BackgroundRaised hemoglobinA1c (HbA1c) is an indicator of pre-diabetes, which is associated with increased risk of coronary artery disease. However, the detailed morphological characteristics of non-culprit plaques in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients remain largely unknown.MethodsA total of 305 non-culprit plaques from 216 ACS patients were analyzed by intravascular optical coherence tomography. These patients were divided into three groups according to the serum glycosylated hemoglobin level: normal HbA1c (< 5.7%), pre-diabetes with raised HbA1c (5.7–6.4%) and diabetes mellitus (DM).ResultsPlaques in patients with raised HbA1c had a longer lipid length (17.0 ± 8.3 mm vs. 13.9 ± 7.2 mm, P = 0.004) and greater lipid index (2775.0 ± 1694.0 mm° vs. 1592.1 ± 981.2 mm°, P = 0.001) than those with normal HbA1c but were similar to DM. The prevalence of calcification in patients with raised HbA1c was significantly higher (38.7% vs. 26.3%, P = 0.048) than normal HbA1c but was similar to DM. The percentage of macrophage infiltration in the DM group was higher than that in the normal HbA1c group (20.5% vs. 7.4%, P = 0.005).ConclusionsCompared to patients with normal HbA1c, the non-culprit plaques in ACS patients with raised HbA1c had more typical vulnerable features but were similar to DM.

The increasing wall stress as is elicited by arterial hypertension promotes their reorganization in the vessel wall which may lead to arterial stiffening and contractile dysfunction. The nuclear factor of activated T cells 5 (NFAT5) pathway plays a role in regulating growth and differentiation in various cell types. We investigated whether the NFAT5 pathway was involved in the regulation of biomechanical stretch-induced human arterial smooth muscle cell (HUASMC) proliferation, inflammation, and migration. Herein, we showed that stretch promoted the expression of NFAT5 in human arterial smooth muscle cells and regulated through activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase under these conditions. This may contribute to an improved activity of HUASMCs and thus promote reorganization in vascular remodeling processes such as hypertension-induced arterial stiffening and contractile dysfunction.

BackgroundRaf kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP) regulates growth and differentiation and plays a role in key signal transduction cascades in mammalian cells. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanism for which RKIP regulates cell-cell adhesion remains unknown. Our study investigated the function of the RKIP overexpression on adhesion molecules expression induced by tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in cultured mouse vascular smooth muscle cells (MOVACs).Material/MethodsThe expression levels of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) were detected by ELISA kit, reverse transcription-PCR, and western blot assays. The protein expression of RKIP, p65, and inhibitor of nuclear factor (NF)-κBα (IκBα) were detected by western blot analysis. The activity of NF-kappaB was determined using a Dual-Luciferase Reporter assay.ResultsThe results showed that MOVACs transfected with pCMV5-HA-RKIP significantly inhibited TNF-α induced mRNA and protein expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. The adhesion of THP-1 cells was also detected and inhibited by pCMV5-HA-RKIP in TNF-α-treated MOVACs. RKIP also suppressed the TNF-α-induced activation of NF-kappaB and the protein expression of phosphorylated IκB-α, and promoted the protein expression of IκB-α and nuclear translocation of p65 NF-kappaB. Furthermore, RKIP and the inhibitor of NF-kappaB (BAY11-7082) reduced the upregulation of ICAM-1 and VACM-1 induced by TNF-α.ConclusionsTaken together, these results suggested that RKIP may inhibit the TNF-α-induced expression of adhesion molecules in MOVACs through inactivation of the NF-kappaB pathway.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of 64-multislice spiral computed tomography (64-MSCT) for coronary stenosis compared with selective X-ray coronary angiography (SCA). Patients with chest pain, chest tightness or coronary stenosis received SCA and they acted as the controls. The sensitivity and accuracy of 64-MSCT were analyzed as compared with SCA. Images from 64-MSCT were obtained for 95 patients. For the diagnosis of myocardial bridge, 64-MSCT coronary CT angiography (CTA) is superior to SCA. In cases of mild coronary stenosis, combined with clinical symptoms, patients may choose to receive conservative treatment instead of SCA. However, cases of moderate coronary stenosis should receive SCA to determine the diagnosis. In conclusion, no difference was observed between 64-MSCT coronary CTA and SCA in their ability to exclude true negative diagnoses and diagnosing true positives of coronary disease. The 64-MSCT coronary CTA method produces improved image quality for diagnosis of coronary stenosis and is a non-invasive, reliable and effective method for the diagnosis of the severity of coronary stenosis.

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE With the adoption of optical coherence tomography (OCT), this study targets the impacts on plaque characteristics brought about by impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) in patients with coronary artery disease. METHODS For this study, 150 patients with coronary artery disease were recruited. Regarding glycosylated hemoglobin (HbAlc), the patients were sectioned into normal glucose tolerance (NGT), impaired fasting glucose (IFG), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and diabetes mellitus (DM) groups. Coronary angiography (CAG) and OCT were conducted for 150 patients. RESULTS There were 186 plaques discovered in 150 patients (37, 40, 44, and 65 in the NGT, IFG, IGT, and DM groups, respectively). Compared to the NGT group, the lipid core size, which is presented as the average angle of the lipid arc, was markedly larger in the IFG,IGT and DM groups ( 135.7 ± 32.7 Ê, 161.2 ± 55.7 Ê, 162.5 ± 55.8 Ê, and 170.2 ± 59.7 Ê, respectively, all P values< 0.05). Meanwhile, the fibrous cap over the lipid core in the NGT group was remarkably thicker than that in the IFG, IGT, and DM groups (115.7 ± 47.7 μm vs. 77.7 ± 23.5 μm, 75.1 ± 23.2 µm, 71.2 ± 22.1 µm, all P values<0.05). CONCLUSION Coronary plaques in coronary artery patients with NDT are more stable than in those with IGT and DM.

After the publication of our article, we became aware that there were errors in Figs. 3 c and d; the figures were incorrectly presented. Our figures in Figs. 3 c and d are confused with another by the side research project. These errors do not affect the discussion or conclusions in the article. The correct versions of Figs. 3 c and d are shown.