Overlapping states of AWGS muscle dysfunction and inverse feasibility of ADL recovery by rehabilitation in older inpatients.

Rehabilitation based on guided walking is effective to recover activity of daily living (ADL) in frail older adults, even octogenarians. However, muscle dysfunction obviously reflects disability, and few studies have focused on ADL recovery by rehabilitation. We employed the state of muscle dysfunctions proposed by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) in 2019 and attempted to clarify the relation between the overlapping dysfunctions and the feasibility of ADL recovery after rehabilitation.

Association of adipokines with frailty in heart failure.

Background Frailty is a multifactorial physiological syndrome most often associated with age but which has received increasing recognition as a component of chronic illnesses such as heart failure. Patients with heart failure are likely to be frail, irrespective of their age. Adipokine dysregulation, which is associated with frailty, occurs in patients with heart failure.

Clinical impact of bifurcation angle change between diastole and systole in complex stenting for left main distal bifurcation: The Milan and New-Tokyo (MITO) Registry.

Objectives: We assessed the impact of pre-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) bifurcation angle change (BAC) on clinical outcomes.

Background: There are little available data about the impact of BAC in unprotected left main distal bifurcation lesions (ULMD) PCI.

Methods: We identified consecutive 300 patients with ULMD underwent complex stenting using drug-eluting stent in three high-volume centers (Tokyo and Milan).

The baseline speed of 10-m gait predicts ambulatory discharge for hospitalized frail elderly after DOPPO rehabilitation.

The discharge of elderly patients from hospital on the basis of their independent gait program (DOPPO) is a new rehabilitation strategy for physically frail hospitalized elderly that aims to recover independent gait and to achieve ambulatory discharge. We retrospectively investigated baseline determinants of physical measures associated closely with the 6-min walking distance (6MWD) after DOPPO. Participants were 137 consecutive elderly inpatients, irrespective of the causative disease (mean age: 82±7 years; 76 women), who had a Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) score of less than 12 and low independent walking capacity.

Immune activation with peptide assemblies carrying Lewis y tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen.

Molecular assemblies varying morphologies in a wide range from spherical micelle, nanosheet, curved sheet, nanotube and vesicle were prepared and loaded with Lewis y (Le ) tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen on the assembly surface. The molecular assemblies were composed of poly(sarcosine) -block-poly(L-lactic acid) (m = 15 or 50, Lactosome), poly(sarcosine) -block-(D/L-Leu-Aib) (m = 22 or 30, n = 6 or 8) and their combinations. The molecular assemblies carrying Le on the surface were administered in BALB/c nu/nu mice.

Failing Left Ventricles Have an Enhanced Post-Stimulation Potentiation Despite Their Impaired Force Frequency Relationship.

The left ventricular contractile force (LV dP/dtmax) of patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction does not increase effectively with an increase in heart rate. In other words, their force-frequency relationship (FFR) is impaired. However, it is unknown whether a longer coupling interval subsequent to tachycardia causes a stronger contraction (poststimulation potentiation, PSP) in a rate-dependent manner.

Synthesis of type 2 Lewis antigens via novel regioselective glycosylation of an orthogonally protected lactosamine diol derivative.

The novel and efficient synthesis of type 2 Lewis antigens is reported in this study. The rationally designed lactosamine-3,2'-diol derivative with an orthogonal set of protecting groups is efficiently glycosylated with a benzyl protected 1-thio-l-fucoside donor in a unique regioselective manner to produce Lewis x (Le(x)) and Lewis y (Le(y)) derivatives in good yields. These derivatives can be prepared not only exclusively but also synchronously by choosing the appropriate reaction temperature and donor-acceptor molar ratio.

Elevated Endomyocardial Biopsy Macrophage-Related Markers in Intractable Myocardial Diseases.

Tissue macrophages can be activated by endogenous danger signals released from cells that are stressed or injured, leading to infiltration of inflammatory macrophages and neutrophils. We postulated that macrophage-related markers might be closely associated with the existence of endogenous danger signals, reflecting ongoing tissue injury in the absence of foreign substances. This study was designed to assess the ability of macrophage-related markers in endomyocardial biopsies to predict ongoing cardiac injury in non-inflammatory myocardial diseases.

Liver congestion in heart failure contributes to inappropriately increased serum hepcidin despite anemia.

Hepcidin is a key regulator of mammalian iron metabolism and mainly produced by the liver. Hepcidin excess causes iron deficiency and anemia by inhibiting iron absorption from the intestine and iron release from macrophage stores. Anemia is frequently complicated with heart failure.

Inappropriate expression of hepcidin by liver congestion contributes to anemia and relative iron deficiency.

Background: Anemia and relative iron deficiency (RID) are prevalent in patients with heart failure (HF). The etiology of anemia and RID in HF patients is unclear. Hepcidin expression may be closely related to anemia and RID in HF patients.

Relative refractoriness of left ventricular contraction underlies human tachycardia-induced mechanical and electrical alternans.

Background: Mechanical alternans (MA) and electrical alternans (EA) are predictors of cardiac events. Experimental studies have suggested that refractoriness of calcium cycling underlies these cardiac alternans. However, refractoriness of left ventricular contraction has not been examined in patients with cardiac alternans.

Oral administration of a novel long-acting prostacyclin agonist with thromboxane synthase inhibitory activity for pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Background: Continuous administration of prostacyclin has improved the survival of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). However, this treatment has some problems, including its short duration of activity and difficult delivery. Therefore, we developed ONO-1301, an orally active, long-acting prostacyclin agonist with thromboxane synthase inhibitory activity.

A mutant mRNA expression in an endomyocardial biopsy sample obtained from a patient with a cardiac variant of Fabry disease caused by a novel acceptor splice site mutation in the invariant AG of intron 5 of the α-galactosidase A gene.

We herein describe the case of a 58-year-old man who presented with dilated-phase hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and required an implantable cardioverter defibrillator implant. Subsequently, the patient was diagnosed with Fabry disease (FD), which was suspected based on the results of an endomyocardial biopsy and diagnosed following demonstration of deficient α-galactosidase A (GLA) activity. Molecular studies showed a novel point mutation in the 3' splice site consensus sequence of intron 5 in the gene encoding GLA that created a new splicing site, resulting in the expression of mutant mRNA.

Estimation of paracrine signaling using quantitative RT-PCR from multiple patchy lesion samples.

We investigated whether correlations between mRNA levels of cytokines versus other proteins from patchy lesion could estimate cytokine paracrine signaling in vivo. Experiments with rat experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM), a patchy myocarditis model, indicated IL-1 and other protein levels were correlated, indicating paracrine signaling pathways in vivo.

Mechanical alternans in human idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy is caused with impaired force-frequency relationship and enhanced poststimulation potentiation.

Mechanical alternans (MA) is frequently observed in patients with heart failure, and is a predictor of cardiac events. However, there have been controversies regarding the conditions and mechanisms of MA. To clarify heart rate-dependent contractile properties related to MA, we performed incremental right atrial pacing in 17 idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients and in six control patients.

Comparison of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension with versus without right-sided mechanical alternans.

The clinical implications of mechanical alternans in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) remain unknown. In this study, the prevalence, characteristics, and prognostic implications of mechanical alternans in patients with PAH were investigated. Thirty-two consecutive patients with PAH confirmed by cardiac catheterization from 2000 to 2010 were included in this cohort study.