Background: Myocardial interstitial fibrosis is an important manifestation of diabetic heart disease, and insulin resistance is one of the mechanisms of myocardial interstitial fibrosis. Some studies have found that miR-543 is associated with insulin resistance, but whether it plays a role in diabetic myocardial interstitial fibrosis remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the role of miR-543 in diabetic myocardial interstitial fibrosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) is a vital accelerator in the late phase of diabetic atherosclerosis, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. The aim of our study was to investigate whether activin receptor-like kinase 7 (ALK7)-Smad2/3 pathway plays an important role in VSMC apoptosis of diabetic atherosclerosis. It was shown that ALK7 expression was obviously elevated in the aorta of ApoE mice with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActivin receptor-like kinase 7 (ALK7) is associated with lipometabolism and insulin sensitivity. Our previous study demonstrated that ALK7 participated in high glucose-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis. The aim of our study was to investigate whether ALK7 plays an important role in modulating diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) and the mechanisms involved.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCirculating levels of microRNA-221 and 222 (miR-221/222) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) are elevated, yet the relationship between circulating miR-221/222 and the severity of coronary lesions in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remains unknown. In this study, the relative expression levels of circulating miR-221/222 in patients with ACS (n = 267) and controls (n = 71) were compared by real-time fluorescence quantitative-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The ACS group was further divided into unstable angina pectoris (UA) group (n = 191) and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) group (n = 76).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis work aims to develop an injectable nano-drug delivery system to overcome tumor multidrug resistance (MDR). A drug delivery nanoplatform based on PEGylated PLGA with glutathione (GSH) responsivity was constructed for dual delivery of doxorubicin and curcumin (termed DCNP), and its MDR reversal efficiency was studied and . The DCNPs exhibited a rapid drug release profile under high GSH concentration and could enhance the cellular uptake and cytotoxicity of doxorubicin to MDR cancer cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNitrate esters have been used in clinical practice for more than one century for the treatment of angina. Their clinical effectiveness is due to vasodilator activity in arteries through a method of delivering nitric oxide or a nitric oxide-like compound. Recently, an increasing numbers of functions of this molecule in biology and pathophysiology have been discovered.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Ivabradine is a heart rate-lowering drug that selectively inhibits the funny (I) current of the sinoatrial node. It is currently recommended in patients with heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) in sinus rhythm and a heart rate of ≥ 70 beats per minute (bpm) at rest. To investigate whether ivabradine has an effect on diastolic dysfunction, exercise tolerance and quality of life (QOL), we conducted a systemic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/aims: Adipocyte-derived exosomes (ADEs) stimulate the activation of macrophages and contribute to the development of insulin resistance. Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) is an exosome-carrying protein and stimulates macrophages to secrete inflammatory cytokines. However, the impact of ADEs carrying Shh on the pro-inflammatory activation of macrophages and consequently, adipocyte insulin resistance is unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/aims: Dysregulated inflammation in adipose tissue, marked by increased pro-inflammatory T-cell accumulation and reduced regulatory T cells (Treg), contributes to diabetes-associated insulin resistance and atherosclerosis. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying T-cell-mediated inflammation in adipose tissue remain largely unknown.
Methods: Sixty apolipoprotein E (ApoE-/-) mice were randomly divided into chow and diabetes groups.
J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle
February 2018
Background: Exercise rehabilitation is demonstrated to improve the prognosis of patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Statins, as the key medicine to lower cholesterol in CHD, result in skeletal muscle injury and impair exercise training adaptation. Energy metabolism dysfunction is identified as the potential mechanism underlying statin-induced skeletal muscle injury.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of this study was to investigate whether overexpression of STAMP2 improves insulin resistance by regulating angiogenesis in adipose tissues. The characteristics of diabetic mice were measured by serial metabolite and pathology tests. Samples were obtained from epididymal, subcutaneous and brown adipose tissues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The prognosis for patients with heart failure (HF), including cardiogenic shock (CS), complicating acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remains poor.
