Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in patients with acute myocardial infarction

AbstractOBJECTIVEThe purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We also examined the involvement of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), which are a possible source of VEGF in AMI.BACKGROUNDVEGF is a potent endothelial cell–specific mitogen and could affect the outcome of AMI.METHODSThirty patients with AMI were used for this study. Serum and PBMCs were isolated from peripheral blood on days 1, 7, 14 and 21 after the onset of AMI. PBMCs were cultured at a density of 5 × 106cells/ml for 24 h. VEGF levels in serum and the culture media were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using a specific anti-human VEGF antibody.RESULTSSerum VEGF levels elevated gradually after the onset of AMI and reached a peak on day 14. VEGF levels in the culture medium of PBMCs after incubation for 24 h (PBMC-VEGF) were maximally elevated 7 days after the onset. Maximum serum VEGF levels showed significant positive correlations with maximum creatine phosphokinase (CPK) levels (r = +0.70, p < 0.001), but maximum PBMC-VEGF levels did not correlate with maximum CPK levels. Patients showing improvement in left ventricular systolic function during the course of AMI showed significantly higher PBMC-VEGF levels than patients without improvement.CONCLUSIONSThe extent of myocardial damage contributes to the elevation of serum VEGF levels in AMI. VEGF produced by PBMCs may play an important role in the improvement of left ventricular function by promoting angiogenesis and reendothelialization after AMI

Spectral Decomposition of Path Space in Solvable Lattice Model

We give the {\it spectral decomposition} of the path space of the U_q(\hatsl) vertex model with respect to the local energy functions. The result suggests the hidden Yangian module structure on the \hatsl level $l$ integrable modules, which is consistent with the earlier work [1] in the level one case. Also we prove the fermionic character formula of the \hatsl level $l$ integrable representations in consequence.Comment: 27 pages, Plain Tex, epsf.tex, 7 figures; minor revision. identical with the version to be published in Commun.Math.Phy

Iron deposition in autopsied liver on patients receiving long-term TPN

Background Vitamins and minerals are routinely administered by total parenteral nutrition (TPN). However, in Japan, adjustments in iron dosage are difficult because blended mineral preparations are often used. It is therefore unclear whether the iron content is appropriate in cases of long-term TPN. The aim of the study was to assess the influence of iron administration by long-term TPN on iron deposition in post-mortem liver samples isolated from older deceased patients. Methods Liver tissues were collected from post-mortem autopsies of 187 patients over a period of 15 years. Samples were stained with Prussian blue and histologically evaluated from Grade 0–V by at least three different observers. Specimens with positive and negative iron staining were compared, and positive samples were grouped according to the level and distribution of the staining. Post-mortem blood obtained from the subclavian vein during autopsy was also analysed. Samples were collected for the measurement of unsaturated serum iron, serum iron, albumin, prealbumin, hepcidin, and IL-6 concentrations. Results Iron accumulation in the liver was significantly higher in male patients (p = 0.005) with a history of surgery (p = 0.044) or central vein administration of iron (p<0.001). Additionally, the duration of TPN in the iron-positive group was significantly longer than in the iron-negative group (p = 0.038). Serum analysis revealed that unsaturated serum iron was significantly higher in the iron-negative group and that ferritin and serum iron were significantly higher in the iron-positive group. No other statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups. Conclusions Chronic intravenous administration of iron was associated with iron deposition in the liver, even when given the minimum recommended dosage. In long-term TPN patients, the iron dose should therefore be carefully considered

Analysis of Photochemical Reactions of Bis(1,10-phenthroline)-diamineruthenium(II) Complexes by Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

The photo ligand substitution reaction of the bisphenanthroline complex [Ru(phen)2B]2+ (where phen=1,10-phenanthroline, B=ethylenediamine (en), trimethylenediamine (tn), or butanediamine (bn)) in acetonitrile solution was studied using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The photochemical reaction of a diamineruthenium(II) complex has been known to proceed by oxidation of a diamine ligand to an α,α′-diimine by oxidative dehydrogenation. The final reaction product was a solvent substituted complex [Ru(phen)2S2]2+, where S is the solvent acetonitrile. We detected two monodentate complexes, an imine complex [Ru(phen)2(B-2)S]2+ and a nitroso complex [Ru(phen)2(en+14)S]2+ in the ESI-MS analysis of the photoreaction products of [Ru(phen)2B]2+. These monodentate complexes were not observed with a bipyridine complex [Ru(bpy)2B]2+ (where bpy=2,2′-bipyridine, B=en or tn). In addition, photochemical reactivity of the phen complex was found to be higher than that of the bpy complex. The difference in the photochemical reactivity can be explained by the difference in configurational flexibility of the phen and bpy ligands in the ruthenium complexes

Coherent interaction of a-few-electron quantum dot with a terahertz optical resonator in the ultrastrong coupling regime

Hybrid excitations of light and matter, namely, polaritons, in the ultrastrong coupling regime have been intensively investigated to explore novel material functions and realize coherent control of material properties by optical means. However, realization of ultrastrong coupling in a-few-electron systems has been challenging, because the electronic dipole moment decreases with decreasing electron numbers in the system. Here, we fabricate a gate-defined quantum dot (QD) in the vicinity of a gap of a terahertz (THz) split-ring resonator (SRR). By illuminating the system with external THz radiation, the QD shows a current change whose spectrum exhibits anti-crossing behavior between the resonant excitation of the quantized electronic states and the resonance mode of the SRR. Our result indicates that, owing to the field enhancement by the THz SRR, the system enters the ultrastrong coupling regime even when only a few electrons reside in the QD