Aims/hypothesis In humans, one of the hallmarks of type 2 diabetes is a reduced plasma concentration of HDL and its major protein component, apolipoprotein A

The present study demonstrates that patients with cirrhosis had biventricular dilatation and impaired biventricular systolic strain compared with controls. Following LTx, biventricular dilatation reduced and biventricular systolic strain improved. In contrast, patients who did not undergo LTx experienced a further increase in LV mass.

Alkylresorcinols (AR) are a class of amphiphilic phenolic lipids present in high amounts in wheat and rye bran. They have been reported to be both growth retarding and innocuous when fed to rats, and to have a broad range of bioactivities in vitro, suggested to be related to their ability to bind to proteins and modify membranes. This study was designed to test the effects of AR (purified from rye bran) on growth, tocopherol levels, and cholesterol levels in rats. Rats were fed 1 of 4 different levels of AR for 4 wk: 0 (control), 1, 2, and 4 g/kg diet. AR did not affect final body, liver, or lung weights. The AR diets increased the levels of gamma-tocopherol in liver and lungs (P < 0.05). To investigate whether AR could have increased gamma-tocopherol levels via inhibition of tocopherol-omega-hydroxylase, HepG2 cells were incubated with AR and the metabolism of gamma-tocopherol measured. AR significantly inhibited the conversion of gamma-tocopherol to its water-soluble hydroxychroman metabolite in vitro, indicating that AR may increase gamma-tocopherol levels via inhibition of tocopherol metabolism in vivo. The 4 g AR/kg diet decreased liver cholesterol (P < 0.001), but did not affect plasma lipids. AR were detected in the perirenal adipose tissue samples of rats fed AR, indicating that they can accumulate in the fatty tissues of rats. High levels of dietary AR moderately affect gamma-tocopherol, possibly via inhibition of tocopherol metabolism, and decrease liver cholesterol in rats.

Previous studies revealed that low calcium intake is related to high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension. However, the relationship between serum calcium and blood pressure was unclear. The prevalence of hypertension is high in China. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the serum calcium level between hypertensive and normotensive groups and to investigate the correlation between serum calcium, blood pressure, and blood lipid parameters. A total of 1,135 adult subjects participated in this study and were divide into two study groups: a hypertensive group (n = 316) who had 140 mmHg or higher in systolic blood pressure (SBP) or 90 mmHg or higher in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and an age- and sex-matched normotensive group (n = 819, 120 mmHg or less SBP and 80 mmHg or less DBP). Our results indicate a significant trend for men (60 years old or older) in the direction of decreasing blood pressure with increasing serum calcium level, but no trend for women was indicated. In the normotensive group, a significant positive correlation was found between DBP and total cholesterol (P < 0.01) and triglyceride (P < 0.01), Likewise, triglyceride was positively correlated with SBP (P < 0.01). Overall, these data suggest that serum calcium may have an influence in the blood pressure of older male subjects with hypertension and in blood lipid profiles of normotensive subjects.

The aim of the present study was to compare the activity levels within the two bellies of the lateral pterygoid muscle between different jaw positions to test the hypothesis that the upper head is primarily a stabilizer. Electromyographic (EMG) recordings, using monopolar concentric needle electrodes, were made from 14 healthy subjects during mandibular rest position (RP), clenching in intercuspal position and jaw opening, first about 10 mm and then about 25 mm. Both bellies had very little activity during RP. The activity level of the superior belly was high during clenching and large opening (LO) with a dip during low opening degree. This pattern differed from that of the inferior belly where the activity was relatively low during clenching and then gradually increased to its highest level during LO. The results support that the lower belly is primarily a jaw opener while the superior belly acts as a stabilizer keeping the disc and condyle in a functionally stable position during clenching and jaw movements.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of isometric-handgrip-induced PIT (physical ischaemia training) on remote coronary recruitment and growth. A total of 74 CAD (coronary artery disease) patients were randomly assigned to either the IHG (isometric handgrip group) or NEG (non-exercise group). Patients in the IHG performed isometric handgrip exercises during 1 min of coronary balloon occlusion, whereas patients in the NEG remained sedentary. CFI (collateral flow index), HR (heart rate), SBP (systolic blood pressure) and DBP (diastolic blood pressure) were evaluated before and at the end of occlusion. In a second study, 21 CAD patients were randomly divided into the IHT (isometric handgrip training) group or the NTG (non-training group). Patients in the IHT group performed 3 months of IHT, whereas patients in the control group remained sedentary. SPECT (single-photon emission computed tomography) was used to evaluate myocardial perfusion, and VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) levels were determined using ELISA. In the IHG, CFI was significantly higher than in the control group (P<0.01). HR, SBP and DBP in the IHG were significantly higher than in the NEG (P<0.01) at the end of occlusion. In the second study, myocardial perfusion (P<0.05) and left ventricular ejection fraction (P<0.01) were significantly improved in the IHT group. VEGF levels in the IHT group were significantly increased (P<0.01). Levels of VEGF were negatively correlated with the summed rest score of SPECT (r=-0.60, P<0.01). In conclusion, isometric handgrip exercise-induced PIT may promote remote collateral recruitment and growth in CAD patients.

Objective This study aims to develop an artificial intelligence‐based method to screen patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of 50% or lesser using electrocardiogram (ECG) data alone. Methods Convolutional neural network (CNN) is a class of deep neural networks, which has been widely used in medical image recognition. We collected standard 12‐lead ECG and transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) data including the LVEF value. Then, we paired the ECG and TTE data from the same individual. For multiple ECG‐TTE pairs from a single individual, only the earliest data pair was included. All the ECG‐TTE pairs were randomly divided into the training, validation, or testing data set in a ratio of 9:1:1 to create or evaluate the CNN model. Finally, we assessed the screening performance by overall accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value. Results We retrospectively enrolled a total of 26 786 ECG‐TTE pairs and randomly divided them into training (n = 21 732), validation (n = 2 530), and testing data set (n = 2 530). In the testing set, the CNN algorithm showed an overall accuracy of 73.9%, sensitivity of 69.2%, specificity of 70.5%, positive predictive value of 70.1%, and negative predictive value of 69.9%. Conclusion Our results demonstrate that a well‐trained CNN algorithm may be used as a low‐cost and noninvasive method to identify patients with left ventricular dysfunction.

Background: According to the present evidences suggesting association between low testosterone level and prediction of reduced exercise capacity as well as poor clinical outcome in patients with heart failure, we sought to determine if testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) improves clinical and cardiovascular conditions as well as quality of life status in patients with stable chronic heart failure (CHF). Methods:We carried out a review based on 8 published clinical trials to determine whether TRT will benefit patients with CHF. Information of exercise capacity, hemodynamic parameters, electrocardiogram indicators, muscle strength, echocardiography guidelines and laboratory indexes were collected to assess clinical outcomes.Results: We found that TRT could improve significantly exercise capacity, muscle strength and electrocardiogram indicators but no significant changes in ejection fraction (EF), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6).Conclusions: High-quality studies are required to better understand the clinical effects of testosterone.