Resveratrol and quercetin down-regulate tissue factor expression by human stimulated vascular cells.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies have shown that consumption of wine reduces the risk of coronary heart disease. Resveratrol and quercetin, two polyphenolic compounds found in grapes and red wine, have been shown to contribute to this protection by exerting several biological properties which could be associated with cardioprotection. Tissue factor (TF), the cellular receptor that initiates blood coagulation, plays a primary role both in hemostasis following tissue injury and in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis which predisposes to thrombosis. OBJECTIVES: We investigated the role of resveratrol and quercetin on TF expression by endothelial and mononuclear cells (MN). METHODS: Confluent human umbilical vein endothelial cells and MN collected from healthy donors were stimulated with bacterial lipopolysaccharide, interleukin-1beta or tumor necrosis factor-alpha after incubation with increasing concentrations of resveratrol or quercetin. RESULTS: In both cell types, TF activity induced by any agonist was significantly reduced by resveratrol or quercetin in a dose-dependent fashion. Northern blot analysis indicated that resveratrol and quercetin strongly reduce TF mRNA in both cell types. The inhibition of TF mRNA originated from a reduction in nuclear binding activity of the transacting factor c-Rel/p65, which was induced by the agonists and measured by electromobility shift assay. Western blot analysis revealed that the diminished c-Rel/p65 activity was dependent upon inhibition of degradation of the c-Rel/p65 inhibitory protein IkappaBalpha. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide a molecular basis which could help explain the protective activity of red wine against cardiovascular disease.

Influence of the boundary thermal conditions on the air change efficiency indexes.

The influence of a thermal heterogeneity boundary conditions on the air change efficiency (ACE) of a mechanical ventilation system in a test room was experimentally evaluated by means of the "step-down" tracer gas technique in 24 different experimental conditions. The experiments were performed under isothermal condition, varying the air supply temperature with respect to the walls and varying the surface temperature of a wall with respect to the other walls and the supply air, simulating both heating and cooling situations. Changing the position of the outlet grid two different configurations of the ventilation system were tested. The nominal supply air velocity varied between 0.04 and 0.11 m/s, corresponding to a range from 1 to 3 ach, and the temperature differences varied from 0 to 5 degrees C. Results are reported in terms of air change efficiency indexes, both local and global. The global air change efficiency (ACE), values are presented as a function of the Archimedes number (Ar), whose values were in the range 0 to 181. The reported results suggest that the Ar number may be used to organize the ACE values when in the presence of thermal heterogeneity, both in the external envelope and in the supplied air. The obtained results show that there is a logarithmic relation between Ar and ACE. In particular, for both ventilation strategies tested, the increase of the absolute value of Ar leads to an increase of ACE when the supply air is warmer than the walls, and to a decrease of ACE when the supply air is colder than the walls. Under isothermal conditions the Reynolds number (Re) fairly correlates the experimental results.

[Autogenic training and ECG. Apropos of a clinical case]. / Training autogeno ed ECG. A proposito di un caso clinico.

A case of tachycardia in an infarctophobic subject treated with autogenous training which completely cleared up the condition over one year is reported. The patient had been subject to attacks of tachycardia lasting for more than 15' for more than 10 years and was recalcitrant to all pharmacological therapy. Schultz' standard autogenous training produced a marked improvement in the ECG, with different behaviour of the ST segment and the QX/QT ratio under the same conditions of heart frequency and arterial pressure.