Myocardial production and release of MCP-1 and SDF-1 following myocardial infarction: differences between mice and man

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Stem cell homing to the heart is mediated by the release of chemo-attractant cytokines. Stromal derived factor -1 alpha (SDF-1a) and monocyte chemotactic factor 1(MCP-1) are detectable in peripheral blood after myocardial infarction (MI). It remains unknown if they are produced by, and released from, the heart in order to attract stem cells to repair the damaged myocardium.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Murine hearts were studied for expression of MCP-1 and SDF-1a at day 3 and day 28 following myocardial infarction to determine whether production is increased following MI. In addition, we studied the coronary artery and coronary sinus (venous) blood from patients with normal coronary arteries, stable coronary artery disease (CAD), unstable angina and MI to determine whether these cytokines are released from the heart into the systemic circulation following MI.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Both MCP-1 and SDF-1a are constitutively produced and released by the heart. MCP-1 mRNA is upregulated following murine experimental MI, but SDF-1a is suppressed. There is less release of SDF-1a into the systemic circulation in patients with all stages of CAD including MI, mimicking the animal model. However MCP-1 release from the human heart following MI is also suppressed, which is the exact opposite of the animal model.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>SDF-1a and MCP-1 release from the human heart are suppressed following MI. In the case of SDF-1a, the animal model appropriately reflects the human situation. However, for MCP-1 the animal model is the exact opposite of the human condition. Human observational studies like this one are paramount in guiding translation from experimental studies to clinical trials.</p

Child Medical & Health Advisor (CMHA) / Anbarasan Palasubramaniam

The Child Medical & Health Advisor (CMHA) is a stand-alone system that incorporates the design structure of an expert system. It has a knowledge base, an inference engine and the interface. The system is developed to serve the purpose as a system that provides information on child health issues. These issues are child illness, sickness care, treatment and home care. The system also provides a diagnostic capabilities to the user. It's able to provide diagnosis up to 30 diseases. The system is designed using forward chaining control strategy and having rules as its knowledge base. The knowledge was acquired from medical books on child health and the system was developed using Visual Basic v6.0. This system could be installed in a personal computer using windows operating software version 98 and above

Dual-Targeted Theranostic Delivery of miRs Arrests Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Development

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is an often deadly disease without medical, non-invasive treatment options. The upregulation of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) on aortic endothelium provides an early target epitope for a novel biotechnological theranostic approach. MicroRNA-126 was used as a therapeutic agent, based on its capability to downregulate VCAM-1 expression in endothelial cells and thereby reduces leukocyte adhesion and exerts anti-inflammatory effects. Ultrasound microbubbles were chosen as carriers, allowing both molecular imaging as well as targeted therapy of AAA. Microbubbles were coupled with a VCAM-1-targeted single-chain antibody (scFvmVCAM-1) and a microRNA-126 mimic (M126) constituting theranostic microbubbles (TargMB-M126). TargMB-M126 downregulates VCAM-1 expression in vitro and in an in vivo acute inflammatory murine model. Most importantly, using TargMB-M126 and ultrasound-guided burst delivery of M126, the development of AAA in an angiotensin-II-induced mouse model can be prevented. Overall, we describe a unique biotechnological theranostic approach with the potential for early diagnosis and long-sought-after medical therapy of AAA