Search results for "artery"

Short-term Changes in Gal 3 Circulating Levels After Acute Myocardial Infarction.

2016

Background and Aims Galectin 3 (Gal 3) is a β-galactoside-binding lectin known to play a part in inflammation, adverse remodeling and fibrosis. Gal 3 seems to be linked to atherogenesis and Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), but less is known about the relationship between Gal 3 and acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The aim of the present study is to assess circulating levels of Gal 3 after AMI and to evaluate short-term changes of the biomarker within 5 days from the acute event. Methods Two hundred fifteen confirmed AMI patients (125 STEMI, M/F = 2.8; mean age: 65.4 ± 13.8 years) were enrolled in the present study; two blood samples were collected from each patient: first, within 1 h from ad…

Triptans and CGRP blockade - impact on the cranial vasculature.

2017

Abstract The trigeminovascular system plays a key role in the pathophysiology of migraine. The activation of the trigeminovascular system causes release of various neurotransmitters and neuropeptides, including serotonin and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), which modulate pain transmission and vascular tone. Thirty years after discovery of agonists for serotonin 5-HT1B and 5-HT1D receptors (triptans) and less than fifteen after the proof of concept of the gepant class of CGRP receptor antagonists, we are still a long way from understanding their precise site and mode of action in migraine. The effect on cranial vasculature is relevant, because all specific anti-migraine drugs and mig…

2016

AbstractShort posterior ciliary arteries (sPCA) provide the major blood supply to the optic nerve head. Emerging evidence has linked structural and functional anomalies of sPCA to the pathogenesis of several ocular disorders that cause varying degrees of visual loss, particularly anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy and glaucoma. Although the functional relevance of this vascular bed is well-recognized, the proteome of sPCA remains uncharacterized. Since the porcine ocular system closely resembles that of the human’s and is increasingly employed in translational ophthalmic research, this study characterized the proteome of porcine sPCA employing the mass spectrometry-based proteomics strateg…

An imbalance between specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators and pro-inflammatory leukotrienes promotes instability of atherosclerotic plaques

2016

Chronic unresolved inflammation plays a causal role in the development of advanced atherosclerosis, but the mechanisms that prevent resolution in atherosclerosis remain unclear. Here, we use targeted mass spectrometry to identify specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators (SPM) in histologically-defined stable and vulnerable regions of human carotid atherosclerotic plaques. The levels of SPMs, particularly resolvin D1 (RvD1), and the ratio of SPMs to pro-inflammatory leukotriene B4 (LTB4), are significantly decreased in the vulnerable regions. SPMs are also decreased in advanced plaques of fat-fed Ldlr−/− mice. Administration of RvD1 to these mice during plaque progression restores the RvD1:…

Hepatoceliac Lymph Node Involvement in Advanced Ovarian Cancer Patients: Prognostic Role and Clinical Considerations.

2017

Background: The study aimed too investigate the rate of hepatoceliac lymph node (HCLN) involvement, as well as its association with clinicopathologic features, together with morbidity of HCLN resection and the prognostic impact of metastatic HCLN status on patients with advanced ovarian cancer (OC) undergoing cytoreductive surgery. Methods: All consecutive patients with stages 3c to 4 epithelial OC who underwent HCLN surgery from January 2010 to September 2016 were analyzed for surgical procedures, pathology, and oncologic outcomes. Results: During the study period, 85 patients underwent HCLN resection. Absence of visible tumor at the end of surgery was documented for 73 of the patients (85…

Red Blood Cell Distribution Width, Vascular Aging Biomarkers, and Endothelial Progenitor Cells for Predicting Vascular Aging and Diagnosing/Prognosin…

2018

The emerging evidence emphasizes Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) as optimal prognostic biomarker for cardiovascular diseases. However, several clinical biases impede its clinical application. Recent recommendations suggest combining RDW with other biomarkers. Accordingly, we propose evaluating the well-recognized biomarkers of vascular aging (i.e., the leukocyte telomere length and telomerase activity, and reduced levels of endothelial progenitor cells [EPCs]) with RDW, for predicting the risk for vascular aging and onset and prognosis of age-related degenerative arterial diseases, such as sporadic ascending aorta aneurysm (AAA), characterized to have an increased incidence in old p…

Toll-like receptor-4 signaling pathway in aorta aging and diseases: “its double nature”

2017

Recent advances in the field of innate immunity have revealed a complex role of innate immune signaling pathways in both tissue homeostasis and disease. Among them, the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) pathways has been linked to various pathophysiological conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). This has been interrogated by developing multiple laboratory tools that have shown in animal models and clinical conditions, the involvement of the TLR-4 signaling pathway in the pathophysiology of different CVDs, such as atherosclerosis, ischemic heart disease, heart failure, ischemia-reperfusion injury and aorta aneurysm. Among these, aorta aneurysm, a very complex pathological condition w…

Activation of α1A-adrenoceptors desensitizes the rat aorta response to phenylephrine through a neuronal NOS pathway, a mechanism lost with ageing

2017

Background and purpose A NO-mediated desensitization of vasoconstrictor responses evoked by stimulation of α1 -adrenoceptors has been reported in different vessels. We investigated the involvement of each α1 -adrenoceptor subtype and constitutive NOS isoforms and the influence of ageing and hypertension on this process. Experimental approach Wistar and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), 16, 32, 52 and 72 weeks-old, were used to evaluate the desensitization process. Expression of α1 -adrenoceptor subtypes, endothelial NOS (eNOS) and neuronal NOS (nNOS) were determined in rat aorta and left ventricle (LV). Expression levels were also evaluated in LV of a group of heart failure patients wi…

Restoration of perivascular adipose tissue function in diet-induced obese mice without changing bodyweight

2017

Background and Purpose We have recently shown that a reduced function of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in the perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) contributes crucially to obesity-induced vascular dysfunction in mice. The current study was conducted to test the hypothesis that vascular dysfunction in obesity can be reversed by in vivo improvement of PVAT eNOS activity. Experimental Approach Male C57BL/6 J mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 22 weeks to induce obesity. During the last 4 weeks of HFD feeding, the obese mice were treated orally with the standardized Crataegus extract WS® 1442 which has been shown previously to improve eNOS activity. Key Results Diet-induced obesit…

Prognostic use of soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 and placental growth factor in patients with coronary artery disease.

2015

Background: Intention of the study is to assess the cardiovascular mortality of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) with the biomarkers of angiogenesis PlGF and its endogenous inhibitor sFlt-1. Methods: The cohort included n = 1848 patients with CAD and 282 subjects without CAD. In 85 patients cardiovascular mortality, as combination of fatal myocardial infarction or any cardiac death, during a median follow-up duration of 3.9 years was reported. Results: In Kaplan–Meier curve analysis PlGF in rising thirds was not predictive regarding outcome (p = 0.54), the same was shown for sFlt-1 (p = 0.44). Cox regression for the fully adjusted model provided a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.8 (p = 0…