Association of aortic root diameter and vascular function with an exaggerated blood pressure response to exercise among elite athletes.

Background: The systolic blood pressure/workload (SBP/MET) slope was recently reported to reliably identify an exaggerated blood pressure response (eBPR) in the normal population and in athletes. We investigated whether the aortic root diameter (AoD) also correlates with an eBPR and vascular function in elite athletes.

Methods: We examined 652 healthy male elite athletes (age 25.

Recreational and Occupational Physical Activity and Risk of Adverse Events in Truncating Founder Variant Carriers.

Background: founder variants cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy leading to heart failure and malignant ventricular arrhythmias. Exercise is typically regarded as a risk factor for disease expression although evidence is conflicting. Stratifying by type of exercise may discriminate low- from high-risk activities in these patients.

Photothermal optical coherence microscopy for studying lipid architecture in human carotid arteries.

Photothermal optical coherence microscopy (PT-OCM) combines the high-resolution, label-free morphological imaging of OCM with the ability to discriminate tissue composition through phase-sensitive photothermal imaging. In this study, we perform 2D imaging of human carotid endarterectomies to spectrally determine lipid distribution, with verification via histologically stained samples. The structural information from OCM is combined with the spectral information gained from measuring the resulting sample surface displacement from thermoelastic expansion, following light irradiation.

Elevations of Cardiac Troponin in Patients Receiving Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: Data From a Prospective Study.

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are increasingly used in the treatment of cancer. However, immune-related adverse events are prevalent in patients receiving ICI therapy. A serious immune-related adverse event is ICI-myocarditis, which is complex to diagnose given that the significance of early symptoms and biomarker trajectories, such as high-sensitivity troponin T (hs-TnT) are unclear.

Innovative hypertension treatments: Transitioning from conventional therapies to siRNA-based solutions.

Hypertension remains a critical global health issue, despite significant advancements in treatment, management and preventive approaches. Current antihypertensive drugs have limitations, such as low adherence, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system reactivation, and drug resistance,. Ongoing preclinical and clinical studies for siRNA therapies show promising results, demonstrating significant blood pressure reductions and their potential as effective, durable treatments.

MALDI versus DESI mass spectrometry imaging of lipids in atherosclerotic plaque.

Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) is a powerful tool for detecting lipids in tissue sections, with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) and desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) as its key ionization techniques. In this study, we examine how MALDI compares with state-of-the-art DESI ionization in identifying lipids in heterogeneous samples, specifically atherosclerotic plaques. Carotid plaques (n = 4) from patients undergoing endarterectomy were snap-frozen, stored at -80°C, and then sectioned for MSI analysis and H&E staining.