Publications by authors named "Garret A Fitzgerald"

Aims: The therapeutic efficacy of coronary revascularization is compromised by myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (MI/R) injury. Higher levels of circulating arachidonic acid (AA) are reportedly associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease. The cyclooxygenase (COX) pathway metabolizes AA into prostaglandins (PGs) and the platelet-activating thromboxane A2 (TXA2), which is inhibited by aspirin.

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Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are popular choices for the mitigation of pain and inflammation; however, they are accompanied by side effects in the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular systems. We compared the effects of naproxen, a traditional NSAID, and celecoxib, a cyclooxygenase -2 (Cox-2) inhibitor, in humans. Our findings showed a decrease in tryptophan and kynurenine levels in plasma of volunteers treated with naproxen.

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Article Synopsis
  • Heart failure (HF) is linked to the use of NSAIDs, but it's unclear whether they lead more to heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) or preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).
  • Research in mice showed that while COX-2 inhibition didn't affect cardiac function overall, aged female mice experienced signs of diastolic dysfunction and elevated BNP levels while maintaining preserved ejection fraction.
  • The findings suggest that COX-2 deletion specifically leads to HFpEF rather than HFrEF and indicates that calcium handling imbalances may affect heart relaxation in this context.
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Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the most widely used medications for the management of chronic pain; however, they are associated with numerous gastrointestinal (GI) adverse events. Although many mechanisms have been suggested, NSAID-induced enteropathy has been thought to be primarily due to inhibition of both cyclooxygenases (COX) -1 and -2, which results in suppression of prostaglandin synthesis. Yet surprisingly, we found that concomitant postnatal deletion of and over 10 months failed to cause intestinal injury in mice unless they were treated with naproxen or its structural analog, phenylpropionic acid, which is not a COX inhibitor.

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  • Researchers discovered that the beta-lactamase gene (LACTB) is linked to kidney dysfunction and high lipid levels, which are vital aspects of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome.
  • In experiments, mice lacking LACTB showed symptoms of impaired glucose tolerance and higher lipid levels, while overexpressing LACTB in specific kidney tubules provided protection against kidney damage.
  • The study reveals that LACTB acts as a mitochondrial protease that activates another gene, PLA2G6, which is important for regulating lipid metabolism and may serve as a target for treating metabolic disorders related to kidney health.
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Circadian misalignment has been associated with obesity both in rodents and humans. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis contributes to energy expenditure and can be activated in adults to reduce body weight. Although previous studies suggest control of BAT thermogenesis by the circadian clock, the site and mechanisms of regulation remain unclear.

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  • Tumor cell-derived prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) promotes immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment by influencing immune cells, but its specific role in tumor cells remains unexplored.
  • Deleting the PGE2 synthesis enzyme or blocking its receptor (EP4) in pancreatic cancer cells activates T cells, changes the immune environment, and inhibits tumor growth.
  • Combining EP4 receptor blockade with immunotherapy leads to complete tumor regressions and enhances immune memory, highlighting the importance of targeting the PGE2 signaling pathway for potential cancer treatments.
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Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) that target programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) have revolutionized cancer treatment by enabling the restoration of suppressed T-cell cytotoxic responses. However, resistance to single-agent ICIs limits their clinical utility. Combinatorial strategies enhance their antitumor effects, but may also enhance the risk of immune related adverse effects of ICIs.

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Background: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) increase the risk of adverse cardiovascular events via suppression of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2-derived prostacyclin (PGI) formation in heart, vasculature, and kidney. The Prospective Randomized Evaluation of Celecoxib Integrated Safety versus Ibuprofen Or Naproxen (PRECISION) trial and other large clinical studies compared the cardiovascular risk of traditional NSAIDs (i.e.

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Background: Low-dose aspirin is widely used for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. The beneficial effects of low-dose aspirin are attributable to its inhibition of platelet Cox (cyclooxygenase)-1-derived thromboxane A. Until recently, the use of the Pf4 (platelet factor 4) Cre has been the only genetic approach to generating megakaryocyte/platelet ablation of Cox-1 in mice.

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High-density lipoprotein (HDL) nanoparticles promote endothelial cell (EC) function and suppress inflammation, but their utility in treating EC dysfunction has not been fully explored. Here, we describe a fusion protein named ApoA1-ApoM (A1M) consisting of apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1), the principal structural protein of HDL that forms lipid nanoparticles, and ApoM, a chaperone for the bioactive lipid sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P). A1M forms HDL-like particles, binds to S1P, and is signaling competent.

