images.

A multiscale approach for modeling atherosclerosis progression.

Progression of atherosclerotic process constitutes a serious and quite common condition due to accumulation of fatty materials in the arterial wall, consequently posing serious cardiovascular complications. In this paper, we assemble and analyze a multitude of heterogeneous data in order to model the progression of atherosclerosis (ATS) in coronary vessels. The patient's medical record, biochemical analytes, monocyte information, adhesion molecules, and therapy-related data comprise the input for the subsequent analysis.