Background/Introduction:Recent studies have indicated a much broader role to Vitamin D than simply the regulation of calcium metabolism alone. Vitamin D likely confers physiologically relevant pleiotropic functions that include cardioprotective and immunomodulatory effect, and its deficiency could lead to increased risk of cardiovascular disease and heart failure.Aim:The aim of our work was to evaluate the presence of hypovitaminosis D in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCMP) and to study any correlation of echocardiographic parameters with Vitamin D deficiency.Patients and Methods:In an observational case–control hospital-based study, 56 patients diagnosed to have DCMP and 60 age-, gender-, and body mass index-matched controls who were patients of other medical illnesses were included in the study. Each subject underwent transthoracic two-dimensional guided M-mode echocardiography, and Vitamin D, parathyroid hormone (PTH), and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-ProBNP) were assessed.Results:Mean 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH) D3] levels were significantly lower (14.5 ± 7.4 ng/ml vs. 28.2 ± 12 ng/ml, P = 0.001), whereas PTH (90.5 ± 28.5 pg/ml vs. 57 ± 20.2 pg/ml, P = 0.02) and NT-proBNP levels were significantly greater in patients with DCMP than controls. In DCMP group, 24/56 patients had severe Vitamin D deficiency, whereas in control group, 10/60 patients had severe hypovitaminosis D. There was a significant negative correlation between 25(OH) D3 concentrations and left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic and LV end-systolic dimensions.Conclusion:Patients with DCMP had lower Vitamin D levels than controls, and Vitamin D deficiency had a significant correlation with cardiac function. Therefore, screening for Vitamin D deficiency along with prompt treatment is recommended in patients with DCMP.

Introduction: The cardiovascular (CV) system produces low frequency, ‘infrasonic’, auditory vibrations during the cardiac cycle. Herein, we report the first-in-person validation of a novel earbud sensor to capture CV time intervals and the feasibility of non-invasive infrasonic hemodynography (IH) using the MindMics ® wireless earbuds for long term in-ear CV monitoring. Methods: Infrasonic waveforms were captured during cardiac catheterization (CC) among 5 study subjects wearing the IH ear-buds (Figure A) who underwent CC for the evaluation of coronary artery disease. Simultaneous IH and CC waveforms were acquired and time synchronized at 1000Hz sampling rate as time-series datasets. Each subject underwent echocardiography to identify aortic valve opening/closure (AVO/AVC) and left ventricular (LV) outflow tract flow measurements with hemodynamic waveforms during CC measuring LV ejection time (LVET). Validation of the IH waveform (in-ear acoustic pressure measured in Pascals) was compared to echocardiography (AVO/AVC) and hemodynamic waveforms (LVET) with concordance and Bland-Altman analysis, and with overlaid data visualizations to CV time intervals. Results: 5 study subjects comprised 257 CV cycles with a total data set of >450,000 time-series data points. IH signals collected simultaneously with the pulsed wave Doppler demonstrated alignment with AVO/AVC (Figure B) and were synchronized to CC waveforms in the aorta (Figure C). A high correlation between LVET measured from IH and CC was observed (R=0.87, p<0.0001, Figure D), with a mean absolute error of 14.7ms and a bias of 7.2ms (Figure E) (mean±SEM of 342.3±2.1ms for CC and 349.5±2.1ms for IH). Conclusions: In a first-in-person study, we report high accuracy between IH, echocardiography, and CC hemodynamic waveforms to capture CV time intervals including CV performance measures. Further studies are underway to validate IH and the earbud sensor towards non-invasive hemodynamic monitoring.

a ----------------------------------------------- ABSTRACT:Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a type of metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from defect in insulin secretion, insulin action or both. This study intended to compare High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (HDL) and Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL) profile between type II diabetic and non-diabetic subjects and also find the correlation between HDL and LDL cholesterol in type II diabetic. Methods: The study was conducted on 100 total subjects out of which experimental group with 50 subjects of known Type II Diabetes mellitus and control group with 50 subjects. Results: The result of the present study suggests that fasting blood sugar and LDL cholesterol levels were increased but HDL cholesterol level was reduced in type II diabetic subjects when compared to controls. Conclusion:The estimation of HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in type II diabetes mellitus is very useful as it may serve as a useful parameter to monitor the prognosis of the patient.

Objective - Diabetic hepatotoxicity involves complex events which include kupffer cell activation, formation of reactive oxygen species, cytokines release (TNF-α, IL-1β), and finally leads to hepatocyte death. “β- Aescin showed anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, gastroprotective and anti-oedema properties. The present study investigated the protective effect of β- Aescin in streptozotocin induced diabetic hepatotoxicity. Method - Female mice were divided into six groups, the first group served as the control, the second to sixth group received single i.p. dose of 90 mg/kg of STZ, the second group served as the untreated diabetic group, the third, fourth and fifth group received β- aescin intra-peritoneally at the dose of 0.9 mg/kg, 1.8 mg/kg and 3.6 mg/kg body weight respectively. The last sixth group was treated with 10 mg/kg glibenclamide i.p. for 14 days. A significant decrease in the blood glucose level was showed in β-aescin group as compared to the control group. Result - A significant increase of blood glucose level was observed in high and mid dose of β- aescin (3.6 mg/kg and 1.8 mg/kg respectively), standard drug (glibenclamide 10 mg/kg) groups as compared to control group. ROS generation was evaluated by using DCF-DA estimation method for the acute toxicity in liver tissue. Streptozotocin group showed more ROS generation in comparison to β- aescin group (3.6 mg/kg). Serum biochemical markers showed a significant decrease in β- aescin treated diabetic mice compared to untreated diabetic mice. Histopathological evaluation showed severe changes in untreated diabetic liver tissue marked by large number of inflammatory cells such as lymphocytes along with hepatic sinusoidal inflammation and hepatocyte necrosis whereas treated diabetic mice with β- aescin showed reduction in hepatotoxicity marked by regeneration changes of hepatocytes and mildly hepatocyte degeneration. Conclusion - In the study, β- aescin showed beneficial effects on the efficient properties of the liver and microscopic improvements in diabetic hepatotoxicity.

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