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Purpose: To investigate the effect of Salvia miltiorrhiza injection on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury and PECAM-1 related pathways. Method: Male Wistar rats were used for establishment of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion model. The rats were randomly assigned to four groups: experimental group, low dose group (Salvia miltiorrhiza injection, 10 mL/kg/day), moderate dose group (Salvia miltiorrhiza injection, 20 mL/kg/day) and high dose group (Salvia miltiorrhiza injection, 40 mL/kg/day). Myocardial ischemia-reperfusion model was established in the four groups. Evans-TTC staining was used to assess relative area of ischemiareperfusion injury. Blood samples were collected for assay of PECAM-1 expression using enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Fresh blood platelets were collected in all groups, and divided into two groups - control group (normal culture) and experimental group (Salvia miltiorrhiza injection). The expression of PECAM-1 in blood platelets was assayed using Western blot. Result: Compared with the experimental group, Salvia miltiorrhiza injection ameliorated myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, and decreased the infarction area seen in Evans/TTC staining. PECAM-1 expression in blood was decreased by Salvia miltiorrhiza injection. Blood platelets dysfunction was induced after myocardial ischemia-reperfusion, and the level of PECAM-1 increased. However, Salvia miltiorrhiza injection treatment downregulated the expression of PECAM-1 after myocardial ischemiareperfusion. Conclusion: Salvia miltiorrhiza injection maintains normal function of blood platelets and ameliorates myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury by decreasing expression of PECAM-1.

Hypoxia or reoxygenation-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis is one of the major causes of cardiac dysfunction. Recently, regulations of microRNAs were shown to play important roles in cardiomyocyte apoptosis. MicroRNA-100 (miR-100) is one of the cardiac miRNA that was up-regulated in failing heart. In this study, we identified that miR-100 expression was up-regulated in H2O2-induced apoptosis in neonatal mice cardiomyocytes in a time-dependent manner. Furthermore, functional analysis revealed that miR-100 downregulation attenuated H2O2-induced apoptosis. Through biochemical analysis of western blot, we found that miR-100 suppressed the expression of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) during the process of hypoxia-induced apoptosis in cardiomyocytes. More importantly, ectopic down-regulation of IGF1R reversed the protective effect of miR-100 down-regulation on H2O2-induced apoptosis, revealing that miR-100 regulates cardiomyocyte apoptosis through the association of IGF1R. Taken together, our data demonstrated the functional role miR-100 in H2O2-induced apoptosis in cardiac dysfunctions.

To explore risk factors of short-term prognosis of acute heart failure (AHF) patients and compare the difference between acute heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (AHFREF) and acute heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (AHFPEF). A retrospective analysis of medical records of AHF patients was performed. Eligible patients were at the age of more than 18 years old, excluding malignancy, acute pulmonary embolism, heart valve diseases (such as mild valvular regurgitation), severe renal insufficiency, and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) < 300 pg/ml. AHFREF group (LVEF < 0.5) and AHFPEF group (LVEF ≥ 0.5) were classified depending on the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). The involved patients were followed up via telephone contact and consult of medical recording. Unfavorable prognosis was defined upon the cardiac death and re-hospitalization within 6 months; otherwise they had a favorable prognosis. We analyzed the impact factors of short-term prognosis, including patient’s age, gender, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, NT-proBNP, blood glucose, heart ultrasound LVEF, cardiothoracic ration in chest radiograph, history of hypertension, coronary heart disease and diabetes mellitus, for multivariate logistic regression analysis. A total of 130 AHF patients were included in the analysis, including 79 male (60.8%) and 51 female (39.2%). The average age of all involved patients was 74.0 years [M (P 25, P 75) = 64.0, 80.0]. Fifteen cases (11.5%) had unfavorable prognosis and 35 cases (27.0%) had favorable prognosis in the AHFREF group, while the cases in the AHFPEF group were respectively 31 (23.8%) and 49 (37.7%). There was no significant difference in the short-term prognosis between the two groups (χ 2 = 1.030, P = 0.310). The short-term prognosis in AHF patients was mainly influenced by NT-proBNP (r = -0.263, P = 0.035), blood glucose (r = -0.090, P = 0.049) and systolic blood pressure (r = 0.012, P = 0.030). As for AHFREF patients, systolic blood pressure (r = 0.047, P = 0.014) and LVEF (r = 10.991, P = 0.037) were the predominant factors; as for AHFPEF patients, NT-proBNP was the major risk factor (r = -0.319, P = 0.033). High NT-proBNP, high blood sugar and low systolic blood pressure at visits are the risk factors for short-term prognosis of AHF patients. Due to different LVEF baseline levels of AHFREF and AHFPEF, the prognosis factors also vary. Low systolic blood pressure and LVEF are the risk factors of AHFREF, while high NT-proBNP is risk factor of AHFPEF.

The 6Fr Hydrolyser thrombectomy catheter for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) successfully removed a massive thrombus in the coronary artery in three patients. The 6Fr Hydrolyser catheter could be advanced into the right coronary artery with bare-wire methods via a 6Fr sheath at the radial artery. This approach suggests that the device can be an alternative method for thrombolysis in selected AMI patients with massive thrombus in the coronary artery.