The Effects of Endurance Exercise and Diet on Atherosclerosis in Young and Aged ApoE -/- and Wild-Type Mice

Background: Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death worldwide. The disease development is by and large driven by old age and lifestyle factors, such as diet, physical activity, and smoking. In the present study, we have investigated the effect of exercise and diet on the development of atherosclerosis in young and aged mice. Objective: This study aimed at comparing multiple age-dependent factors that may influence atherosclerosis in a transgenic mouse model. Methods: Young (14 weeks) and aged (49-52 weeks) C57BL/6 wild-type (WT) and atherosclerosis-prone ApoE -/- mice were subjected to physical endurance exercise on a treadmill, with or without a high-fat diet. Five weeks later, the frequencies of regulatory T cells (T REGs ) in lymph nodes were assessed by flow cytometry, plasmatic cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1\u3b2, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, interferon-\u3b3, tumor necrosis factor-\u3b1, and transforming growth factor [TGF]-\u3b2 1 ) levels were determined by Luminex assay. Lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides) and anti-heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) autoantibodies were measured by ELISA. Aortic lesion sizes were assessed by en face imaging. Microarray analysis and qPCR of skeletal muscle gene expression were also performed. Results: Exercise leads to a reduction of aortic lesions in young ApoE -/- and aged WT mice independent of diet. In most groups, this reduction was followed by an increased proportion of T REGs and TGF-\u3b2 1 levels. Moreover, gene expression analysis showed that exercise seems to affect the AMPK signaling pathway. In particular, PGC-1\u3b1 1 mRNA was induced in aged WT mice, whereas it was reduced in young ApoE -/- mice. In addition, GSEA analysis showed a marked reduction in the insulin signaling pathway in aged ApoE -/- mice. Conclusion: Practicing endurance exercise seems to be enough for reducing early aortic lesion formation, independent of diet. However, this was only true in mice with smaller aortic lesions, since mice with large, advanced, complicated atherosclerotic plaques did not show any reduction in lesion size with exercise training

The Effectiveness of Catching Aphids (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Aphidinea) in Moericke and Light Traps

The studies were conducted in an urban greenery area of Poznań, Poland to compare the effectiveness of Moericke colour traps and light traps used to catch aphids. The combined methods yielded 61 aphid species from the area. The light trap caught 51 species, while 44 species were caught using the Moericke trap. Over 4,000 specimens were collected with each method separately

Prolonged antithrombotic therapy in patients after acute coronary syndrome: A critical appraisal of current European society of cardiology guidelines

The increased risk of non-cardiovascular death in patients receiving clopidogrel or prasugrel in comparison with the placebo group in the Dual Antiplatelet Therapy (DAPT) trial in contrast to the decreased risk of cardiovascular death and all-cause death seen in patients treated with low-dose ticagrelor in the EU label population of the PEGASUS-TIMI 54 trial, resulted in inclusion in the 2020 ESC NSTE-ACS guidelines the recommendation for use of clopidogrel or prasugrel only if the patient is not eligible for treatment with ticagrelor. The prevalence of the primary outcome composed of cardiovascular death, stroke, or myocardial infarction was lower in the low-dose rivaroxaban and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) group than in the ASA-alone group in the COMPASS trial. Moreover, all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality rates were lower in the rivaroxaban-plus-ASA group. Comparison of the PEGASUS-TIMI 54 and COMPASS trial patient characteristics clearly shows that each of these treatment strategies should be addressed at different groups of patients. A greater benefit in post-acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients with a high risk of ischemic events and without high bleeding risk may be expected with ASA and ticagrelor 60 mg b.i.d. when the therapy is continued without interruption or with short interruption only after ACS. On the other hand, ASA and rivaroxaban 2.5 mg b.i.d. seems to be a better option when indications for dual antithrombotic therapy (DATT) appear after a longer time from ACS (more than 2 years) and/or from cessation of DAPT (more than 1 year) and in patients with multiple vascular bed atherosclerosis. Thus, both options of DATTs com-plement each other rather than compete, as can be presumed from the recommendations. However, a direct comparison between these strategies should be tested in future clinical trials. (Cardiol J 2020; 27, 6: 661–676). © 2020 Via Medica