Methods. A total of 330 essential hypertensives, categorized according to tertiles of left atrial (LA) diameter indexed to body surface area were considered for the analysis. All subjects underwent a quantitative
echocardiographic examination as well as extensive clinical and laboratory investigations. RVH was defined as anterior right ventricular (RV) wall thickness >= 6.0/5.5 mm in men and women, respectively, and LVH as LV mass index >= 51/47 g/m(2.7) in men and women, respectively. Results. The prevalence of LVH Selleck Ro-3306 increased across LA diameter tertiles from 21.0% to 50% and that of RVH from 26.3% to 41.8% (p < 0.01 for both). This was also the case for biventricular hypertrophy (from 10.0% to 26.0%, p < 0.01). Differences in both LV and RV structure across LA diameter tertiles remained significant after adjusting for age, office systolic/diastolic blood pressure and duration of hypertension. Similar results were obtained when study population was divided according to absolute LA diameter tertiles. Conclusions. Our findings provide further evidence of an interaction between left and right chambers in systemic hypertension by showing that LAE is associated with RVH. The clinical and prognostic implications signaling pathway of such observation remain be evaluated in future prospective
studies.”
“Background: Neovascularization is necessary for follicular growth. Vascularization is first observed
in preantral follicles, and thereafter the vasculature markedly increases in follicles undergoing development. Neovascularization includes angiogenesis and vasculogenesis. Vasculogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels by bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells. It is unclear whether vasculogenesis occurs during follicular growth. Blood vessels must be mature to be functional blood vessels. Mature blood vessels are characterized by the recruitment of pericytes. However, it is unclear where pericytes come from and whether they contribute to neovascularization in the follicle during follicular growth. In this study, we investigated whether bone marrow-derived progenitor p38 MAPK activity cells that differentiate into vascular endothelial cells or pericytes contribute to neovascularization during follicular growth.
Methods: A parabiosis model was used in this study. Six-week-old wild-type and transgenic female mice expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) were conjoined between the lateral abdominal regions to create a shared circulatory system. After 6 weeks, the ovaries were obtained and immunostained for CD31/CD34 (a vascular endothelial cell marker), platelet-derived growth factor receptor-beta (PDGFR-beta) (a pericyte marker), and GFP (a bone marrow-derived cell marker).