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Systemic autoimmune diseases can affect various kinds of organs including the kidney, the skin, soft tissue and the bone. Among others, cardiovascular involvement in rheumatic diseases has been shown to affect myocardium, pericardium, cardiac vessels, conduction system and valves, eventually leading to increased mortality. In general, underlying chronic inflammation leads to premature atherosclerosis, but also other manifestations such as arrhythmia and heart failure may have a ‘silent’ progress. Traditional cardiovascular risk factors play a secondary role, while disease-specific factors (i.e. disease duration, severity, antibody positivity, persistent disease activity) can directly influence the cardiovascular system. Therefore, early diagnosis is critical to optimize management and to control inflammatory activity and recent data suggest that risk factors (i.e. hypercholesterolemia and hypertension) need intensive treatment as well. With the advent of immunosuppressive agents, most rheumatic diseases are well controlled on treatment, but information related to their cardioprotective efficacy is not well-defined. In this review, we focus on cardiovascular involvement in rheumatic diseases and highlight current evidence which should be of help for the treating physicians. Moreover, cardiotoxicity of immunosuppressive drugs is a rare issue and such potential adverse events will be briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Calpains are involved in a variety of calcium-regulated cellular processes, such as signal transduction, cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Excessive calpain activation contributes to serious cellular damage and has been reported in many pathological conditions. 4-Quinolinone 2-carboxamide derivatives were prepared and evaluated for μ-calpain inhibitory activities. Of the compounds synthesized, 3a and 3k, which possess a primary amide and 4-methoxyphenethyl amide at P1′ region, were found to most potently inhibit μ-calpain with IC50 values of 0.71±0.07 and 0.73±0.23μM, respectively. On the other hand, the incorporation of pyridine-containing amides decreased inhibitory activity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Excessive calpain activations contribute to serious cellular damage and have been found in many pathological conditions. Novel chromone carboxamides derived from ketoamides were prepared and evaluated for μ-calpain inhibition. Among synthesized, compound 2i was the most potent calpain inhibitor with an IC50 value of 0.24±0.11μM comparable to the activity of peptide aldehyde calpain inhibitor MDL 28,170. Furthermore, compound 2i showed higher selectivity for μ-calpain over two related cysteine proteases cathepsin B and cathepsin L, suggesting the chromone ring as a good scaffold for selective μ-calpain inhibitors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• High hydrophobic cellulose sheet was produced by gas grafting using hot press. • The hydrophobization of cellulose was improved by controlling hot pressing conditions. • The hydrophobization of cellulose was improved by adjustment of air resistance. • The pressing pressure was a key factor for the hydrophobizaiton of cellulose. The purpose of this study was to investigate the improvement in the hydrophobicity of cellulose through gas grafting treatment with long chain fatty acid chloride using high pressure during pressing at high temperature. To do this, the gas grafting treatment was performed on the cellulose sheet using a hot pressing method, and then the hydrophobization effect was analyzed. It was found that the gas grafting treatment by hot pressing using high pressure during pressing at high temperature produced cellulose sheets of high hydrophobicity. Especially, it was notable that the hydrophobization efficiency enhanced with an increase of the pressing pressure. In addition, the gas grafting efficiency was improved when polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was coated to obtain high resistance to air permeability. These results indicate that protecting the loss of fatty acid gas by coating of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) on the cellulose sheet surface contributed to the improvement of gas grafting efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study we systematically re-analyzed results from meta-analyses and genome-wide association studies (GWASs) to assess the credibility of genetic associations with acute rejection risk in renal transplantation. A comprehensive literature search was performed on PubMed, Web of Knowledge, Cochrane library, and Open Grey up to July 2019. Methodological quality of systematic meta-analyses was assessed by the AMSTAR tool. Credibility of genetic associations was assessed by employing the Venice criteria and two Bayesian statistical approaches, the false positive report probability (FPRP) and the Bayesian false discovery probability (BFDP). Sixteen systematic meta-analyses, with a moderate-high quality score (median AMSTAR score: 9, range: 6–11) and 1 GWAS fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Overall, our systematic re-analysis has identified 9 polymorphic variants in 8 genes (ACE, CD28, CTLA-4, CYP3A5, IFNG, TNF-α, PTPRO and CCDC67) as potential risk factors for acute renal graft rejection. At the pre-specified prior probability of 0.001, the 2 SNPs identified by the GWAS (rs7976329 and rs10765602) showed no evidence of noteworthiness under FPRP or BFDP, indicating the possibility of false-positive associations. After applying the Venice criteria in combination with FPRP and BFDP to results from systematic meta-analyses, TT/AT vs AA of IFNG +874 T/A reached moderate epidemiological credibility, while weak evidence of association was found for all the other genetic comparisons. Well-designed GWASs and large replication studies with updated meta-analyses are still needed to identify reliable genetic predictors of acute renal graft rejection. • A systematic re-analysis of results from meta-analyses and genome-wide association studies (GWASs) was conducted to assess reliability of association between gene polymorphisms and acute renal graft rejection. • Credibility of genetic associations was assessed by using the Venice criteria, the false positive report probability and the Bayesian false discovery probability. • Well-designed GWASs with large replication studies and updated meta-analyses are still warranted to identify reliable genetic risk factors for acute renal graft rejection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]