Beneficial effects of long-term administration of an oral formulation of Angiotensin-(1-7) in infarcted rats.

In this study was evaluated the chronic cardiac effects of a formulation developed by including angiotensin(Ang)-(1-7) in hydroxypropyl β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD), in infarcted rats. Myocardial infarction (MI) was induced by left coronary artery occlusion. HPβCD/Ang-(1-7) was administered for 60 days (76 μg/Kg/once a day/gavage) starting immediately before infarction.

Exercise training program based on minimum weekly frequencies: effects on blood pressure and physical fitness in elderly hypertensive patients.

Background: Exercise training (ET) can reduce blood pressure (BP) and prevent functional disability. However, the effects of low volumes of training have been poorly studied, especially in elderly hypertensive patients.

Objectives: To investigate the effects of a multi-component ET program (aerobic training, strength, flexibility, and balance) on BP, physical fitness, and functional ability of elderly hypertensive patients.

No effect of creatine supplementation on oxidative stress and cardiovascular parameters in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Background: Exacerbated oxidative stress is thought to be a mediator of arterial hypertension. It has been postulated that creatine (Cr) could act as an antioxidant agent preventing increased oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of nine weeks of Cr or placebo supplementation on oxidative stress and cardiovascular parameters in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR).

Sympathetic overactivity precedes metabolic dysfunction in a fructose model of glucose intolerance in mice.

Consumption of high levels of fructose in humans and animals leads to metabolic and cardiovascular dysfunction. There are questions as to the role of the autonomic changes in the time course of fructose-induced dysfunction. C57/BL male mice were given tap water or fructose water (100 g/l) to drink for up to 2 mo.

Dynamic aerobic exercise induces baroreflex improvement in diabetic rats.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of an acute aerobic exercise on arterial pressure (AP), heart rate (HR), and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) in STZ-induced diabetic rats. Male Wistar rats were divided into control (n = 8) and diabetic (n = 8) groups. AP, HR, and BRS, which were measured by tachycardic and bradycardic (BR) responses to AP changes, were evaluated at rest (R) and postexercise session (PE) on a treadmill.

Moderate exercise training promotes adaptations in coronary blood flow and adenosine production in normotensive rats.

Objectives: Aerobic exercise training prevents cardiovascular risks. Regular exercise promotes functional and structural adaptations that are associated with several cardiovascular benefits. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of swimming training on coronary blood flow, adenosine production and cardiac capillaries in normotensive rats.

Cardiometabolic benefits of exercise training in an experimental model of metabolic syndrome and menopause.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the cardiometabolic effects of exercise training in ovariectomized hypertensive rats both submitted and not submitted to fructose overload.

Methods: Spontaneously hypertensive ovariectomized rats were divided into sedentary and trained (THO) groups submitted to normal chow and sedentary and trained groups submitted to fructose overload (100 g/L in drinking water for 19 wk). Exercise training was performed on a treadmill (8 wk).

Molecular mapping of the regenerative niche in a murine model of myocardial infarction.

Adult stem cells are distributed through the whole organism, and present a great potential for the therapy of different types of disease. For the design of efficient therapeutic strategies, it is important to have a more detailed understanding of their basic biological characteristics, as well as of the signals produced by damaged tissues and to which they respond. Myocardial infarction (MI), a disease caused by a lack of blood flow supply in the heart, represents the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in the Western world.

Cardiac and pulmonary arterial remodeling after sinoaortic denervation in normotensive rats.

Blood pressure variability (BPV) and baroreflex dysfunction may contribute to end-organ damage process. We investigated the effects of baroreceptor deficit (10 weeks after sinoaortic denervation - SAD) on hemodynamic alterations, cardiac and pulmonary remodeling. Cardiac function and morphology of male Wistar intact rats (C) and SAD rats (SAD) (n=8/group) were assessed by echocardiography and collagen quantification.

Determinants of influenza vaccination among young children in an inner-city community.

