BACKGROUND Pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines play a major role in the development of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This paper tests the hypothesis that atorvastatin may attenuate the severity of myocardial ischemic injury by restoring the balance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory mediators. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty adult male albino rats were used. Experimental AMI was...

Adiponectin is intimately involved in the regulation of insulin sensitivity, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, and cardiovascular functions. The circulating concentration of adiponectin is decreased in obesity and Type 2 diabetes. The present study attempts to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the regulation of adiponectin secretion and expression in rat primary adipocytes. The beta-agonist,...

The protein phosphatase inhibitor-1 (PPI-1) inhibits phosphatase type-1 (PP1) only when phosphorylated by protein kinase A and could play a pivotal role in the phosphorylation/dephosphorylation balance. Rat cardiac PPI-1 was cloned by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, expressed in Eschericia coli, evaluated in phosphatase assays, and used to generate an antiserum. An adenovirus w...

The effect of external application of synthetic atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) on calcium current (ICa) was studied in single cells isolated from frog ventricle using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. Rat atriopeptin III (APIII) and 3-28 ANF rat (rANF) had negligible effects on basal ICa at concentrations up to 200 nM. However, when ICa was increased by isoprenaline, both peptides had sign...

AIMS Congenital long QT syndromes (LQTSs) are associated with prolonged ventricular repolarization and sudden cardiac death. Limitations to existing clinical therapeutic management strategies prompted us to develop a novel human in vitro drug-evaluation system for LQTS type 2 (LQT2) that will complement the existing in vitro and in vivo models. METHODS AND RESULTS Skin fibroblasts from a pati...

We present an integrated platform comprised of a biomimetic substrate and physiologically aligned human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (CMs) with optical detection and algorithms to monitor subtle changes in cardiac properties under various conditions. In the native heart, anisotropic tissue structures facilitate important concerted mechanical contraction and electrical propagatio...

OBJECTIVE The major immediate-early cytomegalovirus enhancer/promoter (MIECMV), widely used in cardiovascular gene therapy, contains several positively regulatory cAMP response elements (CRE). Catecholamine signaling via beta-adrenoceptors might increase transgene expression from MIECMV, and if so, beta-blockers may have a detrimental effect on the efficacy of clinical cardiovascular gene thera...

Intravenous infusions of phenylephrine, noradrenaline, adrenaline, and isoprenaline were given to healthy human volunteers after five to seven days on phenelzine, tranylcypromine, or imipramine, and cardiovascular responses were compared with those observed under control conditions. With monoamine oxidase inhibitors there was a 2-2(1/2) fold potentiation of the pressor effect of phenylephrine, ...

Infarct-like lesion induced by isoprenaline is a well-known model to study myocardial infarction (MI). Vitamin D has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Recent studies highlighted cross talk between vitamin D and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ). The present study was designed to investigate the effect of pretreatment with vitamin D on the isop...

Considering that the conjunctiva and iris are developed from different embryological origins, an analysis of any possible differences in the density and type of adrenoceptors between these two areas was tried. An experimental study on male adult Wistar rats was performed. Six groups (six rats per group) were used by recording the iris and conjunctival vessels after eye instillations with soluti...