Explore the vast range of titles available.

Background: Coronary artery perforation (CAP) is a rare but potentially life-threatening complication of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) due to the risk of cardiac tamponade. Strikingly, in contrast to numerous analyses of CAP predictors, only few studies were focused on the predictors of tamponade after PCI, once iatrogenic CAP has occurred. Our aim was to search for clinical and periprocedural characteristics, including the coronary artery involved, associated with the development of acute cardiac tamponade among patients experiencing CAP. Methods: From the medical records of nine centers of invasive cardiology in southern Poland, we retrospectively selected 81 patients (80% with acute myocardial infarction) who had iatrogenic CAP with a visible extravasation jet during angiography (corresponding to type III CAP by the Ellis classification, CAPIII) over a 15-year period (2005–2019). Clinical, angiographic and periprocedural characteristics were compared between the patients who developed acute cardiac tamponade requiring urgent pericardiocentesis in the cathlab (n = 21) and those with CAPIII and without tamponade (n = 60). Results: CAPIII were situated in the left anterior descending artery (LAD) or its diagonal branches (51%, n = 41), right coronary artery (RCA) (24%, n = 19), left circumflex coronary artery (LCx) (16%, n = 13), its obtuse marginal branches (7%, n = 6) and left main coronary artery (2%, n = 2). Acute cardiac tamponade occurred in 24% (10 of 41), 21% (4 of 19) and 37% (7 of 19) patients who experienced CAPIII in the territory of LAD, RCA and LCx, respectively. There were no significant differences in the need for urgent pericardiocentesis (37%) in patients with CAPIII in LCx territory (i.e., the LCx or its obtuse marginal branches) compared to CAPIII in the remaining coronary arteries (23%) (p = 0.24). However, when CAPIII in the LCx were separated from CAPIII in obtuse marginal branches, urgent pericardiocentesis was more frequently performed in patients with CAPIII in the LCx (54%, 7 of 13) compared to subjects with CAPIII in an artery other than the LCx (21%, 14 of 68) (p = 0.03). The direction of this tendency remained consistent regardless of CAP management: prolonged balloon inflation only (n = 26, 67% vs. 13%, p = 0.08) or balloon inflation with subsequent stent implantation (n = 55, 50% vs. 24%, p = 0.13). Besides LCx involvement, no significant differences in other characteristics were observed between patients according to the need of urgent pericardiocentesis. Conclusions: CAPIII in the LCx appears to lead to a higher risk of acute cardiac tamponade compared to perforations involving other coronary arteries. This association may possibly be linked to distinct features of LCx anatomy and/or well-recognized delays in diagnosis and management of LCx-related acute coronary syndromes.

INTRODUCTION: Hypolipidaemic agents were found to affect plasma adipokine levels, but no previous study has investigated whether this effect is sex-dependent. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively analysed 61 patients participating in our previous studies, who because of isolated hypercholesterolaemia were treated with simvastatin (40 mg daily), ezetimibe (10 mg daily) or simvastatin (40 mg daily) plus ezetimibe (10 mg daily). Plasma levels of leptin, adiponectin, visfatin, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), free fatty acids (FFA), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) were assessed separately for men and women before and after 30 days of treatment. RESULTS: At baseline, plasma levels of adiponectin and leptin were lower, while plasma levels of TNF-alpha were higher in men than in women. Administration of simvastatin and statin/ezetimibe combination for 30 days reduced plasma levels of hsCRP, FFA, leptin, visfatin, and TNF-alpha but increased plasma levels of adiponectin, while the effect of ezetimibe was much more limited. The effect of simvastatin and ezetimibe, administered alone or in combination, on plasma hsCRP, FFA, leptin, adiponectin, visfatin, and TNF-alpha did not differ between men and women. Irrespectively of sex, the changes in plasma adipokines and systemic-anti-inflammatory effects were more expressed in simvastatin — than in ezetimibe-treated patients and were strongest when both these agents were administered together. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that sex differences do not determine the effect of hypolipidaemic agents on adipose tissue and low-grade inflammation. (Endokrynol Pol 2015; 66 (2): 114–120)

