Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Larisa Anghel, Radu Sascau, Ioana Madalina Zota, Cristian Statescu
Summary: Non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy is a myocardial disorder characterized by left ventricular dilatation and systolic impairment, posing an increased risk of sudden cardiac death. Predicting patient prognosis is crucial for individualized treatment, and biomarkers may serve as important tools for risk stratification.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Hamza El Hadi, Anne Freund, Steffen Desch, Holger Thiele, Nicolas Majunke
Summary: Cardiomyopathies are a diverse group of heart muscle disorders with potentially fatal consequences such as arrhythmias and heart failure. They are a leading cause of heart transplantation worldwide. Recent advancements in understanding the molecular basis and diagnostic evaluation have paved the way for targeted therapies. However, further research is needed to improve risk assessment and prevention strategies for sudden cardiac death.
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Lei Zhou, Fei Peng, Juexing Li, Hui Gong
Summary: In this study, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to identify novel biomarkers and biological pathways for the diagnosis and treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM)-induced heart failure (HF). Through WGCNA, 24 co-expressed gene modules associated with DCM-induced HF were obtained, and the blue module showed the highest correlation with DCM-induced HF and was enriched in multiple signaling pathways. Eight key genes were selected as therapeutic targets for DCM-induced HF based on WGCNA and differentially expressed gene analysis. Immune cell infiltration analysis revealed upregulated proportions of naive B cells and CD4-activated memory T cells in DCM-induced HF tissues. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR validated the expression levels of five key genes identified by bioinformatics analysis, suggesting their involvement in the development of DCM-induced HF.
EXPERIMENTAL AND THERAPEUTIC MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jan Haas, Karen S. Frese, Farbod Sedaghat-Hamedani, Elham Kayvanpour, Rewati Tappu, Rouven Nietsch, Oguz Firat Tugrul, Michael Wisdom, Carsten Dietrich, Ali Amr, Tanja Weis, Torsten Niederdraenk, Michael P. Murphy, Thomas Krieg, Marcus Doerr, Uwe Voelker, Jens Fielitz, Norbert Frey, Stephan B. Felix, Andreas Keller, Hugo A. Katus, Benjamin Meder
Summary: This study identified a new set of metabolomic biomarkers for heart failure (HF) through a multi-OMICS approach, revealing underlying biological cascades that potentially represent suitable intervention targets.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Hiromitsu Kanamori, Akihiro Yoshida, Genki Naruse, Susumu Endo, Shingo Minatoguchi, Takatomo Watanabe, Tomonori Kawaguchi, Toshiki Tanaka, Yoshihisa Yamada, Nobuhiro Takasugi, Takuma Ishihara, Atsushi Mikami, Nagisa Miyazaki, Kazuhiko Nishigaki, Shinya Minatoguchi, Tatsuhiko Miyazaki, Hiroyuki Okura
Summary: The study revealed that autophagy serves as a predictive marker for LVRR in DCM patients, with prognostic value. LVRR-positive patients had a higher number of autophagic vacuoles and higher expression levels. Autophagy may offer novel pathologic insights into strategies for treating the failing DCM heart.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anna Gaertner, Lidia Burr, Baerbel Klauke, Andreas Brodehl, Kai Thorsten Laser, Karin Klingel, Jens Tiesmeier, Uwe Schulz, Edzard zu Knyphausen, Jan Gummert, Hendrik Milting
Summary: This study reported a patient with muscular dystrophy and early onset dilated cardiomyopathy who carried compound heterozygous variants in FKTN. The research demonstrated that compound heterozygous mutations in FKTN result in loss of fully glycosylated alpha-dystroglycan, leading to cardiomyopathy and end-stage heart failure at a young age.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Laura Keil, Filip Berisha, Stella Ritter, Johanna Skibowski, Hariharan Subramanian, Viacheslav O. Nikolaev, Christian Kubisch, Rixa Woitschach, Larissa Fabritz, Raphael Twerenbold, Stefan Blankenberg, Soeren Weidemann, Tanja Zeller, Paulus Kirchhof, Daniel Reichart, Christina Magnussen
Summary: This study aims to phenotype and genotype the different subtypes of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and lay the foundation for individualized therapy.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Matteo Ponzoni, John G. Coles, Jason T. Maynes
