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Byline: Ge-Cai. Chen, Zhong-Bao. Ruan, Yi-Gang. Yin, Li. Zhu Objective: To investigate the molecular mechanism underlying the differentiation of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) into myocardial cells induced [...]

We aimed to investigate the circRNA–miRNA regulatory network in atrial fibrillation (AF) by using Cytoscape and HMDD v3.0. Finally, 120 differentially expressed circRNAs in peripheral blood monocytes of 4 AF patients were preliminarily screened by circRNA microarray. circRNA_4648, circRNA_4631, and circRNA_2875 were the first four circRNAs with the most binding nodes in the circRNA–miRNA network. The top three most frequent miRNAs for up-regulated circRNAs were hsa-miR-328 that interacted with 5 up-regulated circRNAs, hsa-miR-4685-5p with 4 up-regulated circRNAs, hsa-miR-3150a-3p, hsa-miR-4649-5p, hsa-miR-4783-3p, and hsa-miR-8073 with 3 up-regulated circRNAs,, while the top three most frequent miRNAs for down-regulated circRNAs were hsa-miR-328 that interacted with 14 down-regulated circRNAs, hsa-miR-4685-5p with 11 down-regulated circRNAs and hsa-miR-661 with 9 down-regulated circRNAs. According to HMDD v3.0, five up-regulated and eleven down-regulated circRNAs were found to interact with AF related miRNAs. These results indicated the possible regulatory network between circRNAs and miRNAs in the pathogenesis of AF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Aim of this study was to investigate the long-term impact of left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) on cardiac function and structure in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). 157 patients with NVAF who underwent LAAO or combined with ablation were included and divided into simple LAAO group or combined group. Long term impact of LAAO on cardiac function and structure were evaluated. Results showed that the procedures were performed successfully with 6.4% complications. During follow-up, there was a significant decrease of left atrial anteroposterior diameter (LAAD) at 6 months and a significant increase of left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVEDD) at 12 months after LAAO. A significant decrease in plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) was noted at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after procedure. There was a significant decrease of LAAD, LVEDD, left ventricular end-systolic dimension (LVESD) and NT-proBNP levels in combined group at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months post- procedure, while an increase of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Meanwhile, no significant change of LAAD, LVEDD, LVESD, NT-proBNP and LVEF was seen in simple LAAO group at 3 months follow-up, but a decrease of NT-proBNP during 6 months and 12 months follow-up. Compared with simple LAAO group, combined group was associated with a significant increase of residual flow. In conclusion, LAAO has no significant effect on cardiac structure and function but can significantly reduce NT-proBNP. The improvement of cardiac structure and function in combined therapy comes from the result of ablation, not LAAO., Competing Interests: Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists., (© The author(s).)

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most common clinical cardiac arrhythmias. This study was done to screen differentially expressed circular RNAs (circRNAs) in human monocytes from patients with AF and healthy controls using microarray, and preliminarily explore the role of circRNAs in the development of AF. The expression of circRNAs in peripheral blood monocytes of 4 AF patients and 4 healthy donors was detected by chip technology and validated by qRT-PCR. Differentially expressed genes were screened out. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses were performed to identify the function of differentially expressed genes and related pathways. Potential connections between circRNAs and miRNAs were explored by using Cytoscape. 120 differentially expressed circRNAs (FC≥2, P<0.05) were preliminarily screened by circRNA microarray, of which 65 were up-regulated and 55 down-regulated. All of 4 upregulated circRNAs (circRNA&#95;0031, circRNA&#95;1837, circRNA&#95;5901 and circRNA&#95;7571) and 3 out of 4 downregulated circRNAs (circRNA&#95;5801, circRNA&#95;7386 and circRNA&#95;7577) were randomly confirmed by RT-PCR. GO and KEGG analysis suggested that differentially expressed circRNA-related genes are mainly involved in inflammation, immunity, and signaling transduction. CircRNA&#95;7571, circRNA&#95;4648, circRNA&#95;4631 and circRNA&#95;2875 were the first 4 circRNAs with the most binding nodes in the co-expression network. In addition, hsa-miR-328 was the highest positively correlated miRNA in the networks. Our findings demonstrated that there were differentially expressed circRNAs in human monocytes from AF patients. circRNA&#95;7571, circRNA&#95;4648, circRNA&#95;4631 and circRNA&#95;2875 were the first 4 circRNAs with the most binding nodes in the co-expression network. hsa-miR-328 was the largest node that interacted with circRNAs in the co-expression network. circRNAs-hsa-miR-328 network may play a critical role in the pathophysiology and mechanism of AF., Competing Interests: None., (IJCEP Copyright © 2020.)

Background: Cystatin C (Cys C) has been implicated as a prognostic marker in cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of Cys C as a marker of acute kidney injury (AKI) in acute heart failure (AHF), the impact of Cys C and N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptides (NT-proBNP) on in-hospital and 12 months mortality were also investigated., Materials and Methods: A total of 162 patients with AHF were enrolled. NT-proBNP, Cys C, serum creatinine (Scr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and parameters of echocardiography were measured for analyze. The in-hospital and 12 months mortality was analyzed., Results: There was 28 (17%) of all AHF patients with AKI. Compared with no-AKI patients, the levels of Cys C (1.51 ± 0.34 vs. 1.32 ± 0.29, P = 0.003) and NT-proBNP (8163.87 ± 898.06 vs. 5922.45 ± 576.73, P = 0.001) were higher in AKI patients. Higher levels of NT-proBNP (odds ratio (OR) = 1.92, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.19-10.98, P = 0.018, OR = 4.31, 95% CI: 2.35-9.82, P = 0.002, respectively) and Cys C (OR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.75-4.16, P = 0.027, OR = 2.72, 95% CI: 1.92-4.28, P = 0.017, respectively) were independent association with the in-hospital and 12 months mortality. Cys C was positively correlated with NT-proBNP (r = 0.87, P < 0.001). Combining tertiles of Cys C and NT-proBNP improved risk stratification further. Compared with patients without AKIcysC, patients with AKIcysC was associated with higher in-hospital (7/28 vs. 10/134, P = 0.002) and 12-month mortality (13/28 vs. 32/134, P = 0.001)., Conclusion: Cys C was not only a promising risk marker in patients hospitalized for AHF, but also an independent predictor of 12-month mortality. Combining tertiles of Cys C and NT-proBNP could be used to distinguish the mortality risk identification of patients with AHF. AKI was an independent predictor of in-hospital and 12-month mortality.