ABSTRACT
Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) is a recent, invaluable tool which can provide real-time anatomical guidance in electrophysiological procedures. By inserting intravenously an ultrasound probe and advancing it into the heart, various different views can be obtained which allow to better visualize patient anatomy, to guide the placement of electrophysiological catheters, and to detect immediately procedural complications as they occur. In atrial fibrillation ablation, ICE proves particularly useful to achieve a safer trans-septal puncture (especially in the presence of anatomical anomalies of the interatrial septum) and to help to monitor the visualization of the mapping catheters (circular, high density), or the monitoring of the balloons catheter (Cryo, Laser) position. In ventricular tachycardia ablation, on the other hand, ICE allows for continuous correlation between electrophysiological and structural findings (such as wall motion anomalies or changes in echodensity), and helps to ensure correct catheter contact and to position it, particularly around delicate structures such as the aortic cusps. In any procedure, ICE is also useful to immediately detect procedural complications, such as thrombus formation along catheters, or pericardial effusion. Thanks to its real-time morphological information, ICE provides an ideal complement to simple fluoroscopy or to more complex electroanatomic mapping techniques and is set to gain a wider role in a broad range of electrophysiological procedures.
Subject(s)
Arrhythmias, Cardiac/diagnostic imaging , Arrhythmias, Cardiac/physiopathology , Cardiac Imaging Techniques , Echocardiography, Doppler , Arrhythmias, Cardiac/surgery , Catheter Ablation , Echocardiography, Doppler/methods , Electrophysiologic Techniques, Cardiac , HumansABSTRACT
Here we report the cDNA nucleotide sequences of a calmodulin-binding catalase and an antiquitin from the latex of the Mediterranean shrub Euphorbia characias. Present findings suggest that catalase and antiquitin might represent additional nodes in the Euphorbia defense systems, and a multi-enzymatic interaction contributing to plant's protection against biotic and abiotic stresses is proposed to occur in E. characias laticifers.
Subject(s)
Aldehyde Dehydrogenase/genetics , Catalase/genetics , Euphorbia/genetics , Plant Proteins/genetics , Aldehyde Dehydrogenase/metabolism , Amino Acid Sequence , Base Sequence , Catalase/metabolism , Cloning, Molecular , DNA, Complementary/chemistry , DNA, Complementary/genetics , Euphorbia/enzymology , Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic , Gene Expression Regulation, Plant , Latex/metabolism , Models, Biological , Molecular Sequence Data , Plant Proteins/metabolism , Protein Binding , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Sequence Analysis, DNAABSTRACT
The relation of a number of determinants to serum gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) was studied in a random sample of Sardinian inhabitants of 2283 males and 2520 females aged 20-59 years. The aim of the study was to assess the influence of environmental, behavioural and biochemical factors on GGT levels. Mean values were higher in males than in females and increased with age in both sexes. In sex-specific multiple regression analysis, GGT showed a positive association with body mass index (BMI), alcohol use, total serum cholesterol (T-C), HDL cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (TG), apolipoprotein B (ApoB) and age, and a negative one with coffee consumption and physical activity in males, while in females the enzyme was positively associated with BMI, alcohol use, age, T-C, ApoB, TG and cigarette smoking. The negative association between coffee drinking and serum GGT observed in males suggests that coffee may inhibit the inducing effects of other factors, particularly alcohol use, on GGT in the liver. No biological mechanism has been suggested to explain the association of GGT with BMI, age or physical activity. This study confirms the importance of GGT as a strong marker for alcohol use; but a number of variables, ranging from life-style to biological characteristics, are also important determinants of its plasma values in the 'normal' population.