Prognostic role of heart rate in patients referred for coronary angiography: age and sex differences.

Unlabelled: OBJECTIVE To evaluate the predictive value of resting heart rate (RHR) for cardiac and total mortality in a large population of patients referred for coronary angiography with an extended follow-up, stratified in four subpopulations according to gender and age (50th percentile corresponding to 67 years).

Methods: We studied 3559 subjects (2603 males, age: 66 ± 11 years, mean ± SD), obtaining patient data from the Institute electronic databank which saves demographic, clinical, instrumental and follow-up data of patients admitted to our department.

Results: During a mean follow-up period of 35 ± 25 months, 296 (8%) patients died; there were 173 (5%) cardiac deaths.

Fragments of wake-like activity frame down-states of sleep slow oscillations in humans: new vistas for studying homeostatic processes during sleep.

During NREM sleep cortical activity corresponding to EEG fast rhythms (FRs>10 Hz) is interrupted by fragments of neural stillness (down-states), responsible for the negative peak within sleep slow oscillation (SSO). Researchers still debate whether the down-states spontaneously occur or need an initial overshoot in fluctuating activity. Herein, we studied temporally-isolated SSO in healthy subjects in order to identify two distinct EEG markers defining a putative initial up-state: i) a significant positive deflection and ii) an associated FR increase, before the negative peak.

An automated plasma protein fractionation design: high-throughput perspectives for proteomic analysis.

Background: Human plasma, representing the most complete record of the individual phenotype, is an appealing sample for proteomics analysis in clinical applications. Up to today, the major obstacle in a proteomics study of plasma is the large dynamic range of protein concentration and the efforts of many researchers focused on the resolution of this important drawback.

Findings: In this study, proteins from pooled plasma samples were fractionated according to their chemical characteristics on a home-designed SPE automated platform.

Progress in atherosclerotic plaque imaging.

Cardiovascular diseases are the primary cause of mortality in the industrialized world, and arterial obstruction, triggered by rupture-prone atherosclerotic plaques, lead to myocardial infarction and cerebral stroke. Vulnerable plaques do not necessarily occur with flow-limiting stenosis, thus conventional luminographic assessment of the pathology fails to identify unstable lesions. In this review we discuss the currently available imaging modalities used to investigate morphological features and biological characteristics of the atherosclerotic plaque.

Oxidative stress as a predictor of cardiovascular events in coronary artery disease patients.

Background: Enhanced oxidative stress has been associated with atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease (CAD). However, the predictive value of circulating oxidative stress biomarkers for cardiovascular events (CE) in patients with CAD has remained poorly understood.

Aim: To assess the prognostic significance of reactive oxygen metabolites, estimated as index of oxidative stress in serum samples by means of a commercial kit (ROMs, Diacron, Italy) on the rate of mortality and major adverse CE (MACE) in CAD.

Silicone-coated non-woven polyester dressing enhances reepithelialisation in a sheep model of dermal wounds.

Negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT) also known as V.A.C.

Why sex matters: the biological mechanisms of cardiovascular disease.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading determinant of mortality and morbidity in women. However, a full understanding of the basic and clinical aspects of CVD in women is far from being accomplished. Sexual dimorphism in CVD has been reported both in humans and experimental animals.

Sex-related differences in association of oxidative stress status with coronary artery disease.

Objective: To assess oxidative stress status in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients according to gender.

Design: Case-controlled, observational, retrospective study.

Setting: Clinical and research center.

Determinants of oxidative stress related to gender: relevance of age and smoking habit.

Background: Magnitude and major causes of oxidative stress may be different between sexes, although limitedly addressed in clinical studies with controversial results. The present study aimed to determine whether any gender-related difference exists concerning oxidative stress in a population of 332 subjects of both sexes, in a wide age range, with and without cigarette smoking habit.

Methods: The Oxidative-INDEX was calculated after evaluation of serum hydroperoxides (ROMs) and total antioxidant capacity (OXY) by means of commercial kits (d-ROMs and Oxy-adsorbent Tests, Diacron, Italy) subtracting the OXY standardized variable from the ROMs standardized variable.

