A study on the rapid diagnosis of chronic heart failure by measuring the difference in pulse oxygen saturation before and after arm compression.

Background: Clinically, the pulse oxygen saturation of patients with chronic heart failure does not decrease significantly, and the clinical manifestations of labor-related dyspnea are not typical. As such, it is difficult to make a rapid diagnosis.

Objective: To investigate changes in pulse oxygen saturation in patients with chronic heart failure and examine the relationship between B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and normal pulse oxygen saturation.

IL-17A induces pro-inflammatory cytokines production in macrophages via MAPKinases, NF-κB and AP-1.

Background: Interleukin (IL)-17A, a newly identified cytokine, may participate in the transition of a stable plaque into an unstable plaque. Macrophages play a critical role in the destabilization of atherosclerotic plaque.

Methods: RAW 264.

Inhibition of IL-17A in atherosclerosis.

Objective: To determine the effects of interleukin (IL)-17A inhibition on experimental atherosclerosis.

Methods And Results: ApoE(-/-) mice were treated with either rat anti-mouse IL-17A, mouse anti-mouse IL-17A or isotype-matched control antibodies for 12 weeks (n=8-10 per group). Ldlr(-/-) mice were transplanted with IL-17A-deficient or wild type bone marrow (n=8 per group).

The Th17/Treg functional imbalance during atherogenesis in ApoE(-/-) mice.

Objective: Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease regulated by T lymphocyte subsets. Recently, CD4(+) CD25(+) Foxp3(+) regulatory T (Treg) cells and Th17 cells have been described as two distinct subsets and have the opposite effects on autoimmunity. Clinical observation has revealed that the Th17/Treg imbalance exists in patients with acute coronary syndrome.