Association between arterial stiffness, carbamylation, and mortality in patients undergoing coronary angiography with no or mild chronic kidney disease.

Introduction: The processes of atherosclerosis, inflammation, and carbamylation are closely linked in cardiovascular (CV) disease, but the potential of carbamylation burden as a CV mortality predictor is unclear, especially in patients with no or mild chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study aimed to investigate whether elevated carbamylated albumin (C-Alb), as a surrogate marker for carbamylation burden, is associated with mortality and arterial stiffness/atherosclerotic burden in patients with no or mild CKD, using pulse pressure (PP) as a marker for arterial stiffness.

Methods: We measured C-Alb in 3,193 participants of the Ludwigshafen Risk and Cardiovascular Health study who had been referred for coronary angiography and followed up for 10 years.

Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy with Defibrillator in Ischemic Versus Nonischemic Cardiomyopathy.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (CRT-Ds) are established therapy options for patients suffering from heart failure (HF). Several aspects of HF modification have yet to be described regarding etiology-dependent outcome differences in the long-term.The Mannheim CArdiac Resynchronization TherApy RetrospeCtive ObservAtioNAl (MARACANA) Registry retrospectively included all patients provided with CRTs in our center from 2013 to 2021.

Long-Term Renal Function with Cardiac Contractility Modulation Therapy.

Introduction: Cardiac implantable electrical devices are able to affect kidney function through hemodynamic improvements. The cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) is a device-based therapy option for patients with symptomatic chronic heart failure (HF) despite optimized medical treatment. The long-term cardiorenal interactions for CCM treated patients are yet to be described.

Human plasma-like medium (HPLM) induces cell morphologies.

The fungal pathogen ) forms yeast cells of different sizes and morphological characteristics during infection. These features are usually not seen in standard laboratory conditions. Here, we describe cell morphologies when is grown in human plasma-like medium at 37°C, 5% CO.

Characterising phagocytes and measuring phagocytosis from live Galleria mellonella larvae.

Over the last 20 years, the larva of the greater waxmoth, , has rapidly increased in popularity as an mammalian replacement model organism for the study of human pathogens. Experimental readouts of response to infection are most often limited to observing the melanization cascade and quantifying larval death and, whilst transcriptomic and proteomic approaches, and methods to determine microbial load are also used, a more comprehensive toolkit of profiling infection over time could transform the applicability of this model. As an invertebrate, harbour an innate immune system comprised of both humoral components and a repertoire of innate immune cells - termed haemocytes.

Long-term outcomes from upgrade to cardiac resynchronisation therapy in ischaemic versus non-ischaemic heart disease.

Background: Cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) can be necessary in patients with chronic heart failure, who have already been provided with transvenous cardiac implantable electrical devices. Upgrade procedures revealed controversial results, while long-term outcomes regarding underlying Ischaemic- (ICM) or Non-Ischaemic heart disease (NICM) have yet to be described.

Methods: The Mannheim Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy Registry (MARACANA) was designed as a retrospective observational single-centre registry, including all CRT implantations from 2013-2021 ( = 459).

Flagellin-Induced Immune Response in Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes.

Pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) are involved in the pathogenesis of septic cardiomyopathy through a toll-like receptor (TLR)-mediated immune response. Human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) can reflect the innate immune abilities of cardiomyocytes. Therefore, hiPSC-CMs may provide an attractive tool with which to study PAMP-induced alterations in cardiomyocytes.

Detailed characterisation of invasive aspergillosis in a murine model of X-linked chronic granulomatous disease shows new insights in infections caused by versus .

Introduction: Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is the most prevalent infectious complication in patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). Yet, understanding of fungal pathogenesis in the CGD host remains limited, particularly with regards to infection.

Methods: We have used a murine model of X-linked CGD to investigate how the pathogenesis of IA varies between and , comparing infection in both X-linked CGD (gp91) mice and their parent C57BL/6 (WT) mice.

Impact of changes at the cell surface upon immunogenicity and colonisation in the gastrointestinal tract.

The immunogenicity of cells is influenced by changes in the exposure of microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) on the fungal cell surface. Previously, the degree of exposure on the cell surface of the immunoinflammatory MAMP β-(1,3)-glucan was shown to correlate inversely with colonisation levels in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This is important because life-threatening systemic candidiasis in critically ill patients often arises from translocation of strains present in the patient's GI tract.

Nature of β-1,3-Glucan-Exposing Features on Candida albicans Cell Wall and Their Modulation.

Candida albicans exists as a commensal of mucosal surfaces and the gastrointestinal tract without causing pathology. However, this fungus is also a common cause of mucosal and systemic infections when antifungal immune defenses become compromised. The activation of antifungal host defenses depends on the recognition of fungal pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), such as β-1,3-glucan.

