Data on administration of cyclosporine, nicorandil, metoprolol on reperfusion related outcomes in ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction treated with percutaneous coronary intervention

Mortality and morbidity in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are still high [1]. A huge amount of the myocardial damage is related to the mitochondrial events happening during reperfusion [2]. Several drugs directly and indirectly targeting mitochondria have been administered at the time of the PCI and their effect on fatal (all-cause mortality, cardiovascular (CV) death) and non fatal (hospital readmission for heart failure (HF)) outcomes have been tested showing conflicting results [3]; [4]; [5]; [6]; [7]; [8]; [9]; [10]; [11]; [12]; [13]; [14]; [15] ; [16]. Data from 15 trials have been pooled with the aim to analyze the effect of drug administration versus placebo on outcome [17]. Subgroup analysis are here analyzed: considering only randomized clinical trial (RCT) on cyclosporine or nicorandil [3]; [4]; [5]; [9]; [10] ; [11], excluding a trial on metoprolol [12] and comparing trial with follow-up length <12 months versus those with longer follow-up [3]; [4]; [5]; [6]; [7]; [8]; [9]; [10]; [11]; [12]; [13]; [14]; [15] ; [16]. This article describes data related article titled “Clinical Benefit of Drugs Targeting Mitochondrial Function as an Adjunct to Reperfusion in ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction: a Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials” [17]

Development and Application of a Novel Enhanced Sampling Method and Bayesian Analysis for Characterizing Intrinsically Disordered Proteins

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are a class of proteins with wide-rangingsignificance in signaling and disease that do not adopt a dominant folded structure asmonomers. Rather, the structures of IDPs in solution are best described as ensembles ofconformational states that may range from being fully random coil to partially ordered.This structural plasticity of IDPs is theorized to facilitate regulation of their interactionwith other species, as in signal transduction or aggregation of IDPs into ordered fibrils.Characterizing the structural ensembles of IDPs in the free, solvated state is key tounderstanding the mechanisms of these interactions, and correspondingly the role an IDPspecies plays in signaling or disease.The rapid interconversion between conformational states, however, complicates theexperimental study of IDPs because most experimental signals report highly averagedinformation. Computational modeling with validation through comparison to experimenthas therefore been a main approach to characterizing IDP structure and dynamics. Thefocus of my dissertation is on the development of new methods for computational study ofIDPs, facilitating better and less expensive de novo generation of IDP structural ensemblesand improving the metrics used to evaluate the degree of agreement between a simulatedensemble and a set of experimental data.Despite vast improvements in computational power and efficiency, moleculardynamics (MD) simulations of IDPs for generating conformational ensembles are stilllimited by the expense of calculations. In Chapter 2 I present the development of a newenhanced sampling method – temperature cool walking (TCW) – and comparison of itsperformance against a standard method – temperature replica exchange (TREx). The TCWmethod accelerates the rate of convergence to the equilibrium conformational ensemblewith increased sampling acceleration relative to TREx at greatly reduced computationalcost.The second major limitation in MD is the accuracy of the force field. Most classicalfixed charge force fields were parameterized using data from folded proteins, and havebeen thought to be biased to overly collapsed and structured conformations. This hasmotivated the development of IDP-tailored force fields that sample greater disorder, at thepotential expense of the ability to model stabilizing interactions between an IDP and itsbinding partners. In Chapter 3, I assess to what degree the shortcomings assigned tostandard force fields may be due to insufficient sampling by characterizing theperformance of standard and newly modified force fields on the Alzheimer’s peptideamyloid-β using both TREx and TCW. We find that with improved sampling, standard andmodified force fields produce similar structural ensembles, suggesting that both areappropriate for simulation of the disordered state. In Chapter 4 I present preliminaryresults building off of this work by characterizing the performance of a polarizable forcefield modeling a synthetic peptide that demonstrates complete loss of helical content withincreasing temperature. Inclusion of polarization effects has been thought to be key foraccurate modeling of such multicomponent systems, especially when there is a shift in theelectrostatic environment as is the case for the unfolding peptide. Our early results, whilelimited by current lack of convergence for tests using the polarizable force field andneeding further confirmation, match that expectation by finding early evidence of greaterresponse to temperature by the polarizable force field than fixed charge comparators.The last work presented here is in the development of new methods for calculatingthe degree of agreement between a simulated IDP ensemble and experimental data. Backcalculationof experimental data from structure can be very imprecise, motivating thedevelopment in Chapter 5 of scoring formalisms that account for variable uncertainties inboth back-calculation and experiment for diverse experimental data types. In summary, themethods described in this dissertation seek to improve computational study of IDPs byfacilitating better, less expensive generation of IDP ensembles and producing moreinformative metrics for evaluating their agreement with experiment

