A Propensity Score Matched Analysis of Statin Effects on Major Adverse Cardiac Events after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Patients Over 75 Years Old.

Objective In an extremely aging society, it is beneficial to reconsider the value of medical treatment for extremely elderly patients. We therefore focused on the efficacy of statin therapy in extremely elderly patients. This study investigated the efficacy of statins for secondary prevention in patients over 75 years old.

Stratification Analysis of Statin Effect on Major Adverse Cardiac Events After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Patients on Hemodialysis.

The statin use in patients on hemodialysis remains controversial, and no beneficial effects of statin on the reduction of adverse cardiovascular events have been reported in these patients. This study used stratification analysis to examine the clinical factors in patients on hemodialysis who could benefit from statin for secondary prevention. This prospective multicenter study included 234 consecutive patients on hemodialysis with coronary artery disease who underwent successful reperfusion therapy with percutaneous coronary intervention.

Glutaredoxin-1 levels in plasma can predict future events in patients with cardiovascular diseases.

Reactive oxygen species that increase during cardiovascular disease (CVD) react with protein cysteine residues to form a glutathione adduct by S-glutathionylation, which is selectively removed by glutaredoxin-1 (Glrx). We previously showed that S-glutathionylation and Glrx play important roles in mouse models of CVD, such as heart failure and peripheral artery disease models. However, there are few clinical studies on Glrx in CVD.

Dramatic response to alectinib in an -positive LCNEC patient with a poor performance status: A case report.

The echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4 ()-anaplastic lymphoma kinase () fusion gene, a driver mutation in lung carcinoma, is fairly common in lung adenocarcinoma but rare in large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC). Here we report a case of stage IV LCNEC positive for this fusion gene in a patient with a poor performance status (PS) who was effectively treated with alectinib. The patient was a 72-year-old non-smoking man diagnosed as LCNEC with multiple metastases.

Evaluation of renal tubulointerstitial damage as a residual renal risk factor for adverse cardiac events in patients with myocardial infarction.

Background: Renal dysfunction, defined as a lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), has been shown to be related to cardiovascular events in patients with myocardial infarction (MI). However, the contribution of renal tubulointerstitial damage to the predictive value for cardiovascular events has not been established. The aim of this study was to elucidate whether renal tubulointerstitial damage is associated with the occurrence of cardiac death and recurrence of MI in patients who have had MI.

Group V Secretory Phospholipase A Regulates Endocytosis of Acetylated LDL by Transcriptional Activation of PGK1 in RAW264.7 Macrophage Cell Line.

Aims: It was suggested that group V secretory phospholipase A (sPLA-V) existed in the nucleus. This study examined whether nuclear sPLA-V plays a role in endocytosis of acetylated low-density lipoprotein (AcLDL) in monocyte/macrophage-like cell line RAW264.7 cells.

Echolucency of carotid plaque is useful for selecting high-risk patients with chronic coronary artery disease who benefit from intensive lipid-lowering therapy.

Background: Ultrasound assessment of the carotid artery provides prognostic information on coronary events. This study examined whether ultrasound assessments of plaque echolucency of the carotid artery are useful for identifying patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) who are at high risk but could benefit from lipid-lowering therapy for secondary prevention.

Methods: Ultrasound assessment of carotid plaque echolucency with integrated backscatter (IBS) analysis was performed in 393 chronic CAD patients with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels <100 mg/dL on statin therapy.

Structural Thickening of Medial Layer in Coronary Artery With Spasm in Patients With Myocardial Infarction.

Background The underlying pathophysiology of coronary artery spasm (CAS) remains unclear. We aim to determine whether coronary artery medial layer thickness is associated with CAS using optical coherence tomography. Methods and Results A total of 50 patients with previous myocardial infarction underwent optical coherence tomography of the left anterior descending artery: 20 with CAS and 30 without CAS.

Improvement in Brachial Endothelial Vasomotor Function and Brachial-Ankle Pulse Wave Velocity Reduces the Residual Risk for Cardiovascular Events after Optimal Medical Treatment in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease.

