Correlation between Viral Wastewater Concentration and Respiratory Tests, Oregon, USA.

We evaluated the association between wastewater concentration and weekly percent positivity of patient testing for SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus in Oregon, USA. We found strong, positive correlations for SARS-CoV-2 (ρ = 0.84, p<0.

Increasing donor age adversely impacts beneficial effects of bone marrow but not smooth muscle myocardial cell therapy.

We evaluated the impact of donor age on the efficacy of myocardial cellular therapy for ischemic cardiomyopathy. Characteristics of smooth muscle cells (SMC), bone marrow stromal cells (MSCs), and skeletal muscle cells (SKMCs) from young, adult, and old rats were compared in vitro. Three weeks after coronary ligation, 3.

Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor upregulation in response to cell-based angiogenic gene therapy.

Background: We have previously reported that transplantation of vascular endothelial growth factor transfected cells into myocardial scar enhances angiogenesis. We evaluated the effect of transplanted cell type, time, and region of the heart on expression of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptors fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (flt-1) and fetal liver kinase-1 (flk-1).

Methods: Lewis rats underwent myocardial cryoinjury 3 weeks before transplantation with heart cells (a mixed culture of cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells, and fibroblasts), vascular endothelial growth factor transfected heart cells, skeletal myoblasts, vascular endothelial growth factor transfected skeletal myoblasts, or medium (controls) (N = 13 each).

Quantitative analysis of survival of transplanted smooth muscle cells with real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Background: Cell transplantation improves heart function after myocardial infarction. This study investigated the survival of implanted cells in normal and infarcted myocardium.

Methods: Male rat aortic smooth muscle cells were cultured.

Overexpression of elastin fragments in infarcted myocardium attenuates scar expansion and heart dysfunction.

Ventricular dilation after myocardial infarction can cause heart failure. Increasing strength and elasticity in the infarct region might prevent ventricular dilation. Because elastin provides strength, extensibility, and resilience to tissues and maintains tissue architecture, we studied the effect of elastin expression in the infarct on scar expansion and heart function.

Enhanced IGF-1 expression improves smooth muscle cell engraftment after cell transplantation.

The functional benefit of cell transplantation after a myocardial infarction is diminished by early cell losses. IGF-1 enhances cell proliferation and survival. We hypothesized that IGF-1-transfected smooth muscle cells (SMCs) would enhance cell survival and improve engraftment after cell transplantation.

TIMP-3 deficiency leads to dilated cardiomyopathy.

Background: Despite the mounting clinical burden of heart failure, the biomolecules that control myocardial tissue remodeling are poorly understood. TIMP-3 is an endogenous inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) that has been found to be deficient in failing human myocardium. We hypothesized that TIMP-3 expression prevents maladaptive tissue remodeling in the heart, and accordingly, its deficiency in mice would alone be sufficient to trigger progressive cardiac remodeling and dysfunction similar to human heart failure.

Tissue-engineered grafts matured in the right ventricular outflow tract.

Autologous smooth muscle cell (SMC)-seeded biodegradable scaffolds could be a suitable material to repair some pediatric right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) cardiac anomalies. Adult syngenic Lewis rat SMCs (2 x 10(6)) were seeded onto a new biodegradable copolymer sponge made of epsilon-caprolactone-co-L-lactide reinforced with poly-L-lactide fabric (PCLA). Two weeks after seeding, the patch was used to repair a surgically created RVOT defect in an adult rat.

C-reactive protein attenuates endothelial progenitor cell survival, differentiation, and function: further evidence of a mechanistic link between C-reactive protein and cardiovascular disease.

Background: Myocardial ischemia provides a potent stimulus to angiogenesis, and the mobilization and differentiation of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) has been shown to be important in this process. An elevated level of C-reactive protein (CRP) has emerged as one of the most powerful predictors of cardiovascular disease. However, the impact of CRP on EPC biology is unknown.

Vascular endothelial growth factor transgene expression in cell-transplanted hearts.

