Safety and Efficacy of Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy for Ischemic Heart Disease: A Systematic Review.

Background: Cell therapy using adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) shows great potential as a treatment for cardiovascular diseases.

Objective: We conducted a systematic review to describe the safety and efficacy of ADSCs in ischemic heart disease.

Methods: We searched PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, CENTRAL, and LILACS (from inception to March 2024) for clinical studies involving ADSCs in patients with ischemic heart disease.

Plasma ceramides as biomarkers for microvascular disease and clinical outcomes in diabetes and myocardial infarction.

Background: Ceramides have recently been identified as novel biomarkers associated with diabetes mellitus (DM) and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE). This study aims to explore their utility in diagnosing microvascular disease.

Methods: This study prospectively enrolled 309 patients from 2018 to 2020 into three groups: healthy controls (Group 1, N = 51), DM patients without acute myocardial infarction (AMI) (Group 2, N = 150), and DM patients with AMI (Group 3, N = 108).

Familial Profile of Pediatric and Adult Patients With Congenital Heart Disease in Heart Transplantation.

Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect, and heart transplantation is the main treatment of choice. As genetic causes can be identified in a considerable proportion of cases, investigation of possible family cardiac history is essential. We analyzed the profiles of pediatric heart transplant recipients in terms of family history of heart disease.

Myocardial tissue expression of mRNA and preoperative neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in children undergoing congenital heart surgery.

Background: The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is an easily accessible and inexpensive biomarker that has been shown to predict morbidity and mortality in congenital cardiac surgery. However, its regulatory mechanism remains unclear. This study aims to compare and correlate the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and IL-10 messenger RNAs (mRNAs) with the NLR in patients with tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) and ventricular septal defect (VSD).

The landscape of biomedical research funding in Brazil: a current overview.

Objective: The objective of this narrative review is to discuss the current state of research funding in Brazil.

Materials And Methods: This study is based on the most recent edition of the course Funding for Research and Innovation in the University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine which was a three-day course with 12 hours of instruction. The course brought together leading experts in the field to comprehensively discuss the current state of research funding in Brazil.

Cysteine and glycine-rich protein 3 (Crp3) as a critical regulator of elastolysis, inflammation, and smooth muscle cell apoptosis in abdominal aortic aneurysm development.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a life-threatening vascular disease for which surgical or endovascular repair are the only currently available therapeutic strategies. The development of AAA involves the breakdown of elastic fibers (elastolysis), infiltration of inflammatory cells, and apoptosis of smooth muscle cells (SMCs). However, the specific regulators governing these responses remain unknown.

Challenges and Applications of Genetic Testing in Dilated Cardiomyopathy: Genotype, Phenotype and Clinical Implications.

Genetic tests for dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) have a diagnostic yield of up to 40%, but there is significant genetic heterogeneity and other challenges, such as variable expressivity and incomplete penetrance. Pedigree analysis is essential for distinguishing between sporadic and familial DCM cases by assessing family history. Familial DCM yields higher results in genetic testing, but sporadic DCM does not rule out the possibility of a genetic cause.

Integrated systems biology approach identifies gene targets for endothelial dysfunction.

Endothelial dysfunction (ED) is critical in the development and progression of cardiovascular (CV) disorders, yet effective therapeutic targets for ED remain elusive due to limited understanding of its underlying molecular mechanisms. To address this gap, we employed a systems biology approach to identify potential targets for ED. Our study combined multi omics data integration, with siRNA screening, high content imaging and network analysis to prioritise key ED genes and identify a pro- and anti-ED network.

Generation and validation of a classification model to diagnose familial hypercholesterolaemia in adults.

Background And Aims: The early diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia is associated with a significant reduction in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. While the recent use of statistical and machine learning algorithms has shown promising results in comparison with traditional clinical criteria, when applied to screening of potential FH cases in large cohorts, most studies in this field are developed using a single cohort of patients, which may hamper the application of such algorithms to other populations. In the current study, a logistic regression (LR) based algorithm was developed combining observations from three different national FH cohorts, from Portugal, Brazil and Sweden.

Relationship of blood pressure measured in the calf with arm blood pressure and arterial stiffness: a general population study.

Aim: Leg blood pressure (BP) measurement is needed when arm BP evaluation is not feasible, and calf BP, especially when measured in standing position, may have greater association with cardiovascular remodeling than arm BP. This study evaluated the relationship between calf and arm BP, and investigated whether calf BP would be superior to arm BP in predicting increased arterial stiffness [pulse wave velocity (PWV) > 10 m/s].

Methods: We evaluated clinical and laboratory characteristics, BP measurements, and PWV in 1397 individuals resident in Baependi, Brazil, between 2017 and 2019.

Missing links in preeclampsia cell model systems of endothelial dysfunction.

Preeclampsia, one of the main hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, is associated with circulating factors released by the ischemic placenta accompanied by systemic endothelial dysfunction. The etiology of preeclampsia remains poorly understood although it is associated with high maternal and fetal mortality and increased cardiovascular disease risk. Most cell model systems used for studying endothelial dysfunction have not taken into account hemodynamic physical factors such as shear-stress forces which may prevent extrapolation of cell data to in vivo settings.

