Effect of helium pre- or postconditioning on signal transduction kinases in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery

Background: The noble gas helium induces pre- and postconditioning in animals and humans. Volatile anesthetics induce cardioprotection in humans undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. We hypothesized that helium induces pre-and postconditioning in CABG-patients, affecting signaling molecules protein kinase C-epsilon (PKC-epsilon), p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK), extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK-1/2) and heat shock protein 27 (HSP-27) within cardiac tissue, and reducing postoperative troponin levels. Methods: After ethical approval and informed consent, 125 elective patients undergoing CABG surgery were randomised into this prospective, placebo controlled, investigator blinded, parallel arm single-centre study. Helium preconditioning (3 x 5 min of 70 % helium and 30 % oxygen) was applied before aortic cross clamping; postconditioning (15 min of helium) was applied before release of the aortic cross clamp. Signaling molecules were measured in right atrial appendix specimens. Troponin-T was measured at 4, 12, 24 and 48 h postoperatively. Results: Baseline characteristics of all groups were similar. Helium preconditioning did not significantly alter the primary outcome (molecular levels of kinases PKC-e and HSP-27, ratio of activated p38 MAPK or ERK 1/2). Postoperative troponin T was 11 arbitrary units [5, 31; area-under-the-curve (interquartile range)] for controls, and no statistically significant changes were observed after helium preconditioning [He-pre: 11 (6, 18)], helium postconditioning [He-post: 11 (8, 15)], helium pre-and postconditioning [He-PP: 14 (6, 20)] and after sevoflurane preconditioning [APC: 12 (8, 24), p = 0.13]. No adverse effects related to study treatment were observed in this study. Conclusions: No effect was observed of helium preconditioning, postconditioning or the combination thereof on activation of p38 MAPK, ERK 1/2 or levels of HSP27 and PKC-e in the human heart. Helium pre-and postconditioning did not affect postoperative troponin release in patients undergoing CABG surgery

Helium ventilation for treatment of post-cardiac arrest syndrome:A safety and feasibility study

AbstractAimBesides supportive care, the only recommended treatment for comatose patients after cardiac arrest is target temperature management. Helium reduces ischaemic injury in animal models, and might ameliorate neurological injury in patients after cardiac arrest. As no studies exist on the use of helium in patients after cardiac arrest we investigated whether this is safe and feasible.MethodsThe study was an open-label single arm intervention study in a mixed-bed academic intensive care unit. We included 25 patients admitted after circulatory arrest, with a presenting rhythm of ventricular fibrillation or pulseless tachycardia, return of spontaneous circulation within 30min and who were treated with hypothermia. Helium was administrated in a 1:1 mix with oxygen for 3h. A safety committee reviewed all ventilation problems, complications and causes of mortality.ResultsHelium ventilation was started 4:59±0:52 (mean±SD)h after circulatory arrest. In one patient, helium ventilation was discontinued prematurely due to oxygenation problems. This was caused by pre-existing pulmonary oedema, and imposed limitations to PEEP and FiO2 by the study protocol, rather than the use of helium ventilation. Sixteen (64%) patients had a favourable neurological outcome.ConclusionsWe found that helium ventilation is feasible and can be used safely in patients treated with hypothermia after cardiac arrest. No adverse events related to the use of helium occurred during the three hours of administration

Coherent Coupling of a Diamond Tin-Vacancy Center to a Tunable Open Microcavity

Efficient coupling of optically active qubits to optical cavities is a key challenge for solid-state-based quantum optics experiments and future quantum technologies. Here we present a quantum photonic interface based on a single Tin-Vacancy center in a micrometer-thin diamond membrane coupled to a tunable open microcavity. We use the full tunability of the microcavity to selectively address individual Tin-Vacancy centers within the cavity mode volume. Purcell enhancement of the Tin-Vacancy center optical transition is evidenced both by optical excited state lifetime reduction and by optical linewidth broadening. As the emitter selectively reflects the single-photon component of the incident light, the coupled emitter-cavity system exhibits strong quantum nonlinear behavior. On resonance, we observe a transmission dip of 50 % for low incident photon number per Purcell-reduced excited state lifetime, while the dip disappears as the emitter is saturated with higher photon number. Moreover, we demonstrate that the emitter strongly modifies the photon statistics of the transmitted light by observing photon bunching. This work establishes a versatile and tunable platform for advanced quantum optics experiments and proof-of-principle demonstrations towards quantum networking with solid-state qubits.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figure

Nonlinear Quantum Photonics with a Tin-Vacancy Center Coupled to a One-Dimensional Diamond Waveguide

Color-centers integrated with nanophotonic devices have emerged as a compelling platform for quantum science and technology. Here we integrate tin-vacancy centers in a diamond waveguide and investigate the interaction with light at the single-photon level. We observe single-emitter induced extinction of the transmitted light up to 25% and measure the nonlinear effect on the photon statistics. Furthermore, we demonstrate fully tunable interference between the reflected single-photon field and laser light back-scattered at the fiber end and show the corresponding controlled change between bunched and anti-bunched photon statistics in the reflected field