Possible effects of fibroblast growth factor 21 on vascular calcification via suppressing activating transcription factor 4 mediated apoptosis and osteogenic transformation in rats.

Vascular calcification (VC), a significant risk factor of many cardio-cerebral vascular diseases, is a perplexing issue with no effective treatment in clinical work up to now. Endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) mediated apoptosis has been proved to be a significant mechanism for initiating VC process. Activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), a key transcription factor of ERS, is most closely associated with VC. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), an atypical member of the FGFs family, has a protective biological function in various metabolic diseases by ERS pathways. However, the possible effects of FGF21 on VC by regulating ERS, especially through the ATF4 pathway, is still unclear. Our research provides the first evidence that exogenous FGF21 treatment can alleviate the vitamin D3 plus nicotine-induced VC at least in part via suppressing ATF4 mediated apoptosis and osteogenic transformation in rats.

Lesion characteristics and procedural complications of chronic total occlusion percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with prior bypass surgery: A meta-analysis.

Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) accelerates the prevalence of native coronary chronic total occlusion (CTO), and this kind of CTO shows extensive challenging and complex atherosclerotic pathology. As a result, the procedural success rate of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is inferior to another kind of lesions. The present meta-analysis aims to compare the lesion characteristics and procedural complications of CTO-PCI in patients with or without prior CABG. A total of 8 studies, comprising of 13439 patients, published from inception to August 2021 were included in this meta-analysis. Results were pooled using random effects model and are presented as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). From the 13439 patients enrolled, 3349 (24.9%) patients had previous CABG and 10090 (75.1%) formed the control group in our analysis. For the clinical characteristic, compared to the non-CABG patients, prior CABG patients were older (OR, 3.98; 95% CI, 3.19-4.78; p < .001; I2 = 72%), had more male (OR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.14-1.49; p < .001; I2 = 6%), diabetes mellitus (OR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.36-1.73; p < .001; I2 = 37%), dyslipidemia (OR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.33-2.69; p < .001; I2 = 81%), hypertension (OR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.46-2.41; p < .001; I2 = 71%), previous myocardial infarction (OR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.48-2.56; p < .001; I2 = 85%), and previous PCI (OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.52-1.98; p < .001; I2 = 22%). Non-CABG patents had more current smoker (OR, .45; 95% CI, 0.27-0.74; p < .001; I2 = 91%). BMI (OR, -0.01; 95% CI, -0.07-0.06; p = .85; I2 = 36%) were similar in both groups. For lesions location, the right coronary artery (RCA) was predominant target vessel in both groups (50.5% vs 48.7%; p＝.49), although, the left circumflex (LCX) was more frequently CTO in the prior CABG group (27.3% vs 18.9%; p＜.01), while left anterior descending artery (LAD) in non-CABG ones (16.0% vs 29.1%; p＜0.01). For lesions characteristics, prior CABG patients had more blunt stump (OR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.46-2.00; p < .001; I2 = 40%), proximal cap ambiguity (OR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.28-1.64; p < .001; I2 = 0.0%), severe calcifications (OR, 2.91; 95% CI, 2.19-3.86; p < .001; I2 = 83%), more bending (OR, 3.07; 95% CI, 2.61-3.62; p < .001; I2 = 0%), lesion length > 20 mm (OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.10-2.29; p = .01; I2 = 83%), inadequate distal landing zone (OR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.75-2.18; p＜.001; I2 = 0.0%), distal cap at bifurcation (OR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.46-1.88; p < .001; I2 = 0.0%), and higher J-CTO score (SMD, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.42-0.63; p < .001; I2 = 65%). But side branch at proximal entry (OR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.72-1.07; p = .21; I2 = 45%), in-stent CTO (OR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.86-1.14; p = .88; I2 = 0.0%), lack of interventional collaterals (OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.55-1.15; p = .23; I2 = 78%), and previously failed attempt (OR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.48-1.11; p = .14; I2 = 89%) were similar in both groups. For complication, prior CABG patients had more perforation with need for intervention (OR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.36-2.69; p < 0.001; I2 = 34%), contrast-induced nephropathy (OR, 3.40; 95% CI, 1.31-8.78; p = .01; I2 = 0.0%). Non-CABG patents had more tamponade (OR, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.09-0.72; p = .01; I2 = 0.0%), and the major bleeding complication (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 0.57-2.44; p = .65; I2 = 0%) were no significant difference in both groups. In conclusion, Patients with prior CABG undergoing CTO-PCI have more complex lesion characteristics, though procedural complication rates were comparable.

Hemoglobin A1C is independently associated with severity and prognosis of brainstem infarctions.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association of Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) with acute brainstem infarctions (BSIs) and to determine whether HbA1c is an independent risk factor in BSIs patients. METHODS: 96 only BSIs patients were categorized into four groups according to HbA1c as <6%, ≥ 6% but <7%, ≥ 7% but <8%, or ≥ 8%, respectively. The association of the four HbA1c groups with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) infarct volumes (DIV), National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), and follow-up modified Rankin Scale (FmRS) scores were analyzed. Patients also were categorized into two groups according to HbA1c<6% or ≥ 6%. Logistic regression analyses were performed to determine independent risk factors. RESULTS: There was a significant correlation between HbA1c and DIV (Spearman ρ=0.339, P=0.001), NIHSS scores (ρ=0.292, P=0.004) and FmRS scores (ρ=0.315, P=0.002). The incidence of pons infarction was highest in BSIs and patients with HbA1c ≥ 6% showed significantly more frequent isolated pontine infarction. Logistic regression analyses showed that only HbA1c was independently associated with larger DIV (P=0.025) and FmRS scores (P=0.026). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that elevated HbA1c level may be a potential serologic marker in the evaluation of the severity and prognosis of acute BSIs. There is an urgent need to study control of diabetes mellitus (DM) before and after BSIs.