Pericardial delta like non-canonical NOTCH ligand 1 (Dlk1) augments fibrosis in the heart through epithelial to mesenchymal transition.

Background: Heart failure due to myocardial infarction (MI) involves fibrosis driven by epicardium-derived cells (EPDCs) and cardiac fibroblasts, but strategies to inhibit and provide cardio-protection remains poor. The imprinted gene, non-canonical NOTCH ligand 1 (Dlk1), has previously been shown to mediate fibrosis in the skin, lung and liver, but very little is known on its effect in the heart.

Methods: Herein, human pericardial fluid/plasma and tissue biopsies were assessed for DLK1, whereas the spatiotemporal expression of Dlk1 was determined in mouse hearts.

Inhaled corticosteroids and risk of lower respiratory tract infection with in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) is common in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and has been associated with an increased risk of pneumonia. is one of the most common bacterial causes of infectious exacerbation in COPD. Currently, to our knowledge, no studies have investigated if ICS increases the risk of lower respiratory tract infection with in patients with COPD.

Neonatal epicardial-derived progenitors aquire myogenic traits in skeletal muscle, but not cardiac muscle.

Background/objectives: Epicardium-derived progenitor cells (EPDCs) differentiate into all heart cell types in the embryonic heart, yet their differentiation into cardiomyocytes in the adult heart is limited and poorly described. This may be due to EPDCs lacking myogenic potential or the inert adult heart missing regenerative signals essential for directed differentiation of EPDCs. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the myogenic potential of neonatal EPDCs in adult and neonatal mouse myocardium, as well as in skeletal muscle.