RATIONALE Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can differentiate into multiple cell types, including cardiomyocytes and have tremendous potential for drug discovery and regenerative therapies. However, it is unknown how much variability exists between differentiated lineages from independent iPS cell lines and, specifically, how similar iPS cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPS-CMs) are to embryonic...

Human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells hold great promise for cardiovascular research and therapeutic applications, but the ability of human iPS cells to differentiate into functional cardiomyocytes has not yet been demonstrated. The aim of this study was to characterize the cardiac differentiation potential of human iPS cells generated using OCT4, SOX2, NANOG, and LIN28 transgenes compared...

The present essay reviews a series of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies conducted in parallel in humans and awake monkeys, concentrating on the intraparietal sulcus (IPS). MR responses to a range of visual stimuli indicate that the human IPS contains more functional regions along its anterior-posterior extent than are known in the monkey. Human IPS includes four motion sensit...

FTY720 is a new and effective immunosuppressive agent, which produces peripheral blood lymphopenia through a lymphocyte homing effect. We investigated the relationship between the dose of FTY720 or blood concentration (pharmacokinetics, PK) and peripheral lymphopenia (pharmacodynamics, PD) in 23 kidney transplant recipients randomized to receive FTY720 (0.25-2.5 mg/day) or mofetil mycophenolate...

OBJECTIVE We aimed to evaluate the use of dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) at 3.0 T for differentiating the benign from malignant soft tissue tumors. Also we aimed to assess whether the shorter length of DCE-MRI protocols are adequate, and to evaluate the effect of temporal resolution. MATERIALS AND METHODS Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, at...

Volatile anaesthetics may modulate cerebrovascular resistance, but their direct actions on human cerebral arteries are unknown. In the present study, we have evaluated the effects of halothane and isoflurane at different MAC (0.4, 1.0 and 2.0) on contractions induced by depolarization (potassium) or receptor stimulation (prostaglandin F2 alpha) in isolated ring segments of human pial arteries. ...

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether caffeine modifies the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of (S)-ketoprofen following oral administration in a gout-type pain model. 3.2 mg/kg of (S)-ketoprofen alone and combined with 17.8 mg/kg of caffeine were administered to Wistar rats and plasma levels were determined between 0.5 and 24.0 h. Additionally, antinociception was eval...

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether chronic administration of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) following angioplasty in a dog model of atherosclerotic iliac stenosis may restore endothelium function and prevent restenosis (RS). In total, 40 dogs with atherosclerotic stenosis of the right iliac arteries were used in the study. A total of 20 dogs underwent histological ex...

BACKGROUND Myocardial fiber strain is directly related to left ventricular (LV) contractility. Strain rate can be estimated as the spatial derivative of velocities (dV/ds) obtained by tissue Doppler echocardiography (TDE). The purposes of the study were (1) to determine whether TDE-derived strain rate may be used as a noninvasive, quantitative index of contractility and (2) to compare the relat...

The end-systolic pressure-volume relationship has been used as a load-independent measure of ventricular pump performance. Since comparisons of load between ventricles of different size and thickness may be more accurately made with measurements of wall stress than with those of pressure, the end-systolic stress-volume relationship at one or more levels of end-systolic stress has been used to e...