Aim: To examine whether improvement in flow-mediated endothelium-dependent dilatation (FMD) of the brachial artery and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) has an additive effect on achieving optimal goals of traditional risk factors to reduce cardiovascular risk in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: We assessed 323 patients with CAD and impaired vascular function, defined as an impaired FMD of the brachial artery (＜5.5%) and increased baPWV (＞1,440 cm/sec).

Impact of persistent endothelial dysfunction in an infarct-related coronary artery on future major adverse cardiovascular event occurrence in STEMI survivors.

Although coronary endothelial vasomotor dysfunction predicts future coronary events, few human studies have shown the relationship between persistent endothelial vasomotor dysfunction and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) using serial assessments in the same coronary artery. This study examined whether persistent endothelial vasomotor dysfunction is related to MACE occurrence in the infarct-related coronary artery (IRA) of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) survivors using serial assessments of the coronary vasomotor response to acetylcholine (ACh). This study included 169 consecutive patients with a first acute STEMI due to left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) occlusion and successful reperfusion therapy with percutaneous coronary intervention.

Group V secreted phospholipase A plays a protective role against aortic dissection.

Aortic dissection is a life-threatening aortopathy involving separation of the aortic wall, whose underlying mechanisms are still incompletely understood. Epidemiological evidence suggests that unsaturated fatty acids improve cardiovascular health. Here, using quantitative RT-PCR, histological analyses, magnetic cell sorting and flow cytometry assays, and MS-based lipidomics, we show that the activity of a lipid-metabolizing enzyme, secreted phospholipase A group V (sPLA-V), protects against aortic dissection by endogenously mobilizing vasoprotective lipids.

Protein S-glutathionylation stimulate adipogenesis by stabilizing C/EBPβ in 3T3L1 cells.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) increase during adipogenesis and in obesity. Oxidants react with cysteine residues of proteins to form glutathione (GSH) adducts, S-glutathionylation, that are selectively removed by glutaredoxin-1 (Glrx). We have previously reported that Glrx knockout mice had increased protein S-glutathionylation and developed obesity by an unknown mechanism.

Deficiency of Phospholipase A Receptor Exacerbates Autoimmune Myocarditis in Mice.

Secretory phospholipase A (sPLA) plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of various inflammatory diseases through production of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids. PLA receptor 1 (PLAR) acts as a clearance receptor for sPLAs. This study examined whether PLAR plays a role in the pathogenesis of experimental autoimmune myocarditis using PLAR-deficient (PLAR KO) mice on a BALB/c background.

Relationship of a thinned medial layer to the attenuated contractile response in atherosclerotic coronary arteries.

Coronary arteries with advanced atherosclerosis do not necessarily have greater contractile responses than those with early atherosclerosis. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between thickness of the medial layer and the contractile response to acetylcholine (ACh) in coronary artery using optical coherence tomography (OCT). The OCT and the vasomotor response to ACh in the left anterior descending coronary artery were assessed in 32 patients with previous myocardial infarction.

Improvement of endothelial dysfunction is mediated through reduction of remnant lipoprotein after statin therapy in patients with coronary artery disease.

Background: Remnant lipoproteinemia with high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a high risk for endothelial dysfunction. Statins are the first-line lipid-lowering drugs for this combined hyperlipidemia. However, it remains undetermined whether reduction of remnant lipoprotein mediates the relationship between improvement in endothelial dysfunction and reduction of LDL-C level after statin treatment.

Failure of drug-coated balloon angioplasty to treat bare metal in-stent restenosis accompanied by late stent thrombosis but successful treatment of binary in-stent restenosis.

Drug-coated balloons (DCB) are effective in treating in-stent restenosis (ISR) with neointimal proliferation after bare-metal stent (BMS) implantation, but it is unclear whether DCB are effective in treating BMS-ISR accompanied by thrombosis. An 84-year-old man with previous inferior myocardial infarction and atrial fibrillation developed acute myocardial infarction (AMI) during hospitalization for intracerebral hemorrhage. Emergent coronary angiography (CAG) revealed severe stenosis of the distal left circumflex coronary artery.

