Upregulation of Ryanodine Receptor Calcium Channels (RyR2) in Rats with Induced Diabetes after 4 Weeks of High Intensity Interval Training

Assessing left main bifurcation anatomy and haemodynamics as a potential surrogate for disease risk in suspected coronary artery disease without stenosis

Coronary anatomy governs local haemodynamics associated with atherosclerotic development, progression and ultimately adverse clinical outcomes. However, lack of large sample size studies and methods to link adverse haemodynamics to anatomical information has hindered meaningful insights to date. The Left Main coronary bifurcations of 127 patients with suspected coronary artery disease in the absence of significant stenosis were segmented from CTCA images before computing the local haemodynamics. We correlated 11 coronary anatomical characteristics with the normalised lumen area exposed to adverse haemodynamics linked with atherosclerotic processes. These include mean curvatures and diameters of branches, bifurcation and inflow angles, and Finet's ratio as the anatomical parameters, and low Time-Averaged Endothelial Shear Stress ( lowTAESS < 0.5  Pa), high Oscillatory Shear Index (highOSI >  0.1), high Relative Residence Time (highRRT >  4.17 Pa-1), and mean Topological Shear Variation Index for the haemodynamics consideration. We separately tested if the geometric measures and haemodynamics indicators differed between subgroups (sex, smokers, and those with hypertension). We then use a step-down multiple linear regression model to find the best model for predicting lowTAESS, highOSI, highRRT and meanTSVI. Finet's Ratio (FR) significantly correlated to lowTAESS ( p < 0.001 ). Vessel diameters and curvature correlated to highOSI (both p< 0.001) as well as meanTSVI (p< 0.05). Finet's ratio, vessel diameters and daughter branch curvature independently correlated to RRT (all p< 0.01). Our results indicate that specific anatomical vessel characteristics may be used as a surrogate of adverse haemodynamics environment associated with clinically adverse mechanisms of disease. This is especially powerful with the latest computing resources and may unlock clinical integration via standard imaging modalities as biomarkers without further computationally expensive simulations.

Current advances in the study of diabetic cardiomyopathy: From clinicopathological features to molecular therapeutics (Review)

The incidence of diabetes mellitus has become a major public health concern due to lifestyle alterations. Moreover, the complications associated with diabetes mellitus deeply influence the quality of life of patients. Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DC) is a type of diabetes mellitus complication characterized by functional and structural damage in the myocardium but not accompanied by coronary arterial disease. Currently, diagnosing and preventing DC is still a challenge for physicians due to its atypical symptoms. For this reason, it is necessary to summarize the current knowledge on DC, especially in regards to the underlying molecular mechanisms toward the goal of developing useful diagnostic approaches and effective drugs based on these mechanisms. There exist several review articles which have focused on these points, but there still remains a lot to learn from published studies. In this review, the features, diagnosis and molecular mechanisms of DC are reviewed. Furthermore, potential therapeutic and prophylactic drugs are discussed.