Summary: To improve the development of new therapeutic strategies for heart failure, preclinical models that accurately emulate the human condition are necessary. Rodent models of heart failure provide a strategic compromise between similarity to human in vivo conditions and the ability to conduct numerous experiments and explore various therapeutic candidates. This review summarizes currently available rodent models of heart failure, including their physiopathological basis, development timeline, and specific clinical features. It also provides a detailed overview of the advantages and possible drawbacks of each model to facilitate future investigation planning in the field of heart failure.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Chathurika Henpita, Rajesh Vyas, Chastity L. Healy, Tra L. Kieu, Aditi U. Gurkar, Matthew J. Yousefzadeh, Yuxiang Cui, Aiping Lu, Luise A. Angelini, Ryan D. O'Kelly, Sara J. McGowan, Sanjay Chandrasekhar, Rebecca R. Vanderpool, Danielle Hennessy-Wack, Mark A. Ross, Timothy N. Bachman, Charles McTiernan, Smitha P. S. Pillai, Warren Ladiges, Mitra Lavasani, Johnny Huard, Donna Beer-Stolz, Claudette M. St. Croix, Simon C. Watkins, Paul D. Robbins, Ana L. Mora, Eric E. Kelley, Yinsheng Wang, Timothy D. O'Connell, Laura J. Niedernhofer
Summary: Cardiomyopathy is a progressive disease of the myocardium leading to impaired contractility. This study shows that endogenous genotoxic stress contributes to the development of cardiomyopathy by activating the p53 pathway and increasing oxidative stress, leading to cardiac myocyte apoptosis, dilated cardiomyopathy, and sudden death.
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Brian P. Halliday, John G. F. Cleland
Summary: Remission of heart failure refers to a state where symptoms disappear, cardiac function returns to normal, and natriuretic peptide levels normalize. The continuation of treatments necessary for sustained remission remains unclear, and factors such as myocardial susceptibility, persistence or recurrence of triggers, and myocardial workload should be considered. Personalized therapy informed by evidence from randomized trials of targeted therapeutic strategies is recommended.
JACC-BASIC TO TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Xinyi Li, Xiaonan Zhang, Yaoxin Liu, Fen Shu, Sisi Shao, Ning Tan, Lei Jiang
Summary: Serum chloride concentration is a prognostic indicator in elderly patients with NIDCM, and hypochloremia is significantly associated with both in-hospital and long-term poor outcomes.
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Divyang Patel, Anirudh Kumar, Laurie Ann Moennich, Kevin Trulock, David M. Nemer, Eoin Donnellan, Zachary J. Il'Giovine, Trejeeve Martyn, Thomas D. Callahan, Ayman A. Hussein, Khaldoun G. Tarakji, Mohamed Kanj, Daniel J. Cantillon, Bryan Baranowski, Randall C. Starling, W. H. Wilson Tang, Oussama M. Wazni, Niraj Varma, Bruce L. Wilkoff, John Rickard
Summary: Chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy, specifically anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy (AIC), can be treated effectively with cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT). Patients with AIC who respond positively to CRT show improved left ventricular remodelling and long-term survival rates comparable to patients with other non-ischaemic cardiomyopathies.
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Jiayu Feng, Pengchao Tian, Lin Liang, Yuyi Chen, Yunhong Wang, Mei Zhai, Yan Huang, Qiong Zhou, Xuemei Zhao, Lang Zhao, Boping Huang, Liyan Huang, Yuhui Zhang, Jian Zhang
Summary: This study compared the prognostic value of NT-proBNP and hs-CRP in MDCM and DCM. The results showed that higher levels of hs-CRP were associated with adverse outcomes in MDCM patients, while NT-proBNP was not associated with prognosis.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Karolina Melinyte-Ankudavice, Marius Sukys, Jurgita Plisiene, Renaldas Jurkevicius, Egle Ereminiene
Summary: A case report of a 22-year-old male patient who visited a cardiologist after experiencing his first episode of atrial fibrillation (AF) is presented. The patient was found to have decreased left ventricular systolic function and dilation. Genetic testing revealed a pathogenic variant of the BAG3 gene. Due to the high risk of heart failure progression and ventricular arrhythmias, the patient received an event recorder implant and pathogenetic heart failure treatment. His father was also diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy and recurrent AF.
