What works with men? A systematic review of health promoting interventions targeting men

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Augmentation of cardiac function by elevation of intrathoracic pressure

We studied the cardiovascular effects of increasing intrathoracic pressure in an acute pentobarbital-anesthetized canine model of acute ventricular failure induced by large doses of propranolol. Left ventricular (LV) function curves were generated by volume loading from LV filling pressures of 5-20 Torr. The animals were ventilated by using intermittent positive-pressure ventilation with large tidal volumes (30 ml/kg). Chest and abdominal pneumatic binders were used to increase intrathoracic pressure. When compared with the control state, acute ventricular failure was associated with a decrease in the slope of the LV function curves (P < 0.01). After binding the increase in intrathoracic pressure (1.1 ± 1.6 to 12.1 ± 2.4 Torr, P < 0.01) was associated with an improvement in both right ventricular and LV function. Our study demonstrates that in this model of acute ventricular failure, increasing intrathoracic pressure improves cardiac function. We postulate that this observed improvement with increased intrathoracic pressure is due to reduced LV wall stress in a manner analogous to that seen with arterial vasodilator therapy in congestive heart failure

Identification and expansion of the tumorigenic lung cancer stem cell population

Lung carcinoma is often incurable and remains the leading cancer killer in both men and women. Recent evidence indicates that tumors contain a small population of cancer stem cells that are responsible for tumor maintenance and spreading. The identification of the tumorigenic population that sustains lung cancer may contribute significantly to the development of effective therapies. Here, we found that the tumorigenic cells in small cell and non-small cell lung cancer are a rare population of undifferentiated cells expressing CD133, an antigen present in the cell membrane of normal and cancer-primitive cells of the hematopoietic, neural, endothelial and epithelial lineages. Lung cancer CD133(+) cells were able to grow indefinitely as tumor spheres in serum-free medium containing epidermal growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor. The injection of 10 4 lung cancer CD133(+) cells in immunocompromised mice readily generated tumor xenografts phenotypically identical to the original tumor. Upon differentiation, lung cancer CD133(+) cells acquired the specific lineage markers, while loosing the tumorigenic potential together with CD133 expression. Thus, lung cancer contains a rare population of CD133(+) cancer stem-like cells able to self-renew and generates an unlimited progeny of non-tumorigenic cells. Molecular and functional characterization of such a tumorigenic population may provide valuable information to be exploited in the clinical setting

Myocardial perfusion imaging with real-time respiratory triggering: impact of inspiration breath-hold on left ventricular functional parameters

BACKGROUND: The latest gamma-camera generation with cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) detectors allows myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) with respiratory triggering at breath-hold. We assessed its impact on functional left ventricular (LV) parameters. METHODS: Twenty-eight consecutive patients underwent a one-day (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin pharmacologic stress/rest imaging protocol on a novel CZT camera. Electrocardiogram-gated high-dose (rest) MPI was performed without and with real-time respiratory triggering by intermittent scanning confined to breath-hold at deep inspiration. We studied the effect of respiratory triggering at deep inspiration levels on LV wall motion, wall thickening, LV volumes and ejection fraction (LVEF) compared to regular MPI without respiratory triggering. RESULTS: Compared to regular MPI without respiratory triggering, systolic and diastolic LV volumes and stroke volumes decreased significantly (P < 0.05) when respiratory triggering was applied. By contrast, there was no significant change in LVEF, with a high correlation (r = .939, P < 0.001) between the two measurements. Furthermore, respiratory triggering introduced a significant change (P < 0.05) in regional LV wall motion. CONCLUSIONS: Respiratory-triggered MPI with breath-hold at deep inspiration levels introduces significant changes to the measured LV volumes, stroke volumes and regional wall motion but does not significantly affect global LVEF when compared to regular MPI with normal breathing