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(Circulation. 2003;108:e9079.)
© 2003 American Heart Association, Inc.

Cardiovascular News

Ruth SoRelle, MPH

Circulation Newswriter

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

New Molecule Protects Cardiomyocytes

Heat shock transcription factor 1, identified through the death-trap method, proved itself to be an effective protector of cardiomyocytes in tests undertaken by researchers from the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine and the Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan and reported in this week’s issue of the journal Circulation ( Circulation. 2003;108:3024–3030[Abstract/Free Full Text]).

When the researchers, led by Yunzeng Zou, MD, PhD, of the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, attempted to induce cell death with hydrogen peroxide in COS7 cells, the overexpression of heat shock transcription factor 1 prevented the cells from dying. When the hearts of transgenic mice overexpressed an active form of heat shock transcription factor 1, they more quickly overcame the negative effects of ischemia followed by ST-segment elevation induced by reperfusion and had infarcts of smaller size than did normal mice under similar conditions. Protein kinase B/Akt was more strongly activated and Jun N-terminal kinase and caspase 3 were less activated in the hearts of the transgenic mice than in the hearts of the normal mice.

C-Reactive Protein Associated With Atrial Fibrillation
C-reactive protein—a marker of inflammation—is associated with atrial fibrillation and may even predict the risk of developing the condition in the future, said researchers from the Cleveland Clinic, University of Washington, Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC, and the University of Vermont who took part in the Cardiovascular Health Study. They reported their results in this week’s issue of Circulation ( Circulation. 2003;108:3006–3010[Abstract/Free Full Text]).

In this large cohort study . . . [Full Text of this Article]