Few studies have examined potential factors that contribute to low influenza vaccination rates among minority children. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of early childhood influenza vaccination among young black and Latino children, living in inner-city neighborhoods, and examine the effects of child, caregiver and health system factors. Secondary data analysis was performed using a survey about medical home experiences conducted from May 2007-June 2008.

Insulin alone or with captopril: effects on signaling pathways (AKT and AMPK) and oxidative balance after ischemia-reperfusion in isolated hearts.

Insulin and the inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system have independent benefits for ischemia-reperfusion injury, but their combination has not been tested. Our aim was to evaluate the effects of insulin+captopril on insulin/angiotensin signaling pathways and cardiac function in the isolated heart subjected to ischemia-reperfusion. Isolated hearts were perfused (Langendorff technique) with Krebs-Henseleit (KH) buffer for 25 min.

Simvastatin-induced cardiac autonomic control improvement in fructose-fed female rats.

Objective: Because autonomic dysfunction has been found to lead to cardiometabolic disorders and because studies have reported that simvastatin treatment has neuroprotective effects, the objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of simvastatin treatment on cardiovascular and autonomic changes in fructose-fed female rats.

Methods: Female Wistar rats were divided into three groups: controls (n = 8), fructose (n = 8), and fructose+ simvastatin (n = 8). Fructose overload was induced by supplementing the drinking water with fructose (100 mg/L, 18 wks).

Effects of angiotensin-I and ischemia on functional recovery in isolated hearts.

Background: Cardiac arrest resuscitation can present myocardial dysfunction determined by ischemic time, and inhibition of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) can reduce cardiac dysfunction during reperfusion.

Objective: To investigate the effects of angiotensin-I and different periods of ischemia on functional recovery in isolated rat hearts.

Methods: Isolated hearts from Wistar rats (n=45; 250-300 g) were submitted to different periods of global ischemia (20, 25 or 30 min) and reperfused (30 min) with Krebs-Henseleit buffer alone or with the addition of 400 nmol/L angiotensin-I, or 400 nmol/L angiotensin-I + 100 μmol/L captopril along the reperfusion period.

Low-dose enalapril reduces angiotensin II and attenuates diabetic-induced cardiac and autonomic dysfunctions.

Activation of renin-angiotensin system has been linked to cardiovascular and autonomic dysfunctions in diabetes. Experiments were performed to investigate the effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI), enalapril, on cardiac and autonomic functions in diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin (50 mg/kg), and rats were treated with enalapril (1 mg · kg(-1) · d(-1)).

Short-term diabetes attenuates left ventricular dysfunction and mortality rates after myocardial infarction in rodents.

Objectives: To investigate the effects of hyperglycemia on left ventricular dysfunction, morphometry, myocardial infarction area, hemodynamic parameters, oxidative stress profile, and mortality rate in rats that had undergone seven days of myocardial infarction.

Introduction: Previous research has demonstrated that hyperglycemia may protect the heart against ischemic injury.

Methods: Male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: control-sham, diabetes-sham, myocardial infarction, and diabetes + myocardial infarction.

Severe haemophilia A patients have reduced numbers of peripheral memory B cells.

The development of inhibitors is a complication of replacement treatment in Haemophilia. Loss of factor VIII-specific memory B cells in the spleen is associated with down regulation of antibodies in mice treated with high doses of FVIII, but changes in B cell memory have not been described in haemophilic patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the phenotype of circulating lymphocytes in severe haemophilia A.

[Molecular subtypes of breast cancer: prognostic implications and clinical and immunohistochemical characteristics].

Background: Breast carcinomas are a heterogeneous group of tumours, in both their clinical behavior and their prognosis. The aim of this article is to classify breast carcinomas according to molecular subtypes by means of immunohistochemical markers and to analyse the clinicopathological and immunohistochemical characteristics and the patterns of survival and relapse of the different subtypes.

Methods: Two hundred and seventy-two patients diagnosed with breast cancer were classified into five subtypes: breast carcinomas of the basal type, HER2 type, luminal A type, luminal B type and normal.