Vascular smooth-muscle-cell activation: proteomics point of view.

Vascular smooth-muscle cells (VSMCs) are the main component of the artery medial layer. Thanks to their great plasticity, when stimulated by external inputs, VSMCs react by changing morphology and functions and activating new signaling pathways while switching others off. In this way, they are able to increase the cell proliferation, migration, and synthetic capacity significantly in response to vascular injury assuming a more dedifferentiated state.

Oxidative status and cardiovascular risk in women: Keeping pink at heart.

Although cardiovascular disease (CVD) has always been perceived as a pathology regarding essentially males, incidence and death from cardiovascular events dramatically increase after menopause in women. Obviously, while many aspects of CVD are similar in both sexes, it is now clear that there are significant differences as well. Exploration of these gender-related differences in CVD might provide a basis for the development of new strategies in the management of patients with CVD from a gender point of view.

Cyanoacrylate surgical glue as an alternative to suture threads for mesh fixation in hernia repair.

Background: In recent years, the use of synthetic glues has become an established practice in several areas of surgical treatment. For example, they are used in open and laparoscopic surgery and in digestive tract endoscopy, interventional radiology, and vascular neuroradiology. The experiments in this study were aimed at elucidating that suture-based permanent mesh fixation can be replaced by fixation with N-butyl 2-cyanoacrylate glue (Glubran2) for surgical repair of abdominal wall hernias.

Carcinoembryonic antigen concentrations in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Background: Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), one of the most widely used tumor markers, has been recently associated with carotid atherosclerosis. The aim of our study was to evaluate whether CEA concentrations have a role in coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: Serum CEA concentrations were evaluated in 89 patients, including 50 patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) (Group I, 44 with acute myocardial infarction, six with unstable angina, 38 males, 65 ± 2 years) and 39 patients with stable CAD (Group II, 33 males, 66 ± 3 years).

Myocardial structural, perfusion, and metabolic correlates of left bundle branch block mechanical derangement in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy: a tagged cardiac magnetic resonance and positron emission tomography study.

Background: Left bundle branch block (LBBB) influences on regional left ventricular (LV) structure, perfusion, and metabolism have not yet been thoroughly investigated in dilated cardiomyopathy patients.

Methods And Results: Eleven dilated cardiomyopathy patients with LBBB (mean+/-SD age, 62+/-11 years; LV ejection fraction, 35+/-8%) and 7 dilated cardiomyopathy patients without LBBB (mean+/-SD age, 58+/-9 years; LV ejection fraction, 37+/-10%) were studied by cardiac magnetic resonance and positron emission tomography. The left ventricle was divided in 3 regions: septum, adjacent (anterior-inferior walls), and lateral.

Drug-eluting stents versus bare-metal stents in acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. a single-center experience with long-term follow up.

Objectives: To compare the efficacy and safety of drugeluting stents (DES) vs. bare-metal stents (BMS) in patients with acute ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Background: DES effectively reduce restenosis in elective percutaneous coronary intervention.

The effect of gamma irradiation on physical-mechanical properties and cytotoxicity of polyurethane-polydimethylsiloxane microfibrillar vascular grafts.

Poly(ether) urethane (PEtU)-polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) based materials have been processed by a spray, phase-inversion technique to produce microfibrillar small-diameter vascular grafts; however the effect of sterilization upon these grafts is still unknown. This study investigated the effect of gamma irradiation on grafts made of PEtU-PDMS materials containing different PDMS concentrations. Sterilisation-induced changes in surface chemical structure and morphology were assessed by infrared spectroscopy, light and scanning electron microscopy.

Study of the crosstalk between hepatocytes and endothelial cells using a novel multicompartmental bioreactor: a comparison between connected cultures and cocultures.

