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Query: UMLS:C0018799 (heart disease)
 34,133 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Growing evidence indicates that microRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) are involved in basic cell functions and oncogenesis. Here we report that miR-133 has a critical role in determining cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. We observed decreased expression of both miR-133 and miR-1, which belong to the same transcriptional unit, in mouse and human models of cardiac hypertrophy. In vitro overexpression of miR-133 or miR-1 inhibited cardiac hypertrophy. In contrast, suppression of miR-133 by 'decoy' sequences induced hypertrophy, which was more pronounced than that after stimulation with conventional inducers of hypertrophy. In vivo inhibition of miR-133 by a single infusion of an antagomir caused marked and sustained cardiac hypertrophy. We identified specific targets of miR-133: RhoA, a GDP-GTP exchange protein regulating cardiac hypertrophy; Cdc42, a signal transduction kinase implicated in hypertrophy; and Nelf-A/WHSC2, a nuclear factor involved in cardiogenesis. Our data show that miR-133, and possibly miR-1, are key regulators of cardiac hypertrophy, suggesting their therapeutic application in heart disease.
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PMID:MicroRNA-133 controls cardiac hypertrophy. 1747 98

Cardiac hypertrophy is a known risk factor for heart disease, and at the cellular level is caused by a complex interaction of signal transduction pathways. The IP3-calcineurin pathway plays an important role in stimulating the transcription factor NFAT which binds to DNA cooperatively with other hypertrophic transcription factors. Using available kinetic data, we construct a mathematical model of the IP3 signal production system after stimulation by a hypertrophic alpha-adrenergic agonist (endothelin-1) in the mouse atrial cardiac myocyte. We use a global sensitivity analysis to identify key controlling parameters with respect to the resultant IP3 transient, including the phosphorylation of cell-membrane receptors, the ligand strength and binding kinetics to precoupled (with G(alpha)GDP) receptor, and the kinetics associated with precoupling the receptors. We show that the kinetics associated with the receptor system contribute to the behavior of the system to a great extent, with precoupled receptors driving the response to extracellular ligand. Finally, by reparameterizing for a second hypertrophic alpha-adrenergic agonist, angiotensin-II, we show that differences in key receptor kinetic and membrane density parameters are sufficient to explain different observed IP3 transients in essentially the same pathway.
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PMID:Modeling hypertrophic IP3 transients in the cardiac myocyte. 1769 63

Our cardiology community is responding to the growing number of emerging adults with often complex congenital heart disease. Collaborations are springing up between adult and pediatric cardiologists, advanced practice nurses, patients, and families to address the health care, research, and advocacy needs for this population. Workforce and institutional needs are being defined and research collaborations are being formed. Meanwhile, health care reform is evolving through fits and starts with little predictability regarding its medium and long-term impact. Since ultimately finances trump philosophy, it is essential that we understand the financial underpinnings of healthcare delivery to patients with this unique model of chronic disease in order to carry out these plans. What is unique about this population with chronic disease? The most obvious feature is that they have the potential of contributing to the GDP for 40+ years. Another is that for the more complex lesions, society has already invested a considerable amount to achieve survival into adult life. Finally, the period of early adulthood is relatively uneventful in terms of complications and resource utilization compared with early childhood and later adult life. Thus, the basic needs to maintain cardiovascular status and prevent secondary disability may be modest in comparison with treating some of the severe consequences of their disease, such as poorly managed valve regurgitation or arrhythmia that eventually requires costly solutions such as transplantation. It is important, therefore, to define the resource requirements and potential health outcomes of a healthcare system that would be designed for this population.
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PMID:Caring for ACHD in a market-driven society. 2168 45

While a considerable literature has emerged regarding the relationship between the business cycles and mortality rates, relatively little is known regarding how economic fluctuations are related to morbidity. We investigate the relationship between business cycles and heart disease in Mexico using a unique state-level dataset of 512 observations consisting of real GDP and heart disease incidence rates (overall and by age group) from 1995 to 2010. Our study is one of the first to use a state-level panel approach to analyze the relationship between the business cycle and morbidity. Further, the state and year fixed effects employed in our econometric specification reduce possible omitted variable bias. We find a general procyclical, although largely statistically insignificant, contemporaneous relationship. However, an increase in GDP per capita sustained over five years is associated with considerable increases in the incidence rates of ischemic heart disease and hypertension. This procyclical relationship appears strongest in the states with the lowest levels of development and for the oldest age groups. Our results suggest that economic fluctuations may have important lagged effects on heart disease in developing countries.
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PMID:Economic cycles and heart disease in Mexico. 2468 97