Nandrolone and resistance training induce heart remodeling: role of fetal genes and implications for cardiac pathophysiology.

Aims: This study was conducted to assess the isolated and combined effects of nandrolone and resistance training on cardiac morphology, function, and mRNA expression of pathological cardiac hypertrophy markers.

Main Methods: Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups and submitted to 6 weeks of treatment with nandrolone and/or resistance training. Cardiac parameters were determined by echocardiography.

Sildenafil preserves diastolic relaxation after reduction by L-NAME and increases phosphodiesterase-5 in the intercalated discs of cardiac myocytes and arterioles.

Objectives: We investigated the influence of sildenafil on cardiac contractility and diastolic relaxation and examined the distribution of phosphodiesterase-5 in the hearts of hypertensive rats that were treated with by NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME).

Methods: Male Wistar rats were treated with L-NAME and/or sildenafil for eight weeks. The Langendorff method was used to examine the effects of sildenafil on cardiac contractility and diastolic relaxation.

How parents' negative experiences at immunization visits affect child immunization status in a community in New York City.

Objective: Little is known about how families' experiences with immunization visits within the medical home may affect children's immunization status. We assessed the association between families' negative immunization experiences within the medical home and underimmunization.

Methods: We surveyed parents (n = 392) of children aged 2-36 months about immunization experiences at community health centers, hospital-based clinics, private practices, and community-based organizations in New York City.

Tap or bottled water: drinking preferences among urban minority children and adolescents.

The last decade has seen an increasing trend in consumer preference of bottled water over tap water. Little is known what type of water children and adolescents prefer for drinking and what their parents think of their community tap water. The study objective was to assess drinking water preferences, perceptions of the qualities of tap water and bottled water, and fluoride knowledge in an urban pediatric population.

Baroreflex sensitivity impairment is associated with cardiac diastolic dysfunction in rats.

Background: Studies have shown that the autonomic dysfunction accompanied by impaired baroreflex sensitivity was associated with higher mortality. However, the influence of decreased baroreflex sensitivity on cardiac function, especially in diastolic function, is not well understood. This study evaluated the morphofunctional changes associated with baroreflex impairment induced by chronic sinoaortic denervation (SAD).

The renin-angiotensin system is modulated by swimming training depending on the age of spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Aim: To investigate the effects of swimming training on the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) during the development of hypertensive disease.

Main Methods: Male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were randomized into: sedentary young (SY), trained young (TY), sedentary adult (SA), and trained adult (TA) groups. Swimming was performed 5 times/wk/8wks.

Renal denervation in an animal model of diabetes and hypertension: impact on the autonomic nervous system and nephropathy.

Background: The effects of renal denervation on cardiovascular reflexes and markers of nephropathy in diabetic-hypertensive rats have not yet been explored.

Aim: To evaluate the effects of renal denervation on nephropathy development mechanisms (blood pressure, cardiovascular autonomic changes, renal GLUT2) in diabetic-hypertensive rats. Forty-one male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) ~250 g were injected with STZ or not; 30 days later, surgical renal denervation (RD) or sham procedure was performed; 15 days later, glycemia and albuminuria (ELISA) were evaluated.

Antagonistic role of 9-lipoxygenase-derived oxylipins and ethylene in the control of oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation and plant defence.

9-lipoxygenases (9-LOXs) initiate fatty acid oxygenation in plant tissues, with formation of 9-hydroxy-10,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid (9-HOT) from linolenic acid. A lox1 lox5 mutant, which is deficient in 9-LOX activity, and two mutants noxy6 and noxy22 (non-responding to oxylipins), which are insensitive to 9-HOT, have been used to investigate 9-HOT signalling. Map-based cloning indicated that the noxy6 and noxy22 mutations are located at the CTR1 (CONSTITUTIVE ETHYLENE RESPONSE1) and ETO1 (ETHYLENE-OVERPRODUCER1) loci, respectively.