Alterations in vascular function in primary aldosteronism - a cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging study

Introduction: Excess aldosterone is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Aldosterone has a permissive effect on vascular fibrosis. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) allows study of vascular function by measuring aortic distensibility. We compared aortic distensibility in primary aldosteronism (PA), essential hypertension (EH) and normal controls and explored the relationship between aortic distensibility and pulse wave velocity (PWV).<p></p> Methods: We studied PA (n=14) and EH (n=33) subjects and age-matched healthy controls (n=17) with CMR, including measurement of aortic distensibility, and measured PWV using applanation tonometry. At recruitment, PA and EH patients had similar blood pressure and left ventricular mass.<p></p> Results: Subjects with PA had significantly lower aortic distensibilty and higher PWV compared to EH and healthy controls. These changes were independent of other factors associated with reduced aortic distensibility, including aging. There was a significant relationship between increasing aortic stiffness and age in keeping with physical and vascular aging. As expected, aortic distensibility and PWV were closely correlated.<p></p> Conclusion: These results demonstrate that PA patients display increased arterial stiffness compared to EH, independent of vascular aging. The implication is that aldosterone invokes functional impairment of arterial function. The long-term implications of arterial stiffening in aldosterone excess require further study.<p></p&gt

Aldosterone status associates with insulin resistance in patients with heart failure-data from the ALOFT study

ABSTRACT Background: Aldosterone plays a key role in the pathophysiology of heart failure. In around 50% of such patients, aldosterone 'escapes' from inhibition by drugs that interrupt the renin-angiotensin axis; such patients have a worse clinical outcome. Insulin resistance is a risk factor in heart failure and cardiovascular disease. The relationship between aldosterone status and insulin sensitivity was investigated in a cohort of heart failure patients. Methods: 302 patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II-IV heart failure on conventional therapy were randomized in ALiskiren Observation of heart Failure Treatment study (ALOFT), designed to test the safety of a directly acting renin inhibitor. Plasma aldosterone and 24-hour urinary aldosterone excretion as well as fasting insulin and Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were measured. Subjects with aldosterone escape and high urinary aldosterone were identified according to previously accepted definitions. Results: Twenty per-cent of subjects demonstrated aldosterone escape and 34% had high urinary aldosterone levels. At baseline, there was a positive correlation between fasting insulin and plasma(r=0.22 p<0.01) and urinary aldosterone(r=0.19 p<0.03). Aldosterone escape and high urinary aldosterone subjects both demonstrated higher levels of fasting insulin (p<0.008, p<0.03), HOMA-IR (p<0.06, p<0.03) and insulin-glucose ratios (p<0.006, p<0.06) when compared to low aldosterone counterparts. All associations remained significant when adjusted for potential confounders. Conclusions: This study demonstrates a novel direct relationship between aldosterone status and insulin resistance in heart failure. This observation merits further study and may identify an additional mechanism that contributes to the adverse clinical outcome associated with aldosterone escape

Mitochondrial fusion is regulated by Reaper to modulate Drosophila programmed cell death

In most multicellular organisms, the decision to undergo programmed cell death in response to cellular damage or developmental cues is typically transmitted through mitochondria. It has been suggested that an exception is the apoptotic pathway of Drosophila melanogaster, in which the role of mitochondria remains unclear. Although IAP antagonists in Drosophila such as Reaper, Hid and Grim may induce cell death without mitochondrial membrane permeabilization, it is surprising that all three localize to mitochondria. Moreover, induction of Reaper and Hid appears to result in mitochondrial fragmentation during Drosophila cell death. Most importantly, disruption of mitochondrial fission can inhibit Reaper and Hid-induced cell death, suggesting that alterations in mitochondrial dynamics can modulate cell death in fly cells. We report here that Drosophila Reaper can induce mitochondrial fragmentation by binding to and inhibiting the pro-fusion protein MFN2 and its Drosophila counterpart dMFN/Marf. Our in vitro and in vivo analyses reveal that dMFN overexpression can inhibit cell death induced by Reaper or γ-irradiation. In addition, knockdown of dMFN causes a striking loss of adult wing tissue and significant apoptosis in the developing wing discs. Our findings are consistent with a growing body of work describing a role for mitochondrial fission and fusion machinery in the decision of cells to die

The Importance of Equity Finance for R&D Activity – Are There Differences Between Young and Old Companies?

