Advanced cell-based cardiac repair: How to mend a broken heart

__Abstract__ Cardiovascular disease is still the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for approximately 13 million deaths a year.1 It is estimated that this number will double in the upcoming 15 years due to aging of the population in combination with an increase of risk factors as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia and obesity. Approximately half of the cardiovascular deaths are related to coronary artery diseases.1 Ischemic heart failure (HF) is usually caused by an acute myocardial infarction (AMI). An AMI develops when a coronary artery is occluded, whereupon the myocardium is deprived of nutrients and oxygen, which results in apoptosis of the cardiomyocytes. In the initial phase following an AMI, an inflammatory process occurs to clear the wound from death cell debris and activate reparative pathways.2 This process is followed by the formation of scar tissue. The remaining viable myocardium has to take over the function of the damaged area and compensate for the loss to maintain cardiac output. Eventually the viable myocardium will be unable to do so, whereupon the ventricle dilates, pump function is reduced and the heart starts to fail (figure 1).3,4 The current treatment strategy for an AMI, which consists of immediate revascularization in combination with optimal pharmacological treatment, has resulted in improved survival, even of severe cases. This increased survival comes at the cost of an increased prevalence of heart failure. Therefore the search for new therapies to limit the damage of an AMI or reverse HF is ongoing. New therapeutic strategies are continuously developed and investigated in preclinical and clinical settings. Stem cell therapy is one the therapeutic strategies that has emerged in the field of clinical cardiology in the past decade

Heightened Attentional Capture by Visual Food Stimuli in Anorexia Nervosa

The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that anorexia nervosa (AN) patients are relatively insensitive to the attentional capture of visual food stimuli. Attentional avoidance of food might help AN patients to prevent more elaborate processing of food stimuli and the subsequent generation of craving, which might enable AN patients to maintain their strict diet. Participants were 66 restrictive AN spectrum patients and 55 healthy controls. A single-target rapid serial visual presentation task was used with food and disorder-neutral cues as critical distracter stimuli and disorder-neutral pictures as target stimuli. AN spectrum patients showed diminished task performance when visual food cues were presented in close temporal proximity of the to-be-identified target. In contrast to our hypothesis, results indicate that food cues automatically capture AN spectrum patients' attention. One explanation could be that the enhanced attentional capture of food cues in AN is driven by the relatively high threat value of food items in AN. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. General Scientific Summary The current study tested the hypothesis that people with anorexia nervosa show attentional avoidance of food. This might help them to persist in their restrictive food intake. In contrast with the hypothesis, it was shown that anorexia patients were highly distracted by food pictures compared to healthy controls

Eating disorder-specific rumination moderates the association between attentional bias to high-calorie foods and eating disorder symptoms:Evidence from a reliable free-viewing eye-tracking task

Cognitive theories of eating disorders implicate Attentional Bias (AB) towards food-related information in the development and maintenance of eating disorders. Empirical evidence for this proposal, however, has been inconsistent, and the measures used to examine AB to food-related stimuli typically showed poor reliability. The aim of the current study was twofold. Firstly, we aimed to examine the psychometric properties of a newly devised eye-tracking task for the assessment of AB in the context of eating disorders. Secondly, we examined the role of Eating Disorder-specific (ED-specific) rumination as a potential moderator of the association between attentional bias to food images and eating disorder symptoms. One hundred and three female students were recruited and completed an eye-tracking task comprising 21 matrices that each contained 8 low-calorie and 8 high-calorie food images. Each matrix was presented for 6 s. First fixation location, first fixation latency, and total dwell time were assessed for low and high-calorie food images and the dwell-time based AB measure showed good reliability based on Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's Omega, and split-half method. In addition, the results revealed that the ED-specific rumination plays the hypothesized moderating role. Specifically, while participants with high levels of ED-specific rumination exhibited a positive association between AB to high-calorie foods and eating disorder symptoms, this association was not present among participants with lower levels of ED-specific rumination. The employed free-viewing task seems a reliable measure of AB to food-related stimuli, and the moderation analysis emphasizes the critical role of ED-specific rumination for eating disorder symptoms. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed

