Assessing the Clinical Impact of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has emerged as a pivotal intervention in reducing mortality among ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of PCI in the management of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Design: A retrospective study design was adopted. Setting: The study was conducted at the Affiliated Taizhou People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University. Participants: A total of 126 AMI patients were selected and categorized into two groups based on their treatment regimen: the study group (n=76) underwent PCI, while the control group (n=50) received standard drug therapy. Interventions: The control group was managed with conventional drug treatment, while the study group underwent PCI. Primary Outcome Measures: The primary outcome measures included (1) N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels, (2) cardiac function, (3) total clinical effectiveness, (4) incidence of adverse cardiovascular events, and (5) quality of life. Results: After treatment, both groups exhibited a reduction in N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels, with a more significant decrease observed in the study group compared to the control group (P < .05). Post-treatment left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes decreased, while left ventricular ejection fraction increased in both groups. The study group exhibited more substantial improvements in these parameters compared to the control group (P < .05). The study group also demonstrated a higher total clinical effectiveness rate (χ2 = 9.95, P < 0.05) and a lower incidence of adverse cardiovascular events during follow-up (P < .05). Additionally, both groups reported an increase in quality-of-life scores, with the study group experiencing a more significant improvement (P < .05). Conclusions: This study suggests that PCI, when applied in the clinical management of AMI patients, can significantly reduce N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels, enhance cardiac function, lower the occurrence of cardiovascular adverse events, and improve patients' overall quality of life.

AGTR1rs5186 Polymorphism Is Associated with the Risk of Restenosis after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Meta-Analysis.

Background: Progress has been made in genetic investigations on restenosis for the past 20 years, many studies regarding AGTR1 rs5186 polymorphism and restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have been published, but the result remains controversial. The study aimed to explore the relationship between rs5186 polymorphism and the risk of restenosis after PCI. Methods: We performed a systematic search on PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CNKI, and Wan Fang databases up to December 2021. Two authors individually extracted all useful data of each study involved in this meta-analysis and assessed the study quality using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were combined in different genetic models for evaluation using a random-effects model or fixed-effect model. Results: There were eventually 8 studies of 1111 cases and 4097 controls eligible for this meta-analysis. Significant associations were found between rs5186 polymorphism and restenosis after PCI.allelic (OR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.17−1.47, p < 0.001), homozygous (OR: 1.90, 95% CI: 1.50−2.44, p < 0.001), heterozygous (OR: 1.10, 95% CI: 0.93−1.29, p = 0.27), recessive (OR: 1.80, 95% CI: 1.37−2.36, p < 0.001), dominant genetic model (OR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.06−1.44, p = 0.006). Subgroup analyses indicated a significant association in Asians. Conclusions: The rs5186 polymorphism in the AGTR1 gene increases the risk of restenosis after PCI in Asians significantly.

LncRNA KCNQ1OT1 depletion inhibits the malignant development of atherosclerosis by miR-145-5p.

BACKGROUND: Atherosclerosis (AS) is a lipid-driven inflammatory disease of the arterial intima. Evidence is growing that dysregulation of lncRNAs is implicated in the pathogenesis of AS. In this research, the role of lncRNA KCNQ1OT1 in AS was investigated. METHODS: ApoE-/- mice were fed on a high fat diet to establish mouse models of AS. Macrophages (THP-1) were treated with oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) to establish cell models of AS. Atherosclerotic lesions of AS mice were determined by performing Oil red O staining. Lipid metabolic disorders and inflammatory were detected using specific assay kits. KCNQ1OT1 and miR-145-5p expression was measured using RT-qPCR. Levels of PPARα and CPT1 were measured using western blot. RESULTS: KCNQ1OT1 expression was upregulated and miR-145-5p was downregulated in atherosclerotic plaques of AS mice and ox-LDL-treated THP-1 cells. Lipid metabolic disorders and inflammation in vivo and in vitro were attenuated by either KCNQ1OT1 knockdown or miR-145-5p overexpression. Additionally, KCNQ1OT1 acted as a molecular sponge of miR-145-5p and downregulated miR-145-5p expression. Furthermore, silencing miR-145-5p abolished the effect of KCNQ1OT1 knockdown. CONCLUSION: Silencing KCNQ1OT1 attenuates AS progression by sponging miR-145-5p.