Objective: This study aimed to review the relevant literature and evaluate whether levosimendan was associated with better clinical outcomes in these patients.
Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane library databases for randomized controlled trials that investigated levosimendan compared with any control in patients with HF/CS complicating ACS.
Background: Atherosclerosis (AS) is the most common and serious complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and is accelerated via chronic systemic inflammation rather than hyperglycemia. Adipose tissue is the major source of systemic inflammation in abnormal metabolic state. Pro-inflammatory CD4T cells play pivotal role in promoting adipose inflammation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochem Biophys Res Commun
September 2016
Testosterone deficiency is associated with a higher incidence of cardiovascular diseases in men. However, its effect on cell senescence, which plays a causal role in vascular aging, remains unclear. Here, we tested the hypothesis that testosterone alleviated vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) senescence and collagen synthesis via growth arrest-specific protein 6 (Gas6)/Axl- and Akt/FoxO1a-dependent pathways.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Trimetazidine, as an anti-ischemic and antioxidant agent, has been demonstrated to have many cardioprotective effects. However, whether early administration of trimetazidine has an effect on diabetic cardiomyopathy and the mechanisms underlying the effect have not yet been elucidated.
Methods: We established a type 2 DCM rat model by high-fat diet and low-dose streptozotocin.
Background: Vascular remodeling is an important feature of diabetic macrovascular complications. The prostaglandin F2α receptor (FP), the expression of which is upregulated by insulin resistance and diabetes, is reportedly involved in myocardial remodeling. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether the FP receptor is implicated in diabetes-induced vascular remodeling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Statins have proven efficacy in inhibiting the onset and progress of atherosclerosis. The effectiveness of pitavastatin in reversing carotid atherosclerosis associated with hypercholesterolemia (HC) is unknown.
Objectives: To explore the simultaneous effects of pitavastatin calcium on brachial arterial flow-mediated vasodilatation (FMD), carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), and arterial stiffness (β), three surrogate markers of atherosclerosis were studied in HC patients.
Objective: This study aimed to assess the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms in thrombospondin-1 (THBS1), thrombospondin-2 (THBS2), thrombospondin-4 (THBS4) and coronary artery disease (CAD) risk.
Methods: Electronic databases were searched before June, 2014 to obtain articles associated with thrombospondin polymorphisms and CAD risk. After identifying case-control studies, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were used to pool effect sizes.
Background/aims: Growth arrest-specific protein 6 (Gas6) is a cytokine that can be synthesized by a variety of cell types and secreted into the extracellular matrix. Previous studies have confirmed that Gas6 is involved in certain pathophysiological processes of the cardiovascular system through binding to its receptor, Axl. In the present study, we investigated the role of Gas6 in cellular senescence and explored the mechanisms underlying its activity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicroRNA-21 (miR-21) has been found to promote cell proliferation and survival. It has also been shown to exhibit an increased expression in a number of forms of cardiovascular disease. However, the mechanisms underlying the involvement of miR-21 in atherosclerosis remain to be elucidated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiabetol Metab Syndr
January 2015
Background: Visceral adiposity contributes to cardiometabolic risk, and visceral adiposity index (VAI) had significant correlation with visceral adiposity. We aimed to explore whether VAI was associated with cardiac structure and function and assess the impact of the cut-off points of VAI defining visceral adipose dysfunction (VAD) on the severity of coronary heart disease (CHD).
Methods: A total of 95 patients with CHD were divided into Control (nondiabetic CHD patients) and DM group (diabetic CHD patients).
Aim: Arterial stiffness is an important feature of diabetic macrovascular complications. Activin receptor-like kinase 7 (ALK7), a member of type I transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) receptors, is correlated with pathogenic risks of type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases and may be involved in cardiovascular remodeling. We aimed to investigate whether ALK7 is implicated in diabetes-induced aortic stiffness.
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