Stress echo 2020: The international stress echo study in ischemic and non-ischemic heart disease

Abstract Background Stress echocardiography (SE) has an established role in evidence-based guidelines, but recently its breadth and variety of applications have extended well beyond coronary artery disease (CAD). We lack a prospective research study of SE applications, in and beyond CAD, also considering a variety of signs in addition to regional wall motion abnormalities. Methods In a prospective, multicenter, international, observational study design, > 100 certified high-volume SE labs (initially from Italy, Brazil, Hungary, and Serbia) will be networked with an organized system of clinical, laboratory and imaging data collection at the time of physical or pharmacological SE, with structured follow-up information. The study is endorsed by the Italian Society of Cardiovascular Echography and organized in 10 subprojects focusing on: contractile reserve for prediction of cardiac resynchronization or medical therapy response; stress B-lines in heart failure; hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; heart failure with preserved ejection fraction; mitral regurgitation after either transcatheter or surgical aortic valve replacement; outdoor SE in extreme physiology; right ventricular contractile reserve in repaired Tetralogy of Fallot; suspected or initial pulmonary arterial hypertension; coronary flow velocity, left ventricular elastance reserve and B-lines in known or suspected CAD; identification of subclinical familial ..

Sexual dimorphism in cancer.

The incidence of many types of cancer arising in organs with non-reproductive functions is significantly higher in male populations than in female populations, with associated differences in survival. Occupational and/or behavioural factors are well-known underlying determinants. However, cellular and molecular differences between the two sexes are also likely to be important. In this Opinion article, we focus on the complex interplay that sex hormones and sex chromosomes can have in intrinsic control of cancer-initiating cell populations, the tumour microenvironment and systemic determinants of cancer development, such as the immune system and metabolism. A better appreciation of these differences between the two sexes could be of substantial value for cancer prevention as well as treatment

Selective activators of estrogen receptor beta based on the aldoxime and ketoxime scaffolds

Estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) was discovered in 1996 and, since then, there continues to be a growing list of confirmed and potential therapeutic uses for ERβ-selective ligands. There is evidence that an imbalanced expression of ERβ might play a key role in the development and progression of many tumor types. In particular, ERβ shows a general anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effect in various cancers, such as breast, colon, prostate, ovarian and gliomas. Besides, many of the estrogenic beneficial effects in pre-menopausal women, such as neuro- and cardio-protection, seem to be mediated by ERβ-activation. Since ERβ-agonists generally show few side effects, identification of this type of compounds that possess optimized drug-like properties as therapeutic agents can be readily extended to clinical use against the above-mentioned pathologies. Over the past few years, we have reported on new classes of salicylaldoxime-based ERβ-agonists (Salaldox A and B) displaying good selectivity levels in both binding affinity and transcriptional activation assays. We have now developed new ketoxime-based ERβ-ligands, which show an enhanced selectivity in the functional activation of the beta-subtype. These compounds have the potential of being further developed to cover clinical needs that are still unmet by currently available therapies, by means of selective ERβ-activation