Comparative Analysis of Apoptotic Resistance of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Isolated from Human Bone Marrow and Adipose Tissue

Aim. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from human bone marrow (hBM) and adipose tissue (hAT) are perceived as attractive sources of stem cells for cell therapy. The aim of this study was to compare MSCs from hBM and hAT for their immunocytochemistry staining and resistance to in vitro apoptosis. Methods. In our study, we investigated the antiapoptotic ability of these MSCs toward oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and serum deprivation. Results were assessed by MTT and flow cytometry. All experiments were repeated a minimum of three times. Results. Flow cytometry and MTT analysis revealed that hAT-MSCs exhibited a higher resistance toward H2O2-induced apoptosis (n = 3, hBM-hAT viability H2O2  58.43 ± 1.24–73.02 ± 1.44, P < 0.02) and to serum-deprivation-induced apoptosis at days 1 and 4 than the hBM-MSCs (n = 3, hAT-hBM absorbance, resp., day 1: 0.305 ± 0.027–0.234 ± 0.015, P = 0.029, day 4: 0.355 ± 0.003–0.318 ± 0.007, P = 0.001, and day 7: 0.400 ± 0.017–0.356 ± 0.008, P = 0.672). hAT-MSCs showed superior tolerance to oxidative stress triggered by 2 mmol/L H2O2 and also have superior antiapoptosis capacity toward serum-free culture. Conclusion. In this study we found that hAT-MSCs are more resistant to in vitro apoptosis

Persistent Left Superior Vena Cava and Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return in an Old Asymptomatic Female Patient

Persistent left superior vena cava is a rare congenital venous anomaly. It results from failure of closure of the left anterior cardinal vein during cardiac development. It is usually asymptomatic but can be associated with other congenital cardiac defects including atrial septal defects, ventricular septal defects, endocardial cushion defects, tetralogy of Fallot and rhythm disturbances. PLSVC should be considered in the presence of a dilated coronary sinus on transthoracic echocardiography. The diagnosis can be made when injection of contrast in left antecubital vein results in enhancement of the dilated coronary sinus before right atrium. MRI, CT-scan and catheterisation can be used to confirm the diagnosis

Homocysteine and nitric oxide in patients undergoing diagnostic coronary angiography.

We evaluated the plasma homocysteine (tHcy) and nitric oxide metabolites (nitrite plus nitrate; NOx) data of consecutive patients undergoing diagnostic coronary angiography (n=79) with respect to the presence and severity of coronary artery disease (CAD), the presence of acute coronary syndromes (ACS), and the risk status of patients. Hyperhomocysteinemia (&#62;15 micromol/L) was detected in 11% of the controls (n=19) and 37% of CAD patients (n=60) (p=0.03). Plasma tHcy in CAD patients was not significantly different from controls, but those with 3-vessel disease had a significantly higher tHcy concentrations than did controls (p=0.049). The patients with 3-vessel disease and ACS had the highest concentrations of tHcy (16.9 +- 4.4 micromol/L), and the difference from the ACS patients with 1- and 2-vessel involvement was significant (p=0.03). In patients with 1-vessel involvement, tHcy was correlated with NOx (r=0.62, p=0.005); in patients with 2- and 3-vessel disease this correlation could not be observed. The high-risk patients (n=51) had a higher mean number of vessel involvement and tHcy (p&#60;0.001, p&#60;0.05, respectively) but lower NOx (p&#60;0.05) when compared to the low-risk patients (n=28). It appears that in the early stages of atherosclerosis hyperhomocysteinemia causes an increase in NOx production, but with progression of the disease this compensatory increase disappears.</p

Snapshot evaluation of acute and chronic heart failure in real-life in Turkey: a follow-up data for mortality

Objective: Heart failure (HF) is a progressive clinical syndrome. SELFIE-TR is a registry illustrating the overall HF patient profile of Turkey. Herein, all-cause mortality (ACM) data during follow-up were provided. Methods: This is a prospective outcome analysis of SELFIE-TR. Patients were classified as acute HF (AHF) versus chronic HF (CHF) and HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), HF with mid-range ejection fraction, and HF with preserved ejection fraction and were followed up for ACM. Results: There were 1054 patients with a mean age of 63.3±13.3 years and with a median follow-up period of 16 (7–17) months. Survival data within 1 year were available in 1022 patients. Crude ACM was 19.9% for 1 year in the whole group. ACM within 1 year was 13.7% versus 32.6% in patients with CHF and AHF, respectively (p<0.001). Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker, beta blocker, and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist were present in 70.6%, 88.2%, and 50.7%, respectively. In the whole cohort, survival curves were graded according to guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) scores ?1 versus 2 versus 3 as 28% versus 20.2% versus 12.2%, respectively (p<0.001). Multivariate analysis of the whole cohort yielded age (p=0.009) and AHF (p=0.028) as independent predictors of mortality in 1 year. Conclusion: One-year mortality is high in Turkish patients with HF compared with contemporary cohorts with AHF and CHF. Of note, GDMT score is influential on 1-year mortality being the most striking one on chronic HFrEF. On the other hand, in the whole cohort, age and AHF were the only independent predictors of death in 1 yea

Combined metabolic activators therapy ameliorates liver fat in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) refers to excess fat accumulation in the liver. In animal experiments and human kinetic study, we found that administration of combined metabolic activators (CMAs) promotes the oxidation of fat, attenuates the resulting oxidative stress, activates mitochondria, and eventually removes excess fat from the liver. Here, we tested the safety and efficacy of CMA in NAFLD patients in a placebo-controlled 10-week study. We found that CMA significantly decreased hepatic steatosis and levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, uric acid, and creatinine, whereas found no differences on these variables in the placebo group after adjustment for weight loss. By integrating clinical data with plasma metabolomics and inflammatory proteomics as well as oral and gut metagenomic data, we revealed the underlying molecular mechanisms associated with the reduced hepatic fat and inflammation in NAFLD patients and identified the key players involved in the host–microbiome interactions. In conclusion, we showed that CMA can be used to develop a pharmacological treatment strategy in NAFLD patients