Risk factor reduction in progression of angiographic coronary artery disease.

Introduction: To investigate differences between outpatients with progressive and nonprogressive coronary artery disease (CAD) measured by coronary angiography.

Material And Methods: Chart reviews were performed in patients in an outpatient cardiology practice having ≥ 2 coronary angiographies ≥ 1 year apart. Progressive CAD was defined as 1) new non-obstructive or obstructive CAD in a previously disease-free vessel; or 2) new obstruction in a previously non-obstructive vessel.

Effect of cardiovascular drugs on cardiovascular events in 1599 patients followed in an academic outpatient cardiology practice.

This study investigated the effects of medical therapy on incidences of myocardial infarction (MI), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) in an academic outpatient cardiology practice. Chart reviews were performed in 1599 treated patients (1138 men and 461 women), mean age 72 years. Medications investigated included the use of statins, beta blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), and aspirin.

Reduction in atherosclerotic events: a retrospective study in an outpatient cardiology practice.

Introduction: Although atherosclerotic disease cannot be cured, risk of recurrent events can be reduced by application of evidence-based treatment protocols involving aspirin, beta blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers, and statin medications. We studied atherosclerotic event rates in a patient population treated before and after the development of aggressive risk factor reduction treatment protocols.

Material And Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of patients presenting for follow-up treatment of coronary artery disease in a community cardiology practice, comparing atherosclerotic event rates and medication usage in a 2-year treatment period prior to 2002 and a 2-year period in 2005-2008.

The impact of statin therapy on long-term cardiovascular outcomes in an outpatient cardiology practice.

Introduction: Statins reduce coronary events in patients with coronary artery disease.

Material And Methods: Chart reviews were performed in 305 patients (217 men and 88 women, mean age 74 years) not treated with statins during the first year of being seen in an outpatient cardiology practice but subsequently treated with statins. Based on the starting date of statins use, the long-term outcomes of myocardial infarction (MI), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABGs) before and after statin use were compared.

The impact of statin therapy on long-term cardiovascular outcomes in an outpatient cardiology practice.

Background: Statins reduce coronary events in patients with coronary artery disease.

Material/methods: Chart reviews were performed in 305 patients (217 men and 88 women, mean age 74 years) not treated with statins during the first year of being seen in an outpatient cardiology practice but subsequently treated with statins. Based on the starting date of statins use, the long-term outcomes of myocardial infarction (MI), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABGS) before and after statin use were compared.

Short-term outcomes of trapeziometacarpal artelon implant compared with tendon suspension interposition arthroplasty for osteoarthritis: a matched cohort study.

Purpose: To compare the short-term efficacy of the Artelon trapeziometacarpal (TMC) implant with that of total trapeziectomy and abductor pollicis longus (APL) tendon suspension interposition arthroplasty in TMC osteoarthritis.

Methods: A single-center matched cohort study was designed. The Artelon cohort comprised 13 consecutive patients (10 women, 3 men; mean age, 54 years) operated on with Artelon implant arthroplasty.

Incidence of thromboembolic stroke and of major bleeding in patients with atrial fibrillation and chronic kidney disease treated with and without warfarin.

The objective was to investigate the incidence of thromboembolic stroke in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and atrial fibrillation (AF) treated with and without warfarin. We investigated the incidence of thromboembolic stroke and of major bleeding in 399 unselected patients with CKD and AF treated with warfarin to maintain an international normalized ratio (INR) between 2.0 and 3.

Serotonin release from mesencephalic raphe neurons grafted to the 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine-lesioned rat hippocampus: effects of behavioral activation and stress.

Transplants of fetal midbrain raphe neurons into the adult brain have been shown to promote recovery of complex behavioral deficits in several experimental models, but the mechanisms underlying these effects are only partially understood. In the present study, we have used a well-characterized model system to ascertain whether midbrain raphe graft can display behaviorally relevant changes in transmitter release and/or metabolism. Fetal mesencephalic raphe neurons were grafted unilaterally into the hippocampus previously deprived of its innate serotonergic innervation by intraventricular injections of 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine.

Transmitter release from transplants of fetal ventral mesencephalon or locus coeruleus in the rat frontal cortex and nucleus accumbens: effects of pharmacological and behaviorally activating stimuli.

The present study was performed in order to establish whether dopamine (DA) release from behaviorally functional intracerebral DA transplants is dependent on changes in neuronal impulse flow, and is under control of the host brain. Rats were subjected to combined intraventricular and ventral tegmental injections of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) in order to obtain a severe bilateral lesion of the ascending mesocorticolimbic DA projections. Cell suspension grafts of fetal ventral mesencephalic neurons were thereafter implanted into the medial frontal cortex (MFC) and the nucleus accumbens (NAc).

