AIMS Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a hepatic metabolic regulator with pleotropic actions. Its plasma concentrations are increased in obesity and diabetes; states associated with an increased incidence of cardiovascular disease. We therefore investigated the direct effect of FGF21 on cardio-protection in obese and lean hearts in response to ischemia. METHODS AND RESULTS FGF21, FGF21-r...

UNLABELLED This study directly compared the prognostic value of predischarge dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) and dobutamine myocardial SPECT perfusion imaging in patients with prior myocardial infarction. METHODS The study population consisted of 146 consecutive patients who underwent predischarge DSE and SPECT with (99m)Tc-sestamibi after a first acute uncomplicated myocardial infar...

During induced myocardial ischemia for cardiac surgery, myocardial stunning occurs and aerobic metabolism of glucose, fatty acids, and lactate is inhibited as anaerobic pathways predominate. Even following reperfusion, stunned myocardium uses oxygen and substrate inefficiently leading to poor functional recovery as less mechanical work is developed per oxygen utilized. Amino acids potentially c...

OBJECTIVES The Asymptomatic Cardiac Ischemia Pilot (ACIP) study showed that revascularization is more effective than medical therapy in suppressing cardiac ischemia at 12 weeks. This report compares the relative efficacy of coronary angioplasty or coronary artery bypass graft surgery in suppressing ambulatory electrocardiographic (ECG) and treadmill exercise cardiac ischemia between 2 and 3 mon...

OBJECTIVES The goal of this study was to investigate the nature of the association between silent ischemia and postoperative myocardial infarction (PMI). BACKGROUND Silent ischemia predicts cardiac morbidity and mortality in both ambulatory and postoperative patients. Whether silent stress-induced ischemia is merely a marker of extensive coronary artery disease or has a closer association wit...

Myocardial ischemia activates cardiac spinal afferents that transmit the nociceptive information leading to chest pain and elicit excitatory cardiovascular reflexes. Previous studies have shown that histamine is increased in coronary sinus blood during myocardial ischemia and that this autacoid stimulates abdominal visceral afferents. The present investigation evaluated the role of endogenous h...

In the present study, rat cardiac myocytes were used as an in vitro ischemia/reperfusion injury model to delineate the role of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) 1 and JNK2 isoforms in ischemia/reoxygenation-induced apoptosis using an antisense approach. Exposure of rat cardiac myocytes to ischemia did not induce apoptosis as detected by staining with either acridine orange/ethidium bromide or annex...

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the most abundant receptors in the heart and therefore are common targets for cardiovascular therapeutics. The activated GPCRs transduce their signals via heterotrimeric G-proteins. The four major families of G-proteins identified so far are specified through their α-subunit: Gαi, Gαs, Gαq and G12/13. Gαi-proteins have been reported to protect hearts from...