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Acute myocardial infarction (MI) is one of the most common causes of death worldwide. Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a cardioprotective neuropeptide expressing its receptors in the cardiovascular system. The aim of our study was to examine tissue PACAP-38 in a translational porcine MI model and plasma PACAP-38 levels in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Significantly lower PACAP-38 levels were detected in the non-ischemic region of the left ventricle (LV) in MI heart compared to the ischemic region of MI-LV and also to the Sham-operated LV in porcine MI model. In STEMI patients, plasma PACAP-38 level was significantly higher before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) compared to controls, and decreased after PCI. Significant negative correlation was found between plasma PACAP-38 and troponin levels. Furthermore, a significant effect was revealed between plasma PACAP-38, hypertension and HbA1c levels. This was the first study showing significant changes in cardiac tissue PACAP levels in a porcine MI model and plasma PACAP levels in STEMI patients. These results suggest that PACAP, due to its cardioprotective effects, may play a regulatory role in MI and could be a potential biomarker or drug target in MI.

AbstractObjectiveTo determine whether endogenous testosterone has a causal role in thromboembolism, heart failure, and myocardial infarction.DesignTwo sample mendelian randomisation study using genetic variants as instrumental variables, randomly allocated at conception, to infer causality as additional randomised evidence.SettingReduction by Dutasteride of Prostate Cancer Events (REDUCE) randomised controlled trial, UK Biobank, and CARDIoGRAMplusC4D 1000 Genomes based genome wide association study.Participants3225 men of European ancestry aged 50-75 in REDUCE; 392 038 white British men and women aged 40-69 from the UK Biobank; and 171 875 participants of about 77% European descent, from CARDIoGRAMplusC4D 1000 Genomes based study for validation.Main outcome measuresThromboembolism, heart failure, and myocardial infarction based on self reports, hospital episodes, and death.ResultsOf the UK Biobank participants, 13 691 had thromboembolism (6208 men, 7483 women), 1688 had heart failure (1186, 502), and 12 882 had myocardial infarction (10 136, 2746). In men, endogenous testosterone genetically predicted by variants in the JMJD1C gene region was positively associated with thromboembolism (odds ratio per unit increase in log transformed testosterone (nmol/L) 2.09, 95% confidence interval 1.27 to 3.46) and heart failure (7.81, 2.56 to 23.8), but not myocardial infarction (1.17, 0.78 to 1.75). Associations were less obvious in women. In the validation study, genetically predicted testosterone (based on JMJD1C gene region variants) was positively associated with myocardial infarction (1.37, 1.03 to 1.82). No excess heterogeneity was observed among genetic variants in their associations with the outcomes. However, testosterone genetically predicted by potentially pleiotropic variants in the SHBG gene region had no association with the outcomes.ConclusionsEndogenous testosterone was positively associated with thromboembolism, heart failure, and myocardial infarction in men. Rates of these conditions are higher in men than women. Endogenous testosterone can be controlled with existing treatments and could be a modifiable risk factor for thromboembolism and heart failure.

AimsObservational evidence suggests that physical activity (PA) is inversely and sedentarism positively related with cardiovascular disease risk. We performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to examine whether genetically predicted PA and sedentary behavior are related to coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, and ischemic stroke.Methods and resultsWe used single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with self-reported moderate to vigorous PA (n = 17), accelerometer based PA (n = 7) and accelerometer fraction of accelerations > 425 milli-gravities (n = 7) as well as sedentary behavior (n = 6) in the UK Biobank as instrumental variables in a two sample MR approach to assess whether these exposures are related to coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction in the CARDIoGRAMplusC4D genome-wide association study (GWAS) or ischemic stroke in the MEGASTROKE GWAS. The study population included 42,096 cases of coronary artery disease (99,121 controls), 27,509 cases of myocardial infarction (99,121 controls), and 34,217 cases of ischemic stroke (404,630 controls). We found no associations between genetically predicted self-reported moderate to vigorous PA, accelerometer-based PA or accelerometer fraction of accelerations > 425 milli-gravities as well as sedentary behavior with coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, and ischemic stroke.ConclusionsThese results do not support a causal relationship between PA and sedentary behavior with risk of coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, and ischemic stroke. Hence, previous observational studies may have been biased.Graphic abstract