Automatic approach tendencies toward high and low caloric food in restrained eaters:Influence of task-relevance and mood

Objective: Although restrained eaters are motivated to control their weight by dieting, they are often unsuccessful in these attempts. Dual process models emphasize the importance of differentiating between controlled and automatic tendencies to approach food. This study investigated the hypothesis that heightened automatic approach tendencies in restrained eaters would be especially prominent in contexts where food is irrelevant for their current tasks. Additionally, we examined the influence of mood on the automatic tendency to approach food as a function of dietary restraint. Methods: An Affective Simon Task-manikin was administered to measure automatic approach tendencies where food is task-irrelevant, and a Stimulus Response Compatibility task (SRC) to measure automatic approach in contexts where food is task-relevant, in 92 female participants varying in dietary restraint. Prior to the task, sad, stressed, neutral, or positive mood was induced. Food intake was measured during a bogus taste task after the computer tasks. Results: Consistent with their diet goals, participants with a strong tendency to restrain their food intake showed a relatively weak approach bias toward food when food was task-relevant (SRC) and this effect was independent of mood. Restrained eaters showed a relatively strong approach bias toward food when food was task-irrelevant in the positive condition and a relatively weak approach in the sad mood. Conclusion: The weak approach bias in contexts where food is task-relevant may help high-restrained eaters to comply with their diet goal. However, the strong approach bias in contexts where food is task-irrelevant and when being in a positive mood may interfere with restrained eaters' goal of restricting food-intake

See yourself through Pink Glasses:an online preventive strategy for young people, based on positive psychology

Positieve psychologie-interventies (PPI's) lijken de psychische gezondheid te kunnen bevorderen. Voor Nederlandse jongeren (14-23 jaar) is echter nog geen effectieve laagdrempelige online PPI beschikbaar. Dit artikel beschrijft en onderzoekt een online zelfhulp-PPI voor deze doelgroep. De zes weken durende interventie bestaat uit wekelijkse modules met korte dagelijkse opdrachten gebaseerd op effectief gebleken strategieën, zoals het tellen van zegeningen, oefeningen gericht op zelfcompassie, uitingen van dankbaarheid, en bewustwording van eigen sterke eigenschappen en mooie lichaamsdelen. De effectiviteit van de interventie werd onderzocht door middel van een kleinschalige studie, waarin eerstejaars vrouwelijke studenten (N = 88, Mleeftijd = 19,19, SD = 1,70) random werden toegewezen aan een interventiegroep of controlegroep die voorafgaand aan de interventie, en na 6, 15 en 25 weken vragenlijsten invulden. Resultaten laten zien dat de interventie op korte termijn zorgt voor een vermindering in negatief affect, algemene psychopathologie en in symptomen van depressie, maar niet op lange termijn. De gevonden effecten zijn klein en niet langer significant wanneer gecorrigeerd wordt voor multipele toetsing. De interventie laat geen effecten zien op positief affect, subjectief welzijn en eetstoornissymptomen. De studie biedt voorzichtige aanwijzingen dat de beschreven interventie een geschikte zelfhulpmodule kan zijn die op korte termijn bijdraagt aan het verminderen van negatief affect, algemene psychopathologie en depressieve klachten. Vervolgonderzoek is geïndiceerd om de effectiviteit van de interventie te toetsen in een grotere steekproef met een verhoogd risico op het ontwikkelen van psychopathologie.Positieve psychologie-interventies (PPI’s) lijken de psychische gezondheidte kunnen bevorderen. Voor Nederlandse jongeren (14-23 jaar) is echternog geen effectieve laagdrempelige online PPI beschikbaar. Dit artikel beschrijften onderzoekt een online zelfhulp-PPI voor deze doelgroep. De zesweken durende interventie bestaat uit wekelijkse modules met korte dagelijkseopdrachten gebaseerd op effectief gebleken strategieën, zoals hettellen van zegeningen, oefeningen gericht op zelfcompassie, uitingen vandankbaarheid, en bewustwording van eigen sterke eigenschappen en mooielichaamsdelen. De effectiviteit van de interventie werd onderzocht doormiddel van een kleinschalige studie, waarin eerstejaars vrouwelijke studenten(N = 88, Mleeftijd = 19,19, SD = 1,70) random werden toegewezen aan eeninterventiegroep of controlegroep die voorafgaand aan de interventie, en na6, 15 en 25 weken vragenlijsten invulden. Resultaten laten zien dat de interventieop korte termijn zorgt voor een vermindering in negatief affect, algemenepsychopathologie en in symptomen van depressie, maar niet op langetermijn. De gevonden effecten zijn klein en niet langer significant wanneergecorrigeerd wordt voor multipele toetsing. De interventie laat geen effectenzien op positief affect, subjectief welzijn en eetstoornissymptomen. Destudie biedt voorzichtige aanwijzingen dat de beschreven interventie eengeschikte zelfhulpmodule kan zijn die op korte termijn bijdraagt aan hetverminderen van negatief affect, algemene psychopathologie en depressieveklachten. Vervolgonderzoek is geïndiceerd om de effectiviteit van deinterventie te toetsen in een grotere steekproef met een verhoogd risico ophet ontwikkelen van psychopathologie

