Elevated miR-34a expression and altered transcriptional profile are associated with adverse electromechanical remodeling in the heart of male rats exposed to social stress

This study investigated epigenetic risk factors that may contribute to stress-related cardiac disease in a rodent model. Experiment 1 was designed to evaluate the expression of microRNA-34a (miR-34a), a known modulator of both stress responses and cardiac pathophysiology, in the heart of male adult rats exposed to a single or repeated episodes of social defeat stress. Moreover, RNA sequencing was conducted to identify transcriptomic profile changes in the heart of repeatedly stressed rats. Experiment 2 was designed to assess cardiac electromechanical changes induced by repeated social defeat stress that may predispose rats to cardiac dysfunction. Results indicated a larger cardiac miR-34a expression after repeated social defeat stress compared to a control condition. This molecular modification was associated with increased vulnerability to pharmacologically induced arrhythmias and signs of systolic left ventricular dysfunction. Gene expression analysis identified clusters of differentially expressed genes in the heart of repeatedly stressed rats that are mainly associated with morphological and functional properties of the mitochondria and may be directly regulated by miR-34a. These results suggest the presence of an association between miR-34a overexpression and signs of adverse electromechanical remodeling in the heart of rats exposed to repeated social defeat stress, and point to compromised mitochondria efficiency as a potential mediator of this link. This rat model may provide a useful tool for investigating the causal relationship between miR-34a expression, mitochondrial (dys)function, and cardiac alterations under stressful conditions, which could have important implications in the context of stress-related cardiac disease

Genetic variation of CYP2C19 affects both pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic responses to clopidogrel but not prasugrel in aspirin-treated patients with coronary artery disease

The metabolic pathways leading to the formation of prasugrel and clopidogrel active metabolites differ. We hypothesized that decreased CYP2C19 activity affects the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic response to clopidogrel but not prasugrel. Ninety-eight patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) taking either clopidogrel 600 mg loading dose (LD)/75 mg maintenance dose (MD) or prasugrel 60 mg LD/10 mg MD were genotyped for variation in six CYP genes. Based on CYP genotype, patients were segregated into two groups: normal function (extensive) metabolizers (EM) and reduced function metabolizers (RM). Plasma active metabolite concentrations were measured at 30 min, 1, 2, 4, and 6 h post-LD and during the MD period on Day 2, Day 14, and Day 29 at 30 min, 1, 2, and 4 h. Vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) and VerifyNow (TM) P2Y12 were measured predose, 2, and 24 +/- 4 h post-LD and predose during the MD period on Day 14 +/- 3 and Day 29 +/- 3. For clopidogrel, active metabolite exposure was significantly lower (P = 0.0015) and VASP platelet reactivity index (PRI, %) and VerifyNow (TM) P2Y(12) reaction unit (PRU) values were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the CYP2C19 RM compared with the EM group. For prasugrel, there was no statistically significant difference in active metabolite exposure or pharmacodynamic response between CYP2C19 EM and RM. Variation in the other five genes demonstrated no statistically significant differences in pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic responses. Variation in the gene encoding CYP2C19 in patients with stable CAD contributes to reduced exposure to clopidogrel's active metabolite and a corresponding reduction in P2Y(12) inhibition, but has no significant influence on the response to prasugrel

Long-Term Oral Administration of Theaphenon-E Improves Cardiomyocyte Mechanics and Calcium Dynamics by Affecting Phospholamban Phosphorylation and ATP Production

Background/Aims: Dietary polyphenols from green tea have been shown to possess cardio-protective activities in different experimental models of heart diseases and age-related ventricular dysfunction. The present study was aimed at evaluating whether long term in vivo administration of green tea extracts (GTE), can exert positive effects on the normal heart, with focus on the underlying mechanisms. Methods: The study population consisted of 20 male adult Wistar rats. Ten animals were given 40 mL/day tap water solution of GTE (concentration 0.3%) for 4 weeks (GTE group). The same volume of water was administered to the 10 remaining control rats (CTRL). Then, in vivo and ex vivo measurements of cardiac function were performed in the same animal, at the organ (hemodynamics) and cellular (cardiomyocyte mechanical properties and intracellular calcium dynamics) levels. On cardiomyocytes and myocardial tissue samples collected from the same in vivo studied animals, we evaluated: (1) the intracellular content of ATP, (2) the endogenous mitochondrial respiration, (3) the expression levels of the Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Ca2+-dependent ATPase 2a (SERCA2), the Phospholamban (PLB) and the phosphorylated form of PLB, the L-type Ca2+ channel, the Na+-Ca2+ exchanger, and the ryanodine receptor 2. Results: GTE cardiomyocytes exhibited a hyperdynamic contractility compared with CTRL (the rate of shortening and re-lengthening, the fraction of shortening, the amplitude of calcium transient, and the rate of cytosolic calcium removal were significantly increased). A faster isovolumic relaxation was also observed at the organ level. Consistent with functional data, we measured a significant increase in the intracellular ATP content supported by enhanced endogenous mitochondrial respiration in GTE cardiomyocytes, as well as higher values of the ratios phosphorylated-PLB/PLB and SERCA2/PLB. Conclusions: Long-term in vivo administration of GTE improves cell mechanical properties and intracellular calcium dynamics in normal cardiomyocytes, by increasing energy availability and removing the inhibitory effect of PLB on SERCA2