Should HFrEF patients with NYHA class II expect benefit from CCM therapy? Results from the MAINTAINED observational study.

Background: Cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) is an FDA-approved device therapy for patients with refractory systolic heart failure and normal QRS width. Randomized trials demonstrated benefits of CCM primarily for patients with severe heart failure (> NYHA class II).

Purpose: To better understand individualized indication in clinical practice, we compared the effect of CCM in patients with baseline NYHA class II vs.

Dopamine D1/D5 Receptor Signaling Is Involved in Arrhythmogenesis in the Setting of Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy.

Background: Previous studies suggested involvement of non-ß-adrenoceptors in the pathogenesis of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC). This study was designed to explore possible roles and underlying mechanisms of dopamine D1/D5 receptor coupled signaling in arrhythmogenesis of TTC.

Methods: Human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) were challenged by toxic concentration of epinephrine (Epi, 0.

MelLec Exacerbates the Pathogenesis of -Induced Allergic Inflammation in Mice.

Environmental factors, particularly fungi, influence the pathogenesis of allergic airway inflammation, but the mechanisms underlying these effects are still unclear. Melanin is one fungal component which is thought to modulate pulmonary inflammation. We recently identified a novel C-type lectin receptor, MelLec (Clec1a), which recognizes fungal 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN)-melanin and is able to regulate inflammatory responses.

Hydrocarbon-Degrading Bacteria Found Tightly Associated with the 50-70 μm Cell-Size Population of Eukaryotic Phytoplankton in Surface Waters of a Northeast Atlantic Region.

The surface of marine eukaryotic phytoplankton can harbour communities of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria; however, this algal-bacterial association has, hitherto, been only examined with non-axenic laboratory cultures of micro-algae. In this study, we isolated an operationally-defined community of phytoplankton, of cell size 50-70 μm, from a natural community in sea surface waters of a subarctic region in the northeast Atlantic. Using MiSeq 16S rRNA sequencing, we identified several recognized (, , , , ) and putative hydrocarbon degraders (, ) tightly associated with the phytoplankton population.

Surgical revision after percutaneous mitral valve repair by edge-to-edge device in high-risk patients.

Background: Patients scheduled for surgery after unsuccessful MitraClip® intervention present increasingly with multiple comorbidities, and they are often referred to the heart team to suggest the most appropriate intervention. The publication of successful results of initial patient cohorts treated with the MitraClip device has resulted in recruitment of more seriously ill patients, who otherwise would have been denied catheter-based/surgical treatment. There has been increasingly reports on conventional surgery after failed mitral valve repair with the MitraClip device.

A Weakened Immune Response to Synthetic Exo-Peptides Predicts a Potential Biosecurity Risk in the Retrieval of Exo-Microorganisms.

The discovery of liquid water at several locations in the solar system raises the possibility that microbial life may have evolved outside Earth and as such could be accidently introduced into the Earth's ecosystem. Unusual sugars or amino acids, like non-proteinogenic isovaline and α-aminoisobutyric acid that are vanishingly rare or absent from life forms on Earth, have been found in high abundance on non-terrestrial carbonaceous meteorites. It is therefore conceivable that exo-microorganisms might contain proteins that include these rare amino acids.

Fast field-cycling magnetic resonance detection of intracellular ultra-small iron oxide particles in vitro: Proof-of-concept.

Purpose: Inflammation is central in disease pathophysiology and accurate methods for its detection and quantification are increasingly required to guide diagnosis and therapy. Here we explored the ability of Fast Field-Cycling Magnetic Resonance (FFC-MR) in quantifying the signal of ultra-small superparamagnetic iron oxide particles (USPIO) phagocytosed by J774 macrophage-like cells as a proof-of-principle.

Methods: Relaxation rates were measured in suspensions of J774 macrophage-like cells loaded with USPIO (0-200 μg/ml Fe as ferumoxytol), using a 0.

Immediate visualization of recombination events and chromosome segregation defects in fission yeast meiosis.

Schizosaccharomyces pombe, also known as fission yeast, is an established model for studying chromosome biological processes. Over the years, research employing fission yeast has made important contributions to our knowledge about chromosome segregation during meiosis, as well as meiotic recombination and its regulation. Quantification of meiotic recombination frequency is not a straightforward undertaking, either requiring viable progeny for a genetic plating assay, or relying on laborious Southern blot analysis of recombination intermediates.

Repurposing of idebenone as a potential anti-cancer agent.

Glioblastoma (GB) represents the most common and aggressive form of malignant primary brain tumour associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. In the present study, we considered the potential use of idebenone (IDE), a Coenzyme Q analogue, as a novel chemotherapeutic agent for GB. On two GB cell lines, U373MG and U87MG, IDE decreased the viable cell number and enhanced the cytotoxic effects of two known anti-proliferative agents: temozolomide and oxaliplatin.