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Wei Wu, Mark Ziemann, Kevin Huynh, Gang She, Zheng-Da Pang, Yi Zhang, Thy Duong, Helen Kiriazis, Tian-Tian Pu, Ru-Yue Bai, Jing-Jing Li, Yu Zhang, Ming-Xia Chen, Junichi Sadoshima, Xiu-Ling Deng, Peter J. Meikle, Xiao-Jun Du
Summary: The study revealed that the Hippo signaling pathway mediates mitochondrial damage by repressing mitochondrial genes, which causally promotes the development of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Mitochondria in the hearts of DCM mice showed overt structural abnormalities and dysfunction.
Article
Dermatology
Theodosios Bisdas, Nikolaos Patelis, Georgia Argyrakopoulou, Dimitrios Tsiachris, Aristotelis Kurtis, Panagiotis Gargalianos-Kakoliris, Christodoulos Stefanadis
Summary: The complexity of critical limb ischemia (CLI) requires a dedicated multidisciplinary team for treatment. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of referring CLI patients scheduled for major amputation elsewhere to a dedicated CLI center. The analysis showed that patients in severe stages of CLI who received a second opinion from a dedicated multidisciplinary team had high limb salvage and survival rates after major amputation.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LOWER EXTREMITY WOUNDS
(2022)
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Hassan Yousefi, Ladan Mashouri, Samuel C. Okpechi, Nikhilesh Alahari, Suresh K. Alahari
Summary: The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has caused a major global public health concern, with over 31 million cases confirmed and efforts being made to repurpose existing cancer drugs to treat COVID-19. These drugs target the viral replication cycle and immune response, offering a potential novel approach to combat the virus.
BIOCHEMICAL PHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Dimitris Tsiachris, Ioannis Doundoulakis, Panagiotis Tsioufis, Eirini Pagkalidou, Christos-Konstantinos Antoniou, Stefanos M. Zafeiropoulos, Konstantinos A. Gatzoulis, Konstantinos Tsioufis, Christodoulos Stefanadis
Summary: This systematic review compares the effectiveness and safety of class Ic agents for cardioversion of paroxysmal AF and finds that intravenous flecainide is the most effective option. Class Ic agents appear to be safe for pharmacologic cardioversion of AF regardless of the presence of SHD.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Economics
Jay Pil Choi, Christodoulos Stefanadis
Summary: This article examines tippy network markets that allow price discrimination and finds that under certain conditions, network competition may lead to a unique subgame-perfect equilibrium where the winner's identity is fully determined by its product features. The concept of the dominant value margin is introduced as a metric for the effectiveness of divide-and-conquer strategies. However, the outcome of a market where suppliers with larger dominant value margins can sell to all customers does not necessarily result in social efficiency.
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC REVIEW
(2022)
Article
Hematology
Joshua N. Gustine, Andrew Staron, Raphael E. Szalat, Lisa M. Mendelson, Tracy Joshi, Frederick L. Ruberg, Omar Siddiqi, Deepa M. Gopal, Camille Edwards, Andrea Havasi, Michelle Kaku, K. H. Vincent Lau, John L. Berk, J. Mark Sloan, Vaishali Sanchorawala
Summary: High-dose melphalan and stem cell transplantation (HDM/SCT) is an effective treatment for selected patients with AL amyloidosis, inducing durable hematologic responses and prolonged survival.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HEMATOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Clinical Neurology
John J. Halperin, Randi Eikeland, John A. Branda, Rick Dersch
Summary: Lyme borreliosis affects the nervous system in various ways, but there are many misunderstandings and misattributions that need to be clarified through further research and diagnosis. Gaps still exist in our understanding of this disease, and basic pathophysiological principles are needed to eliminate controversies.