Sustained endothelial dysfunction in the infarct-related coronary artery is associated with left ventricular adverse remodeling in survivors of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

Background: Ischemia-reperfusion causes endothelial injury and dysfunction in the infarct-related coronary artery (IRA). Using serial assessment of coronary endothelial vasomotor function and left ventriculography (LVG), this study prospectively investigated the clinical impact of endothelial vasomotor dysfunction in the patent IRA on left ventricular (LV) remodeling in survivors of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Methods: This study included 78 patients with STEMI due to occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) and successful reperfusion therapy with percutaneous coronary intervention.

Persistent Dysfunction of Coronary Endothelial Vasomotor Responses is Related to Atheroma Plaque Progression in the Infarct-Related Coronary Artery of AMI Survivors.

Aim: Although coronary endothelial vasomotor dysfunction predicts future coronary events, there are few human studies showing the relationship between endothelial vasomotor dysfunction and atheroma plaque progression in the same coronary artery. This study examined whether endothelial vasomotor dysfunction is related to atheroma plaque progression in the infarct-related coronary artery of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) survivors using serial assessment of coronary plaque size with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and coronary vasomotor responses to acetylcholine (ACh).

Methods: This study included 50 patients with a first acute STEMI due to occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) and successful reperfusion therapy with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Remnant Lipoproteins Are Residual Risk Factor for Future Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Stable Coronary Artery Disease and On-Statin Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels <70 mg/dL.

Background: This study examined the predictive value of remnant lipoprotein levels for cardiovascular events (CVEs) in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels <70 mg/dL on statin treatment.

Methods and results: Serum levels of remnant lipoproteins (remnant-like lipoprotein particles cholesterol: RLP-C) were measured by an immunoseparation method in 247 consecutive patients with CAD who had on-statin LDL-C levels <70 mg/dL. All the patients were followed prospectively for a period of ≤60 months or until the occurrence of the primary composite endpoint of cardiac death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, unstable angina requiring coronary revascularization, worsening heart failure, peripheral artery disease, aortic event, and ischemic stroke.

High levels of stromal cell-derived factor-1α predict short-term progression of renal dysfunction in patients with coronary artery disease.

Background: Stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α) is an inflammatory chemokine that plays a critical role in cardiovascular disease. Although persistent inflammation causes renal dysfunction, it remains unclear whether SDF-1α is related to progression of chronic kidney disease. This study examined whether high levels of SDF-1α are associated with future declines in renal function in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).

Pulmonary Vascular Resistance Is Associated With Brachial-Ankle Pulse-Wave Velocity and Adverse Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction.

Background: The precise mechanisms underlying the high prevalence of pulmonary hypertension (PH) with increased pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) remain largely unknown. Measurements of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) have been shown to be useful for risk assessment in HF patients. Thus, this study sought to define the association of PVR with baPWV and clinical outcomes in HFpEF.

A case of drug induced lung injury caused by levofloxacin eye drops.

A 78 year-old man, who received levofloxacin eye drops as a perioperative prophylactic antibacterial agent for cataract surgery, developed pyrexia and dyspnea, followed by respiratory failure. He was diagnosed as drug-induced lung injury due to levofloxacin, and the symptoms improved after the administration of corticosteroids and discontinuation of levofloxacin eye drops. The incidence of levofloxacin-induced lung injury is rare for its frequent prescription.

Human soluble phospholipase A receptor is an inhibitor of the integrin-mediated cell migratory response to collagen-I.

Murine membrane-bound phospholipase A receptor 1 (PLAR) is shed and released into plasma in a soluble form that retains all of the extracellular domains. Relatively little is known about human PLAR. This study examined whether human soluble PLAR has biological functions and whether soluble PLAR exists in human plasma.