0000000000004676
AUTHOR
Waltraut Ibe
Cardiomyocyte apoptosis is related to left ventricular dysfunction and remodelling in dilated cardiomyopathy, but is not affected by growth hormone treatment.
Background and aims Cardiomyocyte apoptosis (CA) is a common feature of end-stage heart failure. We examined whether CA is associated with cardiac dysfunction and remodelling in heart failure due to dilated cardiomyopathy and studied the effect of human growth hormone (hGH) on CA. Methods and results We studied 38 patients, included in a phase III multi-center, randomised, double-blind and placebo-controlled trial of biosynthetic hGH treatment in dilated cardiomyopathy, at baseline and after 14 weeks treatment. Twenty-six patients received hGH and 12 received placebo. CA was quantified in endomyocardial biopsies using the TUNEL assay. CA correlated with left ventricular size (r=0.43, p=0.00…
Involvement of PKC and NF-κB in Nitric Oxide Induced Apoptosis in Human Coronary Artery Smooth Muscle Cells
Apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells is critically involved in progression of atherosclerosis and may prevent intimal hyperplasia in restenosis and vascular remodeling. Nitric oxide (NO) is known to induce apoptosis, but the signaling pathways still remain unclear. We investigated p53 accumulation, protein kinase C (PKC) activation and nuclear transcription factor (NF-kappaB) binding activity as possible signaling mechanisms of NO-induced apoptosis. Apoptosis was induced dose-dependently with the NO-donors sodiumnitroprusside (SNP: 232+/-48%) and SIN-1 (241+/-90% of actinomycin D induced apoptosis; means +/- SEM, *por =0.05 vs. control) in HSMC. Inhibition of PKC significantly attenuat…
A NONHEALING ULCER DIAGNOSED AS EXTRAMEDULLARY PLASMOCYTOMA OF THE LIMB EIGHT YEARS AFTER CARDIAC TRANSPLANTATION
A 63-year-old man was hospitalized for a nonhealing ulcer of the left lower leg that appeared 8 years after orthotopic cardiac transplantation under immunosuppressive therapy including cyclosporine. Serum protein electrophoresis, immunofixation, and urinalysis revealed a monoclonal gammopathy IgG kappa. The final diagnosis of an extramedullary plasmocytoma was made by biopsy of the ulcer, which showed formations of plasmablastic cells. We report a rare case of extramedullary plasmocytoma as a posttransplantational malignancy.
NO Reduces PMN Adhesion to Human Vascular Endothelial Cells Due to Downregulation of ICAM-1 mRNA and Surface Expression
Reperfusion damage is largely due to the adherence of polymorphonuclear leukocytes to the endothelium initiated by adhesion molecule upregulation. The reduced endothelial nitric oxide release during ischemia may be involved in the upregulation of intercellular adhesion molecule 1. In this study, we tested if nitric oxide donors suppress polymorphonuclear leukocyte adherence to activated endothelial cells by inhibition of the intercellular adhesion molecule 1 surface expression. Confluent human umbilical vein endothelial cells were stimulated with tumor necrosis factor alpha (300 U/mL) after preincubation with increasing concentrations of the nitric oxide donors CAS 1609 (0.005-5 mM/L) and 3…