Letter
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Christodoulos Stefanadis, Christina Chrysohoou, Dimitrios Tsiachris, Christos-Konstantinos Antoniou, Panagiota Manolakou, Gerasimos Siasos, Konstantinos Tsioufis, George Panagiotakopoulos, Theoklis Zaoutis, Demosthenes Panagiotakos
HELLENIC JOURNAL OF CARDIOLOGY
(2022)
Letter
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Dimitrios Tsiachris, Grigorios Chatzantonis, Christos-Konstantinos Antoniou, Haris Lalos, Gregory C. Bogdanis, Pantelis Nikolaou, Anastasios Spanos, Stefanos Karagiannis, Costas Tsiou, Ali Yilmaz, Christodoulos Stefanadis
HELLENIC JOURNAL OF CARDIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Dimitris Tsiachris, Ioannis Doundoulakis, Christos-Konstantinos Antoniou, Eirini Pagkalidou, Stefanos Zafeiropoulos, Athanasios Kordalis, Konstantinos A. Gatzoulis, Gian-Battista Chierchia, Carlo de Asmundis, Konstantinos Tsioufis, Christodoulos Stefanadis
Summary: This study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of a time to isolation (TTI)-based strategy of cryoballoon ablation (CBA) in the treatment of atrial fibrillation. The results suggest that an individualized CBA dosing strategy based on TTI and extended duration of CBA can reduce recurrence post-AF ablation and decrease procedure time and incidence of phrenic nerve palsy.
JOURNAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Dimitrios Tsiachris, Christos-Konstantinos Antoniou, Ioannis Doundoulakis, Panagiota Manolakou, Athanasios Kordalis, Dimitrios Konstantinou, Konstantinos Gatzoulis, Konstantinos Tsioufis, Christodoulos Stefanadis
Summary: This study compared the clinical outcomes of a three-dimensional electroanatomical mapping (3D-EAM)-based strategy targeting slow pathway (SP) elimination with the conventional fluoroscopic approach in atrioventricular node reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) ablation. The results showed that 3D-EAM improved procedural parameters, reduced fluoroscopy time and dose, and increased SP elimination frequency. Follow-up results demonstrated lower recurrence rates and redo procedure rates in the 3D-EAM-based group.
JOURNAL OF ARRHYTHMIA
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Lise E. Nigrovic, Thomas H. Chun, Sara E. Vargas, Aisling R. Caffrey, John J. Halperin, Jonathan A. Race, Ulrike Ott, Brynna L. Morrison, Bethany J. Fuller, John M. VanBuren, Pedi Lyme Net
Summary: Lyme disease is a common vectorborne disease with a high incidence in the USA. Lyme meningitis, although uncommon, is a serious manifestation of the disease. The current first-line treatment using intravenous ceftriaxone is associated with complications and there is limited data on the efficacy of oral doxycycline. This study aims to compare the short-term recovery and long-term quality of life outcomes between oral doxycycline and intravenous ceftriaxone for Lyme meningitis.
Article
Hematology
Joshua N. Gustine, Andrew Staron, Lisa Mendelson, Tracy Joshi, Deepa M. Gopal, Omar K. Siddiqi, Frederick L. Ruberg, Vaishali Sanchorawala
Summary: Patients with advanced cardiac AL amyloidosis have a poor prognosis. Early hematologic and cardiac responses can prolong survival. This study identified factors predictive of treatment outcomes and survival.
Editorial Material
Oncology
Maria Valero-Munoz, Flora Sam
JACC: CARDIOONCOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Dimitrios Tsiachris, Christos-Konstantinos Antoniou, Ioannis Doundoulakis, Panagiota Manolakou, Demetrios Sougiannis, Athanasios Kordalis, Konstantinos A. Gatzoulis, Gian-Battista Chierchia, Carlo de Asmundis, Christodoulos Stefanadis, Konstantinos Tsioufis
Summary: Nowadays, cryoballoon (CB) has become an established alternative to radio frequency (RF) ablation for pulmonary vein isolation (PVI), with the ability to isolate PVs in a single application. In a study on over 1000 consecutive patients, our center optimized the CB PVI procedure. It is expected that future guidelines will recommend CB as the first-line PVI for patients with paroxysmal AF and a class I indication. In a long-term follow-up of the EARLY-AF trial, CB showed a lower incidence of persistent atrial fibrillation compared to anti-arrhythmic drugs.
JOURNAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR DEVELOPMENT AND DISEASE
(2023)
Article
Respiratory System
Justin K. Lui, Kari R. Gillmeyer, Ruchika A. Sangani, Robert J. Smyth, Deepa M. Gopal, Marcin A. Trojanowski, Andreea M. Bujor, Renda Soylemez Wiener, Michael P. Lavalley, Elizabeth S. Klings
Summary: The study developed a scoring system to predict the risk of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and all-cause mortality in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). The scoring system showed that each one-point increase was associated with a 1.19-fold increase in the risk of all-cause mortality.