This paper analyzes the importance of equity finance for the R&D activity of small and medium-sized enterprises. We use information on almost 6000 German SMEs from a company survey. Using the intensity of banking competition at the district level as instrument to control for endogeneity, we find that a higher equity ratio is conducive to more R&D for young but not for old companies. Equity may be a constraining factor for young companies which have to rely on the original equity investment of their owners since they have not yet accumulated retained earnings and can relay less on outside financing. The positive influence is found for R&D intensity but not for the decision whether to perform R&D. Equity financing is therefore especially important for the most innovative, young companies

Small and medium-sized enterprise policy: Designed to fail?

Significant doubts persist over the effectiveness of government policy to increase the numbers or performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK economy. We analyse UK political manifestoes from 1964-2015 to examine the development of SME policy in political discourse. We do this by analysing how the broadly-defined category of ‘SME’ has been characterised in the manifestoes and assess these characterisations in relation to the empirical evidence base. We highlight three consistent themes in UK political manifestoes during 1964-2015 where SMEs have been characterised as having the potential for growth, struggling to access finance and being over-burdened by regulation. We argue that homogenising the broad range of businesses represented by the SME category and characterising them in these terms misrepresents them, undermining policies developed in relation to this mischaracterisation

Financial fragmentation and SMEs’ access to finance

This paper focuses on the impact of financial fragmentation on small and medium enterprises (SMEs)’ access to finance. We combine country-level data on financial fragmentation and the ECB’s SAFE (Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises) data for 12 European Union (EU) countries over 2009-2016. Our findings indicate that an increase in financial fragmentation not only raises the probability of all firms to be rationed but also to be charged higher loan rates; in addition, it increases the likelihood of borrower discouragement and it impairs firms’ perceptions of the future availability of bank funds. Less creditworthy firms are even more likely to become credit rationed, suggesting a flight to quality effect in lending. However, our study also documents a potential adverse effect of increasing bank market power resulting from greater integration. This suggests that financial integration could impair firms’ financing, if not accompanied by policy initiatives aimed at maintaining an optimal level of competition in the banking sector

Innovation and growth in the UK pharmaceuticals: the case of product and marketing introductions

New drug introductions are key to growth for pharmaceutical firms. However, not all innovations are the same and they may have differential effects that vary by firm size. We use quarterly sales data on UK pharmaceuticals in a dynamic panel model to estimate the impact of product (new drugs) and marketing (additional pack varieties) innovations within a therapeutic class on a firm’s business unit growth. We find that product innovations lead to substantial growth in both the short and long run, whereas a new pack variety only produces short-term effects. The strategies are substitutes but the marginal effects are larger for product innovations relative to additional packs, and the effects are larger for smaller business units. Nonetheless, pack introductions offer a viable short-term growth strategy, especially for small- and medium-sized businesses

A Role for Cdc2- and PP2A-Mediated Regulation of Emi2 in the Maintenance of CSF Arrest

Vertebrate oocytes are arrested in metaphase II of meiosis prior to fertilization by cytostatic factor (CSF). CSF enforces a cell cycle arrest by inhibiting the anaphase promoting complex (APC), an E3 ubiquitin ligase that targets Cyclin B for degradation. Although Cyclin B synthesis is ongoing during CSF arrest, constant Cyclin B levels are maintained. To achieve this, oocytes allow continuous slow Cyclin B degradation, without eliminating the bulk of Cyclin B, which would induce release from CSF arrest. However, the mechanism that controls this continuous degradation is not understood