Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0018801 (heart failure)
 72,216 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Serum cardiac myosin light chain I (LCI) levels were quantitated using a radioimmunoassay kit in patients suspected of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). In this study, 55 patients were evaluated between 1986 and 1991. They were composed of 40 males and 15 females, and their age was 27-75 years (51 +/- 11 years). The patients with renal dysfunction were excluded due to their serum creatinine levels (greater than 2.0 mg/dl). 1) After cardiac catheterization, endomyocardial biopsy and echocardiography, 44 patients were diagnosed as DCM, 2 as ischemic heart disease, 2 as chronic myocarditis, 1 as restrictive cardiomyopathy, 1 as dilated hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, 1 as cardiac amyloidosis, 2 as myopathy, 1 as polymyositis and 1 as hypothyroidism. 2) Only two patients with DCM had elevated LCI. Besides, two patients with myopathy or hypothyroidism had elevated LCI. 3) In the follow-up, one patient died suddenly 6 months later and another showed normal value of LCI four years later. 4) LCI elevation in DCM was not related to either the severity of heart failure or cardiac function and it showed no finding of 201Tl myocardial defect or elevated CPK. 5) The mechanism for elevated LCI in myopathy is related to a cross-reaction with myosin light chain in the skeletal muscle. In hypothyroidism, it may be related to decreased clearance of normal LCI concentration or increased myosin light chain from damaged skeletal muscle. In conclusion, it is evident that the measurement of LCI is not helpful in clinical assessment of patients with DCM, but may be useful in detection of secondary cardiomyopathy.
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PMID:[Clinical assessment of serum myosin light chain I in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy]. 143 84

175 patients with histological evidence of chronic diffuse liver disease, 67 patients with heart failure, diabetes and atherosclerosis, and 118 healthy adults under 30 years of age engaged in sports were studied for the prevalence of hepatitis A virus antibody (anti-HAV) by radioimmunoassay using a HAVAB (Abbott)-kit. Infection with hepatitis-A virus is highly prevalent in Hungary, anti-HAV having been demonstrated in a very high proportion of controls as well as of patients. Over the age of 40 the incidence is 100% in controls and 98% in patients with chronic liver disease. Infection with hepatitis-A virus must have been asymptomatic in the majority, since no more than 11.4% of the subjects had a history of acute hepatitis. The prevalence of acquired anti-HAV increases with age until it attains 100% in advanced age. The present results lend no support to the possibility that hepatitis-A virus infection might be involved in the production of chronic diffuse liver disease.
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PMID:Hepatitis a virus antibody in chronic diffuse liver disease. 666 44

Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) has become an important parameter for assessing the condition of patients with cardiac disease. Recently, attention has also focused on N-terminal pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (NtproANP) in this context. NtproANP circulates in plasma in higher concentration, is more stable ex vivo, and may be a better parameter for cardiac function over time. We have evaluated a new commercially available radiommunoassay kit for NtproANP and compared results and method with those of ANP measurements. The NtproANP kit was found to be reliable and easy to use (no plasma extraction step is necessary), with good reproducibility (coefficients of variation 7-15%). Normal values in 15 healthy laboratory workers, 25 healthy elderly subjects and 25 patients with heart failure were 207 +/- 70, 368 +/- 134 and 1206 +/- 860 pmol/l, respectively, 8.3, 11.8 and 13.0 times higher, respectively, than corresponding ANP concentrations. NtproANP correlated well with ANP (r 0.64-0.78). We conclude that plasma NtproANP measurement may be a good alternative to plasma ANP measurement: technically, it is easier to perform, and NtproANP is more stable in plasma. Whether NtproANP is a better diagnostic and prognostic parameter than ANP remains to be further established.
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PMID:Comparison of N-terminal pro-atrial natriuretic peptide and atrial natriuretic peptide in human plasma as measured with commercially available radioimmunoassay kits. 881 60

