Bicarbonate transport (BT) has been previously shown to participate in apoptosis induced by various stress factors. However, the precise role of BT in ischaemia-induced apoptosis is still unknown. To investigate this subject, rat coronary endothelial cells (EC) were exposed to simulated ischaemia (glucose free anoxia at Ph 6.4) for 2 hrs and cells undergoing apoptosis were visualized by nuclear...

OBJECTIVE The dynamics of ventricular fibrillation (VF) in the presence of heart failure (HF) are different from those in the normal heart. This has been attributed solely to HF-induced electrophysiologic remodelling. We hypothesized that acute stretch and ischaemia, which are normally present during VF, might contribute significantly to the altered VF dynamics in HF. METHODS HF was induced i...

AIMS Coronary plaque characteristics are associated with ischaemia. Differences in plaque volumes and composition may explain the discordance between coronary stenosis severity and ischaemia. We evaluated the association between coronary stenosis severity, plaque characteristics, coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA)-derived fractional flow reserve (FFRCT), and lesion-specific ischaemi...

AIMS Although peak may have higher sensitivity than post-treadmill exercise echocardiography (EE) for the detection of coronary artery disease (CAD), its prognostic value remains unknown. We sought to assess the relative values of peak and post-EE for predicting outcome in patients with known/suspected CAD. METHODS AND RESULTS We studied 2947 patients who underwent EE. Wall motion score index...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to assess whether the cardioprotective effect of ischaemic preconditioning (IPC) on endothelial function in coronary arteries and myocardial function is affected in the streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat heart. METHODS Isolated hearts, perfused under constant flow conditions, were exposed to 30 min of partial ischaemia (flow rate 1 ml min-1) followed by 20...

A retrospective study was made of 50 consecutive patients with spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage for which no cause was found, looking for evidence of delayed cerebral ischaemia particularly during the first 2 weeks after the bleed. Twenty-three patients had blood visible on the CT scan but only 4-6% developed delayed ischaemia, all of whom made a good recovery. The low incidence of this com...

Extracellular adenosine is dramatically increased during cerebral ischaemia and is considered to be neuroprotective due to its inhibitory effect on synaptic transmission mediated by the adenosine A1 receptor (A1R). We investigated the importance of the A1R in a mouse model of global ischaemia and in a murine hippocampal slice culture model of in vitro ischaemia, using mice with the A1R gene del...

Anginal symptoms alone are not a reliable guide to the extent of patients' ischaemic heart disease and silent episodes of ischaemia are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. It is becoming apparent that effective treatment of ischaemia will have to target the pattern of ischaemic events seen in patients' daily lives and treatment strategies are now being developed which aim to elim...