Comparability of Automated Office Blood Pressure to Daytime 24-Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure.

Background: Clinical practice guidelines endorse automated office blood pressure (AOBP) measurement as the preferred in-office measurement modality. However, recent data indicate that this method may underestimate daytime ambulatory BP. The objective of this study was to further assess the comparability of mean AOBP and daytime ambulatory BP in clinical practice.

Identification and dynamic regulation of tight junction protein expression in human neural stem cells.

Recent reports indicate that neural stem cells (NSCs) exist in a cluster-like formation in close proximity to cerebral microvessels. Similar appearing clusters can be seen ex vivo in NSC cultures termed neurospheres. It is known that this neurosphere configuration is important for preserving stemness and a proliferative state.

Doxycycline reduces cardiac matrix metalloproteinase-2 activity but does not ameliorate myocardial dysfunction during reperfusion in coronary artery bypass patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass.

Objectives: Matrix metalloproteinase-2 proteolyzes intracellular proteins in the heart and induces acute myocardial contractile dysfunction in ischemia-reperfusion injury. Doxycycline, a matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor, prevented matrix metalloproteinase-2-induced troponin I cleavage in rat hearts and improved contractile function following ischemia-reperfusion. In patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass, increased atrial matrix metalloproteinase-2 activity was inversely correlated with cardiac mechanical function at 3 hours reperfusion.

Matrix metalloproteinase-2 proteolysis of calponin-1 contributes to vascular hypocontractility in endotoxemic rats.

Objective: Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 is activated in aorta during endotoxemia and plays a role in the hypocontractility to vasoconstrictors. Calponin-1 is a regulator of vascular smooth muscle tone with similarities to troponin, a cardiac myocyte protein that is cleaved by MMP-2 in myocardial oxidative stress injuries. We hypothesized that calponin-1 may be proteolyzed by MMP-2 in endotoxemia-induced vascular hypocontractility.

Inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase activity in vivo protects against vascular hyporeactivity in endotoxemia.

Persistent arterial hypotension is a hallmark of sepsis and is believed to be caused, at least in part, by excess nitric oxide (NO). NO can combine with superoxide to produce peroxynitrite, which activates matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Whether MMP inhibition in vivo protects against vascular hyporeactivity induced by endotoxemia is unknown.

Role of oxidative stress in multiparity-induced endothelial dysfunction.

Multiparity is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. We tested whether multiparity induces oxidative stress in rat vascular tissue. Coronary arteries and thoracic aorta were isolated from multiparous and age-matched virgin rats.

Increased activities of cardiac matrix metalloproteinases matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 are associated with mortality during the acute phase of experimental Trypanosoma cruzi infection.

The strong inflammatory reaction that occurs in the heart during the acute phase of Trypanosoma cruzi infection is modulated by cytokines and chemokines produced by leukocytes and cardiomyocytes. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have recently emerged as modulators of cardiovascular inflammation. In the present study we investigated the role of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in T.

Smooth muscle NOS, colocalized with caveolin-1, modulates contraction in mouse small intestine.

Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in myenteric neurons is activated during peristalsis to produce nitric oxide which relaxes intestinal smooth muscle. A putative nNOS is also found in the membrane of intestinal smooth muscle cells in mouse and dog. In this study we studied the possible functions of this nNOS expressed in mouse small intestinal smooth muscle colocalized with caveolin-1(Cav-1).

Endothelial dependence of matrix metalloproteinase-mediated vascular hyporeactivity caused by lipopolysaccharide.

Septic shock remains the leading cause of death in intensive care units in North America. Recent evidence implicates matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) in the pathogenesis of sepsis. MMP activity is upregulated in blood vessels exposed to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or pro-inflammatory cytokines and contributes to vascular hyporeactivity to vasoconstrictors.

Effects of statins on vascular function of endothelin-1.

1. Although statins have been reported to inhibit the prepro-endothelin-1 (ET-1) gene transcription in endothelial cells, their effects on the vascular function of ET-1 have not been explored. We, therefore, examined the effects of statins on contraction and DNA synthesis mediated by ET-1 in vascular smooth muscle.