We evaluated the analytical characteristics and clinical usefulness of a commercially available IRMA kit for measuring plasma concentrations of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in healthy subjects and in patients with heart failure. The method uses two monoclonal antibodies prepared against sterically remote epitopes of the ANP molecule; the first antibody is coated on the solid-phase beads, and the second is radiolabeled with 125I. Fifty-nine healthy subjects and 77 patients with heart failure were studied. After subjects had rested 20 min in a recumbent position, blood samples were collected from a brachial vein into ice-chilled disposable polypropylene tubes containing aprotinin and EDTA. Plasma samples were immediately separated by centrifugation and stored at -20 degrees C until assay. The working range (CV <15%) was 10-2000 ng/L. The detection limit (2.13 +/- 0.91 ng/L) was similar to those reported for other IRMAs but was much better than those of RIAs. For healthy subjects, the results of this method (18.0 +/- 10.6 ng/L, range 4.7-63 ng/L, median 16.7 ng/L, n = 59) were similar to those generally reported for the most accurate methods, i.e., those using preliminary extraction and chromatographic purification of plasma samples. Measured plasma ANP was significantly associated with the severity of clinical symptoms, i.e., NYHA class (ANOVA, P <0.0001), and with the left ventricular ejection fraction (n = 62, r = 0.618, P <0.0001). Patients with severe heart failure showed greatly increased values (NYHA III-IV: 257.4 +/- 196.6 ng/L, n = 23).
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PMID:Analytical performance and clinical usefulness of a commercially available IRMA kit for measuring atrial natriuretic peptide in patients with heart failure. 885 46

Brain natriuretic peptide is proposed as a biochemical marker which could provide a useful screening test to select patients for further cardiac investigations in heart failure. The applicability of such a biochemical test in clinics, hospital wards, and clinical laboratories is dependent on its ease of use and on the complexity of sample handling. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the stability of brain natriuretic peptide under a number of different handling conditions (sample collection, storage temperatures, freezing temperatures) assayed with a commercially available kit. The results clearly demonstrate that brain natriuretic peptide is stable at room temperature for 24 hours, or in up to 30 degrees C for 12 hours in the presence and absence of aprotinin, on the condition that brain natriuretic peptide is assayed within one month (frozen at -20 degrees C) after blood collection. The presence of aprotinin prevents brain natriuretic peptide degradation in samples preserved for more than 1 month at -20 degrees C before assay.
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PMID:Stability of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) in human whole blood and plasma. 1098

Biventricular (BV) pacing is a promising treatment of end-stage heart failure. This article describes our experience with a strictly endocardial BV pacing system in patients with severe congestive heart failure. Three women and eight men (age 65 +/- 9 years) with drug-resistant end-stage CHF underwent implantation of an endocardial BV pacing system. In the first seven patients, the left ventricular lead was placed via a combined femoral and internal jugular approach. In the last four patients, the transseptal puncture was directly performed via the right internal jugular vein with a dedicated kit. The procedure was successful in all 11 patients. The acute left ventricular and BV thresholds were 1.3 +/- 0.6 V and 2.4 +/- 1 V, respectively. The QRS duration decreased from 214 +/- 57 to 176 +/- 25 ms. A functional improvement was noted in ten patients with a decrease in mean NYHA functional class from 3.7 +/- 0.5 before, to 2.6 +/- 0.9 after system implantation. A significant decrease in pulmonary capillary wedge pressure and increase in cardiac output were measured in eight patients. During follow-up, four patients died from CHF (n = 3) or ventricular fibrillation (n = 1). Under oral anticoagulation, no thromboembolic event was observed but one transient ischemic attack occurred in one patient whose anticoagulation was interrupted. Endocardial BV pacing is technically feasible and appears safe, though further studies are needed before it is used on a longer scale.
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PMID:Mid-term follow-up of endocardial biventricular pacing. 1113 15

A male fennec fox (Fennecus zerda) kit was examined for lethargy, inappetence, and weight loss. Clinical findings included respiratory distress, a gallop rhythm, and retinochoroiditis. Radiography indicated pleural effusion and cardiomegaly. Echocardiographic findings included left ventricular dilatation, low left ventricular ejection fraction, and atrioventricular valvular regurgitation. Necropsy findings were compatible with a diagnosis of congestive heart failure caused by myocarditis. Histopathology showed a disseminated infection with Toxoplasma gondii causing myocarditis, skeletal polymyositis, gastrointestinal myositis, and panuveitis. Toxoplasma-induced myocarditis should be included in the differential diagnosis of heart failure and retinochoroiditis in the fennec fox.
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PMID:Heart failure caused by toxoplasmosis in a fennec fox (Fennecus zerda). 1553 72