Varespladib and cardiovascular events in patients with an acute coronary syndrome: the VISTA-16 randomized clinical trial

IMPORTANCE: Secretory phospholipase A2(sPLA2) generates bioactive phospholipid products implicated in atherosclerosis. The sPLA2inhibitor varespladib has favorable effects on lipid and inflammatory markers; however, its effect on cardiovascular outcomes is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of sPLA2inhibition with varespladib on cardiovascular outcomes. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A double-blind, randomized, multicenter trial at 362 academic and community hospitals in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, India, and North America of 5145 patients randomized within 96 hours of presentation of an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) to either varespladib (n = 2572) or placebo (n = 2573) with enrollment between June 1, 2010, and March 7, 2012 (study termination on March 9, 2012). INTERVENTIONS: Participants were randomized to receive varespladib (500 mg) or placebo daily for 16 weeks, in addition to atorvastatin and other established therapies. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary efficacy measurewas a composite of cardiovascular mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), nonfatal stroke, or unstable angina with evidence of ischemia requiring hospitalization at 16 weeks. Six-month survival status was also evaluated. RESULTS: At a prespecified interim analysis, including 212 primary end point events, the independent data and safety monitoring board recommended termination of the trial for futility and possible harm. The primary end point occurred in 136 patients (6.1%) treated with varespladib compared with 109 patients (5.1%) treated with placebo (hazard ratio [HR], 1.25; 95%CI, 0.97-1.61; log-rank P = .08). Varespladib was associated with a greater risk of MI (78 [3.4%] vs 47 [2.2%]; HR, 1.66; 95%CI, 1.16-2.39; log-rank P = .005). The composite secondary end point of cardiovascular mortality, MI, and stroke was observed in 107 patients (4.6%) in the varespladib group and 79 patients (3.8%) in the placebo group (HR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.02-1.82; P = .04). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In patients with recent ACS, varespladib did not reduce the risk of recurrent cardiovascular events and significantly increased the risk of MI. The sPLA2inhibition with varespladib may be harmful and is not a useful strategy to reduce adverse cardiovascular outcomes after ACS. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01130246. Copyright 2014 American Medical Association. All rights reserved

Clinical benefit of drugs targeting mitochondrial function as an adjunct to reperfusion in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction:A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

Aims: To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCT) comparing the effectiveness of drugs targeting mitochondrial function vs. placebo in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing mechanical coronary reperfusion. Methods: Inclusion criteria: RCTs enrolling STEMI patients treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and comparing drugs targeting mitochondrial function vs. placebo. Odds ratios (OR) were computed from individual studies and pooled with random-effect meta-analysis. Results: Fifteen studies were identified involving 5680 patients. When compared with placebo, drugs targeting mitochondrial component/pathway were not associated with significant reduction of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality (OR 0.9, 95% CI 0.7–1.17 and OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.69–1.23, respectively). However, these agents significantly reduced hospital admission for heart failure (HF) (OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.45–0.92) and increased left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (OR 1.44; 95% CI 1.15–1.82). After analysis for subgroups according to the mechanism of action, drugs with direct/selective action did not reduce any outcome. Conversely, those with indirect/unspecific action showed a significant effect on cardiovascular mortality (0.65, 95% CI 0.46–0.92), all-cause mortality (OR 0.69, 95% CI 0.52–0.92), hospital readmission for HF (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.28–0.6) and LVEF (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.09–2.05). Conclusions: Administration of drugs targeting mitochondrial function in STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI appear to have no effect on mortality, but may reduce hospital readmission for HF. The drugs with a broad-spectrum mechanism of action seem to be more effective in reducing adverse events

