Publications by authors named "Joseph Barchue"

Article Synopsis
  • Heart failure (HF) is a complex condition affecting many individuals worldwide, and only about 50% of patients benefit from standard treatments, highlighting the need to explore its molecular differences.
  • A study investigated epigenetic factors in end-stage HF patients, analyzing DNA methylation patterns in cardiac biopsies from men receiving left ventricular assist devices (LVAD), revealing distinct methylation signatures based largely on race.
  • The findings suggest that African American patients have a higher mortality rate post-LVAD compared to Caucasian patients, possibly linked to socioeconomic disparities, indicating a need for further research into how these factors impact heart failure outcomes.
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Ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) is the clinical endpoint of coronary heart disease and a leading cause of heart failure. Despite growing demands to develop personalized approaches to treat ICM, progress is limited by inadequate knowledge of its pathogenesis. Since epigenetics has been implicated in the development of other chronic diseases, the current study was designed to determine whether transcriptional and/or epigenetic changes are sufficient to distinguish ICM from other etiologies of heart failure.

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Background: We have previously shown that lack of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) expression in donor tissue greatly increases intimal proliferation (IP) after allogeneic transplantation. We sought to determine the relative role of PAI-1 and other fibrinolytic proteins in the development of IP.

Methods: We used an abdominal aortic transplant model in mice to investigate IP in 3 groups of 6 recipients.

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Background: Cytokine gene polymorphisms regulate cytokine expression. We analyzed transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) allelic variation in codon 25 in susceptibility to acute rejection episodes in cardiac transplant recipients.

Methods: Between June 1997 and December 2001, 123 de novo heart transplants were performed at UAB with analysis based on 109 patients.

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Background: Changes in the fibrinolytic system that occur after cardiac transplantation (CTx) and the factors that influence such changes have been poorly described, yet may be important in determining the varying morphologic features of transplant-related coronary artery disease (TxCAD).

Methods: Baseline demographic as well as serial clinical information and plasma fibrinolytic levels were prospectively recorded pre-CTx and at multiple time-points post-CTx in 110 de novo cardiac transplant recipients.

Results: We noted a biphasic change in fibrinolytic activity over the first year of CTx with an early immediate decline in plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) activity (p > 0.

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Little is known concerning promoter structure in the filarial parasites. Recently, transient transfection methods have been developed for the human filarial parasite Brugia malayi. These methods have been employed to localize the promoter for the 70kDa heat shock protein (BmHSP70) to a region extending 394nt upstream from the initiating codon of the BmHSP70 open reading frame.

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Background: The development of allograft vascular disease (AVD) may be related to altered expression of the fibrinolytic system. We determined the extent to which plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) expression in donor tissue influences intimal proliferation (IP) in a mouse model of AVD.

Methods: We utilized an end-to-end abdominal aortic transplant model in mice to investigate the development of IP in 3 groups of 6 recipients.

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