Stable coronary artery disease: are there therapeutic benefits of heart rate lowering?

: A physiologically lower heart rate, such as that seen in athletes, has been associated with better survival in epidemiological studies. In patients with coronary artery disease, heart rate is considered an independent risk factor for adverse outcomes. Higher heart rate increases cardiac work load and oxygen demand and reduces coronary perfusion by decreasing the amount of time spent in diastole, which in patients with obstructive coronary artery disease can trigger angina and myocardial infarction.

Bidirectional signalling between EphA2 and ephrinA1 increases tubular cell attachment, laminin secretion and modulates erythropoietin expression after renal hypoxic injury.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common in hospitalized patients and has a poor prognosis, the severity of AKI being linked to progression to chronic kidney disease. This stresses the need to search for protective mechanisms during the acute phase. We investigated kidney repair after hypoxic injury using a rat model of renal artery branch ligation, which led to an oxygen gradient vertical to the corticomedullary axis.

The role of rituximab in the treatment of ANCA-associated vasculitides (AAV).

The antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) associated vasculitides (AAV) are a group of primary vasculitides that affect predominantly small- to medium-sized blood vessels. AAV include granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) and eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA). Disease severity is dictated by the location and extent of the blood vessels affected.

Bilateral uterine vessel ligation as a model of intrauterine growth restriction in mice.

Background: Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) occurs in up to 10% of pregnancies and is considered as a major risk to develop various diseases in adulthood, such as cardiovascular diseases, insulin resistance, hypertension or end stage kidney disease. Several IUGR models have been developed in order to understand the biological processes linked to fetal growth retardation, most of them being rat or mouse models and nutritional models. In order to reproduce altered placental flow, surgical models have also been developed, and among them bilateral uterine ligation has been frequently used.

Phosphatase and tensin homolog regulates stability and activity of EphB1 receptor.

Deregulation of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) is linked to a broad range of cancers, stressing the necessity of studying their regulatory pathways. We and others demonstrated previously that c-Cbl is necessary for the lysosomal degradation of erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular B1 (EphB1) carcinoma and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) RTKs. Moreover, the tumor suppressor phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) was shown to modulate c-Cbl-dependent EGFR degradation.

Podocyte EphB4 signaling helps recovery from glomerular injury.

Eph receptor tyrosine kinases and their ligands (ephrins) have a pivotal role in the homeostasis of many adult organs and are widely expressed in the kidney. Glomerular diseases beginning with mesangiolysis can recover, with podocytes having a critical role in this healing process. We studied here the role of Eph signaling in glomerular disease recovery following mesangiolytic Thy1.

The Role of PTEN in Tumor Angiogenesis.

During the past 20 years, the phosphatase and tensin homolog PTEN has been shown to be involved in major physiological processes, and its mutation or loss is often associated with tumor formation. In addition PTEN regulates angiogenesis not only through its antagonizing effect on the PI3 kinase pathway mainly, but also through some phosphatase-independent functions. In this paper we delineate the role of this powerful tumor suppressor in tumor angiogenesis and dissect the underlying molecular mechanisms.

The effects of PTK787/ZK222584, an inhibitor of VEGFR and PDGFRβ pathways, on intussusceptive angiogenesis and glomerular recovery from Thy1.1 nephritis.

The aim of our study was to investigate the phenomenon of intussusceptive angiogenesis with a focus on its molecular regulation by vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)/platelet-derived growth factor receptor β (PDGFRβ) pathways and biological significance for glomerular recovery after acute injury. Glomerular healing by intussusception was examined in a particular setting of Thy1.1 nephritis, where the lysis of mesangial cells results in an initial collapse and successive rebuilding of glomerular capillary structure.

Ligand binding induces Cbl-dependent EphB1 receptor degradation through the lysosomal pathway.

Eph receptor tyrosine kinases play a critical role in embryonic patterning and angiogenesis. In the adult, they are involved in carcinogenesis and pathological neovascularization. However, the mechanisms underlying their role in tumor formation and metastasis remain to be defined.

Early renal failure after domino hepatic transplantation using the liver from a compound heterozygous patient with primary hyperoxaluria.

Background: To cover the shortage of cadaveric organs, new approaches to expand the donor pool are needed. Here we report on a case of domino liver transplantation (DLT) using an organ harvested from a compound heterozygous patient with primary hyperoxaluria (PHO), who underwent combined liver and kidney transplantation. The DLT recipient developed early renal failure with oxaluria.

Patient education in hypertension: five essential steps.

Greater medical education of patients requires individualized strategies with improved efficacy and effectiveness. We present a model for interactive patient education that has grown from our clinical work with patients who have multiple cardiovascular risk factors. The model distinguishes five stages in the process of a patient's health behavioural change (awareness, intention, trial, implementation and maintenance), and it links each stage with one of five different types of educational intervention (information exchange, negotiating readiness to change, building instrumental skills, developing coping behaviour and enhancing social support).

Monitoring of fibrin generation during thrombolytic therapy of acute myocardial infarction with recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator.

Fibrinopeptide A (FPA) is a very sensitive marker of fibrin generation in vivo. Because an imbalance between thrombogenic and thrombolytic forces may be responsible for the failure to recanalize and for reocclusion of coronary arteries, such a marker could be of eminent value during thrombolytic treatment of acute myocardial infarction. Thirty-four consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction (peak creatine kinase level, 1,869 +/- 1,543 IU/l) were treated with 100 mg recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA) 3.

Fibrin formation and platelet activation in patients with myocardial infarction and normal coronary arteries.

Coronary spasm is the mechanism most often postulated to explain the rare combination of myocardial infarction and angiographically normal coronary arteries, although the reported evidence for its role is circumstantial rather than conclusive. Whereas the importance of thrombosis in myocardial infarction is uncontested in the presence of significant coronary artery disease, there is little in vivo evidence for thrombosis in angiographically normal coronary arteries. Among 11 consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction undergoing thrombolytic therapy with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) 3.

Incidence of diabetic retinopathy and relationship to baseline plasma glucose and blood pressure.

A nationwide, stratified population sample of 534 diabetic Swiss men and women, aged 35-54 yr, participated in a study of vascular disease. The study was based on a common protocol, standardized examination procedures, and centralized laboratory methods. Patients were chosen from a pool of diabetic Swiss with diabetes greater than or equal to 1 yr.

The syndrome of Klippel-Trenaunay, a polyvalent angiodysplasia.

The syndrome of Klippel and Trenaunay remains basically a venous angiodysplasia. Newer investigative methods have however allowed us to distinguish a polyvalence of the vascular morphology. The basic clinical triad: vascular nevus, varicosities and limb hypertrophy remains the main clinical diagnostic characteristic.