heart

In order to determine the function of dHAND in a specific subset of cardiomyocyte progenitor cells responsible for the heart and its function in the cellular mechanism of Hand2-/- mouse ventricular hypoplasia, we established an allelic knockout model of dHAND in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs-H9) by an episomal vector-based CRISPR/Cas9 system. This dHAND KO hESC line maintained normal karyotype and typical primed pluripotent human stem cell morphology, and maintained pluripotency, could differentiate into all three germ layers in vivo...

BACKGROUND: Xin-Ji-Er-Kang (XJEK) as a herbal formula of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has shown the protective effects on myocardial function as well as renal function in mouse models of myocardial infarction. HYPOTHESIS/PURPOSE: We investigated the effects of XJEK on cardiovascular- and renal-function in a heart failure mouse model induced by high salt (HS) and the associated mechanisms. STUDY DESIGN: For the purpose of assessing the effects of XJEK on a hypertensive heart failure model, mice were fed with 8% high salt diet...

Reprogramming non-cardiomyocytes (non-CMs) into cardiomyocyte (CM)-like cells is a promising strategy for cardiac regeneration in conditions such as ischemic heart disease. Here, we used a modified mRNA (modRNA) gene delivery platform to deliver a cocktail of four cardiac-reprogramming genes (Gata4 (G), Mef2c (M), Tbx5 (T) and Hand2 (H)) together with three reprogramming-helper genes (Dominant Negative (DN)-TGFβ, DN-Wnt8a and Acid ceramidase (AC)), termed 7G-modRNA, to induce CM-like cells. We showed that 7G-modRNA reprogrammed 57% of CM-like cells in vitro...

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BACKGROUND: To which extent atrial remodeling occurs prior to atrial fibrillation (AF) is unknown. OBJECTIVE: The PREDICT-AF study investigated such subclinical remodeling, that may be used for risk stratification and AF prevention. METHODS: Patients (n=150) without a history of AF with a CHA2 DS2 -VASc score ≥2 at increased risk of developing AF, were included. The left atrial appendage and blood were collected during elective cardiothoracic surgery for biomarker discovery...

AIMS: . Left ventricular ejection fraction is the most commonly used measure describing pumping efficiency, but it is heavily dependent on loading conditions and therefore not well suited to study pathophysiologic changes. The novel concept of echocardiography-derived myocardial work (MyW) overcomes this disadvantage as it is based on left ventricular (LV) pressure-strain loops. We tracked the in-hospital changes of indices of MyW in patients admitted for acute heart failure (AHF) in relation to their recompensation status and explored the prognostic utility of MyW indices METHODS AND RESULTS: ...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

We indirectly assessed if altered transarcolemmal Ca2+ flux accompanies the decreased cardiac activity displayed by Trachemys scripta with anoxia exposure and cold acclimation. Turtles were first acclimated to 21 °C or 5 °C and held under normoxic (21 N; 5 N) or anoxic conditions (21A; 5A). We then compared the response of intrinsic heart rate (fH ) and maximal developed force of spontaneously contracting right atria (Fmax,RA ), and maximal developed force of isometrically-contracting ventricular strips (Fmax,V ), to Ni2+ (0...

In patients with diabetes, myocardial fibrosis may contribute to the pathogenesis of heart failure and arrhythmogenesis, increasing ventricular stiffness and delaying conduction. Diabetic myocardial fibrosis involves effects of hyperglycemia, lipotoxicity and insulin resistance on cardiac fibroblasts, directly resulting in increased matrix secretion, and activation of paracrine signaling in cardiomyocytes, immune and vascular cells, that release fibroblast-activating mediators. Neurohumoral pathways, cytokines, growth factors, oxidative stress, advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), and matricellular proteins have been implicated in diabetic fibrosis; however, the molecular links between the metabolic perturbations and activation of a fibrogenic program remain poorly understood...

A serious consequence of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (I/R) is oxidative damage, which causes mitochondrial dysfunction. The cascading ROS can propagate and potentially induce heme bleaching and protein cysteine sulfonation (PrSO3 H) of the mitochondrial electron transport chain. Herein we studied the mechanism of I/R-mediated irreversible oxidative injury of complex III in mitochondria from rat hearts subjected to 30-min of ischemia and 24-h of reperfusion in vivo. In the I/R region, the catalytic activity of complex III was significantly impaired...

OBJECTIVE: Ferroptosis is indicated in cardiovascular diseases. Given the prominent role of mitophagy in the governance of ferroptosis and our recent finding for FUN14 domain containing 1 (FUNDC1) in obesity anomalies, this study evaluated the impact of FUNDC1 deficiency in high fat diet (HFD)-induced cardiac anomalies. METHODS AND MATERIALS: WT and FUNDC1-/- mice were fed HFD (45% calorie from fat) or low fat diet (LFD, 10% calorie from fat) for 10 weeks in the presence of the ferroptosis inhibitor liproxstatin-1 (LIP-1, 10 mg/kg, i...