Despite the promising value of miRNAs in the diagnostic and prognostic of cardiovascular disease (CVD), recent meta-analyses did not support their potential. Methodological variances in studies may interfere with miRNA profile and affect their results. This study determines if the blood starting material is a source of variance in miRNA profile by performing a paired comparison in plasma and serum of the expression of primary miRNAs associated with CVD. Circulating miRNA yield was similar in both plasma and serum, although a significant increase was observed in patients with Non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) compared to control volunteers. When normalized by the expression of miR-484, different patterns of miRNA expression between serum and plasma. Although NSTEMI modified the expression of miR-1 and miR-208 in both serum and plasma, plasma displayed a higher variance than serum (Levene’s test p < 0.01). For miR-133a and miR-26a, differences were only detected in serum (p = 0.0240), and conversely, miR-499a showed differences only in plasma of NSTEMI (p = 0.001). Interestingly, miR-21 showed an opposite pattern of expression, being increased in serum (2 −ΔΔCt : 5.7, p = 0.0221) and decreased in plasma (2 −ΔΔCt : 0.5, p = 0.0107). Plasma and serum exhibit different patterns of circulating miRNA expression in NSTEMI and suggest that results from studies with different starting material could not be comparable.

Syndecan-1 (sdc1) is a surface protein part of the endothelial glycocalyx (eGC). Soluble sdc1 is derived from shedding and indicates damaged eGC. We assessed the predictive value of plasma sdc1 concentrations for future cardiovascular events in acute reperfused ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. A total of 206 patients admitted for STEMI were included in this study (29% female; age 65 ± 12 years) and followed-up for six months. Plasma samples were obtained post-intervention and analyzed for sdc1 by Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Primary outcome was six-month-mortality. Sdc1 did not correlate with biomarkers such as creatine kinase (CK) (r = 0.11; p = 0.01) or troponin (r = −0.12; p = 0.09), nor with infarct size (r = −0.04; p = 0.67) and myocardial salvage index (r = 0.11; p = 0.17). Sdc-1 was associated with mortality (changes per 100 ng/mL sdc-1 concentration; HR 1.08 95% 1.03–1.12; p = 0.001). An optimal cut-off was calculated at >120 ng/mL. After correction for known risk factors sdc1 >120 ng/mL was independently associated with mortality after 6 months. In our study, sdc1 is independently associated with six-month-mortality after STEMI. Combining clinical evaluation and different biomarkers assessing both infarct-related myocardial injury and systemic stress response might improve the accuracy of predicting clinical prognosis in STEMI patients.

Background Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, primarily used to treat type 2 diabetes, exhibit cardioprotective effects by improving myocardial energy metabolism, reducing oxidative stress, and modulating inflammation and fibrosis, which are critical in the context of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Our research aims to explore the molecular mechanisms of SGLT2 inhibitors, with a focus on their influence on non-coding RNAs through sirtuins pathways, to identify novel biomarkers and therapeutic strategies for preventing heart failure following AMI. Methods We identified microRNAs (miRNAs) that play a role in sirtuin pathways in AMI. We validated the expressions of precisely selected miRNAs along with sirtuin gene expressions (SIRT1-7) in a total of 227 patients with samples from baseline and after 26-week of either placebo or empagliflozin treatment by qRT-PCR. We also performed SHAP analysis of clinical data and miRNAs target predictions and advanced enrichment analyses. Results Empagliflozin treatment significantly modulated sirtuin and miRNA expression, with higher SIRT6 ( p  < 0.001) and lower SIRT4 ( p  = 0.018) expression compared to placebo after 26 weeks.( p ( p In contrast, patients in the placebo group showed a reduction in SIRT6 expression ( p  = 0.006). Patients were divided according to the change in LVEF (ΔLVEF) between baseline and 26-weeks, using a cut-off of 11%. This threshold was derived from the third quartile distribution in the empagliflozin group. Baseline SIRT2 and SIRT4 levels independently predicted a ΔLVEF < 11% improvement (AUC: 0.806 and 0.765, respectively; both p  < 0.01), as did miR-182-5p and miR-302a-3p (AUC: 0.716 and 0.757; both p  < 0.01). A combined biomarker panel including SIRT2, SIRT4, miR-182-5p, and miR-302a-3p demonstrated superior predictive accuracy for ΔLVEF < 11% after 26-weeks of empagliflozin treatment (cross-validated AUC: 0.890; 81% sensitivity; 90% specificity). This association remained significant after multivariate adjustment for age, sex, hypertension, BMI, and ezetimibe treatment (OR: 18.70; 95% CI: 5.78–60.49). Importantly, baseline NT-proBNP levels did not significantly predict an unfavorable outcome after 26-weeks of empagliflozin treatment. Conclusion Baseline levels of SIRT2, SIRT4, miR-182-5p, and miR-302a-3p were identified as predictors of ΔLVEF < 11% changes after 26-weeks of treatment, which suggests their potential for stratifying responders and non-responders to empagliflozin. The combined panel of these markers demonstrated the highest predictive accuracy, suggesting the epigenetic influence of SGLT2 inhibitors and the potential for genomic characterization in personalized treatment approaches. Graphical abstract

