[Cardiomyocyte structural rearrangement in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and valvular heart disease].

Light and electron microscopies were used to analyze cardiomyocyte structural changes in the dilated left ventricle in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and valvular heart diseases. The patients were found to have cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and ultrastructural rearrangement with a tissue-specific reduction. There was hypertrophic cardiomyocyte lengthening that continued after these cells stopped growing thicker, as well as occurred due to the loss of myofibrils, which increased during the cell rearrangement, and directly correlated with the lower ejection fraction and higher end-systolic volume of the left ventricle.

[Primary pulmonary hypertension: activation of sympathico-adrenal system and free radical oxidation. Positive effects of carvedilol therapy].

Aim: To study the condition of the sympathico-adrenal system (SAS), synthesis of cAMP dependent on beta2-adrenoreceptors and parameters of free radical oxidation in patients with primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH); to examine efficacy of non-selective beta- and alpha1-adrenoblocker carvedilol in PPH patients.

Material And Methods: Twenty patients with PPH had 6-minute walk test, ECG monitoring with assessment of heart rhythm variability (HRV). Tests for noradrenalin and adrenalin concentration in blood plasma, cAMP synthesis by blood lymphocytes in basal conditions and under stimulation with isoproterenol and forskolin, free radical oxidation were made initially, 1 and 6 months later.

Oxidative stress in patients with primary pulmonary hypertension.

We studied the role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of primary pulmonary hypertension. In patients with primary pulmonary hypertension the content of malonic dialdehyde in the plasma was higher than in healthy volunteers (5.18 0.

[Carvedilol in treating primary pulmonary hypertension patients: effect on severity of cardiac failure, degree of pulmonary hypertension, concentration of catecholamines in blood plasma and dependence of cyclic AMP synthesis in lymphocytes on beta-adrenergic receptors].

Aim: To evaluate carvedilol effect on clinical state, norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (E) plasma concentration and lymphocyte beta 2-adrenoreceptor dependent cAMP synthesis in patients with primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH).

Material And Methods: 14 patients with PPH were included in the study; 9 patients were treated by carvedilol; 5 patients were in the control group. The primary efficiency parameters were submaximal exercise measured by 60 min walk test, systolic pulmonary artery pressure (SPAP) measured by Doppler echocardiography, heart rate (HR) measured by 24-hour ECG-monitoring.

[Catecholamine levels in plasma and beta2-adrenoreceptor-dependent synthesis of cAMP in lymphocytes of patients with primary pulmonary hypertension].

Aim: To evaluate norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (E) plasma concentration and lymphocyte beta-2-adrenoceptor dependent cAMP synthesis in primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) patients in comparison with healthy controls.

Material And Methods: Seven volunteers and fifteen patients with PPH were included in the study. NE and E plasma levels were measured by high performance liquid chromatography.