BACKGROUND: The potential cardiotoxicity of antipsychotic drugs is well known. The N-terminal fragment of B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is considered to be a possible biomarker in clinical practice for the diagnosis and prognosis in patients with suspected heart failure. This pilot evaluation tests the influence of antipsychotic drugs on NT-proBNP concentration in view of the hypothesis that NT-proBNP could be used as marker for the tolerability and safety of antipsychotic medications. METHODS: On a routine basis, patient's blood samples were examined for NT-proBNP on days 0, 7 and 21 after initiation of a new antipsychotic monotherapy. All plasma samples were analysed for NT-proBNP using an electrochemiluminiscence immunoassay "ECLIA" (proBNP kit, Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany) on an Elecsys 2010 analyser. RESULTS: A difference was found in NT-proBNP values at day 0 between patients younger versus older than 40 years. Also women had comparatively lower NTproBNP on days 7 and 21. Smokers' levels of NT-proBNP values decreased more from day 0 to day 7. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that antipsychotic medication influences the plasma concentration of NT-proBNP, suggesting a possible method to identify high-risk-patients for cardiovascular adverse effects due to antipsychotic medication. Larger studies should further test this hypothesis.
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PMID:N-terminal fragment of B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), a marker of cardiac safety during antipsychotic treatment. 1588 48

Chagas' disease is an important cause of heart failure in Latin America, but is rare in the United States. The immigration of persons from endemic countries increases the potential of encountering patients with the disease. Concerns have also been raised about the introduction of Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes the disease, into the blood supply and during organ transplantation. To compare Chagas' antibody tests that are available in the United States, we evaluated three IgG ELISAs, CeLLabs T. cruzi ELISA, Hemagen Chagas' kit and IVD Research Chagas' Serum Microwell ELISA, and MarDx indirect immunofluorescent assays. The CeLLabs and Hemagen IgG ELISAs had 100 % agreement, sensitivity and specificity. The IVD Research IgG ELISA had 94.6 % agreement, 100 % sensitivity and 93 % specificity.
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PMID:Serological diagnosis of Trypanosoma cruzi: evaluation of three enzyme immunoassays and an indirect immunofluorescent assay. 1643 9

The loss of cardiomyocytes by apoptosis and the subsequent replacement by fibrous connective tissues are important features of cardiac remodeling in adult heart disease. In children with CHD, however, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of heart failure have not yet been fully understood because of the anatomical and hemodynamic complexities. To investigate the apoptotic death of cardiomyocytes and mobilization of cardiac progenitor cells in children with congenital heart disease (CHD), terminal deoxynucleotidyl-transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) assay and immunohistochemistry with antibody against c-kit were performed. The incidence of TUNEL-positive cardiomyocytes in children with CHD (n=17) was higher (0.39+/-0.21%) than that in the child controls (0.072+/-0.037%, p<0.001, n=6), however, the incidence was lower than that in adults with heart disease (1.35+/-0.54%, p<0.005, n=7). Significant cardiomyocyte hypertrophy or fibrosis was not observed in children with CHD. The CHD patients hemodynamically demonstrating a volume overload showed more TUNEL-positive cardiomyocytes (0.58+/-0.17%, n=4) than those with severe cyanosis (0.20+/-0.12%, p<0.05, n=4). C-kit-positive cells were more abundantly detected in CHD in comparison to the child control (p<0.01) and the adults with heart disease (p<0.005). The incidence of c-kit-positive cells correlated with that of TUNEL-positive cardiomyocytes (r=0.513). In contrast to adult patients with heart disease where cardiomyocyte apoptosis and the subsequent replacement by fibrous connective tissue are characteristic features of remodeling process, stress in children with CHD was found to induce less cardiomyocyte apoptosis and fibrosis. This study also provides a possible relationship between cardiomyocyte apoptosis and mobilization of c-kit-positive cells in children with CHD.
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PMID:Detection of TUNEL-positive cardiomyocytes and c-kit-positive progenitor cells in children with congenital heart disease. 1763 10


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