"Resilience?" perspectives from adults living with sickle cell disease.

Objectives: This study examines and explores the definition of resilience in adults living with sickle cell disease (SCD) in the United States (U.S.).

Correlates of Plasma NT-proBNP/Cyclic GMP Ratio in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction: An Analysis of the RELAX Trial.

Background: Phosphodiesterases degrade cyclic GMP (cGMP), the second messenger that mediates the cardioprotective effects of natriuretic peptides. High natriuretic peptide/cGMP ratio may reflect, in part, phosphodiesterase activity. Correlates of natriuretic peptide/cGMP in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction are not well understood.

Glyoxylase-1 combats dicarbonyl stress and right ventricular dysfunction in rodent pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Background: Heightened glycolytic flux is associated with right ventricular (RV) dysfunction in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Methylglyoxal, a glycolysis byproduct, is a highly reactive dicarbonyl that has toxic effects non-enzymatic post-translational modifications (protein glycation). Methylglyoxal is degraded by the glyoxylase system, which includes the rate-limiting enzyme glyoxylase-1 (GLO1), to combat dicarbonyl stress.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Right Heart Failure in Pulmonary Vascular Diseases: A National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Workshop.

Right ventricular dysfunction is a hallmark of advanced pulmonary vascular, lung parenchymal, and left heart disease, yet the underlying mechanisms that govern (mal)adaptation remain incompletely characterized. Owing to the knowledge gaps in our understanding of the right ventricle (RV) in health and disease, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) commissioned a working group to identify current challenges in the field. These included a need to define and standardize normal RV structure and function in populations; access to RV tissue for research purposes and the development of complex experimental platforms that recapitulate the environment; and the advancement of imaging and invasive methodologies to study the RV within basic, translational, and clinical research programs.

A Mobile Health Intervention to Increase Physical Activity in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

Background: Supervised exercise training improves outcomes in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The effect of an unsupervised activity intervention has not been tested.

Research Question: Can a text-based mobile health intervention increase step counts in patients with PAH?

Study Design And Methods: We performed a randomized, parallel arm, single-blind clinical trial.

Features Associated With Discordance Between Pulmonary Arterial Wedge Pressure and Left Ventricular End Diastolic Pressure in Clinical Practice: Implications for Pulmonary Hypertension Classification.

Background: The measurements used to define pulmonary hypertension (PH) etiology, pulmonary arterial wedge pressure (PAWP), and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) vary in clinical practice. We aimed to identify clinical features associated with measurement discrepancy between PAWP and LVEDP in patients with PH.

Methods: We extracted clinical data and invasive hemodynamics from consecutive patients undergoing concurrent right and left heart catheterization at Vanderbilt University between 1998 and 2014.

A Metabolic Basis for Endothelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition.

Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndoMT) is a cellular process often initiated by the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) family of ligands. Although required for normal heart valve development, deregulated EndoMT is linked to a wide range of pathological conditions. Here, we demonstrate that endothelial fatty acid oxidation (FAO) is a critical in vitro and in vivo regulator of EndoMT.