Cardiovascular development: towards biomedical applicability

Advances in our understanding of cardiac development have fuelled research into cellular approaches to myocardial repair of the damaged heart. In this collection of reviews we present recent advances into the basic mechanisms of heart development and the resident and non-resident progenitor cell populations that are currently being investigated as potential mediators of cardiac repair. Together these reviews illustrate that despite our current knowledge about how the heart is constructed, caution and much more research in this exciting field is essential. The current momentum to evaluate the potential for cardiac repair will in turn accelerate research into fundamental aspects of myocardial biology.     

上皮生长因子预防心脏术后心包粘连的实验及临床研究

目的探讨上皮生长因子(EGF)对心脏术后心包粘连的预防作用.方法术中对犬心包内喷洒上皮生长因子3个月后,观察心包粘连情况;选先天性心脏病、房缺及室缺病人40例,术中心包内喷洒上皮生长因子,术后6个月、12个月经CT检查,判定心包粘连、增厚结果.结果在动物实验和临床研究中,实验组粘连程度显著低于对照组(P<0.01).结论 EGF心包内应用有明显预防心脏术后心包粘连的作用.     

心肌动作电位对心脏节律的影响

采用数值方法分析心肌动作电位对心脏节律的影响。心肌动作电位用Noble模型来描述，心脏节律用Bernardo-Signorint模型来模拟。数值分析结果表明，心肌动作电位形成的靶环波和螺旋波对心脏节律影响较大。当心肌动作电位表现为噪声时，心脏节律可完全破坏。     

提取心脏截面图像上内腔的边缘曲线

针对心脏截面图像上内腔边缘形状起伏较大的特点 ,利用一种基本思想称为径向半径搜寻的方法 ,获取内腔边缘的包络曲线 .首先介绍的径向半径搜寻方法较以往的方法提高了对不光滑边缘轮廓提取的精确程度 ,然后对该方法进行改进 ,从而使心脏内腔边缘曲线的提取方法在鲁棒性、准确性方面较以往的方法有较大的提高 ,并具有普遍性     

Detecting myocardial ischemia with 2-D CVIB imaging method--an in vivo animal experiment study

A 2-D cyclic variation of integrated backscatter (CVIB) imaging method was established for detecting myocardial ischemia. To demonstrate the feasibility and validity of this method, animal experiments were conducted. Acute myocardial ischemia was induced by occluding left anterior descending coronary artery in 10 anesthetized open-chest dogs. While scanning the normal hearts and the ischemic hearts with a B scanner, digital radiofrequency data were acquired by a real-time acquisition system in synchronism. The offline analysis to the radio-frequency signal with the 2-D CVIB imaging method was performed to verify the consistency between the imaging result and the design of the experiment. In addition, 4 dogs in experiment were treated with the heart pacemaker in order to investigate the influence of changing in heart rate on the detection of ischemic myocardium with the proposed method. The experimental result showed that the 2-D CVIB imaging method succeeded in detecting the ischemic myocardium and is a new non-invasive way for the cardiologists to both quantitatively and visually evaluate the contractile performance of the myocardium.     

Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase regulatory mechanisms and inhibition in treating diabetes, heart ischemia, and cancer

The fraction of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) in the active form is reduced by the activities of dedicated PD kinase isozymes (PDK1, PDK2, PDK3 and PDK4). Via binding to the inner lipoyl domain (L2) of the dihydrolipoyl acetyltransferase (E2 60mer), PDK rapidly access their E2-bound PD substrate. The E2-enhanced activity of the widely distributed PDK2 is limited by dissociation of ADP from its C-terminal catalytic domain, and this is further slowed by pyruvate binding to the N-terminal regulatory (R) domain. Via the reverse of the PDC reaction, NADH and acetyl-CoA reductively acetylate lipoyl group of L2, which binds to the R domain and stimulates PDK2 activity by speeding up ADP dissociation. Activation of PDC by synthetic PDK inhibitors binding at the pyruvate or lipoyl binding sites decreased damage during heart ischemia and lowered blood glucose in insulin-resistant animals. PDC activation also triggers apoptosis in cancer cells that selectively convert glucose to lactate. Received 25 August 2006; received after revision 20 November 2006; accepted 20 December 2006     

Failure of opioids to affect excitation and contraction in isolated ventricular heart muscle

Summary The opioid agonists morphine (selective for -receptors) and ethylketocyclazocine (selective for kappa-receptors), at concentrations evoking strong effects in neuronal structures, did not significantly affect the configuration of the intracellularly recorded action potential and the force of contraction in ventricular heart muscle isolated from guinea pigs, rabbits and man. These results suggest that any changes of heart functions in vivo in response to opioid-like drugs are probably not mediated postsynaptically at the myocardial cell membrane but rather presynaptically, influencing the release of noradrenaline and/or acetylcholine from the nerve terminals.     

用模型方法研究灌注压对缺血区心肌血流时相分布的影响

为了研究在舒张期提高冠脉灌注压对缺血区血流时相分布的影响,建立了一个左心室壁血流灌注仿真模型。模型中正常心肌和缺血心肌中血管网都用３个支路来代表,各个支路由符合生理实际的非线性时变阻容元件组成。以６条雄性犬的左心室压和主动脉压的实测数据作为输入进行仿真,得出了符合已有实验观察的结论。结果表明：舒张期提高灌注压对缺血心肌的血流灌注有明显改善。     

从毛地黄愈伤组织中提取强心苷初报

本文阐述了在毛地黄愈伤组织的培养中,植物激素含量、愈伤组织的不同继代数及不同的培养条件和提取方法都对强心苷的含量有一定影响。试验结果有利于进一步进行液体悬浮培养的工业化生产的可行性研究。     

心肌组织力学行为的测试系统

为方便与准确定量地研究心肌组织主动力与被动力的性质,在综合现代实验力学中的光测、电测和步进电机控制等技术的基础上开发了两套实验测试系统。这两个系统也可用于一般生物软组织性质的研究。论述了这两套测试系统各自的工作原理,介绍了硬件和软件的组成部分和功能,以及关键部位力传感器的设计和标定。介绍了心肌力学性质测试的一般方法,初步得到了心肌组织的被动力和主动力的基本性质,和现有的理论模型进行了拟合和比较,表明这两套系统可以完成心肌组织的生物力学性质的测试。