Association between migraine and HLA–DRB1 gene polymorphisms

We examined the distribution of HLA–DRB1 alleles in a cohort of 255 Italian migraine patients and in a control group of 325 healthy subjects. The frequency of DRB1*12 allele was found to be significantly reduced (p=0.02) in patients with migraine while the DRB1*16 allele was significantly increased (p=0.04) in comparison with controls. When the patients were divided into disease subgroups (migraine with and without aura), HLA–DRB1**16 allele was significantly increased (p<0.05) only in migraine without aura patients. We conclude that, in Italian patients, migraine is associated with different alleles of the HLA–DRB1 locus. Our data suggest the presence of a genetic susceptibility factor for migraine within the HLA region

Quality and thermal characterization of glutenin-rich fractions of wheat flour (Triticum aestivum) obtained by different extraction methods

Wheat gluten is mainly responsible for the structural characteristics of bakery products. When studying wheat proteins, it is important to use reliable extraction methods. Four different methods of wheat protein extraction were studied, with emphasis on the glutenin-rich fractions. The final quality of the protein fractions was evaluated in terms of denaturation, indirect yield, molecular weight, secondary structure, and thermal profile. Our results indicate that addition of dithiothreitol improves glutenin extraction without interfering with protein secondary structure and denaturation. Different thermal profiles were evidenced for different extraction methods, indicating the selectivity of the processes. Denaturation temperatures of the samples showed differences within about 3 °C, while denaturation enthalpies (ΔH) differed by about 14 kJ µg−1. Data in this paper may provide a broader perspective on how wheat proteins are affected by the extraction method

Cobalt oxide nanoparticles induce oxidative stress and alter electromechanical function in rat ventricular myocytes

Background: Nanotoxicology is an increasingly relevant field and sound paradigms on how inhaled nanoparticles (NPs) interact with organs at the cellular level, causing harmful conditions, have yet to be established. This is particularly true in the case of the cardiovascular system, where experimental and clinical evidence shows morphological and functional damage associated with NP exposure. Giving the increasing interest on cobalt oxide (Co3O4) NPs applications in industrial and bio-medical fields, a detailed knowledge of the involved toxicological effects is required, in view of assessing health risk for subjects/workers daily exposed to nanomaterials. Specifically, it is of interest to evaluate whether NPs enter cardiac cells and interact with cell function. We addressed this issue by investigating the effect of acute exposure to Co3O4-NPs on excitation-contraction coupling in freshly isolated rat ventricular myocytes. Results: Patch clamp analysis showed instability of resting membrane potential, decrease in membrane electrical capacitance, and dose-dependent decrease in action potential duration in cardiomyocytes acutely exposed to Co3O4-NPs. Motion detection and intracellular calcium fluorescence highlighted a parallel impairment of cell contractility in comparison with controls. Specifically, NP-treated cardiomyocytes exhibited a dose-dependent decrease in the fraction of shortening and in the maximal rate of shortening and re-lengthening, as well as a less efficient cytosolic calcium clearing and an increased tendency to develop spontaneous twitches. In addition, treatment with Co3O4-NPs strongly increased ROS accumulation and induced nuclear DNA damage in a dose dependent manner. Finally, transmission electron microscopy analysis demonstrated that acute exposure did lead to cellular internalization of NPs. Conclusions: Taken together, our observations indicate that Co3O4-NPs alter cardiomyocyte electromechanical efficiency and intracellular calcium handling, and induce ROS production resulting in oxidative stress that can be related to DNA damage and adverse effects on cardiomyocyte functionality

Frovatriptan versus almotriptan for acute treatment of menstrual migraine: analysis of a double-blind, randomized, cross-over, multicenter, Italian, comparative study

The objective of the study was to compare the efficacy and safety of frovatriptan and almotriptan in women with menstrually related migraine (IHS Classification of Headache disorders) enrolled in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, cross-over study. Patients received frovatriptan 2.5 mg or almotriptan 12.5 mg in a randomized sequence: after treating 3 episodes of migraine in no more than 3 months with the first treatment, the patient was switched to the other treatment. 67 of the 96 female patients of the intention-to-treat population of the main study had regular menstrual cycles and were thus included in this subgroup analysis. 77 migraine attacks classified as related to menses were treated with frovatriptan and 78 with almotriptan. Rate of pain relief at 2 and 4 h was 36 and 53 % for frovatriptan and 41 and 50 % for almotriptan (p = NS between treatments). Rate of pain free at 2 and 4 h was 19 and 47 % with frovatriptan and 29 and 54 % for almotriptan (p = NS). At 24 h, 62 % of frovatriptan-treated and 67 % of almotriptan-treated patients had pain relief, while 60 versus 67 % were pain free (p = NS). Recurrence at 24 h was significantly (p < 0.05) lower with frovatriptan (8 vs. 21 % almotriptan). This was the case also at 48 h (9 vs. 24 %, p < 0.05). Frovatriptan was as effective as almotriptan in the immediate treatment of menstrually related migraine attacks. However, it showed a more favorable sustained effect, as shown by a lower rate of migraine recurrence