No abstract

The sensitivity of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for detection of pulmonary metastases in 11 patients scheduled for thoracotomy and curative resection of metastases was evaluated with a prospective, controlled study. MR imaging performed at 0.5 T was compared with chest radiography, computed tomography (CT), and thoracotomy in 12 cases. (One patient had two separate occurrences of pulmonary metastases.) All images were interpreted in blinded fashion. When all MR sequences were interpreted together, MR imaging enabled correct identification of all patients with pulmonary nodules (100%). CT enabled detection of at least one nodule in all 12 cases (100%) by design; the sensitivity of chest radiography was only 64%. For individual nodules, MR imaging was at least as sensitive as CT (P2 less than .25 [two-sided value]) and significantly more sensitive than chest radiography (P2 less than .01). Among all MR sequences, short inversion time inversion-recovery sequences had the highest sensitivity for detection of individual nodules (82%).

Background: It is unclear whether demographic characteristics and baseline use of hypoglycemic and cardiovascular drugs significantly affect the efficacy of sodium-glucose transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors on cardiorenal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Methods: Randomized trials assessing the efficacy of SGLT2 inhibitors on cardiorenal outcomes in adult patients with T2DM were included in analysis. Three endpoints of interest were major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), hospitalization for heart failure or cardiovascular death (HHF or CV death), and kidney composite outcome (KCO). We performed random-effects meta-analysis using the aggregate data of hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Subgroup analyses were done according to 17 factors of interest, including 7 factors related to demographic characteristics and 10 related to baseline use of antihyperglycemic and cardiovascular drugs such as renin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitor. We conducted meta-regression analyses to calculate P values for subgroup differences.Results: Seven trials were included in this meta-analysis. Compared with placebo, SGLT2 inhibitors significantly lowered the risk of MACE (HR 0.90, 95% CI 0.84-0.97) regardless of demographic characteristics and baseline use of insulin, statin or ezetimibe, RAS inhibitor, beta-blocker, and diuretic (P subgroup from 0.088-0.981); that of HHF or CV death (HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.71-0.85) regardless of demographic characteristics and baseline use of 10 antihyperglycemic and cardiovascular drugs (P subgroup from 0.147-0.999); and that of KCO (HR 0.63, 95% CI 0.57-0.69) regardless of demographic characteristics and baseline use of statin or ezetimibe, RAS inhibitor, and diuretic (P subgroup from 0.073-0.918). Conclusions:The cardiorenal benefits of SGLT2 inhibitors were consistent in a broad population of T2DM patients. The findings of this meta-analysis suggest that SGLT2 inhibitors should be recommended in T2DM patients for the prevention of cardiorenal events, regardless of various demographic characteristics and baseline use of various hypoglycemic and cardiovascular drugs.Abbreviations: CI = confidence interval, DPP-4i = dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor, GLP-1RA = GLP-1 receptor agonist, HHF or CV death = hospitalization for heart failure or cardiovascular death, HR = hazard ratio, KCO = kidney composite outcome, MACE = major adverse cardiovascular events, MRA = mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist, PRISMA = preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, RAS = renin-angiotensin system, SBP = systolic blood pressure, SGLT2 = sodium-glucose cotransporter 2, T2DM = type 2 diabetes mellitus.

HIGHLIGHTS Cryoinjury successfully induces cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis in P8 ICR mice COX-2 inhibition alleviates cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis after cryoinjury MCP-1 significantly increases in COX-2 inhibition COX-2 inhibition improves cardiac repair in P8 ICR mice by recruiting M1-like macrophages

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signaling is essential for the maintenance of the normal structure and function of the aorta. It includes SMAD-dependent canonical pathways and noncanonical signaling pathways. Accumulated genetic evidence has shown that TGF-β canonical signaling-related genes have key roles in aortic aneurysms (AAs) and aortic dissections and many gene mutations have been identified in patients, such as those for transforming growth factor-beta receptor one TGFBR1, TGFBR2, SMAD2, SMAD3, SMAD4, and SMAD6. Aortic specimens from patients with these mutations often show paradoxically enhanced TGF-β signaling. Some hypotheses have been proposed and new AA models in mice have been constructed to reveal new mechanisms, but the role of TGF-β signaling in AAs is controversial. In this review, we focus mainly on the role of canonical signaling-related core genes in diseases of the aorta, as well as recent advances in gene-mutation detection, animal models, and in vitro studies.