INTRODUCTION: Although several studies have assessed plasma adipokines in patients treated with hypolipidemic agents, these studies have provided contrasting results. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study included 19 high-risk patients with elevated total and LDL cholesterol levels treated with simvastatin (40 mg daily) and ezetimibe (10 mg daily). Plasma levels of leptin, adiponectin, visfatin, tumour necrosis factor-α, free fatty acids as well as C-reactive protein were measured before and after 30 days of treatment. High-risk hypercholesterolemic patients were compared with 17 age-, sex- and weight-matched healthy subjects who did not receive any treatment. RESULTS: Compared to the healthy subjects, hypercholesterolemic patients exhibited lower plasma levels of adiponectin, as well as higher plasma levels of the remaining adipokines. Administration of simvastatin and ezetimibe for 30 days reduced plasma levels of leptin, visfatin, TNF-α, as well as increased plasma levels of adiponectin. The treatment also reduced free fatty acids and C-reactive protein. CONCLUSIONS: High-risk hypercholesterolemic patients with elevated cholesterol levels are characterised by abnormal production of adipose tissue hormones. Short-term treatment with simvastatin and ezetimibe partially restores adipokine production and inhibits low-grade inflammation. (Endokrynol Pol 2014; 65 (4): 275–280)

INTRODUCTION: Lipid-lowering agents affect adipose tissue function. No study has investigated the role of age in the effects of hypolipidaemic agents on plasma adipokines. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was a retrospective analysis of data of 65 hypercholesterolaemic patients treated for 90 days with simvastatin, ezetimibe, or simvastatin/ezetimibe combination therapy. Circulating levels of leptin, adiponectin, visfatin, and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), as well as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) were assessed separately for patients aged between 35 and 50 years and between 51 and 65 years, at the beginning and at the end of treatment. RESULTS: Patients in the age between 51 and 65 years had higher plasma levels of TNF-alpha and hsCRP, and lower plasma levels of adiponectin than patients aged between 35 and 50 years. In both age groups, simvastatin reduced plasma levels of hsCRP, leptin, visfatin, and TNF-alpha and increased circulating levels of adiponectin. This effect was particularly pronounced if simvastatin was administered in combination with ezetimibe. Ezetimibe alone increased plasma adiponectin and reduced plasma levels of leptin and hsCRP only in older adults. Irrespectively of age, ezetimibe administered alone did not affect visfatin and TNF-alpha. The effect of simvastatin on plasma hsCRP and the investigated adipokines did not differ between both groups. In turn, the effect of ezetimibe and simvastatin/ezetimibe combination therapy on leptin, adiponectin, and hsCRP was stronger in older than in younger adults. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that age may partially determine the effect of ezetimibe, but not of simvastatin, on adipose tissue function. (Endokrynol Pol 2016; 67 (3): 271–276)

Six strains of Psychrobacter spp. isolated from guano of little auks collected on Spitsbergen island (Arctic) carried nine plasmids that were fully sequenced. These replicons (ranging in size from 2917 to 14924 bp) contained either repA (ColE2-type) or repB (iteron-type) replication systems of a relatively narrow host range, limited to Psychrobacter spp. All but one of the plasmids carried predicted mobilization for conjugal transfer systems, encoding relaxases of the MOB Q , MOB V or MOB P families. The plasmids also contained diverse additional genetic load, including a type II restriction-modification system and a gene encoding a putative subunit C of alkyl hydroperoxide reductase (AhpC)—an antioxidant enzyme and major scavenger of reactive oxygen species. Detailed comparative sequence analyses, extended to all plasmids identified so far in psychrophilic bacteria, distinguished groups of the most ubiquitous replicons, which play a key role in horizontal gene transfer in cold environments.