Effects of lisinopril on experimental ischemia in rats. Influence of infarct size

OBJECTIVE - Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) have gained importance in preventing or attenuating the process of ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction. The significance of infarct size in regard to the response to ACEIs, however, is controversial. This study aimed to analyze the effects of lisinopril on mortality rate, cardiac function, degree of cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis in rats with different infarct sizes. METHODS - Lisinopril (20 mg/kg/day) dissolved in drinking water was administered to rats immediately after coronary artery occlusion. After being sacrificed, the infarcted animals were divided into two groups: one group of animals with small infarcts (< 40% of the left ventricle) and another group of animals with large infarcts (> 40% of the left ventricle). RESULTS - The mortality rate was 31.7% in treated rats and 47% in the untreated rats. There was no statistical difference between the groups with small and large infarcts in regard to myocardial concentration of hydroxyproline. In small infarcts, the treatment attenuated the heart dysfunction characterized by lower levels of blood pressure and lower values of the first derivative of pressure and of the negative derivative of pressure. The degree of hypertrophy was also attenuated in small infarcts. In regard to large infarcts, no differences between the groups were observed. CONCLUSION - Treatment with the ACEIs had no effect on mortality rate and on the amount of fibrosis. The protective effect of lisinopril on heart function and on the degree of hypertrophy could only be detected in small infarcts

A revolução fashion: os blogs como instrumentos de consolidação da identidade plus size

Dissertação de mestrado em Comunicação, Arte e Cultura

Infarct Size as Predictor of Systolic Functional Recovery after Myocardial Infarction

Background: The effects of modern therapy on functional recovery after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are unknown.Objectives:To evaluate the predictors of systolic functional recovery after anterior wall AMI in patients undergoing modern therapy (reperfusion, aggressive platelet antiaggregant therapy, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and beta-blockers).Methods:A total of 94 consecutive patients with AMI with ST-segment elevation were enrolled. Echocardiograms were performed during the in-hospital phase and after 6 months. Systolic dysfunction was defined as ejection fraction value < 50%.Results:In the initial echocardiogram, 64% of patients had systolic dysfunction. Patients with ventricular dysfunction had greater infarct size, assessed by the measurement of total and isoenzyme MB creatine kinase enzymes, than patients without dysfunction. Additionally, 24.5% of patients that initially had systolic dysfunction showed recovery within 6 months after AMI. Patients who recovered ventricular function had smaller infarct sizes, but larger values of ejection fraction and E-wave deceleration time than patients without recovery. At the multivariate analysis, it can be observed that infarct size was the only independent predictor of functional recovery after 6 months of AMI when adjusted for age, gender, ejection fraction and E-wave deceleration time.Conclusion: In spite of aggressive treatment, systolic ventricular dysfunction remains a frequent event after the anterior wall myocardial infarction. Additionally, 25% of patients show functional recovery. Finally, infarct size was the only significant predictor of functional recovery after six months of acute myocardial infarction.

Focused Cardiac Ultrasound Using a Pocket-Size Device in the Emergency Room

Background:Cardiovascular urgencies are frequent reasons for seeking medical care. Prompt and accurate medical diagnosis is critical to reduce the morbidity and mortality of these conditions.Objective:To evaluate the use of a pocket-size echocardiography in addition to clinical history and physical exam in a tertiary medical emergency care.Methods:One hundred adult patients without known cardiac or lung diseases who sought emergency care with cardiac complaints were included. Patients with ischemic changes in the electrocardiography or fever were excluded. A focused echocardiography with GE Vscan equipment was performed after the initial evaluation in the emergency room. Cardiac chambers dimensions, left and right ventricular systolic function, intracardiac flows with color, pericardium, and aorta were evaluated.Results:The mean age was 61 ± 17 years old. The patient complaint was chest pain in 51 patients, dyspnea in 32 patients, arrhythmia to evaluate the left ventricular function in ten patients, hypotension/dizziness in five patients and edema in one patient. In 28 patients, the focused echocardiography allowed to confirm the initial diagnosis: 19 patients with heart failure, five with acute coronary syndrome, two with pulmonary embolism and two patients with cardiac tamponade. In 17 patients, the echocardiography changed the diagnosis: ten with suspicious of heart failure, two with pulmonary embolism suspicious, two with hypotension without cause, one suspicious of acute coronary syndrome, one of cardiac tamponade and one of aortic dissection.Conclusion:The focused echocardiography with pocket-size equipment in the emergency care may allow a prompt diagnosis and, consequently, an earlier initiation of the therapy.

Influence of pore size distribution on drying behaviour of porous media by a continuous model

Bundle of capillaries, drying kinetics, continuous model, relative permeability, capillary pressure, control volume method

High-fat Diet Promotes Cardiac Remodeling in an Experimental Model of Obesity

AbstractBackground:Although nutritional, metabolic and cardiovascular abnormalities are commonly seen in experimental studies of obesity, it is uncertain whether these effects result from the treatment or from body adiposity.Objective:To evaluate the influence of treatment and body composition on metabolic and cardiovascular aspects in rats receiving high saturated fat diet.Methods:Sixteen Wistar rats were used, distributed into two groups, the control (C) group, treated with isocaloric diet (2.93 kcal/g) and an obese (OB) group, treated with high-fat diet (3.64 kcal/g). The study period was 20 weeks. Analyses of nutritional behavior, body composition, glycemia, cholesterolemia, lipemia, systolic arterial pressure, echocardiography, and cardiac histology were performed.Results:High-fat diet associates with manifestations of obesity, accompanied by changes in glycemia, cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, and myocardial interstitial fibrosis. After adjusting for adiposity, the metabolic effects were normalized, whereas differences in morphometric changes between groups were maintained.Conclusion:It was concluded that adiposity body composition has a stronger association with metabolic disturbances in obese rodents, whereas the high-fat dietary intervention is found to be more related to cardiac morphological changes in experimental models of diet-induced obesity.