Sharing Data from Cardiovascular Clinical Trials--A Proposal.

status: publishe

Thrombin-receptor antagonist vorapaxar in acute coronary syndromes

Background: Vorapaxar is a new oral protease-activated-receptor 1 (PAR-1) antagonist that inhibits thrombin-induced platelet activation. Methods: In this multinational, double-blind, randomized trial, we compared vorapaxar with placebo in 12,944 patients who had acute coronary syndromes without ST-segment elevation. The primary end point was a composite of death from cardiovascular causes, myocardial infarction, stroke, recurrent ischemia with rehospitalization, or urgent coronary revascularization. RESULTS: Follow-up in the trial was terminated early after a safety review. After a median follow-up of 502 days (interquartile range, 349 to 667), the primary end point occurred in 1031 of 6473 patients receiving vorapaxar versus 1102 of 6471 patients receiving placebo (Kaplan-Meier 2-year rate, 18.5% vs. 19.9%; hazard ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.85 to 1.01; P = 0.07). A composite of death from cardiovascular causes, myocardial infarction, or stroke occurred in 822 patients in the vorapaxar group versus 910 in the placebo group (14.7% and 16.4%, respectively; hazard ratio, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.81 to 0.98; P = 0.02). Rates of moderate and severe bleeding were 7.2% in the vorapaxar group and 5.2% in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.16 to 1.58; P<0.001). Intracranial hemorrhage rates were 1.1% and 0.2%, respectively (hazard ratio, 3.39; 95% CI, 1.78 to 6.45; P<0.001). Rates of nonhemorrhagic adverse events were similar in the two groups. Conclusions: In patients with acute coronary syndromes, the addition of vorapaxar to standard therapy did not significantly reduce the primary composite end point but significantly increased the risk of major bleeding, including intracranial hemorrhage. (Funded by Merck; TRACER ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00527943.

Protein kinase C and cardiac dysfunction: a review

Heart failure (HF) is a physiological state in which cardiac output is insufficient to meet the needs of the body. It is a clinical syndrome characterized by impaired ability of the left ventricle to either fill or eject blood efficiently. HF is a disease of multiple aetiologies leading to progressive cardiac dysfunction and it is the leading cause of deaths in both developed and developing countries. HF is responsible for about 73,000 deaths in the UK each year. In the USA, HF affects 5.8 million people and 550,000 new cases are diagnosed annually. Cardiac remodelling (CD), which plays an important role in pathogenesis of HF, is viewed as stress response to an index event such as myocardial ischaemia or imposition of mechanical load leading to a series of structural and functional changes in the viable myocardium. Protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes are a family of serine/threonine kinases. PKC is a central enzyme in the regulation of growth, hypertrophy, and mediators of signal transduction pathways. In response to circulating hormones, activation of PKC triggers a multitude of intracellular events influencing multiple physiological processes in the heart, including heart rate, contraction, and relaxation. Recent research implicates PKC activation in the pathophysiology of a number of cardiovascular disease states. Few reports are available that examine PKC in normal and diseased human hearts. This review describes the structure, functions, and distribution of PKCs in the healthy and diseased heart with emphasis on the human heart and, also importantly, their regulation in heart failure

Efficacy and safety of bempedoic acid among patients with and without diabetes: prespecified analysis of the CLEAR Outcomes randomised trial

