Viewpoint: personalizing statin therapy.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD), associated with vascular atherosclerosis, is the major cause of death in Western societies. Current risk estimation tools, such as Framingham Risk Score (FRS), based on evaluation of multiple standard risk factors, are limited in assessment of individual risk. The majority (about 70%) of the general population is classified as low FRS where the individual risk for CVD is often underestimated but, on the other hand, cholesterol lowering with statin is often excessively administered.

The effects of aldosterone on diet-induced fatty liver formation in male C57BL/6 mice: comparison of adrenalectomy and mineralocorticoid receptor blocker.

Objective: Obesity, diabetes, fatty liver, and hypertension are major determinants of the metabolic syndrome. The effects of aldosterone and mineralocorticoid receptor blockers on fatty liver are largely unknown. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationships between aldosterone and the development of fatty liver.

Regulation of hepatic paraoxonase-1 expression.

Serum paraoxonase-1 (PON1) is a member of the paraoxonases family (PON1, PON2, and PON3). PON1 is synthesized and secreted by the liver, and in circulation it is associated with HDL. PON1 has antioxidative properties, which are associated with the enzyme's capability to decrease oxidative stress in atherosclerotic lesions and to attenuate atherosclerosis development.

Admixture mapping of end stage kidney disease genetic susceptibility using estimated mutual information ancestry informative markers.

Background: The question of a genetic contribution to the higher prevalence and incidence of end stage kidney disease (ESKD) among African Americans (AA) remained unresolved, until recent findings using admixture mapping pointed to the association of a genomic locus on chromosome 22 with this disease phenotype. In the current study we utilize this example to demonstrate the utility of applying a multi-step admixture mapping approach.

Methods: A multi-step case only admixture mapping study, consisted of the following steps was designed: 1) Assembly of the sample dataset (ESKD AA); 2) Design of the estimated mutual information ancestry informative markers (n = 2016) screening panel 3); Genotyping the sample set whose size was determined by a power analysis (n = 576) appropriate for the initial screening panel; 4) Inference of local ancestry for each individual and identification of regions with increased AA ancestry using two different ancestry inference statistical approaches; 5) Enrichment of the initial screening panel; 6) Power analysis of the enriched panel 7) Genotyping of additional samples.

Hyperbaric oxygen treatment improves GFR in rats with ischaemia/reperfusion renal injury: a possible role for the antioxidant/oxidant balance in the ischaemic kidney.

Background: Ischaemic kidney injury continues to play a dominant role in the pathogenesis of acute renal failure (ARF) in many surgical and medical settings. A major event in the induction of renal injury is related to the generation of oxygen-free radicals. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) is indicated for treatment of many ischaemic events but not for ARF.

Human embryonic stem cells for myocardial regeneration.

Terminally differentiated adult cardiomyocytes have limited regenerative capacity and therefore any significant cell loss may result in the development of progressive heart failure. Cell replacement therapy is a promising new approach for myocardial repair but has been limited by the paucity of cell sources for functional human cardiomyocytes. The recent establishment of the human pluripotent embryonic stem (ES) cell lines may present a novel solution for this cell-sourcing problem.