0000000001129954
AUTHOR
Pitruzzella Alessandro
Tissue and circulating miRNAs as biomarkers in bicuspid aortic valve disease.
Recent data suggested that bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) with left-right (L-R), right-non coronary (R-NC) and left-non coronary (L-NC) cusp fusion represents distinct pathological entities1. The rate of aortic enlargement varies according to the pattern of cusps fusion, with faster rates of aortic sinus and ascending aortic dilatation associated with the L-R compared to R-NC and L-NC morphology. In our study, we sought to investigate the histological fea-tures of aneurysms associated to different BAV phenotypes and we looked for specific mi-croRNAs (miRNA) as biomarkers of medial degeneration severity in order to optimize surgi-cal indication and prevent catastrophic complications such as rup…
Mild Aerobic Exercise Training Hardly Affects the Diaphragm of mdx Mice
In the mdx mice model of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), mild endurance exercise training positively affected limb skeletal muscles, whereas few and controversial data exist on the effects of training on the diaphragm. The diaphragm was examined in mdx (C57BL/10ScSn-Dmdmdx) and wild-type (WT, C57BL/10ScSc) mice under sedentary conditions (mdx-SD, WT-SD) and during mild exercise training (mdx-EX, WT-EX). At baseline, and after 30 and 45 days (training: 5 d/wk for 6 weeks), diaphragm muscle morphology and Cx39 protein were assessed. In addition, tissue levels of the chaperonins Hsp60 and Hsp70 and the p65 subunit of nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB) were measured in diaphragm, gastrocnemius, and q…