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Prostanoids are biologically active lipids generated from arachidonic acid by the action of the COX (cyclooxygenase) isozymes. NSAIDs, which reduce the biosynthesis of prostanoids by inhibiting COX activity, are effective anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, and analgesic drugs. However, their use is limited by cardiovascular adverse effects, including myocardial infarction, stroke, hypertension, and heart failure.

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Chronic kidney disease (CKD) represents a significant global burden. Hypertension is a modifiable risk factor for rapid progression of CKD. We extend the risk stratification by introducing the non-parametric determination of rhythmic components in 24-h profiles of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) and the African American Study for Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK) cohort using Cox proportional hazards models.

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Background: Lipids may influence cellular penetrance by viral pathogens and the immune response that they evoke. We deeply phenotyped the lipidomic response to SARs-CoV-2 and compared that with infection with other pathogens in patients admitted with acute respiratory distress syndrome to an intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods: Mass spectrometry was used to characterise lipids and relate them to proteins, peripheral cell immunotypes and disease severity.

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Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic parenchymal lung disease characterized by repetitive alveolar cell injury, myofibroblast proliferation, and excessive extracellular matrix deposition for which unmet need persists for effective therapeutics. The bioactive eicosanoid, prostaglandin F2α, and its cognate receptor FPr (Ptgfr) are implicated as a TGF-β1-independent signaling hub for IPF. To assess this, we leveraged our published murine PF model (IER-SftpcI73T) expressing a disease-associated missense mutation in the surfactant protein C (Sftpc) gene.

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Metabolic syndrome, today affecting more than 20% of the US population, is a group of 5 conditions that often coexist and that strongly predispose to cardiovascular disease. How these conditions are linked mechanistically remains unclear, especially two of these: obesity and elevated blood pressure. Here, we show that high fat consumption in mice leads to the accumulation of lipid droplets in endothelial cells throughout the organism and that lipid droplet accumulation in endothelium suppresses endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), reduces NO production, elevates blood pressure, and accelerates atherosclerosis.

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Many chronic disease symptomatologies involve desynchronized sleep-wake cycles, indicative of disrupted biorhythms. This can be interrogated using body temperature rhythms, which have circadian as well as sleep-wake behavior/environmental evoked components. Here, we investigated the association of wrist temperature amplitudes with a future onset of disease in the UK Biobank one year after actigraphy.

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Optimal lung repair and regeneration are essential for recovery from viral infections, including influenza A virus (IAV). We have previously demonstrated that acute inflammation and mortality induced by IAV is under circadian control. However, it is not known whether the influence of the circadian clock persists beyond the acute outcomes.

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Lipids may influence cellular penetrance by pathogens and the immune response that they evoke. Here we find a broad based lipidomic storm driven predominantly by secretory (s) phospholipase A (sPLA ) dependent eicosanoid production occurs in patients with sepsis of viral and bacterial origin and relates to disease severity in COVID-19. Elevations in the cyclooxygenase (COX) products of arachidonic acid (AA), PGD and PGI , and the AA lipoxygenase (LOX) product, 12-HETE, and a reduction in the high abundance lipids, ChoE 18:3, LPC-O-16:0 and PC-O-30:0 exhibit relative specificity for COVID-19 amongst such patients, correlate with the inflammatory response and link to disease severity.

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Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic parenchymal lung disease characterized by repetitive alveolar cell injury, myofibroblast proliferation, and excessive extracellular matrix deposition for which unmet need persists for effective therapeutics. The bioactive eicosanoid, prostaglandin F2, and its cognate receptor FPr () are implicated as a TGF1 independent signaling hub for IPF. To assess this, we leveraged our published murine PF model (I - ) expressing a disease-associated missense mutation in the surfactant protein C () gene.

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The circadian clock in animals and humans plays crucial roles in multiple physiological processes. Disruption of circadian homeostasis causes detrimental effects. Here, it is demonstrated that the disruption of the circadian rhythm by genetic deletion of mouse brain and muscle ARNT-like 1 (Bmal1) gene, coding for the key clock transcription factor, augments an exacerbated fibrotic phenotype in various tumors.

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