Cardiac Sympathetic Hyperactivity after Chemotherapy: Early Sign of Cardiotoxicity?

Background:Chemotherapy with anthracyclines and trastuzumab can cause cardiotoxicity. Alteration of cardiac adrenergic function assessed by metaiodobenzylguanidine labeled with iodine-123 (123I-mIBG) seems to precede the drop in left ventricular ejection fraction.Objective:To evaluate and to compare the presence of cardiovascular abnormalities among patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy with anthracyclines and trastuzumab, and only with anthracycline.Methods:Patients with breast cancer were analyzed clinical, laboratory, electrocardiographic and echocardiographic and cardiac sympathetic activity. In scintigraphic images, the ratio of 123I-mIBG uptake between the heart and mediastinum, and the washout rate were calculated. The variables were compared between patients who received anthracyclines and trastuzumab (Group 1) and only anthracyclines (Group 2).Results:Twenty patients, with mean age 57 ± 14 years, were studied. The mean left ventricular ejection fraction by echocardiography was 67.8 ± 4.0%. Mean washout rate was 28.39 ± 9.23% and the ratio of 123I-mIBG uptake between the heart and mediastinum was 2.07 ± 0.28. Of the patients, 82% showed an increased in washout rate, and the ratio of 123I-mIBG uptake between the heart and mediastinum decreased in 25%. Concerning the groups, the mean washout rate of Group 1 was 32.68 ± 9.30% and of Group 2 was 24.56 ± 7.72% (p = 0,06). The ratio of 123I-mIBG uptake between the heart and mediastinum was normal in all patients in Group 2, however, the Group 1, showed 50% the ratio of 123I-mIBG uptake between the heart and mediastinum ≤ 1.8 (p = 0.02).Conclusion:In women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy, assessment of cardiac sympathetic activity with 123I-mIBG appears to be an early marker of cardiotoxicity. The combination of chemotherapy showed higher risk of cardiac adrenergic hyperactivity.

Ergospirometry and Echocardiography in Early Stage of Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction and in Healthy Individuals

AbstractBackground:Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is a syndrome characterized by changes in diastolic function; it is more prevalent among the elderly, women, and individuals with systemic hypertension (SH) and diabetes mellitus. However, in its early stages, there are no signs of congestion and it is identified in tests by adverse remodeling, decreased exercise capacity and diastolic dysfunction.Objective:To compare doppler, echocardiographic (Echo), and cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) variables - ergospirometry variables - between two population samples: one of individuals in the early stage of this syndrome, and the other of healthy individuals.Methods:Twenty eight outpatients diagnosed with heart failure according to Framingham’s criteria, ejection fraction > 50% and diastolic dysfunction according to the european society of cardiology (ESC), and 24 healthy individuals underwent Echo and CPET.Results:The group of patients showed indexed atrial volume and left ventricular mass as well as E/E’ and ILAV/A´ ratios significantly higher, in addition to a significant reduction in peak oxygen consumption and increased VE/VCO2 slope, even having similar left ventricular sizes in comparison to those of the sample of healthy individuals.Conclusion:There are significant differences between the structural and functional variables analyzed by Echo and CPET when comparing two population samples: one of patients in the early stage of heart failure with ejection fraction greater than or equal to 50% and another of healthy individuals.

Speed in early visual processing

Vision, Speed, Electroencephalogram, Gamma Band Activity

Early Markers of Atherosclerotic Disease in Individuals with Excess Weight and Dyslipidemia

Abstract Background: Excessive weight is a cardiovascular risk factor since it generates a chronic inflammatory process that aggravates the endothelial function. Objective: To evaluate the endothelial function in individuals with excess weight and mild dyslipidemia using brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (BAFMD), and the association of endothelial function with anthropometric and biochemical variables. Methods: Cross-sectional study that included 74 individuals and evaluated anthropometric variables (body mass index [BMI], waist-hip ratio [WHR], waist circumference [AC], and percentage of body fat [PBF]), biochemical (blood glucose, insulinemia, ultrasensitive C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL-cholesterol) and endothelial function (BAFMD, evaluated by ultrasound). The statistical analysis was performed with SPSS, version 16.0. To study the association between the variables, we used chi-square, Student's t and Mann-Whitney tests, and Pearson's correlation. Logistic regression analyzed the independent influence of the factors. Values of p < 0.05 were considered significant. Results: The participants had a mean age of 50.8 years, and 57% were female. BMI, WC, WHR, and PBF showed no significant association with BAFMD. The male gender (p = 0.02) and higher serum levels of fibrinogen (p = 0.02) were significantly and independently associated with a BAFMD below 8%. Conclusions: In individuals with excess weight and mild untreated dyslipidemia, male gender and higher levels of fibrinogen were independently associated with worse BAFMD.

Influence of nucleus accumbens core or shell stimulation on early long-term potentiation in the dentate gyrus of freely moving rats

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Naturwiss., Diss., 2010

Early life stress-induced histone acetylations correlate with activation of the synaptic plasticity genes Arc and Egr1 in the mouse brain

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Naturwiss., Diss., 2013

The contribution of archaeology to the zoogeography of Borneo : with the first record of a wild canid of Early Holocene Age ; a contribution in celebration of the distinguished scholarship of Robert F. Inger on the occasion of his sixty-fifth birthday / Earl of Cranbrook.

n.s. no.42(1988)

A symmetrodont from the early cretaceous of North Texas/ Bryan Patterson

v.37:no.25(1955)

Procolpochelys grandaeva (Leidy) : an early carettine sea turtle / by Rainer Zangerl and William D. Turnbull.

v.37:no.12(1955)

Early Devonian fishes from Utah : Osteostraci / Robert H. Denison --

v.11:no.6(1952)

Evolution and classification of the Osteostraci. The exoskeleton of early Osteostraci. / Robert H. Denison --

v.11:no.3-4(1951)

An early Pleistocene (Blancan) fauna from Nebraska / by Paul O. McGrew --

v.9:no.2(1944)

Revised phylogeny and functional interpretation of the Edrioasteroidea based on new taxa from the Early and Middle Ordovician of western Utah / Thomas E. Guensburg --, James Sprinkle --.

n.s. no.29(1994)

The early ceramics of the Inca heartland / Brian S. Bauer.

n.s. no.31(1999)

Some early Miocene carnivores / by Elmer S. Riggs --

v.9:no.3(1945)