Seizure suppression in kindling epilepsy by intracerebral implants of GABA- but not by noradrenaline-releasing polymer matrices.

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-releasing polymer matrices were implanted bilaterally, immediately dorsal to the substantia nigra, in rats previously kindled in the amygdala. Two days after implantation, rats with GABA-releasing matrices exhibited only focal limbic seizures in response to electrical stimulation, whereas animals with control matrices devoid of GABA had generalized convulsions. GABA release from the polymer matrices was high during the first days after implantation, as demonstrated both in vitro and, using microdialysis, in vivo.

Characterization of in vivo noradrenaline release from superior cervical ganglia or fetal locus coeruleus transplanted to the subcortically deafferented hippocampus in the rat.

Solid grafts of autologous superior cervical ganglia (SCG) or fetal locus coeruleus (LC) were implanted unilaterally into a fimbria-fornix lesion cavity adjacent to the hippocampal formation after a 6-hydroxydopamine lesion of the intrinsic noradrenergic system. Twelve to 15 months after transplantation, one microdialysis probe was implanted in the dorsal hippocampus ipsilateral to the graft, and extracellular levels of noradrenaline (NA) were monitored during the application of pharmacological or behavioral stimuli. Age-matched intact and lesion-only animals served as controls.

Extracellular gamma-aminobutyric acid levels in the rat caudate-putamen: monitoring the neuronal and glial contribution by intracerebral microdialysis.

Intracerebral microdialysis with high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to electrochemical detection was employed to characterize gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) release and the effects induced by a preceding neuron-depleting ibotenic acid (IBO) lesion in the rat caudate-putamen (CPu). Extracellular GABA overflow was monitored in the intact and excitotoxically lesioned CPu, either 7-10 days (acute) or more than 3 months post-lesioning (chronic), using loop type dialysis probes perfused at a rate of 2 microliters/min. In the intact CPuu, basal GABA levels were 0.

Characterization of GABA release from intrastriatal striatal transplants: dependence on host-derived afferents.

Extracellular levels of GABA, derived from cell suspension transplants of embryonic day 14-15 rat striatal primordia implanted into the previously excitotoxically lesioned striatum, were measured using intracerebral microdialysis in halothane-anaesthetized rats. GABA overflow was monitored using loop type dialysis probes implanted into grafted, age-matched ibotenic acid-lesioned and intact striata, under baseline conditions and after different pharmacological manipulations. Basal and evoked GABA release, which was reduced by 58 and 96%, respectively, in the excitotoxin-lesioned striatum, was restored by the striatal grafts to levels close to or above those observed in normal striata.

Regional differences in the regulation of dopamine and noradrenaline release in medial frontal cortex, nucleus accumbens and caudate-putamen: a microdialysis study in the rat.

Dopamine (DA) and noradrenaline (NA) extracellular levels have been measured by microdialysis in the medial frontal cortex (MFC), nucleus accumbens (NAc) and caudate-putamen (CP) under baseline conditions in awake and halothane-anaesthetized rats, and after application of three types of stimuli which are likely to activate the brainstem catecholaminergic systems: mild stressors (handling and tail pinch), rewarded behavior (eating palatable food without prior food deprivation) and electrical stimulation of the lateral habenular nucleus. Changes were studied with and without uptake blockade (10 microM nomifensine in the perfusion fluid). The influence of calcium concentration (1.

Dopaminergic transplants normalize amphetamine- and apomorphine-induced Fos expression in the 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned striatum.

Dopamine receptor-mediated Fos protein expression in the striatum has been used to monitor dopamine receptor activation at the cellular level after dopaminergic denervation and reinnervation by fetal nigral transplants. The pattern of striatal Fos expression after systemic administration of either the dopamine receptor agonist, apomorphine, or the dopamine-releasing agent, amphetamine, was studied in rats which had received cell suspension grafts of fetal ventral mesencephalic neurons into the striatum after a complete 6-hydroxydopamine lesion of mesostriatal dopaminergic projection. Grafted animals, and normal and lesioned controls were killed 2 h after administration of either D-amphetamine (5 mg/kg, i.

Host Brain Regulation of Fetal Locus Coeruleus Neurons Grafted to the Hippocampus in 6-Hydroxydopamine-Treated Rats. An Intracerebral Microdialysis Study.