MicroRNA-298 Exacerbates Myocardial Ischemic Injury via Targeting Cyclin D1.

The aim of this study was to explore the role and regulatory mechanism of microRNA-298 (miR-298) in myocardial ischemic injury. H9c2 cardiomyocytes were cultured under hypoxia (3 % O2) conditions to induce myocardial ischemic injury. Subsequently, the effects of miR-298 overexpression and suppression on hypoxia-induced myocardial damage in H9c2 cells were investigated. Moreover, the target of miR-298 was identified in H9c2 cells and the relationship between miR-298 and the activation of PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway was explored. miR-298 was upregulated in hypoxia-stimulated H9c2 cells. Overexpression of miR-298 distinctly aggravated hypoxia-induced myocardial damage in hypoxia-treated H9c2 cells, whereas inhibition of miR-298 alleviated hypoxia-induced injury. Moreover, miR-298 negatively regulated the expression of cyclin D1, and cyclin D1 was a target of miR-298 in H9c2 cells. Suppression of cyclin D1 significantly reversed the effects of suppression of miR-298 on hypoxia-induced myocardial damage. Lastly, inhibition of miR-298 activated the PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, and this effect could be reversed after suppression of cyclin D1. Our results reveal that miR-298 may exacerbate myocardial ischemic injury by targeting cyclin D1 and regulating the activation of PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. miR-298 may serve as a promising targets for reducing myocardial ischemic injury.

Is China's coastal engineered defences valuable for storm protection?

China has a long history of building hard engineered coastal defences for storm protection, which enables us to examine the economic effects of the hard engineering to mitigate storm damage. Examining historical storm impacts between 1989 and 2016, a significant negative relationship exists between the relative economic damages (i.e., TD/GDP) by storm and the length of existing hard engineering within the storm swath. This indicates that hard engineered defences play a critical role in storm mitigation. We estimated that the storm protection value provided by hard engineered defences in China is CNY 3.18 million/km [US$0.50 million/km] on average, with a median of CNY 1.69 million/km [US $0.27 million]. They provide an annual economic value of CNY 6.04 billion on average. Despite their great contribution to reduce total economic damages from storms, hard engineered defences are not as efficient as coastal wetlands. Coastal wetlands are more cost effective based on comparison from China and USA. This study highlights the need for the Chinese government to transfer focus from prevailing hard engineered defences to ecosystem-based measure or the combination of both measures to prevent storm damage in the future.

Assessing pollution-related effects of oil spills from ships in the Chinese Bohai Sea.

An analysis of the effects of potential oil spills will provide data in support of decisions related to improving the response to oil spills and its emergency management. We selected the Chinese Bohai Sea, especially the Bohai Strait, as our investigation region to provide an assessment of the effects of pollution from ship-related oil spills on adjacent coastal zones. Ship-related accidents are one of the major factors causing potential oil spills in this area. A three dimensional oil transport and transformation model was developed using the Estuary, Coastal, and Ocean Model. This proposed model was run 90 times and each run lasted for 15days to simulate the spread and weathering processes of oil for each of four potential spill sites, which represented potential sites of ship collisions along heavy traffic lanes in the Bohai Sea. Ten neighboring coastal areas were also considered as target zones that potentially could receive pollutants once oil spilled in the study areas. The statistical simulations showed that spills in winter were much worse than those in summer; they resulted in very negative effects on several specific target zones coded Z7, Z8, Z9, and Z10 in this paper. In addition, sites S3 (near the Penglai city) and S4 (near the Yantai city) were the two most at-risk sites with a significantly high probability of pollution if spills occurred nearby during winter. The results thus provided practical guidelines for local oil spill prevention, as well as an emergency preparedness and response program.