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2-Deoxy-d-glucose (2-DG) is a glucose analogue that has been proposed for cancer therapy due to its cytostatic properties. Its effect on the proliferation of smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells has not been fully clarified. The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of 2-DG on the proliferation of porcine aortic endothelial cells (PAEC) and porcine smooth muscle cells (PSMC), to establish an overview of its dose-dependent inhibitory capacity and to examine whether the short-term incubation of cells with 2-DG has an impact on cell proliferation in culture. Our results showed a dose-dependent significant inhibitory effect on proliferation, which was more pronounced in PSMC than in PAEC. Even after short-term incubation of cells with 2-DG, relevant inhibition of proliferation was documented. The clinical application of 2-DG might be a promising concept by inhibiting cells that show a potentially rapid proliferation in response to non-malignant stimuli, such as smooth muscle cells after intracoronary stenting.

Rapamycin is an increasingly important immunosuppressive drug and reduces restenosis after coronary stenting, but its effects on cardiac contractility are largely unknown. We investigated the acute inotropic effects of rapamycin on isolated human cardiomyocytes. Cardiomyocytes were enzymatically isolated from right atrial appendages obtained during routine coronary artery bypass surgery. Cell morphology was examined by confocal microscopy. Cell contraction was recorded after electrical stimulation. Rapamycin elicited a concentration-dependent decrease in fractional cell shortening ranging from 14.3 ± 2.6% at 10−8M rapamycin to 26.4 ± 4.2% at 10−5M. Rapamycin also caused a concentration-dependent decrease in diastolic cell length. Contractile performance of isolated cardiomyocytes was well preserved, as evidenced by the profound positive inotropic effects of high extracellular calcium concentration and the β-adrenoreceptor agonist isoproterenol. The acute negative inotropic effect of rapamycin on human cardiomyocytes might be due to altered calcium homeostasis through the binding of rapamycin to FKBP12.6 and its regulatory function on the ryanodine receptor, with increased calcium leakage from the sarcoplasmic reticulum.

AIMS: The BiodivYsio™ stent (Biocompatibles Ltd, Farnham, UK) is coated with a phosphorylcholine (PC)-containin copolymer to confer biocompatibility. The SOPHOS (Study Of PHosphorylcholine coating On Stents) study was designed to assess the safety and efficacy of this novel coronary stent and by indirect comparison to indicate equivalence with other formal stent studies. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients with angina and a single short ( R12 mm) de novo lesion in a native coronary artery of ≥2.75 mm diameter were included. A total of 425 patients were allocated in 24 centers. Clinical data were collected at one-, six- and nine-month follow-up. Angiography was performed before and after the stent implantation. In addition, in the first 200 patients (SOPHOS A) angiography was routinely performed at six months. The following 225 patients (SOPHOS B) were merely followed up clinically. The primary end-point of the study, the six-month MACE-rate (MACE = Major Adverse Cardiac Events) was 13.4% (two cardiac death; five Q-wave/nine non-Qwave myocardial infarctions (MI); nine CABG and 32 target lesion revascularization (TLR), which is similar to the calculated 15% MACE-rate in comparable reference studies. Secondary end-points included among others restenosis at six months in the SOPHOS A population. The target vessel diameter was 2.98 ±0.48 mm. Minimal lumen diameter pre/post procedure and at follow-up was 1.00 ±0.32, 2.69 ±0.37, 1.91 ±0.71mm, respectively. The binary restenosis rate ( ≥50% diameter stenosis at follow-up) was 17.7%. CONCLUSION: The coronary BiodivYsio stent is safe and effective as a primary device for the treatment of native coronary artery lesions in patients with stable or unstable angina pectoris. Clinical and angiographic results are in the statistical range of equivalence with comparable studies with other current stents. (Int J Cardiovasc Intervent 2000; 3: 215-225)

BACKGROUND: The DUET Study is a multicenter prospective efficacy and safety evaluation of the ACS MULTI-LINK DUET coronary stainless steel balloon-expandable stent. AIMS: The primary objective was to determine the one-month incidence of MACE (major adverse cardiac events). The secondary objectives were the acute success rate, the restenosis and reocclusion rates (assessed by quantitative coronary angiography (QCA)) at six months and the occurrence of MACE in hospital and at six months. METHODS: Two hundred and ten patients were enrolled between February and June 1998 in 18 European centers. Successful stent placement was achieved in 209 patients. All patients were treated with ticlopidine 500 mg/day for one month and with aspirin ≥100 mg/day. To allow the investigators to gain familiarity with the stent system, the first one to three patients per center formed a separate lead-in population leaving an intention-to-treat population of 157 patients. population were male (79%); 28% had unstable angina, 69% had stable angina, 44% had had a previous myocardial infarction, 15% had had a previous percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, and 3% had a history of stroke. The target vessel was 38.5% left anterior descending artery, 20.5% left circumflex artery and 41.0% right coronary artery. RESULTS: All but one of the intention-to-treat patients were effectively stented (17 required multiple stents). Six-month angiographic follow-up was available in 90% of the intention-to-treat population. Minimal lumen diameter (MLD) postprocedure was 2.61 ±0.33 mm, with a residual diameter stenosis of 16%. Six-month follow-up data showed an MLD of 1.87 ±0.56 mm with a residual diameter stenosis of 36%. The binary restenosis rate ( ≥50% residual stenosis) was 15.6%. Up to one month following the procedure 94.9% of the population was MACE-free, with two subacute occlusions. At six months all patients were alive, of whom 82.8% were MACE-free, and 73% were free of anginal complaints. CONCLUSION: The results observed in the current DUET registry are comparable to The majority of the intention-to-treat data of other balloon-expandable-stent trials, with a low incidence of clinical events at follow-up. (Int J Cardiovasc Intervent 2000; 3: 97-104)