Many studies have shown that the relationship between alcohol consumption and most cardiovascular diseases is U-shaped, with nondrinkers and heavier drinkers having higher risks than moderate drinkers. However, the association between cardiac arrhythmias and acute alcohol consumption is not well understood. We set up several experimental arrhythmia animal models to examine the effects of acute administration of ethanol on arrhythmia. The results showed 0.4, 0.8 and 1.6 g/kg ethanol consumption obviously delayed the onset time of atrial fibrillation (AF) (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01) and increased the survival rates on acetylcholine-CaCl₂-induced AF in mice. Ethanol (0.4, 0.8 and 1.6 g/kg) consumption significantly delayed the onset time of ventricular tachycardia (VT), ventricular fibrillation (VF) and cardiac arrest (CA) (P < 0.01), and 0.4 and 0.8 g/kg ethanol consumption increased the survival rates on CaCl₂-induced arrhythmia in rats. Ethanol (0.4 g/kg) essentially increased the cumulative dosage of aconitine required to CA (P < 0.05), and 0.8 g/kg, 1.6 g/kg ethanol reduced the cumulative aconitine dosage to induce VT, VF and CA (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01) on aconitine-induced arrhythmia in rats. Ethanol (0.4, 0.8 and 1.6 g/kg) consumption remarkably increased the cumulative dosage of deslanoside to induce ventricualr premature contraction (P < 0.01) on deslanoside-induced arrhythmia in guinea pigs. Collectively, our results indicate that low concentrations of ethanol had anti-arrhythmic effect on experimental arrhythmia, and high concentrations of ethanol may aggravated the occurrence of experimental arrhythmia.

Clot-targeted microbubbles (TMB) were developed based on oligopeptide specific to the glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor on active platelets. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the thrombolysis effect of this TMB in both intraarterial and intravenous application and compare the clot lysis efficiency of the TMB and untargeted microbubbles(UTMB) in presence of external low frequency ultrasound (LFUS) (800 kHz, 2.4 w/cm(2), pulse-wave). An acute arterial occlusion model was induced in rabbits by blocking the common carotid artery with an autogenous clot. Animals were randomized to five groups to receive the following treatment: 1) intra-arterial TMB and LFUS (IA TMB/LFUS); 2) intravenous TMB and LFUS (IV TMB/LFUS); 3) intravenous untargeted-microbubbles and LFUS (IV UTMB/LFUS); 4) LFUS only; 5) intra-arterial normal saline (NS) control. Declotting score and a variation of thrombolysis-in-myocardial-infarction (TIMI) flow scale were applied to assess clot clearance and flow restore according to the angiogram. IA TMB/LFUS treatment produced highest declotting score (3.5 +/- 0.53) and success rate (100%). IV TMB/LFUS treatment produced a higher declotting score (1.95 +/- 1.12) than LFUS treatment (0.53 +/- 0.38) (P = 0.026). and higher TIMI (1.94 +/- 0.62 vs. 0.47 +/- 0.44, P = 0.020). When administrated intravenously, TMB/LFUS created a higher declotting score (1.95 +/- 1.12) than that of UTMB/LFUS (0.61 +/- 0.43) (P = 0.033). The superiority was observed in TIMI also (1.94 +/- 0.62 vs. 0.72 +/- 0.25, P = 0.041). The results demonstrate that either intra-arterial or intravenous TMB is effective in clearing clot in-vivo model. The TMB showed advantage over UTMB in systemic administration.

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MicroRNA (miRNA) is associated with the development and pathology of atrial fibrillation (AF). In this study, we performed miRNA profiling of left and right atrium samples from individuals with AF-associated rheumatic mitral valve disease (RMVD) to identify miRNAs that are differentially expressed between RMVD patients with AF and RMVD with sinus rhythm (SR) as controls, as well as between left and right atrium samples from RMVD with AF patients. We performed hematoxylin and eosin staining as well as scanning and transmission electron microscopy to examine in detail any morphological and physiological changes in cardiomyocytes from RMVD patients with AF or SR. Raman spectroscopy was performed to identify molecular and structural information of left and right atrium samples from RMVD with AF and SR. We also performed miRNA array profiling to separately profile miRNA expression patterns of right and left atrium samples from three independent RMVD patients with AF and in a mixed pool of 10 RMVD patients with SR. Morphological and physiological analysis showed distinct shapes and structures of cardiomyocytes from the left and right atria of RMVD patients with AF or SR. The intensity of Raman spectroscopy of atrial tissues from RMVD patients with AF and with SR was different. miRNA profiling showed differential miRNA expression between RMVD patients with AF or SR, and between the left and right atria of RMVD patients with AF. Importantly, miRNAs showed consistent expression changes among all three patients, suggesting that these miRNAs have potential as markers for AF pathology. Our results revealed potential biomarker miRNAs for atrial fibrillation pathology in patients with RMVD. Meanwhile, our data suggested that miR-10b and miR-138-2, which were both significantly increased in the left atrium, are responsible for morphological and physiological phenotype differences between the left and right atria.

IntroductionCoronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common cause of death worldwide. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been shown to reduce mortality in patients with CHD. However, there are still recurrences of cardiovascular events after PCI. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) in patients with established CHD is associated with reductions in cardiovascular mortality and hospital admissions, as well as improved quality of life. More and more clinical trials suggest that traditional Chinese exercise (TCE) plays a positive role in patients post-PCI. The primary purposes of the current study are to conduct a network meta-analysis of randomised trials to determine the effects of TCE in patients after PCI, and to separately compare the effects of tai chi, baduanjin and yijinjing on CR after PCI.Methods and analysisStudies will be retrieved from the following databases: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data, Chinese BioMedical Database and Chinese Science and Technology Periodicals Database, from inception to December 2018. We will include randomised controlled trials that are related to the effects of TCE therapies in patients after PCI. The primary outcomes will be all-cause mortality, revascularisations, health-related quality of life and hospitalisations. Two reviewers will independently select eligible articles. For each included article, two reviewers will independently extract the data and assess the risk of bias by using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Bayesian network meta-analyses will be conducted to pool all treatment effects. The ranking probabilities for the optimal intervention of various treatments (tai chi, baduanjin or yijinjing) will be estimated by the mean ranks and surface under the cumulative ranking curve. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation System will be used to assess the quality of evidence.Ethics and disseminationThe results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications. They will provide consolidated evidence to inform clinicians on the potential functions of TCE in CR, and to provide reliable evidence for the application of TCE.Trial registration numberCRD42018088415.