Release properties of intrahippocampal transplants of noradrenergic neurons were monitored by microdialysis in awake and halothane-anaesthetized rats. Fetal locus coeruleus neurons were implanted as a cell suspension into hippocampi deprived of their innate noradrenalin (NA) innervation by intraventricular 6-hydroxydopamine treatment. Dialysis probes of the loop type were implanted into the dorsal hippocampus 1 - 2 days before each experiment, i.

Host regulation of noradrenaline release from grafts of seizure-suppressant locus coeruleus neurons.

Intrahippocampal implants of noradrenaline-rich neural tissue from the fetal locus coeruleus region suppress development of seizures induced by hippocampal kindling stimulation in hyperexcitable, noradrenaline-depleted rats. In the present study the intracerebral microdialysis technique has been used to monitor seizure-induced release of noradrenaline from such grafts. The steady-state output of noradrenaline in the hippocampus of grafted animals (previously treated with intraventricular 6-hydroxydopamine) was similar to the baseline level in normal rats.

Behavioural effects of genetically engineered cells releasing dopa and dopamine after intracerebral grafting in a rat model of Parkinson's disease.

The relative importance of synaptic versus paracrine dopamine transmission for the occurrence of functional effects following intrastriatal grafting is not fully established. In the present study we grafted cell lines, expressing the form I of human tyrosine hydroxylase after infection with a recombinant retrovirus and selection in tyrosine-free-medium, to the denervated striatum in order to analyse the extent to which extracellular dopamine levels can be restored and the effect of a diffuse release of dopamine on motor impairement in a rat model of Parkinson's disease. In petri dish, the modified fibroblast cells (NIH.

Evidence for long-term reduction of noradrenaline release after kindling in the rat hippocampus.

The in vivo microdialysis technique was used to monitor steady-state noradrenaline release in the rat hippocampus after hippocampal kindling. At 8 weeks after the last seizure, the noradrenaline release was reduced by 62% in the stimulated hippocampus in kindled animals as compared to non-kindled rats. The reduction was not due to the repeated handling of the animals as assessed in a separate experiment.

In vivo release of dopa and dopamine from genetically engineered cells grafted to the denervated rat striatum.

Fibroblastic 3T3 and endocrine RIN cells were genetically modified by infection with a recombinant retrovirus encoding the form I of human tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and selection in tyrosine-free medium. These cells were grafted to rats unilaterally lesioned with 6-hydroxy-dopamine. Both cell types survived implantation into the striatum, expressed TH immunoreactivity, and as assessed by microdialysis 8-9 days after implantation, secreted high amounts of DOPA and/or dopamine into the surrounding host striatum.

Intracerebral microdialysis as a tool to monitor transmitter release from grafted cholinergic and monoaminergic neurons.

In the present study the microdialysis technique has been used as a tool for the study of functional regulation of intracerebrally grafted cholinergic and monoaminergic neurons as well as for the analysis of graft-host interactions. Fetal noradrenergic, serotonergic, dopaminergic, and cholinergic neurons were transplanted into the hippocampus or striatum previously denervated of their intrinsic monoaminergic or cholinergic afferents. After a few months survival, when the grafts had reinnervated the surrounding target, dialysis probes were implanted into the graft-reinnervated region.

Acetylcholine release from intrahippocampal septal grafts is under control of the host brain.

The activity of intrahippocampal transplants of cholinergic neurons was monitored by microdialysis in awake, freely moving rats. Fetal septal-diagonal band tissue was implanted into rats with a complete transection of the fimbria-fornix cholinergic pathway either as a cell suspension injected into the hippocampus or as a solid graft implanted in the lesion cavity. The grafts restored baseline acetylcholine release in the graft-reinnervated hippocampus to normal or supranormal levels.

Afferents to the median raphe nucleus of the rat: retrograde cholera toxin and wheat germ conjugated horseradish peroxidase tracing, and selective D-[3H]aspartate labelling of possible excitatory amino acid inputs.

Afferents to the median-paramedian raphe nuclear complex, which contains the B8 serotonergic cell group, were investigated in the rat with neuroanatomical and transmitter-selective retrograde labelling techniques. Injection of sensitive retrograde tracers, cholera toxin genoid or wheat germ agglutinin conjugated horseradish peroxidase into the median raphe resulted in labelling of neurons in a large number of brain regions. Projections from 26 of these regions are supported by available orthograde tracing data; the cingulate cortex, bed nucleus of stria terminalis, medial septum and diagonal band of Broca, ventral pallidum, medial and lateral preoptic areas, lateral hypothalamus, dorsomedial nucleus of hypothalamus, lateral habenula, interpeduncular nucleus, substantia nigra, central (periaqueductal) gray, and laterodorsal tegmental nucleus seem to represent major sources of afferents to the median-paramedian raphe complex.