The influence of atrial fibrillation on the levels of NT-proBNP versus GDF-15 in patients with heart failure.

Background: In heart failure (HF), levels of NT-proBNP are influenced by the presence of concomitant atrial fibrillation (AF), making it difficult to distinguish between HF versus AF in patients with raised NT-proBNP. It is unknown whether levels of GDF-15 are also influenced by AF in patients with HF. In this study we compared the plasma levels of NT-proBNP versus GDF-15 in patients with HF in AF versus sinus rhythm (SR).

Parental vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is associated with increased blood pressure in offspring via Panx1 hypermethylation.

Vitamin D deficiency is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies worldwide. Maternal vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased susceptibility to hypertension in offspring, but the reasons for this remain unknown. The aim of this study was to determine if parental vitamin D deficiency leads to altered DNA methylation in offspring that may relate to hypertension.

Erythropoietin Attenuates Pulmonary Vascular Remodeling in Experimental Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension through Interplay between Endothelial Progenitor Cells and Heme Oxygenase.

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a pulmonary vascular disease with a high mortality, characterized by typical angio-proliferative lesions. Erythropoietin (EPO) attenuates pulmonary vascular remodeling in PAH. We postulated that EPO acts through mobilization of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and activation of the cytoprotective enzyme heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1).

Differential responses of the right ventricle to abnormal loading conditions in mice: pressure vs. volume load.

Aims: Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction is a major determinant of long-term morbidity and mortality in congenital heart disease. The right ventricle (RV) is genetically different from the left ventricle (LV), but it is unknown as to whether this has consequences for the cellular responses to abnormal loading conditions. In the LV, calcineurin-activation is a major determinant of pathological hypertrophy and an important target for therapeutic strategies.

Mast cell inhibition improves pulmonary vascular remodeling in pulmonary hypertension.

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive angioproliferative disease with high morbidity and mortality. Although the histopathology is well described, its pathogenesis is largely unknown. We previously identified the increased presence of mast cells and their markers in a rat model of flow-associated PAH.

Egr-1 expression during neointimal development in flow-associated pulmonary hypertension.

In flow-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), increased pulmonary blood flow is an essential trigger for neointimal formation. Using microarray analysis, we recently found that the early growth response protein 1 (Egr-1) transcription factor is increased in experimental flow-associated end-stage PAH. Its role in PAH development is unknown.

Myocardial carnitine palmitoyltransferase I expression and long-chain fatty acid oxidation in fetal and newborn lambs.

Carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I) catalyzes the conversion of acyl-CoA to acylcarnitine at the outer mitochondrial membrane and is a key enzyme in the control of long-chain fatty acid (LC-FA) oxidation. Because myocardial LC-FA oxidation increases dramatically after birth, we determined the extent to which CPT I expression contributes to these changes in the perinatal lamb. We measured the steady-state level of transcripts of the CPT1A and CPT1B genes, which encode the liver (L-CPT I) and muscle CPT I (M-CPT I) isoforms, respectively, as well as the amount of these proteins, their total activity, and the amount of carnitine in left ventricular tissue from fetal and newborn lambs.

Metabolic responses to moderate exercise in lambs with aortopulmonary shunts.

In a previous study we found, after an overnight fast of 18 hours, a lower arterial glucose concentration and a depressed glycogenolysis in lambs with aortopulmonary left-to-right shunts. During exercise, glucose and free fatty acids (FFA) concentrations normally increase. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the shunt lambs could compensate for a depressed glycogenolysis by increasing gluconeogenesis and by increasing levels of blood substrates such as FFA and glycerol during exercise.

Perinatal changes in myocardial metabolism in lambs.

Background: Lactate accounts for a third of myocardial oxygen consumption before and in the first 2 weeks after birth. It is unknown how the remainder of myocardial oxygen is consumed. Glucose is thought to be important before birth, whereas long-chain fatty acids (LC-FA) are the prime substrate for the adult.

Lower arterial glucose concentrations in lambs with aortopulmonary shunts after an 18-hour fast.

Spontaneously occurring hypoglycemia has been described in children with severe acute congestive heart failure. Hypoglycemia may be the result of an increase in glucose utilization in tissues, a decrease in glucose production, or a decrease in the dietary intake of nutrients. To determine whether hypoglycemia may also occur in congenital heart disease with volume overloading, we investigated glucose metabolism during and after an 18-hour fast in nine lambs with an aortopulmonary left-to-right shunt and nine control lambs.

Cytological evidence that the C-terminus of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I is on the cytosolic face of the mitochondrial outer membrane.

Carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I) is a key enzyme in the regulation of beta-oxidation. The topology of this enzyme has been difficult to elucidate by biochemical methods. We studied the topology of a fusion protein of muscle-type CPT I (M-CPT I) and green fluorescent protein (GFP) by microscopical means.

Myocardial lactate metabolism in fetal and newborn lambs.

Background: Around birth, myocardial substrate supply changes from carbohydrates before birth to primarily fatty acids after birth. Parallel to these changes, the myocardium is expected to switch from the use of primarily lactate before birth to fatty acids thereafter. However, myocardial lactate uptake and oxidation around birth has not been measured in vivo.

Lactate kinetics at rest and during exercise in lambs with aortopulmonary shunts.

In a previous study [G. C. M.

Increased myocardial lactate oxidation in lambs with aortopulmonary shunts at rest and during exercise.

Free fatty acids are the major fuels for the myocardium, but during a higher load carbohydrates are preferred. Previously, we demonstrated that myocardial net lactate uptake was higher in lambs with aortopulmonary shunts than in control lambs. To determine whether this was caused by an increased lactate uptake and oxidation or by a decreased lactate release, we studied myocardial lactate and glucose metabolism with 13C-labeled substrates in 36 lambs in a fasting, conscious state.

Perinatal changes in myocardial supply and flux of fatty acids, carbohydrates, and ketone bodies in lambs.

No information is available on perinatal changes in myocardial metabolism in vivo. We measured myocardial supply and flux of fatty acids, carbohydrates, and ketone bodies in chronically instrumented fetal, newborn (1-4 days), and juvenile (7 wk) lambs, by measuring aorta-coronary sinus concentration differences and blood flow. In the fetal lambs, myocardial supply and flux of fatty acids were zero.

Determination of organ substrate oxidation in vivo by measurement of 13CO2 concentration in blood.

Substrate oxidation by various organs in animals as well as in humans is usually studied by experiments in which radioactively labeled substrates are used and the production of 14CO2 is measured. In vivo, substrate oxidation by an organ has, up to now, not been determined by means of stable isotopes. Problems in the determination of the concentration of 13CO2 in blood may have impeded the use of 13C-labeled substrates.

Localization and intron usage analysis of the human CPT1B gene for muscle type carnitine palmitoyltransferase I.

We isolated and sequenced cDNA and genomic DNA fragments of the human CPT1B gene, encoding muscle type camitine palmitoyltransferase I. A recombinant P1 phage containing CPT1B was mapped to chromosome 22qter by fluorescent in situ hybridization. This finding supports the concept that 'liver type' and 'muscle type' isoforms of CPT I are encoded by different loci at separate chromosomal positions.