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Introduction: Elevated luminal homocysteine has been linked with cardiovascular disease; however, whether there is a direct effect of homocysteine on blood vessel endothelium is not clear. In this study, the acute effect of luminal homocysteine on iliac artery endothelial function was assessed in the anaesthetised pig., Methods: Hyperhomocysteinaemic blood was injected into an occluded segment of the iliac in the anaesthetised pig for 20 min, and the effect on atrial diameter during the occlusion and during the reactive hyperaemia assessed., Results: No significant changes in arterial diameter or pressure were observed during the incubation period at homocysteine concentrations of 10, 20, 40 and 100 µM. There was also no difference in the magnitude of the iliac diameter increase in the response to reactive hyperaemia when the incubation period was completed., Conclusion: There is no evidence of endothelial dysfunction in response to an acute 20-min elevation in homocysteine in an intact conduit artery., (© 2024 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

In the late 19th century, German physiologist Otto Frank (1865-1944) embarked on a near life-long research program of laying down the mathematical, methodological, and theoretical foundations in order to understand and define the performance of the heart and circulatory system in all their complexity. The existence of the "Frank-Starling law" testifies to this. Two of his seminal publications have been translated into English previously, introducing Frank's research on the dynamics of the heart and the arterial pulse to a wider audience. It is likely that there are a host of other comparable achievements and publications of Frank that are still unknown to the international scientific (cardiological and physiological) community. However, their influence can still be felt and seen in modern cardiology and cardio-physiology, such as in the development of modern interactive simulating and teaching programs. We have translated and commented on ten of these papers, which can be read in parallel with the German originals. These publications show a wealth of theoretical assumptions and projections regarding the importance of the sarcomere, the development of models of contraction, thermo-dynamical considerations for muscular activity, differences between cardiac and skeletal muscles, problems related to methodology and measurement, and the first pressure-volume diagram (published 120 years ago). These topics were envisioned by Frank long before they became a focus of subsequent modern research. Nowadays, frequent measurements of pressure-volume relationships are made in research using the pressure-volume conductance catheter technique. In commenting Frank's scientific topics, we try to show how interconnected his thinking was, and thus how it enabled him to cover such a wide range of subjects., (Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)