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Biomedical subjects

Pier D Lambiase

Publications and source records attributed to Pier D Lambiase.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Whole-genome sequencing implicates rare, low-frequency and structural non-coding variation at the SCN5A locus in Brugada syndrome.

Brugada syndrome (BrS) is an inherited cardiac condition characterized by a hallmark ECG pattern and an increased risk of sudden cardiac death. Central to the aetiology of BrS, the SCN5A region harbours both common non-coding risk variants and rare coding variants that are causative in approximately 20% of patients. However, rare non-coding genetic variation in this region remains largely unexplored. Here, we used whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of 752 European-ancestry BrS cases and 1,827 ancestry-matched controls to identify BrS-associated rare non-coding genetic variation at the SCN5A locus. Sliding-window and cis-regulatory element (CRE)-based rare-variant aggregate testing implicated three conserved CREs, including a dense aggregation of case singleton variants within a 178 bp enhancer in intron 17 of SCN5A which replicated in an independent BrS cohort. Prioritised BrS-associated rare and low-frequency non-coding variants within these elements were predicted to alter cardiac transcription factor motifs, and altered CRE activity in hiPSC-CM luciferase assays or were associated with BrS-relevant ECG endophenotypes in the UK Biobank. Single-variant analysis across the region identified a Bonferroni-significant five-fold case-enriched low-frequency variant within a known CRE in intron 1 of SCN5A, which replicated, was associated with slower cardiac conduction in the UK Biobank and accounted for part of the BrS GWAS signal at this locus. Structural variant analyses identified a 10.5 kb deletion upstream of SCN5A in a BrS case that encompassed a cardiac CRE and reduced sodium current density in a hiPSC-CM model, as well as a 6 kb BrS-enriched retrotransposon insertion in SCN5A that appeared to underlie part of the GWAS signal in this region. Together, these findings implicate rare and low-frequency non-coding variation at the SCN5A locus in BrS susceptibility and demonstrate the value of targeted WGS analysis of key disease loci.

Journal Article↗

The effect of an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and a K+(ATP) channel opener on warm up angina.

AIMS: In various models, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and K+(ATP) channel openers can potentiate and mimic ischaemic preconditioning, respectively. Our aim was to determine whether these characteristics are shared by the phenomenon of warm up in angina, often regarded as a surrogate of ischaemic preconditioning. METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty patients with ischaemic heart disease were assigned in a double blind, randomized cross-over design to equivalent pressor doses of nicorandil 20 mg bid, enalapril 10 mg bid, losartan 25 mg bid, or placebo for 3 days. Patients underwent three consecutive exercise tolerance tests on each medication separated by a 1-week interval. Each patient underwent 12 exercise tests in total and 13 patients completed the study. On each medication the second exercise was separated from the first by 15 min of rest and the third exercise was performed 90 min after the second to control for training. The time to 0.1 mV ST depression and rate pressure product at 0.1 mV ST depression increased significantly in all groups during exercise two compared with exercise one. Nicorandil reduced angina but did not attenuate this warm up effect. This benefit of first exercise waned by test three with placebo, losartan, and nicorandil, but not with enalapril. CONCLUSION: In contrast to predictions based on ischaemic preconditioning the magnitude of the warm up was apparently unaltered by nicorandil, losartan, or enalapril, however its duration seemed to be extended by enalapril. Thus ischaemic preconditioning and warm up angina are likely to have differing pharmacological profiles suggesting a diverse underlying mechanism.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Circulating humoral factors and endothelial progenitor cells in patients with differing coronary collateral support.

BACKGROUND: The mechanisms underlying the variation in collateral formation between patients, even with similar patterns of coronary artery disease, remain unclear. This study investigates whether circulating humoral or cellular factors can provide an insight into this variation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty patients with isolated left anterior descending coronary artery disease underwent percutaneous coronary intervention with collateral flow index (CFI) determined using a pressure wire. Patients with inadequate (CFI <0.25) compared with those with adequate (CFI > or =0.25) collateral support had, or tended to have, lower concentrations of coronary sinus growth factors and plasma exerting a weaker effect on endothelial cell migration and angiogenesis in vitro. However, there was an inverse correlation between serum mitogenicity and CFI (r=-0.61, P<0.01). No significant differences were detected between the 2 groups in plasma levels of total vascular endothelial growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor165, or placental growth factor. There was a strong positive correlation between numbers of CD34/CD133-positive circulating hemopoietic precursor cells and CFI (r=0.75, P<0.001). In patients with inadequate, compared with those with adequate, CFI, the numbers of differentiated endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) appearing in the circulation and in culture were significantly reduced by 75% (P<0.05) and 70% (P<0.05), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, inadequate coronary collateral development is associated with reduced numbers of circulating EPCs and impaired chemotactic and proangiogenic but not mitogenic activity. These findings are consistent with current efforts to enhance collateral formation by augmentation of circulating EPCs.

