Endoplasmic reticulum as a target in cardiovascular diseases: Is there a role for flavonoids?

Flavonoids are found in natural health products and plant-based foods. The flavonoid molecules contain a 15-carbon skeleton with the particular structural construction of subclasses. The most flavonoid's critical subclasses with improved health properties are the catechins or flavonols (e.g., epigallocatechin 3-gallate from green tea), the flavones (e.g., apigenin from celery), the flavanones (e.g., naringenin from citrus), the flavanols (e.g., quercetin glycosides from berries, onion, and apples), the isoflavones (e.g., genistein from soya beans) and the anthocyanins (e.g., cyanidin-3-O-glucoside from berries). Scientific data conclusively demonstrates that frequent intake of efficient amounts of dietary flavonoids decreases chronic inflammation and the chance of oxidative stress expressing the pathogenesis of human diseases like cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a critical organelle that plays a role in protein folding, post-transcriptional conversion, and transportation, which plays a critical part in maintaining cell homeostasis. Various stimuli can lead to the creation of unfolded or misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum and then arise in endoplasmic reticulum stress. Constant endoplasmic reticulum stress triggers unfolded protein response (UPR), which ultimately causes apoptosis. Research has shown that endoplasmic reticulum stress plays a critical part in the pathogenesis of several cardiovascular diseases, including diabetic cardiomyopathy, ischemic heart disease, heart failure, aortic aneurysm, and hypertension. Endoplasmic reticulum stress could be one of the crucial points in treating multiple cardiovascular diseases. In this review, we summarized findings on flavonoids' effects on the endoplasmic reticulum and their role in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

The Effects of Spironolactone and Eplerenone on Left Ventricular Function Using Echocardiography in Symptomatic Patients With New-Onset Systolic Heart Failure: A Comparative Randomised Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF), as a serious health condition, is characterised by the decreasing ability of the heart to pump enough blood around the body. This study compared the effects of spironolactone and eplerenone on the echocardiographic variables of the left ventricular (LV) function in symptomatic patients diagnosed with new-onset systolic HF. METHOD: This study was a randomised controlled trial, including 85 symptomatic patients with new-onset systolic HF (namely, dilated cardiomyopathy). The patients were then randomly assigned to two groups in a 1:1 ratio and received either spironolactone or eplerenone in addition to optimal HF therapy for 6 months. Echocardiography was performed to visualise alterations in two-dimensional, pulse Doppler, tissue Doppler, and deformation indices of LV function. RESULTS: The results revealed that the group receiving eplerenone had a significantly greater increase in LV ejection fraction (LVEF) and a decrease in end-systolic LV internal diameter compared with the group receiving spironolactone (intergroup p=0.002 and p=0.006, respectively). There was a significant reduction in the end-diastolic LV internal diameter and the left atrial diameter, and a significant rise in tissue Doppler peak systolic mitral annular velocity in the group taking eplerenone; there were no significant changes in these variables in the group receiving spironolactone (intergroup p=0.006 and p=0.049, respectively). Accordingly, eplerenone had greater favourable effects on LVEF and the global longitudinal strain than spironolactone (B=5.207 [p<0.001] and B= -2.072 [p=0.044]), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study established that adding eplerenone to optimal HF therapy might be associated with more improvements in echocardiographic variables of LV function than spironolactone in symptomatic patients with new-onset systolic HF.

Isolated thrombocytopenia; A report of a rare presentation of childhood systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

BACKGROUND: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has various presentations in children. Hematologic abnormalities is common in childhood onset of SLE, however, isolated thrombocytopenia is relatively rare. Thus, we present a child with isolated thrombocytopenia as a rare presentation of SLE. CASE PRESENTATION: A 12-year-old boy with chief complaints of loss of appetite, weight loss, decreased platelet count (8000/µL) and lymph node enlargement was referred to our hospital. Biopsy of lymph node showed reactive lymphadenopathy. Investigations regarding infectious disease was negative. Platelet count remained low after low dose steroidned therapy. Antinuclear antibody (ANA) and anti-double stranded DNA antibody screening tests were positive with titer of 1/62 and 1/54, respectively. Therefore, juvenile SLE was considered as the final diagnosis and raising the dose of prednisolone to 2mg/kg/day was associated with increasing platelet count to 40000/µL and a week later to 96000/µL. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study indicate that in cases with isolated thrombocytopenia refractory to conventional dose of steroids, SLE should be considered. This study justifies serum ANA and anti DNA assessment in children with thrombocytopenia.

Higher acceptance rates for abstracts written in English at a national research student meeting in a non-English speaking country.

BACKGROUND: The rate of English-written submissions is increasing in local meetings of non-English speaking countries. However, it seems that the quality of research and methodology of the studies has not progressed. This study aimed to evaluate the association of English writing and the acceptance for presentation following the peer-review process in the 13th Annual Research Congress of Iran's Medical Sciences Students (ARCIMSS). METHODS: All 1817 complete abstracts submitted to the meeting were included in this cross-sectional study. Each was evaluated for the language of the text (English or Persian), final decision after peer review (accepted vs. rejected), presentation type (oral, poster discussion and poster) and the scores of reviewing process. RESULTS: There were 395 (21.7%) abstracts written in English and 1422 (78.3%) in Persian. The acceptance rate for English abstracts was 33.7% and for Persian 24.6% (OR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.22-1.98). The rate of abstracts' acceptance for presentation in oral panels was significantly higher for English abstracts than for those in Persian (25.6% versus 15.7%, OR = 1.84, 95% CI: 1.14-2.99). By contrast, Persian abstracts were more likely to be accepted as poster panels than were English abstracts (74.9% versus 63.9%, OR = 1.68, 95% CI: 1.10-2.58). DISCUSSION: English-written abstracts have higher chance of acceptation in a non-English speaker country like Iran.