Increasing global life expectancy motivates investigations of molecular mechanisms of aging and age-related diseases. This study examines age-associated changes in red blood cells (RBCs), the most numerous host cell in humans. Four cohorts, including healthy individuals and patients with sickle cell disease, were analyzed to define age-dependent changes in RBC metabolism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSickle cell disease (SCD) is associated with substantial morbidity and early mortality in afflicted adults. Cardiopulmonary complications that occur at increased frequency in SCD such as pulmonary embolism, pulmonary arterial hypertension, and acute chest syndrome can acutely worsen right ventricular function and lead to cardiogenic shock. Mechanical circulatory support including venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO) is being increasingly utilized to treat hemodynamic collapse in various patient populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a major complication linked to adverse outcomes in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), yet no specific therapies exist for PH associated with HFpEF (PH-HFpEF). We have recently reported on the role of skeletal muscle SIRT3 (sirtuin-3) in modulation of PH-HFpEF, suggesting a novel endocrine signaling pathway for skeletal muscle modulation of pulmonary vascular remodeling.
Methods: Using skeletal muscle-specific knockout mice () and mass spectrometry-based comparative secretome analysis, we attempted to define the processes by which skeletal muscle SIRT3 defects affect pulmonary vascular health in PH-HFpEF.
Pulmonary hypertension in sickle cell disease (SCD) is a complex phenomenon resulting from multiple overlapping etiologies, including pulmonary vasoconstriction in the setting of chronic hemolytic anemia, diastolic dysfunction, and chronic thromboembolic disease. The presence of pulmonary hypertension of any cause in SCD confers a significant increase in mortality risk. Evidence to guide the management of patients with sickle cell disease and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is scant and largely the realm of case reports and small case series.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe X-linked A variant (rs1050828, Val68Met) in accounts for glucose-6-phosphate (G6PD) deficiency in approximately 11% of African American males. This common, hypomorphic variant may impact pulmonary host defense and phagocyte function during pneumonia by altering levels of reactive oxygen species produced by host leukocytes. We used CRISPR-Cas9 technology to generate novel mouse strain with "humanized" G6PD A- variant containing non-synonymous Val68Met single nucleotide polymorphism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Donor genetic variation is associated with red blood cell (RBC) storage integrity and post-transfusion recovery. Our previous large-scale genome-wide association study demonstrated that the African G6PD deficient A- variant (rs1050828, Val68Met) is associated with higher oxidative hemolysis after cold storage. Despite a high prevalence of X-linked G6PD mutation in African American population (>10%), blood donors are not routinely screened for G6PD status and its importance in transfusion medicine is relatively understudied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To determine whether nitrite can enhance exercise training (ET) effects in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).
Methods: In this multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial conducted at 1 urban and 9 rural outreach centers between November 22, 2016, and December 9, 2021, patients with HFpEF underwent ET along with inorganic nitrite 40 mg or placebo 3 times daily. The primary end point was peak oxygen consumption (VO).
Cytoglobin is a heme protein with unresolved physiological function. Genetic deletion of zebrafish cytoglobin (cygb2) causes developmental defects in left-right cardiac determination, which in humans is associated with defects in ciliary function and low airway epithelial nitric oxide production. Here we show that Cygb2 co-localizes with cilia and with the nitric oxide synthase Nos2b in the zebrafish Kupffer's vesicle, and that cilia structure and function are disrupted in cygb2 mutants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Respir Crit Care Med
December 2023
Nitric oxide (NO) is an endogenously produced signaling molecule that regulates blood flow and platelet activation. However, intracellular and intravascular diffusion of NO are limited by scavenging reactions with several hemoproteins, raising questions as to how free NO can signal in hemoprotein-rich environments. We explore the hypothesis that NO can be stabilized as a labile ferrous heme-nitrosyl complex (Fe-NO, NO-ferroheme).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCarbon monoxide (CO) poisoning leads to 50,000-100,000 emergency room visits and 1,500-2,000 deaths each year in the United States alone. Even with treatment, survivors often suffer from long-term cardiac and neurocognitive deficits, highlighting a clear unmet medical need for novel therapeutic strategies that reduce morbidity and mortality associated with CO poisoning. This review examines the prevalence and impact of CO poisoning and pathophysiology in humans and highlights recent advances in therapeutic strategies that accelerate CO clearance and mitigate toxicity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetabolomics studies in sickle cell disease (SCD) have been so far limited to tens of samples, owing to technical and experimental limitations. To overcome these limitations, we performed plasma metabolomics analyses on 596 samples from patients with SCD enrolled in the WALK-PHaSST study (clinicaltrials gov. Identifier: NCT00492531).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetabolomics studies in sickle cell disease (SCD) have been so far limited to tens of samples, owing to technical and experimental limitations. To overcome these limitations, we performed plasma metabolomics analyses on 596 samples from patients with sickle cell sickle cell disease (SCD) enrolled in the WALK-PHaSST study. Clinical covariates informed the biological interpretation of metabolomics data, including genotypes (hemoglobin SS, hemoglobin SC), history of recent transfusion (HbA%), response to hydroxyurea treatment (HbF%).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite a wealth of exploratory plasma metabolomics studies in sickle cell disease (SCD), no study to date has evaluate a large and well phenotyped cohort to compare the primary erythrocyte metabolome of hemoglobin SS, SC and transfused AA red blood cells (RBCs) in vivo. The current study evaluates the RBC metabolome of 587 subjects with sickle cell sickle cell disease (SCD) from the WALK-PHaSST clinical cohort. The set includes hemoglobin SS, hemoglobin SC SCD patients, with variable levels of HbA related to RBC transfusion events.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Despite a wealth of exploratory plasma metabolomics studies in sickle cell disease (SCD), no study to date has evaluate a large and well phenotyped cohort to compare the primary erythrocyte metabolome of hemoglobin SS, SC and transfused AA red blood cells (RBCs) . The current study evaluates the RBC metabolome of 587 subjects with sickle cell sickle cell disease (SCD) from the WALK-PHaSST clinical cohort. The set includes hemoglobin SS, hemoglobin SC SCD patients, with variable levels of HbA related to RBC transfusion events, and HbF related to hydroxyurea therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResistance arteries and arterioles evolved as specialized blood vessels serving two important functions: () regulating peripheral vascular resistance and blood pressure and () matching oxygen and nutrient delivery to metabolic demands of organs. These functions require control of vessel lumen cross-sectional area (vascular tone) via coordinated vascular cell responses governed by precise spatial-temporal communication between intracellular signaling pathways. Herein, we provide a contemporary overview of the significant roles that redox switches play in calcium signaling for orchestrated endothelial, smooth muscle, and red blood cell control of arterial vascular tone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNitric oxide (NO) is an endogenously produced physiological signaling molecule that regulates blood flow and platelet activation. However, both the intracellular and intravascular diffusion of NO is severely limited by scavenging reactions with hemoglobin, myoglobin, and other hemoproteins, raising unanswered questions as to how free NO can signal in hemoprotein-rich environments, like blood and cardiomyocytes. We explored the hypothesis that NO could be stabilized as a ferrous heme-nitrosyl complex (Fe -NO, NO-ferroheme) either in solution within membranes or bound to albumin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Ex vivo labeling with chromium represents the standard method to determine red blood cell (RBC) survival after transfusion. Limitations and safety concerns spurred the development of alternative methods, including biotinylated red blood cells (BioRBC).
Study Design And Methods: Autologous units of whole blood were divided equally into two bags and stored under standard blood bank conditions at 2 to 6°C (N = 4 healthy adult volunteers).