BACKGROUND: Statins reduce LDL cholesterol and cardiovascular events among those with or without diabetes but have been reported to increase new-onset diabetes. The CLEAR Outcomes trial demonstrated that bempedoic acid reduced the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events among statin-intolerant patients at high cardiovascular risk. In this prespecified analysis, our dual aims were to evaluate the cardiovascular benefits of bempedoic acid, an ATP-citrate lyase inhibitor, in individuals with diabetes, and to evaluate the risk of new-onset diabetes and HbA1c among those without diabetes in the CLEAR Outcomes trial. METHODS: CLEAR Outcomes was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted across 1250 primary care and outpatient sites in 32 countries. Patients with or without cardiovascular disease who were unwilling or unable to take guideline-recommended doses of statins and an LDL cholesterol of 2·59 mmol/L or more were randomly assigned (1:1) in a double-blinded manner to either bempedoic acid 180 mg once per day or placebo. In this prespecified analysis, the efficacy endpoint was a time-to-event analysis of four-component major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE-4), which is the composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or coronary revascularisation, using the intention-to-treat population stratified by baseline glycaemia status. The prespecified analysis of risk of new-onset diabetes and HbA1c increase was evaluated in patients without diabetes at baseline. The CLEAR Outcomes trial was completed on Nov 7, 2022, and is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02993406). FINDINGS: Between Dec 22, 2016, and Nov 7, 2022, 13 970 patients were screened and randomly assigned; 6373 (45·6%) with diabetes, 5796 (41·5%) with prediabetes, and 1801 (12·9%) with normoglycaemia. Over a median of 3·4 years follow up, patients with diabetes had significant relative and absolute cardiovascular risk reductions in MACE-4 endpoints with bempedoic acid (HR 0·83; 95% CI 0·72-0·95; absolute risk reduction of 2·4%) compared to placebo, with no statistical evidence of effect modification across glycaemic strata (interaction p=0·42). The proportion of patients who developed new-onset diabetes were similar between the bempedoic acid and placebo groups, with 429 of 3848 (11·1%) with bempedoic acid versus 433 of 3749 (11·5%) with placebo (HR 0·95; 95% CI 0·83-1·09). HbA1c concentrations at month 12 and the end of the study were similar between randomised groups in patients who had prediabetes and normoglycaemia. Placebo-corrected LDL cholesterol concentrations and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein at 6 months were reduced in each glycaemic stratum (diabetes, prediabtes, and normoglycaemia) for patients randomly assigned to bempedoic acid (all p<0·001). INTERPRETATION: Among patients with diabetes, bempedoic acid reduces LDL cholesterol and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and risk of cardiovascular events. Patients without diabetes had no increase in new-onset diabetes or worsening HbA1c with bempedoic acid. The efficacy and cardiometabolic safety profile of bempedoic acid makes it a clinical option for those with and without diabetes. FUNDING: Esperion Therapeutics

Association of Lowering Low‐Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol With Contemporary Lipid‐Lowering Therapies and Risk of Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

Background The relationship between lowering LDL (low‐density lipoprotein) cholesterol with contemporary lipid‐lowering therapies and incident diabetes mellitus (DM) remains uncertain. Methods and Results Thirty‐three randomized controlled trials (21 of statins, 12 of PCSK9 [proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9] inhibitors, and 0 of ezetimibe) were selected using Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (inception through November 15, 2018). A total of 163 688 nondiabetic patients were randomly assigned to more intensive (83 123 patients) or less intensive (80 565 patients) lipid‐lowering therapy. More intensive lipid‐lowering therapy was defined as the more potent pharmacological strategy (PCSK9 inhibitors, higher intensity statins, or statins), whereas less intensive therapy corresponded to active control group or placebo/usual care of the trial. Metaregression and meta‐analyses were conducted using a random‐effects model. No significant association was noted between 1‐mmol/L reduction in LDL cholesterol and incident DM for more intensive lipid‐lowering therapy (risk ratio: 0.95; 95% CI, 0.87–1.04; P=0.30; R2=14%) or for statins or PCSK9 inhibitors. More intensive lipid‐lowering therapy was associated with a higher risk of incident DM compared with less intensive therapy (risk ratio: 1.07; 95% CI, 1.03–1.11; P\u3c0.001; I2=0%). These results were driven by higher risk of incident DM with statins (risk ratio: 1.10; 95% CI, 1.05–1.15; P\u3c0.001; I2=0%), whereas PCSK9 inhibitors were not associated with incident DM (risk ratio: 1.00; 95% CI, 0.93–1.07; P=0.96; I2=0%; P=0.02 for interaction). Conclusions Among intensive lipid‐lowering therapies, there was no independent association between reduction in LDL cholesterol and incident DM. The risk of incident DM was higher with statins, whereas PCSK9 inhibitors had no association with risk of incident DM