The liver and other organs are connected to each other through the bloodstream. Therefore, the connection between tissues is generally mediated by soluble molecules able to cross the endothelial wall of capillaries. We developed a multicompartmental device, multicompartmental bioreactor (MCB), designed to mimic the connection between different tissues in which crosstalk is mediated by soluble molecules transported through the blood.

Glubran2 surgical glue: in vitro evaluation of adhesive and mechanical properties.

Background: In surgical and endoscopic procedures, tissue adhesives are commonly used as reinforcement of sutures or as bonding and hemostatic agents. Fibrin glues do not guarantee adequate properties for many clinical applications; on the contrary, cyanoacrylate glues guarantee high bonding strength between biologic tissues. The aim of this study was to provide evidence regarding adhesive and strength properties of a widely used cyanoacrylate glue, Glubran2, GEM s.

Significant correction of pathology in brains of twitcher mice following injection of genetically modified mouse neural progenitor cells.

Krabbe disease or globoid cell leukodystrophy is an autosomal recessive disorder resulting from mutations in the galactocerebrosidase (GALC) gene. These mutations lead to deficient GALC activity, storage of substrates of the enzyme, including psychosine, death to oligodendrocytes, decreased myelination, production of globoid cells and eventually death to the individual. While most affected individuals are infants, late-onset forms are also recognized.

Whole-body evaluation of MIBG tissue extraction in a mouse model of long-lasting type II diabetes and its relationship with norepinephrine transport protein concentration.

Unlabelled: Accelerated cardiac washout of (123)I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG), which is clinically used as an index of cardiac neuropathy in diabetes, is ascribed to decreased norepinephrine reuptake into synaptic vesicles. However, accelerated washout frequently contrasts with preserved early tracer uptake, whose significance remains undetermined. The aim of this study was to investigate in a mouse model of long-lasting type II diabetes whether the mismatch between MIBG early uptake and washout is the consequence of a more generalized disorder of the autonomic nervous system.

Circulating levels of lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 are associated with inflammatory markers.

Lectin-like oxidized-low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (LOX-1) is increasingly linked to atherosclerotic plaque formation and the soluble form of this receptor may reflect activities of disease. We investigated the associations among levels of sLOX-1, oxidized-low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL), cytokines and the extension of atherosclerosis in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Lipid, TNF-alpha, IL-6, C reactive protein (CRP), ox-LDL, peroxy radical and sLOX-1 levels were measured in 29 controls and 60 patients with CAD, 30 of which with one or two vessels involved (group 1), and 30 patients with three or four vessels involved (group 2).

Implementation of Fowler's method for end-tidal air sampling.

The design, realization and testing of a CO(2)-triggered breath sampler, capable of a separate collection of dead space and end-tidal air on multiple breaths, is presented. This sampling procedure has advantages in terms of the sample volume, insights regarding the origin of compounds, increased reproducibility and higher concentrations of compounds. The high quality of design and the speed of the components ensure a breath-by-breath estimate of dead volume, as well as the comfort and safety of the subject under test.

Role of microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 (mPGES1)-derived PGE2 in patency of the ductus arteriosus in the mouse.

Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) plays a key role in the ductus arteriosus, prenatally by maintaining patency and postnatally by promoting tissue remodeling for closure. Here, by using near-term mouse fetuses with (wild-type, WT) and without microsomal PGE synthase-1 (mPGES1-/-), we have examined the importance of this enzyme for PGE2 formation and function. mPGES1-/- ductus, unlike WT ductus, contracted little, or not all, to indomethacin in vitro.

PDMS content affects in vitro hemocompatibility of synthetic vascular grafts.

An unsolved problem when employing small-diameter vascular grafts for aorto-coronary by-pass and peripheral reconstruction is the early thrombotic occlusion. The PEtU-PDMS is a new elastomeric material, composed of poly(ether)urethane and polydimethylsiloxane, synthesized to realize grafts with improved hemocompatibility characteristics. In order to investigate the effect of PDMS content on hemocompatibility, three different percentages of PDMS containing grafts (10, 25 and 40) were evaluated.