Objective To investigate the impact of overweight and obesity on left atrial (LA) function in healthy subjects with excess body weight.Methods Conventional echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging were performed in 30 obese subjects (BMI≥28 kg/m2),30 overweight subjects (BMI,24to 28 kg/m2) and 30 age-matched normal subjects (BMI＜24kg/m2).Strain (S),peak systolic strain rate (SSR),peak early diastolic strain rate (ESR) and peak late diastolic strain rate (ASR) values were used to evaluating LA function.Results Compared with controls,mean S,SSR and ESR were decreased in obese subjects,while mean SSR,ESR and ASR were decreased in overweight subjects.Compared with overweight subjects,mean ESR was decreased in obese subjects.Conclusions An impaired LA function is found in overweight and obese subjects who has no other clinically appreciable cause of heart disease by using strain and SR imaging.

Objective To assess left ventricular synchronicity in patients with metabolic syndrome(MS)by tissue Doppler imaging.Methods Twenty-two patients with MS and left ventricular hypertrophy(LVH)(MS-LVH group),69 patients with MS and non-LVH(MS-NLVH group)and 33 healthy subjects(control group) were included.Left ventricular(LV)systolic and diastolic synchronicity were determined by measuring the maximal difference in time to peak myocardial systolic contraction(Ts-diff)and time to peak myocardial early diastolic relaxation(Te-diff),and the standard deviation of time to peak myocardial systolic contraction(Ts-SD)and early diastolic relaxation(Te-SD)with 6 basal and 6 middle LV segments.Results Compared with control group,patients with MS in MS-NLVH and MS-LVH group showed significantly prolonged Ts-diff,Ts-SD,Te-diff and Te-SD.Furthermore,Te-diff and Te-SD were much more prolonged in MS-LVH group than in MS-NLVH group.Conclusions Patients with MS have impaired L V systolic and diastolic synchronicity.LVH impacts the LV diastolic synchronicity much more obviously than systolic synchronicity in the patients with MS and LVH.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Appropriate inflammatory response is necessary for cardiac repairing after acute myocardial infarction (MI). Three-Bromo-4,5-dihydroxybenzaldehyde (BDB) is a potent antioxidant and natural bromophenol compound derived from red algae. Although BDB has been shown to have an anti-inflammatory effect, it remains unclear whether BDB affects cardiac remolding after MI. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential role of BDB on cardiac function recovery after MI in mice. METHODS: Mice were intraperitoneally injected with BDB (100 mg/kg) or vehicle control respectively 1 hour before MI and then treated every other day. Cardiac function was monitored by transthoracic echocardiography at day 7 after MI. The survival of mice was observed for 2 weeks and hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining was used to determine the infarct size. Macrophages infiltration was examined by immunofluorescence staining. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to test the production of cytokines associated with macrophages. The phosphorylation status of nuclear factor (NF)-κB was determined by western blot. RESULTS: BDB administration dramatically improved cardiac function recovery, and decreased mortality and infarcted size after MI. Treatment with BDB reduced CD68+ macrophages, M1 and M2 macrophages infiltration post-MI, and suppressed the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, and IL-6 in the injured hearts. Furthermore, BDB inhibited the phosphorylation of NF-κB in the infarcted hearts. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate, for the first time, that BDB treatment facilitated cardiac healing by suppressing pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion, and indicate that BDB may serve as a therapeutic agent for acute MI.
Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Cytokines ; Echocardiography ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Eosine Yellowish-(YS) ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Heart ; Hematoxylin ; Interleukin-6 ; Interleukins ; Macrophages ; Mice ; Monocytes ; Mortality ; Myocardial Infarction ; Phosphorylation ; Recovery of Function ; Rhodophyta ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Objective To observe the changes of adiponectin (APN),chemerin and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) rats,and to clarify the effect of L-thyroxine (L-T4) replacement therapy.Methods Sixty-five male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups via the random number table method:control group (n =10),SCH group A (n =15),SCH group B (n =15),SCH group C (n =15) and L-T4 treatment group (SCH + L-T4,n =10).Rats in groups SCH A,B and C were fed with 5,15 and 20 mg·kg-1·d-1 methimazole (MMI) once daily by gavage.The rats in SCH + L-T4 group were given 20 mg·kg-1·d-1 MMI once daily through gavage,after 8 weeks,6 μg·kg-1· d-1 of L-T4 was intragastrically added (50 μg/tablet) and the model was completed at the 16th week.The levels of serum APN,chemerin and TNF-α were measured via the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method.The mRNA and protein levels of APN,chemerin and TNF-α in visceral adipose tissue of 5 groups were determined by real-time PCR (RT-PCR) and Western blotting,respectively.Results Compared with the control group [(202.20 + 17.27) ng/L,(143.70 ± 18.46) ng/L,(114.69 ± 4.18) μg/L],the serum chemerin levels in the SCH A,B,C groups were significantly higher [(314.33 ± 16.80),(355.00 ± 17.10),(365.00 ± 11.63) ng/L,P ＜0.05] and TNF-α levels also increased significantly [(222.60 ± 14.13),(279.20 ± 12.79),(288.30 ± 15.89) ng/L,P ＜0.05],and APN levels were significantly decreased [(77.21 ± 3.08),(68.58 ± 2.92),(59.45 ± 2.41) μg/L,P ＜0.05];but compared with SCH group C,the levels of chemerin and TNF-α in the SCH + L-T4 group were decreased [(260.07 ± 10.80),(178.40 ± 10.29) ng/L] and the level of APN [(102.35 ± 3.17) μg/L] was increased (P＜ 0.05).The mRNA and protein levels of APN in SCH A,B,C groups were significantly lower than those in the control group (P ＜0.05).The APN mRNA and protein levels in the SCH + L-T4 group were significantly higher than those in the SCH group C (P ＜ 0.05).The mRNA and protein levels of chemerin and TNF-α in the SCH A,B,C groups were higher than those in the control group (P ＜ 0.05).However,the mRNA and protein levels of chemerin and TNF-α in the SCH + L-T4 group were significantly lower than those in the SCH group C (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion The expression levels of serum chemerin and TNF-α in SCH rats have increased,and APN levels decreased,but L-T4 can ameliorate these changes.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Appropriate inflammatory response is necessary for cardiac repairing after acute myocardial infarction (MI). Three-Bromo-4,5-dihydroxybenzaldehyde (BDB) is a potent antioxidant and natural bromophenol compound derived from red algae. Although BDB has been shown to have an anti-inflammatory effect, it remains unclear whether BDB affects cardiac remolding after MI. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential role of BDB on cardiac function recovery after MI in mice. METHODS: Mice were intraperitoneally injected with BDB (100 mg/kg) or vehicle control respectively 1 hour before MI and then treated every other day. Cardiac function was monitored by transthoracic echocardiography at day 7 after MI. The survival of mice was observed for 2 weeks and hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining was used to determine the infarct size. Macrophages infiltration was examined by immunofluorescence staining. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to test the production of cytokines associated with macrophages. The phosphorylation status of nuclear factor (NF)-κB was determined by western blot. RESULTS: BDB administration dramatically improved cardiac function recovery, and decreased mortality and infarcted size after MI. Treatment with BDB reduced CD68+ macrophages, M1 and M2 macrophages infiltration post-MI, and suppressed the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, and IL-6 in the injured hearts. Furthermore, BDB inhibited the phosphorylation of NF-κB in the infarcted hearts. CONCLUSIONS These data demonstrate, for the first time, that BDB treatment facilitated cardiac healing by suppressing pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion, and indicate that BDB may serve as a therapeutic agent for acute MI.