Acute myocardial infarction remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Pharmacogenetic and chronotherapeutic approaches are increasingly applied to optimize therapy in chronic cardiovascular diseases. While gene variants are known to influence long-term drug efficacy, their role in modulating drug-induced cardioprotection in acute conditions such as myocardial infarction is unclear. Similarly, the impact of circadian timing on cardioprotective responses remains insufficiently defined. To address these questions, we evaluated metoprolol as a model cardioprotective agent. Here we examine, in a non–pre-specified exploratory analysis of the METOCARD-CNIC trial (NCT01311700), the influence of ADRB1 Arg389Gly polymorphism and the time of AMI onset on metoprolol efficacy. We found that metoprolol reduced infarct size only in patients homozygous for the ADRB1 Arg389 allele, consistent with its genotype-dependent inhibition of neutrophil migration. In-silico docking and binding studies revealed unstable interactions of metoprolol with the Gly389 variant of ADRB1. Moreover, metoprolol was associated with reduced infarct size when AMI onset occurred between 6:00 and 12:00 h. Restricted cardioprotection to the light phase was confirmed in male mice and in neutrophil-specific Adrb1-knockout models. Collectively, these findings highlight the critical roles of genetic background and circadian timing in shaping the efficacy of acute cardioprotective therapies, supporting the rationale for personalized interventions in acute myocardial infarction. It remains uncertain whether genetic variants and day–night cycles affect the efficacy of drugs in acute disease settings. Here, the authors show that metoprolol reduces risk only in patients who carry two Arg389 alleles of the beta-1 adrenoceptor, and specifically when myocardial infarction occurs at the beginning of the light cycle.

•We report the design and rationale of an investigator-initiated randomized controlled trial.•2700 STEMI and non-STEMI patients at high bleeding risk are considered for inclusion after PCI.•This multiarm trial tests CYP2C19 genotype-guided de-escalation to clopidogrel and abbreviated DAPT.•One-year coprimary outcomes are NACE and major and minor bleeding.•This trial seeks to improve the safety without compromising efficacy of DAPT in high-risk patients. Approximately one-third of patients with myocardial infarction (MI) treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are at high risk of bleeding side-effects when on dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT). High bleeding risk is often accompanied by high ischemic risk, thus challenging the choice of P2Y12 inhibitor and duration of DAPT. The optimal DAPT strategy for these patients remains debated, and it is unknown whether genotype-guided DAPT de-escalation to clopidogrel and aspirin, with or without abbreviation of DAPT to 3 months, is noninferior in terms of net adverse clinical events (NACE) and superior in reducing bleeding side-effects compared with standard DAPT for 6 months. The DAN-DAPT trial is an investigator-initiated, open-label, multicenter, multiarm, randomized controlled trial conducted at all Danish hospitals performing PCI. From 2022 to 2029, we planned to randomize 2,700 patients with MI and high bleeding risk in a 1:1:1 ratio to 1 of 3 groups: CYP2C19-genotyping and 6 months DAPT (experimental group 1), CYP2C19-genotyping and 3 months DAPT (experimental group 2), and 6 months DAPT with prasugrel (or ticagrelor) and aspirin (control group). The coprimary outcomes are NACE defined as the composite of all-cause mortality, recurrent MI, definite stent thrombosis, stroke, and BARC type 3-5 bleeding (Bleeding Academic Research Consortium), and major and minor bleedings defined as the composite of BARC type 2-5 bleedings at 1 year. DAN-DAPT trial is an open-label, multicenter, randomized controlled trial comparing genotype-guided DAPT de-escalation to clopidogrel - with or without DAPT abbreviation to 3 months - and standard DAPT for 6 months after PCI in high bleeding risk patients with MI. As of March 2025, 36% of the planned 2,700 patients have been enrolled in the study. ClincialTrials.gov (NCT05262803) and EU number (2022-500125-32-00).