Evaluation of Electrocardiographic T-peak to T-end Interval in Subjects with Increased Epicardial Fat Tissue Thickness

Abstract Background: The association between periatrial adiposity and atrial arrhythmias has been shown in previous studies. However, there are not enough available data on the association between epicardial fat tissue (EFT) thickness and parameters of ventricular repolarization. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the association of EFT thickness with indices of ventricular repolarization by using T-peak to T-end (Tp-e) interval and Tp-e/QT ratio. Methods: The present study included 50 patients whose EFT thickness ≥ 9 mm (group 1) and 40 control subjects with EFT thickness < 9 mm (group 2). Transthoracic echocardiographic examination was performed in all participants. QT parameters, Tp-e intervals and Tp-e/QT ratio were measured from the 12-lead electrocardiogram. Results: QTd (41.1 ± 2.5 vs 38.6 ± 3.2, p < 0.001) and corrected QTd (46.7 ± 4.7 vs 43.7 ± 4, p = 0.002) were significantly higher in group 1 when compared to group 2. The Tp-e interval (76.5 ± 6.3, 70.3 ± 6.8, p < 0.001), cTp-e interval (83.1 ± 4.3 vs. 76±4.9, p < 0.001), Tp-e/QT (0.20 ± 0.02 vs. 0.2 ± 0.02, p < 0.001) and Tp-e/QTc ratios (0.2 ± 0.01 vs. 0.18 ± 0.01, p < 0.001) were increased in group 1 in comparison to group 2. Significant positive correlations were found between EFT thickness and Tp-e interval (r = 0.548, p < 0.001), cTp-e interval (r = 0.259, p = 0.01), and Tp-e/QT (r = 0.662, p < 0.001) and Tp-e/QTc ratios (r = 0.560, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The present study shows that Tp-e and cTp-e interval, Tp-e/QT and Tp-e/QTc ratios were increased in subjects with increased EFT, which may suggest an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmia.

The Relationship between GRACE Score and Epicardial Fat Thickness in non-STEMI Patients

Abstract Background: GRACE risk score (GS) is a scoring system which has a prognostic significance in patients with non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (non-STEMI). Objective: The present study aimed to determine whether end-systolic or end-diastolic epicardial fat thickness (EFT) is more closely associated with high-risk non-STEMI patients according to the GS. Methods: We evaluated 207 patients who had non-STEMI beginning from October 2012 to February 2013, and 162 of them were included in the study (115 males, mean age: 66.6 ± 12.8 years). End-systolic and end-diastolic EFTs were measured with echocardiographic methods. Patients with high in-hospital GS were categorized as the H-GS group (in hospital GS > 140), while other patients were categorized as the low-to-moderate risk group (LM-GS). Results: Systolic and diastolic blood pressures of H-GS patients were lower than those of LM-GS patients, and the average heart rate was higher in this group. End-systolic EFT and end-diastolic EFT were significantly higher in the H-GS group. The echocardiographic assessment of right and left ventricles showed significantly decreased ejection fraction in both ventricles in the H-GS group. The highest correlation was found between GS and end-diastolic EFT (r = 0.438). Conclusion: End-systolic and end-diastolic EFTs were found to be increased in the H-GS group. However, end-diastolic EFT and GS had better correlation than end-systolic EFT and GS.

Observações preliminares sôbre caponização de frangos "Leghorn" com estrogênios

The effect of "Capastrol", pellets of diethilstilbestrol at 0,015 g., in 12 weeks S. C. W. Leghorn cockerels, was studied. The results secured are in accordance with those obtained by other authors and can be resumed as follows: 1) paleness and shrunken of the comb, whose size is reduced, in comparison with the controls; 2) no differences in the total weight gain between control and treated lot; 3) size of testis greatly reduced in treated males; 4) improvement of meat by fat deposition in chickens that received treatment.

Precipitation of barium sulfate in a semi-batch stirred tank reactor : influence of feeding policy on particle size and morphology

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Verfahrens- und Systemtechnik, Diss., 2012

Size and scaling in the Indian frogs Nyctibatrachus and Nannobatrachus (Ranidae) : a contribution in celebration of the distinguished scholarship of Robert F. Inger on the occasion of his sixty-fifth birthday / H. Bradley Shaffer.

n.s. no.46(1988)

The distribution, size, and reproduction of the pedunculate barnacle, Octolasmis mülleri (Coker, 1902), on the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus (Rathburn, 1896) / William B. Jeffries, Harold K. Voris.

n.s. no.16(1983)

The fat body in Rhinocricus padbergi (Diplopoda, Spirobolida)

The distribution and morphology of fat body of Brazilian diplopod Rhinocricus padbergi Verhoeff, 1938 are analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and histology. A terminology is proposed for description of the diplopods fat body.

Mice of the Akodon boliviensis size class (Sigmodontinae, Cricetidae), with the description of two new species from Brazil / Philip Hershovitz.

n.s. no.57(1990)

Protein content and electrophoretic profile of fat body and ovary extracts from workers of Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides (Hymenoptera, Meliponini)

Workers of Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides (Lepeletier, 1836) develop their ovaries and lay eggs, therefore the production of vitellogenin is expected. In electrophoretic profiles only fat body extracts from nurse workers and ovary extracts from newly-emerged workers show protein with molecular mass similar to vitellogenin. However, an increase in the protein content was detected in forager fat body. This increase was attributed to storage of vitellogenin or other proteins in the previous phase and not discharged into the hemolymph or to an effect of the increased titre of juvenile hormone in this phase of worker life over the fat body functioning.