Objective: We evaluated the effect of transplanted cell type, time, and region of the heart on transgene expression to determine the potential of combined gene and cell delivery for myocardial repair.

Methods: Lewis rats underwent myocardial cryoinjury 3 weeks before transplantation with heart cells (a mixed culture of cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells and fibroblasts, n = 13), vascular endothelial growth factor-transfected heart cells (n = 13), skeletal myoblasts (n = 13), vascular endothelial growth factor-transfected skeletal myoblasts (n = 13), or medium (control, n = 12). Vascular endothelial growth factor expression in the scar, border zone, and normal myocardium was evaluated at 3 days and at 1, 2, and 4 weeks by means of quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

Tissue-Engineered Grafts Matured in the Right Ventricular Outflow Tract.

Autologous smooth muscle cell (SMC)-seeded biodegradable scaffolds could be a suitable material to repair some pediatric right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) cardiac anomalies. Adult syngenic Lewis rat SMCs (2 × 106) were seeded onto a new biodegradable copolymer sponge made of ∊-caprolactone-co-L-lactide reinforced with poly-L-lactide fabric (PCLA). Two weeks after seeding, the patch was used to repair a surgically created RVOT defect in an adult rat.

C-reactive protein upregulates complement-inhibitory factors in endothelial cells.

Background: Because complement-mediated vascular injury participates in atherosclerosis and C-reactive protein (CRP) can activate the complement cascade, we sought to determine whether CRP affects the expression of the protective complement-inhibitory factors on the cell surface of endothelial cells (ECs).

Methods And Results: Human coronary artery or human saphenous vein ECs were incubated with CRP (0 to 100 microg/mL, 0 to 72 hours), and the expression of the complement-inhibitory proteins decay-accelerating factor (DAF), membrane cofactor protein (CD46), and CD59 were measured by flow cytometry. Incubation with CRP resulted in a significant increase in the expression of all 3 proteins.

C-reactive protein activates the nuclear factor-kappaB signal transduction pathway in saphenous vein endothelial cells: implications for atherosclerosis and restenosis.

Objectives: Elevated levels of C-reactive protein are one of the strongest prognostic factors in atherosclerosis. In addition to predicting vascular disease, C-reactive protein may directly facilitate the development of a proinflammatory and proatherosclerotic phenotype. Recent studies have demonstrated marked up-regulation of various adhesion molecules and inflammatory responses in endothelial cells subjected to C-reactive protein.

Cell transplantation to prevent heart failure: a comparison of cell types.

Background: Autologous cell transplantation may restore viable muscle after a myocardial infarction. We compared the effect of three cell types or an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor on preservation of ventricular function after cardiac injury.

Methods: A uniform transmural myocardial scar was created in adult rats by cryoinjury.

Transplantation of cryopreserved muscle cells in dilated cardiomyopathy: effects on left ventricular geometry and function.

Objective: Cell transplantation to prevent congestive heart failure in patients with inherited dilated cardiomyopathy might require the use of noncardiac donor cells unaffected by the genetic defect and cryopreservation to permit cell storage until the time of transplantation. However, the effects of cryopreservation on peripheral muscle cells harvested from a cardiomyopathic recipient and their subsequent ability to restore cardiac structure and function after transplantation are unknown.

Methods: Skeletal myoblasts and vascular smooth muscle cells from cardiomyopathic hamsters (delta-sarcoglycan-deficient BIO 53.

Restoration and regeneration of failing myocardium with cell transplantation and tissue engineering.

Cell transplantation and the creation of bioengineered cardiovascular tissues are novel biologic approaches to restore and regenerate failing myocardium. These rapidly evolving therapies may complement and enhance other mechanical and surgical interventions for patients with congestive heart failure, providing cardiac surgeons with a wider range of treatments for patients at risk of congestive heart failure. Proof-of-concept studies have been performed in several experimental animal models of human cardiovascular disease, such as myocardial infarction and dilated cardiomyopathy.