We aimed to examine changes in resting heart rate variability, submaximal exercising heart rate (HRex), countermovement-jump height (CMJ), perceptual wellbeing, and internal load throughout preparatory training in elite women's volleyball players. We also aimed to determine which HRV measurement position (supine vs. seated) provided greater associations with the various markers of training adaptation. Thirteen players (age = 25.8 ± 3.0 years, height = 178.1 ± 6.7 cm, weight = 69.7 ± 7.6 kg) were monitored throughout four successive training camps preceding the Asia Cup...

Atherosclerosis constitutes the pathological basis of life-threatening events, including heart attack and stroke. Midkine is a heparin-binding growth factor and forms a small protein family with pleiotrophin. Under inflammatory or hypoxic conditions, midkine expression is up-regulated. Upon binding to its receptors, midkine can activate multiple signal pathways to regulate cell survival and migration, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and oncogenesis. Circulating midkine levels are significantly increased in patients with essential hypertension, obesity or severe peripheral artery disease...

BACKGROUND: Ventricular assist devices (VADs) are important in the treatment of pediatric heart failure. While paracorporeal pulsatile (PP) devices have historically been used, there has been increased use of paracorporeal continuous (PC) devices. We sought to compare the outcomes of children supported with a PP, PC, or combination of devices. METHODS: Retrospective review (2005-19) of patients <19 years of age from a single center, who received a PC, PP or combination of devices...

Day-to-day change in ambient temperature is associated with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) attacks, but evidence is scarce about the effects of extreme temperatures on the risk of AMI within hours of exposure. This study investigated the hour-level associations between extreme temperatures and AMI occurrence. State-wide data on AMI patients and temperature during winter and summer of 2013-2015 were obtained for Queensland state of Australia. We employed a fixed time-stratified case-crossover analysis to quantify the risk of AMI associated with temperature within 24 h after exposure...

Hypothermia is a valuable clinical tool in mitigating against the consequences of ischemia in surgery, stroke, cardiac arrest and organ preservation. Protection is afforded principally by a reduction of metabolism, manifesting as reduced rates of oxygen uptake, preservation of ATP levels, and a curtailing of ischemic calcium overload. The effects of non-ischemic hypothermic stress are relatively unknown. We sought to investigate the effects of clinically mild-to-severe hypothermia on mitochondrial morphology, oxygen consumption and protein expression in normoxic hearts and cardiac cells...

BACKGROUND: As early life interventions for congenital heart disease (CHD) improve, more patients are living to adulthood and considering pregnancy. Scoring and classification systems predict maternal cardiovascular risk of pregnancy in the context of congenital heart disease but these scoring systems do not assess the potential subsequent risks following pregnancy. Data on long-term cardiac outcomes after pregnancy are unknown for most lesion types. This limits healthcare practitioners' ability to thoroughly counsel patients considering pregnancy in the setting of congenital heart disease...

Adult mammalian tissues such as heart, brain, retina, and the sensory structures of the inner ear do not effectively regenerate, although a latent capacity for regeneration exists at embryonic and perinatal times. We explored the epigenetic basis for this latent regenerative potential in the mouse inner ear and its rapid loss during maturation. In perinatal supporting cells, whose fate is maintained by Notch-mediated lateral inhibition, the hair cell enhancer network is epigenetically primed (H3K4me1) but silenced (active H3K27 de-acetylation and trimethylation)...

OBJECTIVES: The Evolut R FORWARD study confirmed safety and effectivenesss of the Evolut R THV in routine clinical practice out to 1 year. Herein, we report the final 3-year clinical follow up of the FORWARD study. BACKGROUND: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a proven alternative to surgery in elderly patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis. Long-term clinical outcome data with the Evolut R platform are scarce. METHODS: FORWARD is a prospective multicenter observational study that evaluated the Evolut R system in routine clinical practice at 53 centres...

BACKGROUND: Hemadsorption via the cytokine-adsorber CytoSorb® has successfully been used as an adjunctive method in adults, mainly for the purpose of immunomodulation under acute inflammatory conditions such as sepsis and cardiac surgery. In recent years, there has been growing interest in its use in pediatric intensive care to improve outcomes in patients with multiple organ failure following inflammatory illness. Literature on the application of CytoSorb® in neonatal and pediatric patients is scarce, though the implication is that it could be an effective last-resort treatment option in critically ill pediatric patients...