Additional improvement in regional myocardial ischemia after intracardiac injection of bone marrow cells during CABG surgery.

Background: Post-procedure residual ischemia is associated with worse prognosis in patients with coronary artery diasease (CAD).

Objective: We evaluated whether autologous bone marrow-derived cells (BMC) contribute to additional reduction in regional stress-induced myocardial ischemia (SIMI) in patients undergoing incomplete coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG).

Methods: In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, we enrolled 143 patients (82% men, 58 ± 11 years) with stable CAD and not candidates for complete CABG.

Clinical Features, Genetic Findings, and Risk Stratification in Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy: Data From a Brazilian Cohort.

Background: Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), a rare inherited disease, causes ventricular tachycardia, sudden cardiac death, and heart failure (HF). We investigated ARVC clinical features, genetic findings, natural history, and the occurrence of life-threatening arrhythmic events (LTAEs), HF death, or heart transplantation (HF-death/HTx) to identify risk factors.

Methods: The clinical course of 111 consecutive patients with definite ARVC, predictors of LTAE, HF-death/HTx, and combined events were analyzed in the entire cohort and in a subgroup of 40 patients without sustained ventricular arrhythmia before diagnosis.

Wearable potentiometric biosensor for analysis of urea in sweat.

Herein, we introduce wearable potentiometric biosensors on screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) for on-body and on-site monitoring of urea in sweat. The biosensor architecture was judiciously designed to detect urea at different pHs and incorporate a pH sensor, thus containing polyaniline ink, urease bioink and a polyvinylchloride membrane. Urea detection could be performed in the wide range from 5 to 200 mM at pH 7.

Multicellular regulation of miR-196a-5p and miR-425-5 from adipose stem cell-derived exosomes and cardiac repair.

Cardiac transplantation of adipose-derived stem cells (ASC) modulates the post-myocardial infarction (post-MI) repair response. Biomolecules secreted or shuttled within extracellular vesicles, such as exosomes, may participate in the concerted response. We investigated the exosome's microRNAs due to their capacity to fine-tune gene expression, potentially affecting the multicellular repair response.

Gene expression profile in experimental frozen-thawed ovarian grafts treated with scaffold-base delivery of adipose tissue-derived stem cells.

Purpose: Gelfoam scaffold is a feasible and safe non-invasive technique for Adipose tissue-derived Stem Cell (ASC)-delivery in the treatment of frozen-thawed ovarian autografts. This study seeks to analyze the genes expression profile of rat frozen-thawed ovarian autografts treated with scaffold-based delivery of adipose tissue-derived stem cells.

Methods: Eighteen adult Wistar rats were distributed into three groups: Control (frozen-thawed only); Group 1 (G1) and Group 2 (G2) (frozen-thawed ovaries treated with culture medium or ASC, respectively).

Comparing different metabolic indexes to predict type 2 diabetes mellitus in a five years follow-up cohort: The Baependi Heart Study.

This study evaluates the association of anthropometric indexes and the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) after a 5-year follow-up. This analysis included 1091 middle-aged participants (57% women, mean age 47 ± 15 years) who were free of T2DM at baseline and attended two health examinations cycles [cycle 1 (2005-2006) and cycle 2 (2010-2013)]. As expected, the participants who developed T2DM after five years (3.

Screening of and Genes for Sitosterolemia in a Familial Hypercholesterolemia Cascade Screening Program.

Background: Sitosterolemia is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by homozygous or compound heterozygous variants in . The disease is characterized by increased plasma plant sterols. Small case series suggest that patients with sitosterolemia have wide phenotypic heterogeneity with great variability on either plasma cholesterol levels or development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Body mass index is superior to other body adiposity indexes in predicting incident hypertension in a highly admixed sample after 10-year follow-up: The Baependi Heart Study.

Hypertension is the leading cause of overall mortality in low- and middle-income countries. In Brazil, there is paucity of data on the determinants of incident hypertension and related risk factors. We aimed to determine the incidence of hypertension in a sample from the Brazilian population and investigate possible relationships with body adiposity indexes.

Bone Marrow Cells Improve Coronary Flow Reserve in Ischemic Nonrevascularized Myocardium: A MiHeart/IHD Quantitative Perfusion CMR Substudy.

Objectives: This study investigated whether intramyocardial bone marrow-derived hematopoietic progenitor cells (BMCs) increase coronary flow reserve (CFR) in ischemic myocardial regions where direct revascularization was unsuitable.

Background: Patients with diffuse coronary artery disease frequently undergo incomplete myocardial revascularization, which increases their risk for future adverse cardiovascular outcomes. The residual regional ischemia related to both untreated epicardial lesions and small vessel disease usually contributes to the disease burden.

Effect of Occurrence of Lamin A/C () Genetic Variants in a Cohort of 101 Consecutive Apparent "Lone AF" Patients: Results and Insights.

Objective: Mutations in the ) gene are commonly associated with cardiac manifestations, such as dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and conduction system disease. However, the overall spectrum and penetrance of rare variants are unknown. The present study described the presence of in patients with "lone atrial fibrillation (AF)" as their sole clinical presentation.