Aged↗

Exercise-induced ischemia initiates the second window of protection in humans independent of collateral recruitment.

OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to examine if exercise-induced ischemia initiated late preconditioning in humans that becomes manifest during subsequent exercise and serial balloon occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD). BACKGROUND: The existence of late preconditioning in humans is controversial. We therefore compared myocardial responses to exercise-induced and intracoronary balloon inflation-induced ischemia in two groups of patients subjected to different temporal patterns of ischemia. METHODS: Thirty patients with stable angina secondary to single-vessel LAD disease underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) after two separate exercise tolerance test (ETT) protocols designed to investigate isolated early preconditioning (IEP) alone or the second window of protection (SWOP). The IEP subjects underwent three sequential ETTs at least two weeks before PCI. The SWOP subjects underwent five sequential ETTs commencing 24 h before PCI. RESULTS: During PCI there was no significant difference in intracoronary pressure-derived collateral flow index (CFI) between groups (IEP = 0.15 +/- 0.13, SWOP = 0.19 +/- 0.15). In SWOP patients, compared with the initial ETT, the ETT performed 24 h later had a 40% (p < 0.001) increase in time to 0.1-mV ST depression and a 60% (p < 0.05) decrease in ventricular ectopic frequency. During the first balloon inflation, peak ST elevation was reduced by 49% (p < 0.05) in the SWOP versus the IEP group, and the dependence on CFI observed in the IEP group was abolished (analysis of covariance, p < 0.05). The significant attenuation of ST elevation (47%, p < 0.005) seen at the time of the second inflation in the IEP patients was not seen in the SWOP patients. CONCLUSIONS: Exercise-induced ischemia triggers late preconditioning in humans, which becomes manifest during exercise and PCI. This is the first evidence that ischemia induced by coronary occlusion is attenuated in humans by a late preconditioning effect induced by exercise.

Analysis of Variance↗

Systemic inflammation in unstable angina is the result of myocardial necrosis.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated whether the source of the acute phase response in unstable angina (UA) lay within the culprit coronary plaque or distal myocardium. BACKGROUND: An inflammatory response is an important component of the acute coronary syndromes. However, its origin and mechanism remain unclear. METHODS: In 94 stable patients undergoing coronary angiography, the relationship between systemic levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) and extent of atherosclerosis was studied. The temporal relationship between these markers and troponin T (TnT) was determined in 91 patients with UA. Cytokine levels were measured in the aortic root and coronary sinus of 36 unstable patients. RESULTS: There was no relationship found between stable coronary atherosclerosis and inflammatory marker levels. Compared with this group, admission levels of IL-6 (3.6 +/- 0.3 ng/ml vs. 10.7 +/- 1.7 ng/ml, p < 0.05) and CRP (2.3 +/- 0.1 mg/l vs. 4.6 +/- 0.6 mg/l, p < 0.05) were elevated in patients with UA. In this group, IL-6 and CRP remained elevated in those who subsequently experienced major adverse cardiac events. This inflammatory response occurred in parallel to the appearance of TnT. Both TNF-alpha (19.2 +/- 3.4 ng/ml vs. 17.1 +/- 3.3 ng/ml, p < 0.001) and IL-6 (10.3 +/- 1.4 ng/ml vs. 7.7 +/- 1.1 ng/ml, p < 0.01) were elevated in the coronary sinus compared with aortic root in patients with UA. This was principally observed in those who were TnT positive. There was no cytokine gradient across the culprit plaque. CONCLUSIONS: There is an intracardiac inflammatory response in UA that appears to be the result of low-grade myocardial necrosis. The ruptured plaque does not appear to contribute to the acute phase response.

Aged↗