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Background: The optimal revascularization technique in patients with left main coronary artery disease (CAD) remains controversial. We aimed to compare the long-term performance of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) versus coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery in treatment of left main CAD. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were searched until November 16, 2016. Results: Six randomized controlled trials and 22 matched observational studies including 22,487 patients and 90,167 patient-years of follow-up were included. PCI was associated with an overall higher risk for the major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (hazard ratio (HR), 1.42; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.14-1.77), mainly driven by higher rates of myocardial infarction (HR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.22-2.34) and revascularization (HR, 2.80; 95% CI, 1.86-4.22). The overall risks for all-cause death (HR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.93-1.20), cardiac death (HR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.69-1.59), stroke (HR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.33-1.24), and the composite safety endpoint of death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (HR, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.97-1.16) were similar between PCI and CABG. Stratified analysis based on stent types showed that the increased risk for myocardial infarction associated with PCI was only evident in patients with bare-metal stents or early-generation drug-eluting stents (DES), but not newer-generation DES. Stratified analyses based on study designs showed largely similar findings with the overall analyses, except for a significantly higher incidence of myocardial infarction in adjusted studies (HR, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.64-2.45) but a trend toward higher incidence in randomized trials (HR, 1.39; 95% CI, 0.85-2.27) associated with PCI. Conclusions: Compared with CABG, PCI with newer-generation DES might be a safe alternative revascularization strategy for treatment of left main CAD, but is associated with more repeat revascularization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Myocardial fibrosis is an essential hallmark of diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) contributing to cardiac dysfunctions. Resveratrol, an antioxidant, exerts its anti-fibrotic effect via inhibition of oxidative stress, while the underlying molecular mechanism remains largely elusive. Periostin, a fibrogenesis matricellular protein, has been shown to be associated with oxidative stress. In the present study, we investigated the role of periostin in anti-fibrotic effect of resveratrol in streptozocin (STZ)-induced diabetic heart and the underlying mechanisms.Methods: Diabetic mice were induced by STZ injection. After treatment with resveratrol (5 or 25 mg/kg/day i.g) or Saline containing 0.5% carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) for 2 months, the hearts were detected for oxidative stress and cardiac fibrosis using western blot, Masson's trichrome staining and Dihydroethidium (DHE) staining. In in vitro experiments, proliferation and differentiation of fibroblasts under different conditions were investigated through western blot, 3-(4,5)-dimethylthiahiazo (-z-y1)-3,5-di-phenytetrazoliumromide (MTT) assay and immunofluorescence staining.Results: Administration of resveratrol significantly mitigated oxidative level, interstitial fibrosis and expressions of related proteins in STZ-induced diabetic hearts. In in vitro experiments, resveratrol exhibited anti-proliferative effect on primary mouse cardiac fibroblasts via inhibiting reactive oxygen species (ROS)/extracellular regulated kinase (ERK) pathway and ameliorated myofibroblast differentiation via suppressing ROS/ERK/ transforming growth factor β (TGF-β)/periostin pathway.Conclusion: Increased ROS production, activation of ERK/TGF-β/periostin pathway and myocardial fibrosis are important events in DCM. Alleviated ROS genesis by resveratrol prevents myocardial fibrosis by regulating periostin related signaling pathway. Thus, inhibition of ROS/periostin may represent a novel approach for resveratrol to reverse fibrosis in DCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Inhibition of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) has been intensively studied to lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of anti-PCSK9 antibodies in randomized, controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL databases, and recent conferences were searched. Safety outcomes were rates of common adverse events. Efficacy outcomes included percentages of LDL-C lowering and other lipid changes compared with placebo and ezetimibe, respectively. Results: Twenty-five RCTs encompassing 12,200 patients were included. The rates of common adverse events were firstly reported in our study by pooling together all evidence in RCTs, showing largely no significant difference between anti-PCSK9 antibodies and placebo (or ezetimibe), except that alirocumab was associated with reduced rates of death (relative risk (RR): 0.43, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 0.19 to 0.96, P = 0.04) and an increased rate of injection-site reactions (RR: 1.48, 95 % CI: 1.05 to 2.09, P = 0.02); evolocumab reduced the rate of abnormal liver function (RR: 0.43, 95 % CI: 0.20 to 0.93, P = 0.03), both compared with placebo. No significant difference in safety outcomes was detected between monthly 420 mg and biweekly 140 mg evolocumab treatments. Monthly 420 mg evolocumab treatment significantly reduced LDL-C by -54.6 % (95 % CI: -58.7 to -50.5 %) and by absolute -78.9 mg/dl (95 % CI: -88.9 to -68.9 mg/dl) versus placebo, and by -36.3 % (95 % CI: -38.8 to -33.9 %) versus ezetimibe, and increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) by 7.6 % (95 % CI: 5.7 to 9.5 %) versus placebo and 6.4 % (95 % CI: 4.3 to 8.4 %) versus ezetimibe. An equal or even greater change was observed following biweekly 140 mg administration. Significant and favorable changes were also detected in other lipids following evolocumab treatment. Biweekly 50 to 150 mg alirocumab lowered LDL-C by -52.6 % (95 % CI: -58.2 to -47.0 %) versus placebo, by -29.9 % (95 % CI: -32.9 to -26.9 %) versus ezetimibe, and increased HDL-C by 8.0 % (95 % CI: 4.2 to 11.7 %) versus placebo. Conclusions: Evolocumab and alirocumab were safe and well-tolerated from our most-powered analyses. Both antibodies substantially reduced the LDL-C level by over 50 %, increased the HDL-C level, and resulted in favorable changes in other lipids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]