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ObjectiveTo evaluate the changes in cardiac structure and ventricular function in patients with Anderson-Fabry Disease （AFD） by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography （2D-STE） and to explore the characteristics of their early cardiac involvement. MethodsAll 45 patients diagnosed with AFD in this observational study underwent routine ultrasonic cardiogram （UCG） examination and 2D-STE. The patients were divided into 2 groups based on UCG measurements： with left ventricular hypertrophy （interventricular septum or posterior left ventricular wall thickness ≥12 mm） and without left ventricular hypertrophy. TomTec software was used to analyze the echocardiographic images， then the baseline data， UCG routine parameters and myocardial strain of the two groups were compared. ResultsThe study included 27 males （60.0%） and 18 females （40.0%）， with an average age of （32.33±16.11）， 17 cases （37.78%） with left ventricular hypertrophy and 28 cases （62.22%） without left ventricular hypertrophy. All patients had normal left ventricular ejection fraction （LVEF） （> 50%）. Compared with those without left ventricular hypertrophy， patients with left ventricular hypertrophy had significantly more target organ involvement， significantly higher E/A and average E/E' ratios （P < 0.05）. No statistical difference was found in global and segmental longitudinal strain （LS）， circumferential strain （CS） and radial strain （RS） of the endocardium and myocardium between the two groups （all P > 0.05）. There were lower absolute values of global and segmental LS and CS in the myocardium than in the endocardium （all P < 0.05）， and higher absolute values of LS and RS in the mid segment than in the basal and apical segments （all P < 0.05）. ConclusionsThere is no significant association between early systolic dysfunction and left ventricular wall thickness. 2D-STE strain can be used to detect AFD in the early stage. Ventricular wall myocardium exhibits more serious involvement than endocardium and mid segment was less involved than the apical and basal segments.
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[Objective]To study the effects of Caspase-1 specific inhibitor AC-YVAD-CMK on intimal hyperplasia after carotid artery balloon injury in rats and its possible mechanism.[Methods]A total of 33 male adult SD rats were randomly divided into sham group,balloon injury group and balloon injury+AC-YVAD-CMK group. Using the method of balloon injury to establish rat carotid ar?tery intimal hyperplasia animal model,rats were sacrificed and blood vessels were harvested 14 days after operation. Fifteen vascular segments embedded in OCT and the intima to media(I/M)area ratio of neointima was measured by hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining;18 vascular segments were harvested and the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome,cleaved-Caspase-1,interleukin(IL)-1βand IL-18 were measured by Western blot.[Results]HE staining showed that AC-YVAD-CMK significantly inhibited the degree of intimal hyperplasia compared with the balloon injury group[(0.78 ± 0.13)vs(1.52 ± 0.14);P=0.000]. The expression of NLRP3 inflamma?some was increased in balloon injury group while the AC-YVAD-CMK attenuates the expression of NLRP3(P=0.009);The expres?sion of cleaved-Caspase-1 was in line with the expression of NLRP3(P=0.000). The levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1βand IL-18 in balloon injury+AC-YVAD-CMK group were significantly lower than those in the balloon injury group(P=0.000).[Conclusion]AC-YVAD-CMK can attenuate intimal hyperplasia after balloon injury of carotid artery in rats,which might be related to its effect on inhibiting the activation of Caspase-1,which could affect the release of pro-inflammatory cytokine of IL-1βand IL-18.
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Objective To evaluate the value of endothelial function of brachial artery in predicting coronary artery disease in elderly patients. Methods Flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD)and nitroglycerin mediated dilation (NMD) were measured by high-frequency ultrasound in 98 patients with coronary artery disease and 37 controls. All the subjects were diagnosed by coronary arteriography. They were divided into coronary artery blockages ＜ 50% subgroup, 50%-75%subgroup, ＞75% subgroup or coronary blockages in 0, 1, 2, 3 branch (es) subgroups. The correlations between FMD or NMD and the pathological extent or branches of coronary artery were studied and the predictive value of FMD and NMD were analyzed with ROC curve. Results In coronary artery disease group, FMD and NMD were significantly decreased as compared with the control group. They were closely related with coronary artery disease (r= -0. 54, -0. 52, P＜0.01), and were weakly correlated with severity and range of coronary arterial lesion (P＜0. 01).With ROC curve analysis, FMD and NMD could be used to predict coronary artery disease.Conclusions Endothelial function can be used as an index to predict coronary artery disease.