Cangrelor in addition to standard therapy reduces cardiac damage and inflammatory markers in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

Although P2Y12 receptor blockers have become a standard, adjunctive therapy in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), the optimal regimen has not been established. We performed a prospective, open-label, randomized study to investigate the effect of cangrelor administration on platelet function and inflammation in patients with primary PCI (PPCI). Twenty-two patients were randomized to receive either cangrelor and ticagrelor or ticagrelor alone (standard group) before PPCI. Platelet reactivity was evaluated at baseline (before PCI), 10 min and the end of the procedure. At baseline, there was no significant difference in platelet reactivity between both groups, whereas platelets were significantly inhibited at 10 min after initiating cangrelor vs. standard (adenosine-diphosphate-induced aggregation 102.2 ± 24.88 vs. 333.4 ± 63.3, P < 0.05 and thrombin-receptor-activating-peptide-induced aggregation 285.8 ± 86.1 vs. 624.8 ± 106.0, P < 0.05). Lower platelet aggregation in the cangrelor group persisted but the difference was reduced by the end of the procedure. Circulating inflammatory cells, pro-inflammatory cytokines, total elastase, and surrogates of neutrophil extracellular traps (total elastase-myeloperoxidase complexes) were significantly lower in the cangrelor compared to the standard therapy group at 6 h after randomization. There was a trend towards reduction in cardiac damage in the cangrelor group as reflected by the changes in late gadolinium enhancement between 48 h and 3 months after STEMI. Early administration of cangrelor in STEMI patients was associated with more effective platelet inhibition during PPCI and significantly dampened the deleterious inflammatory response compared to standard therapy (NCT03043274).

Identification of Human Very Small Embryonic like Stem Cells (VSELS) in Human Heart Tissue Among Young and Old Individuals.

Very Small Embryonic-Like (VSEL) stem cells are a proposed pluripotent population, residing in adult tissues. VSELs have been described in multiple tissues including bone marrow, cord blood, and gonads. They exhibit multiple characteristics of embryonic stem cells including the ability to differentiate into cellular lineages of all three germ layers, including cardiomyocytes and vascular endothelial cells. However, their presence in adult solid organs such as heart in humans has not been established. VSELs are valuable source of stem cells for tissue regeneration and replacement of cells for turnover and usual wear-and-tear. The purpose of our study was to explore the existence of human VSELs (huVSELs) in human heart tissue and examine the changes in their prevalence with aging and cardiac disease. Human heart tissue, collected from healthy and ischemic heart disease subjects was examined for the prevalence of VSELS, defined as CD45-/CD133+/SSEA4+. Both epicardial and endocardial tissues were examined comparing VSEL numbers across different age groups. Our data confirm the existence of huVSELs in adult hearts with decreasing prevalence during aging. This is the first evidence of huVSELs in adult cardiac tissue. Cardiac huVSELs could be further explored in future studies to characterize their primitive potential and therapeutic potential in regenerative studies.

Voriconazole-induced Myositis in a Double Lung Transplant Recipient.

Voriconazole is a triazole antifungal agent commercially approved in 2002. It is commonly used in immunocompromised patients as a therapeutic and prophylactic agent. We present the case of a 26-year-old Caucasian female who is a double lung transplant recipient who presented with complaints of generalized left lower extremity swelling and extreme tenderness of her left thigh. Although her muscle enzymes were not significantly elevated, inflammatory changes were noticed on T2-weighted fat-suppressed short-TI inversion recovery (STIR) sequence magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These findings were later confirmed with tissue biopsy. We hereby present the case of drug-induced myositis as a rare complication of voriconazole used as chemoprophylaxis in a double lung transplant recipient patient.