Background Characterizing myocardial mechanical properties is valuable in understanding cardiomyopathy with and without clinical heart failure (HF). We sought to examine the incremental value of strain assessment in patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction without HF (LVSD), HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), LV diastolic dysfunction without HF (LVDD) and HF with preserved EF...

BACKGROUND We evaluated the effects of endurance exercise and a high-fat diet on insulin resistance and ceramide contents of skeletal muscle in Sprague-Dawley rats. METHODS We randomly divided 32 rats into four groups: control (CON, n = 8), high fat diet (HF, n = 8), exercise (Ex, 24 m/min for 2 hours, 5 days/wk, n = 8), HF/Ex (n = 8). After 4-week treatments, plasma lipid profiles, glucose a...

Maternal high-fat (HF) diet has long-term consequences on the metabolic phenotype of the offspring. Here, we determined the effects of postweaning exercise in offspring of rat dams fed HF diet during gestation and lactation. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were maintained on chow or HF diet throughout gestation and lactation. All pups were weaned onto chow diet on postnatal day (PND) 21. At 4 wk o...

[1] The accuracy of HF radar measurement in the Tsushima Strait is investigated. A comparison between radial velocities measured by HF radar and acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP), which provides an upper bound of HF radar measurement error, shows that the root-mean-square (RMS) velocity difference obtained from the principal component analysis is 6.62 11.3 cm s . A comparison of velociti...

AIMS The effect of statins on risk of heart failure (HF) hospitalization and HF death remains uncertain. We aimed to establish whether statins reduce major HF events. METHODS AND RESULTS We searched Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for randomized controlled endpoint statin trials from 1994 to 2014. Collaborating trialists provided unpublished data from a...

Changes in dietary macronutrient composition and/or central nervous system neuronal activity can underlie obesity and disturbed fuel homeostasis. We examined whether switching rats from a diet with high carbohydrate content (HC; i.e., regular chow) to diets with either high fat (HF) or high fat/high protein content at the expense of carbohydrates (LC-HF-HP) causes differential effects on body w...

Symptoms and compromised quality of life prevail throughout the course of heart failure (HF) and thus should be specifically addressed with palliative measures. Palliative care for HF should be integrated into comprehensive HF care, just as evidence-based HF care should be included in end-of-life care for HF patients. The neurohormonal and catabolic derangements in HF are at the base of HF symp...

BACKGROUND Circulating adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (FABP4) levels are considered to be a link between obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, and cardiovascular (CV) diseases. In vitro, FABP4 has exhibited cardiodepressant activity by suppressing cardiomyocyte contraction. We have explored the relationship between FABP4 and the N-terminal fragment of pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-p...

BACKGROUND Heart failure (HF) patients with higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) survive longer. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a frequent comorbidity in HF. We evaluated the prognostic significance of low SBP according to DM in acute HF. METHODS We prospectively recruited 589 patients admitted with acute HF. DM was defined according to the 2011 American Diabetes Association recommendations. Patie...