The term “fibroblast” designates a highly heterogenous group of cells that exhibit distinct differentiated phenotypes in different organs.1 The study of fibroblast and myofibroblast biology in specific organs is an important but relatively understudied area, especially in the heart. Recent novel data indicate that ventricular fibroblast activation and cardiac fibrosis are primary events in vent...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether patients with idiopathic and symptomatic RBD were sleepier than controls, and if sleepiness in idiopathic RBD predicted earlier conversion to Parkinson disease. METHODS The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and its determinants were compared at the time of a video-polysomnography for an RBD diagnosis in patients with idiopathic RBD, in patients with Parkinson disea...

INTRODUCTION Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is strongly associated with synucleinopathies. In 2012, we reported an increased risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Parkinson disease (PD) in cognitively normal Olmsted County, Minnesota, residents, aged 70 to 89 years with probable RBD. Here, we examine their progression to dementia and other neurodegenerative phenotypes. ...

BACKGROUND The evaluation of effective disease-modifying therapies for neurodegenerative disorders relies on objective and accurate measures of progression in at-risk individuals. Here we used a computational approach to identify a functional brain network associated with the progression of preclinical Huntington's disease (HD). METHODS Twelve premanifest HD mutation carriers were scanned wit...

BACKGROUND Frailty is a clinical phenotype that is associated with adverse health outcomes. Since frail patients may be more prone for adverse drug events and about 15-20 % of commonly prescribed drugs are metabolized by CYP2D6, we hypothesized that CYP2D6 metabolism is decreased in frail patients compared with healthy subjects. METHODS The (13)C-dextromethorphan breath test (DM-BT) was used ...

Objective(s): Alteration in drug metabolism is very likely in diabetes mellitus. This study assessed changes in CYP2C19 enzymatic activity in the liver using omeprazole as a probe in the animal model of type II diabetes (T2DM) before and after treatment with metformin and cinnamon.Materials and Methods: Twenty-eight male Wistar rats were...

The cardiac stroma provides tensile strength binding muscle cells and serves as structural scaffolding in the presence of continuous cyclic changes in mechanical tension. The principal stromal cell types are fibroblasts, but this designation belies their diversity and topographical differentiation from organ to organ, including the heart.1 For example, skin fibroblasts and vascular smooth muscl...

The cardiac stroma provides tensile strength binding muscle cells and serves as structural scaffolding in the presence of continuous cyclic changes in mechanical tension. The principal stromal cell types are fibroblasts, but this designation belies their diversity and topographical differentiation from organ to organ, including the heart.1 For example, skin fibroblasts and vascular smooth muscl...

Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy is a common cause of heart failure. Despite advances in treatment, this disease has a mean survival time of 5 years (1). Currently, the only effective treatment for end-stage dilated cardiomyopathy is heart transplantation. However, additional, more conservative treatment options are being explored to prolong survival until an organ becomes available or even to...

It is widely accepted that both comedications and genetic factors may contribute to variation of drug response. Clinical decision support systems increasingly consider recommendations on drug–drug interactions (DDIs) during electronic prescribing, some guidelines drug–gene-interactions (DGI) have been implemented in labels. Potentially synergistically or antagonistically acting drug-drug-gene (...