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BACKGROUND: Endothelial dysfunction, the earliest stage of atherosclerosis, can be caused by smoking, but its molecular mechanism requires further investigation. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to use bioinformatics analysis to identify potential mechanisms involved in smoking-related atherosclerotic endothelial dysfunction. METHODS: The transcriptome data used for this bioinformatics analysis were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The GSE137578 and GSE141136 datasets were used to identify common differentially expressed genes (co-DEGs) in endothelial cells treated with oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) and tobacco. The co-DEGs were annotated using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomics (KEGG) databases. Additionally, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed to visualize their interactions and screen for hub genes. GSE120521 dataset was used to verify the expression of hub genes in unstable plaques. The miRNA expression profile GSE137580 and online databases (starBase 2.0, TargetScan 8.0 and DGIdb v4.2.0) were used to predict the related non-coding RNAs and drugs. RESULTS: A total of 232 co-DEGs were identified, including 113 up-regulated genes and 119 down-regulated genes. These DEGs were primarily enriched in detrimental autophagy, cell death, transcription factors, and cytokines, and were implicated in ferroptosis, abnormal lipid metabolism, inflammation, and oxidative stress pathways. Ten hub genes were screened from the constructed PPI network, including up-regulated genes such as FOS, HMOX1, SQSTM1, PTGS2, ATF3, DDIT3, and down-regulated genes MCM4, KIF15, UHRF1, and CCL2. Importantly, HMOX1 was further up-regulated in unstable plaques (p = 0.034). Finally, a regulatory network involving lncRNA/circRNA-miRNA-hub genes and drug-hub genes was established. CONCLUSION: Atherosclerotic endothelial dysfunction is associated with smoking-induced injury. Through bioinformatics analysis, we identified potential mechanisms and provided potential therapeutic targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endovascular embolization (EE) has become an effective method for the treatment of intractable epistaxis (IE). However, complications such as facial pain, headaches, aphasia, hemiplegia, and transient blindness can also occur during or after surgery. In this article, we report a rare case of IE with residual intravascular guidewire after EE. Open surgery was used to remove the guidewire. However, to avoid serious complications such as massive hemorrhage, only part of the guidewire was removed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tissue‐engineered blood vessel substitutes have been developed due to the lack of suitable small‐diameter vascular grafts. Xenogeneic extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffolds have the potential to provide an ideal source for off‐the‐shelf vascular grafts. In this study, porcine carotid arteries were used to develop ECM scaffolds by decellularization and coating with heparin and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). After decellularization, cellular and nucleic materials were successfully removed with preservation of the main compositions (collagen, elastin, and basement membrane) of the native ECM. The ultimate tensile strength, suture strength, and burst pressure were significantly increased after cross‐linking. Pore size distribution analysis revealed a porous structure within ECM scaffolds with a high distribution of pores larger than 10 μm. Heparinized scaffolds exhibited sustained release of heparin in vitro and showed potent anticoagulant activity by prolonging activated partial thromboplastin time. The scaffolds showed an enhanced HGF binding capacity as well as a constant release of HGF as a result of heparin modification. When implanted subcutaneously in rats, the modified scaffolds revealed good biocompatibility with enzyme degradation resistance, mitigated immune response, and anti‐calcification. In conclusion, heparinized and HGF‐coated acellular porcine carotid arteries may be a promising biological scaffold for tissue‐engineered vascular grafts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We used single-center data to evaluate the long-term outcome of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) for pediatric renovascular hypertension (RVH) and to analyze the factors that influence effectiveness. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 33 pediatric RVH patients (18 boys; mean age: 9.1 ± 4 years, range: 2–16) who underwent PTA from January 2007 to December 2019. 15 patients had Takayasu arteritis (TA) and 18 were non-TA. The median follow-up from the initial PTA was 69 months (range: 12–157; IQR: 25.5–89). Results: The technical success rate of 52 PTA procedures was 90.4% in 33 children. Renal artery stents were implanted in two patients, external guidewires were used in two patients, and a drug-coated balloon was used in only one patient. The overall effective rate of PTA was 63.6%, including cured 39.4% and improved 24.2%, at the end of follow-up. Overall clinical outcomes were not statistically different between the TA and non-TA groups (p = 0.316), nor were cure rates (p = 0.072). 15 patients received reintervention due to restenosis after the first successful PTA; the interval was 2–56 months (median: 12 months). Four patients received reintervention due to a failed PTA. A total of four patients received open surgery. Binary logistics regression analysis showed that stenosis length and residual stenosis rate were strongly correlated with effective PTA (p = 0.045, p = 0.044). Conclusions: As a primary treatment for pediatric RVH, PTA can achieve satisfactory results, which are influenced by lesion length and residual stenosis rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]