Physical Effects, Safety and Feasibility of Prehabilitation in Patients Awaiting Orthotopic Liver Transplantation, a Systematic Review

Prehabilitation improves surgical outcomes in patients undergoing surgery. However, patients preparing for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) are physically “frail” and suffer from comorbidities that generally hamper physical activity. This systematic review aims to evaluate the physical effects, safety and feasibility of prehabilitation in OLT candidates. Relevant articles were searched, in Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane, Medline and Google Scholar, to December 2021. Studies reporting on specified preoperative exercise programs, including adult OLT candidates with end-stage liver disease, with a model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score ≥12 or Child-Pugh classification B/C, were included. This resulted in 563 potentially eligible studies, out of which eight were selected for inclusion, consisting of 1,094 patients (male sex 68%; mean age 51–61 years; mean MELD score 12-21). Six of the included studies were classified as low-quality by the GRADE system, and three studies had high risk for ineffectiveness of the training program according to the i-CONTENT tool. Significant improvement was observed in VO2 peak, 6-minute walking distance, hand grip strength, liver frailty index and quality of life. Feasibility ranged from an adherence of 38%–90% in unsupervised-to >94% in supervised programs. No serious adverse events were reported. In conclusion, prehabilitation in patients awaiting OLT appears to improve aerobic capacity, and seems feasible and safe. However, larger clinical trials are required to accurately examine the preoperative and postoperative effects of prehabilitation in this specific patient population

Physical Effects, Safety and Feasibility of Prehabilitation in Patients Awaiting Orthotopic Liver Transplantation, a Systematic Review

Prehabilitation improves surgical outcomes in patients undergoing surgery. However, patients preparing for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) are physically “frail” and suffer from comorbidities that generally hamper physical activity. This systematic review aims to evaluate the physical effects, safety and feasibility of prehabilitation in OLT candidates. Relevant articles were searched, in Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane, Medline and Google Scholar, to December 2021. Studies reporting on specified preoperative exercise programs, including adult OLT candidates with end-stage liver disease, with a model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score ≥12 or Child-Pugh classification B/C, were included. This resulted in 563 potentially eligible studies, out of which eight were selected for inclusion, consisting of 1,094 patients (male sex 68%; mean age 51–61 years; mean MELD score 12-21). Six of the included studies were classified as low-quality by the GRADE system, and three studies had high risk for ineffectiveness of the training program according to the i-CONTENT tool. Significant improvement was observed in VO2 peak, 6-minute walking distance, hand grip strength, liver frailty index and quality of life. Feasibility ranged from an adherence of 38%–90% in unsupervised-to &gt;94% in supervised programs. No serious adverse events were reported. In conclusion, prehabilitation in patients awaiting OLT appears to improve aerobic capacity, and seems feasible and safe. However, larger clinical trials are required to accurately examine the preoperative and postoperative effects of prehabilitation in this specific patient population.</p