Purpose The clinical benefit of up-titration of metoprolol to a guideline-recommended target dose after myocardial infarction (MI) is unknown. Our aim was to investigate whether variation in metoprolol exposure determined by cytochrome p450 enzyme 2D6 (CYP2D6 ) influences the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and cardiovascular death (CV death) among patients treated with metoprolol after MI. Method This Mendelian randomization study was performed using individual-level data from 1554 patients treated with metoprolol after an acute MI. CYPD26 genotype was applied as a binary genetic instrument assigning patients into two metoprolol exposure groups: CYP2D6 normal metabolizers (NM) (low exposure) and CYP2D6 intermediate and poor metabolizers (IM + PM) (high exposure). The null hypothesis of no association between the CYP2D6 metabolizer subgroup and MACE or CV death was tested using the Cox proportional hazards model. All-cause mortality and individual components of MACE were included as secondary outcomes. Results In total, 879 (56.6%) patients were classified as NM and 675 (43.4%) as IM + PM. During the 3-year follow-up, 56 patients (6.4%) in the NM group had an outcome of MACE, and 24 (2.7%) patients died from CV disease. Corresponding frequency in the IM + PM group was 47 (7.0%) and 22 (3.3%), respectively. There was no association between genotype and MACE [unadjusted HR 1.12 (CI 0.76, 1.65)] or CV death [unadjusted HR 1.20 (CI 0.67, 2.14)], or between the CYP2D6 group and any of the secondary outcomes. Conclusion In patients treated with metoprolol after MI, variation in metoprolol exposure determined by CYP2D6 did not impact the occurrence of cardiovascular events.

Background Coronary angiography remains the gold standard for diagnosing coronary artery disease (CAD), but its invasive nature limits its applicability for widespread screening. Identifying non-invasive molecular markers could improve CAD classification and risk assessment. Methods We employed 5hmC-Seal technology to generate genome-wide 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) profiles from plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in 724 CAD patients, stratified into stable CAD (sCAD), non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), and ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) groups. Using machine learning algorithms, we identified inflammation-related 5hmC modifications associated with disease severity and constructed a classification model based on key hydroxymethylated markers. The model was validated internally and externally in an independent cohort of 167 patients. Results We found that inflammation-related differentially hydroxymethylated genes (DhMGs) were significantly associated with CAD severity, with enriched pathways linked to immune activation and inflammatory response regulation. A 19-marker panel of 5hmC-based features effectively distinguished CAD patients at different disease stages, with high classification accuracy (AUC = 0.913 in the internal validation cohort). External validation confirmed the robustness of the model, achieving AUCs of 0.784, 0.880, and 0.918 when differentiating between NCA vs. sCAD, sCAD vs. MI, and NCA vs. MI, respectively. Compared to traditional clinical indicators, the 5hmC-based model demonstrated superior discriminatory power for MI. Conclusions Our findings suggest that 5hmC modifications in cfDNA reflect CAD-related epigenetic changes and may serve as a promising biomarker for disease stratification. These results provide new insights into the epigenetic landscape of CAD and highlight the potential utility of 5hmC profiling for non-invasive disease monitoring. Further studies are warranted to validate these findings and explore their clinical implications.