Improved left ventricular aneurysm repair with bioengineered vascular smooth muscle grafts.

Background: Recurrent ventricular dilatation can occur after surgical repair of a left ventricular (LV) aneurysm. Use of an autologous bioengineered muscle graft to replace resected scar tissue may prevent recurrent dilatation and improve cardiac function.

Methods: Vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs, 5 x 10(6) cells) from rat aortas were seeded onto synthetic PCLA (sponge polymer of epsilon-caprolactone-co-L-lactide reinforced with knitted poly-L-lactide fabric) patches and cultured for 2 weeks to allow tissue formation.

Resistin promotes endothelial cell activation: further evidence of adipokine-endothelial interaction.

Background: Adipocyte-derived hormones may represent a mechanism linking insulin resistance to cardiovascular disease. In the present study, we evaluated the direct effects of resistin, a novel adipocyte-derived hormone, on endothelial activation.

Methods And Results: Endothelial cells (ECs) were incubated with human recombinant resistin (10 to 100 ng/ML, 24 hours), and endothelin-1 (ET-1) release, ET-1 mRNA expression, and nitric oxide (NO) production were assessed.

Caveolin: a key target for modulating nitric oxide availability in health and disease.

The endothelial layer is a key component of the cardiovascular system. Recent evidence indicates that strategies aimed at preserving the endothelium may have important implications in the battle against cardiovascular disease. Nitric oxide remains the critical factor determinant of endothelial function.

Cell transplantation to improve ventricular function in the failing heart.

Current therapies for congestive heart failure are limited in efficacy or in applicability. Cardiac cell transplantation offers a novel therapeutic approach to improve heart function. Although significant progress has been made over the past decade in the development of cell transplantation, only recently have investigators studied the changes in ventricular function following cell transplantation.

Hyperglycemia potentiates the proatherogenic effects of C-reactive protein: reversal with rosiglitazone.

Accumulating evidence suggests that C-reactive protein (CRP), at concentrations known to predict diverse vascular insults, directly promotes endothelial cell activation, uncovering a proatherosclerotic and proinflammatory phenotype. In the present study, we hypothesized that (a). hyperglycemia would serve to exaggerate the proatherogenic effects of CRP and (b).

C-reactive protein upregulates angiotensin type 1 receptors in vascular smooth muscle.

Background: Accumulating evidence suggests that C-reactive protein (CRP), in addition to predicting vascular disease, may actively facilitate lesion formation by inciting endothelial cell activation. Given the central importance of angiotensin type 1 receptor (AT1-R) in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, we examined the effects of CRP on AT1-R expression and kinetics in vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cells. In addition, the effects of CRP on VSM migration, proliferation, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production were evaluated in the presence and absence of the angiotensin receptor blocker, losartan.

Optimal conditions for heart cell cryopreservation for transplantation.

Cultured myocyte transplantation into an infarcted myocardium has been shown to improve contractile function. Cryopreservation of cultured muscle cells or heart tissue will be important for the technology to be practical. This study, using fetal cardiomyocytes, evaluated the optimal conditions for muscle cell cryopreservation.

Beneficial effect of autologous cell transplantation on infarcted heart function: comparison between bone marrow stromal cells and heart cells.

Background: Cell transplantation may restore function after myocardial infarction, but the optimal cell type remains controversial. We compared autologous bone marrow stromal cells (BMCs) with autologous heart cells (HCs) in a porcine myocardial infarction model.

Methods: Yorkshire pigs underwent coil occlusion of the left anterior descending artery.

Cell transplantation in non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy. A novel biological approach for ventricular restoration.

Objective: With a rising incidence, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is regarded as a major health care concern. Although both medical therapy and novel surgical treatments have been applied to treat DCM, the effects of preventing left ventricular (LV) dilatation are limited, and the mortality rate associated with the disease remains high. Thus novel management strategies for improved treatment of DCM are awaited.