These results suggest that chronic activation of SPHK1-S1P signalling results in both pathological cardiac remodelling through ROS mediated by S1P3 and favourable cardioprotective effects.

Selenoprotein P (SeP) is a selenium (Se)-rich extracellular protein. SeP is identified as a hepatokine, causing insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes. Thus, the measurement of SeP in serum has received much attention, and several enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits for SeP determination are now commercially available. In the present study, we determined the serum SeP levels by our original ELISA and sol particle homogeneous immunoassay (SPIA) methods and also by commercially available kits, and these determinants were compared. We found a kit-dependent correlation of the determinants with our methods. These results suggest that the selection of kit is critical for comparison with our previous reports and for discussing the relationship between the serum SeP levels and disease condition.

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To clarify the mechanism of brain and spinal cord impairment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), we measured the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of substance P (SP) in 11 patients with sporadic ALS. Findings were compared with those obtained in controls and diseased controls. The CSF SP levels of patients with ALS, and particularly in patients with a disease duration of less than 2.5 years, were significantly higher than those in controls. These findings strongly suggested that SP may play an important role in the pathophysiology of ALS.

Background Arterial reflected wave is determined by not only atherosclerosis but also sympathetic nerve activity. Recently, Arterial Velocity pulse Index (AVI), which is an index of arterial reflected waves, and Arterial Pressure volume Index (API), which is an index of volume of a conductive blood vessel, have been proposed as new index of arterial stiffness. However, it is unclear whether API and AVI would be associated with muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) in hypertensive subjects. Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between AVI, API and MSNA in hypertensive subjects. Method 41 hypertensive patients and 40 non-hypertensive subjects were included in this study. We performed a cross-sectional, observational study. Hypertension (HT) was defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≥140 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) ≥90 mmHg or medical treatment for HT. AVI and API was measured by NAS-1000 (Nihon Koden, Japan). MSNA, central sympathetic outflow to peripheral muscle, was recorded directly from peroneal nerve. MSNA was expressed by burst frequency (bursts/minute) and burst incidence (bursts/100heartbeats). Blood pressure, heart rate and MSNA were recorded simultaneously. Results Age, systolic and diastolic pressure were significantly higher in hypertensive patients compared to control (40±15 vs 61±13 years, p<0.001; 142±16 vs 113±9 mmHg, p<0.001; 81±14 vs 67±9 mmHg, p<0.001). MSNA and AVI were significantly augmented in hypertensive patients compared to control (34±11 vs. 23±6 bursts/min, p<0.05; 26±7 vs. 16±4, p<0.05). AVI was correlated with MSNA in each group (hypertension: r=0.59, P<0.001, non-hypertension: r=0.51, p<0.001). However, no correlation was shown between API and MSNA in each group (hypertension: r=0.22, p=0.15, non-hypertension: r=0.07, p=0.63). Multiple regression analysis also showed MSNA was significantly related with AVI but was not with API. Conclusion Our finding showed that AVI relates to MSNA independent of API in patients with hypertension. It suggested that Novel index of arterial reflected waves, AVI, is helpful to estimate augmented SNA in hypertensive subjects regardless of volume of a conductive blood vessel. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

Introduction: Parasternal short-axis (SAX) assessment of circumferential extent of paravalvular leakage (PVL) in patients who had undergone transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) potentially underestimates PVL. I-Rotate echocardiography from an apical recording may be a new method to assess the circumferential extent of PVL. Methods: The study included 41 consecutive outpatient patients (21 men, mean age 80±10 years) who had undergone TAVI with a self-expandable device. All patients underwent assessment of PVL circumferential extent by SAX analysis and I-Rotate echocardiography. From the standard 5-chamber view the probe was held in the same position and images were recorded at 15 degrees intervals to cover the whole circumference of the TAVI prosthesis. Results: I-Rotate echocardiography was feasible in all patients and induced no loss in spatial or temporal resolution. Circumferential extent correlated well with SAX (r=0.84, p<0.001) although a bias of 6.0% (limits of agreement: ±19.7%) with a significant larger circumferential extent with I-Rotate (13.7%±17.0% vs. 7.7%±10.1%, p<0.001) was observed. Individual case analyses revealed, apart from suspected underestimation due to acoustic shadowing, impaired SAX quality and jets separated by echo-dense areas as causes for PVL underestimation by SAX analysis and non-central alignment in the stent by I-Rotate echocardiography as a possible cause for (relative) overestimation by I-Rotate echocardiography. PVL assessment with I-RotateConclusions: I-Rotate echocardiography from an apical view is a feasible method to study the circumferential extent of PVL after TAVI. Future studies should provide more insight whether I-Rotate overestimates or SAX analysis underestimates circumferential extent of PVL. Purpose: To analyze the influence of overweight and obesity on multi-layer longitudinal strain in a healthy population free of cardiovascular risk factors by speckle tracking derived two-dimensional echocardiography. Methods: One-hundred sixty-six consecutive subjects (age = 41±15 years, range = 12-78 years, F/M = 95/71) free of any kind of cardiovascular disease (including heart failure, coronary artery and valve heart disease) were enrolled after excluding hypertensive, diabetic and dyslipidemic patients as well as smokers. According to body mass index (BMI) subjects were divided into 2 groups: 114 normoweight (N) and 52 overweight/obese (O) (BMI >25.1 kg/m 2 in men and >23.9 kg/m 2 in women). All subjects underwent a complete echo Doppler exam including quantitation of 2D global longitudinal strain (GLS), considered as "positive" (sign +). Post-hoc analysis by a multi-layer strain software allowed also to obtain subendocardial and subepicardial GLS (EndoLS and EpiLS respectively). Intramyocardial longitudinal gradient (LSgrad) was calculated as the difference between EndoLS and EpiLS. Results: The two groups were comparable for sex prevalence, blood pressure (BP) and heart rate whereas O were older than N (p<0.002). At standard echo-Doppler O had higher LV mass...

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