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New disease targets and medicinal chemistry approaches are urgently needed to develop novel therapeutic strategies for treating pulmonary diseases. Emerging evidence suggests that reduced activity of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), a complex heterotrimeric enzyme that regulates dephosphorylation of serine and threonine residues from many proteins, is observed in multiple pulmonary diseases, including lung cancer, smoke-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, asthma, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Loss of PP2A responses is linked to many mechanisms associated with disease progressions, such as senescence, proliferation, inflammation, corticosteroid resistance, enhanced protease responses, and mRNA stability. Therefore, chemical restoration of PP2A may represent a novel treatment for these diseases. This review outlines the potential impact of reduced PP2A activity in pulmonary diseases, endogenous and exogenous inhibitors of PP2A, details the possible PP2A-dependent mechanisms observed in these conditions, and outlines potential therapeutic strategies for treatment. Substantial medicinal chemistry efforts are underway to develop therapeutics targeting PP2A activity. The development of specific activators of PP2A that selectively target PP2A holoenzymes could improve our understanding of the function of PP2A in pulmonary diseases. This may lead to the development of therapeutics for restoring normal PP2A responses within the lung. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ca2+ plays a crucial role in excitation-contraction coupling in cardiac myocytes. Dysfunctional Ca2+ regulation alters the force of contraction and causes cardiac arrhythmias. Ca2+ entry into cardiomyocytes is mediated mainly through L-type Ca2+ channels, leading to the subsequent Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. L-type Ca2+ channels are composed of the conventional Cav1.2, ubiquitously expressed in all heart chambers, and the developmentally regulated Cav1.3, exclusively expressed in the atria, sinoatrial node, and atrioventricular node in the adult heart. As such, Cav1.3 is implicated in the pathogenesis of sinoatrial and atrioventricular node dysfunction as well as atrial fibrillation. More recently, Cav1.3 de novo expression was suggested in heart failure. Here, we review the functional role, expression levels, and regulation of Cav1.3 in the heart, including in the context of cardiac diseases. We believe that the elucidation of the functional and molecular pathways regulating Cav1.3 in the heart will assist in developing novel targeted therapeutic interventions for the aforementioned arrhythmias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Atrioventricular node (AVN) radiofrequency (RF) ablation is a highly effective treatment of atrial tachyarrhythmias that are resistant to other management modalities. To date, there is limited research that compares the properties of different RF ablation catheters. The current study aims to compare the effectiveness of several types of RF catheters in AVN ablation., Methods: 66 patients, with a mean age of 73.27 years, underwent AVN RF ablation. The catheters used were categorized as: un-irrigated (UI), externally-irrigated (EI), and contact force-sensing with 10-20 grams of force. EI catheters were divided into two different settings: low-power long-duration (LPLD) (30W, 45°C, and 60 sec) and high-power short-duration (HPSD) (50W, 43°C, and 12 sec). We compared the success rate of the different RF catheters using logistic regression and lesion times using linear regression., Results: The distribution of the types of catheters used is: UI in 48%, LPLD in 16%, and HPSD in 36% of patients. All ablation procedures were successful, with no immediate post-procedure complications. HPSD had a significantly shorter lesion time than UI catheters by 403.42 sec [-631.67, -175.17]., Conclusion: UI catheters, LPLD, and HPSD were equally safe and effective in ablation procedures. The HPSD catheter had a significantly shorter lesion time and, thus, overall decreased procedure time., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Among White rheumatoid arthritis (RA) cohorts, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is the most prevalent type of heart failure (HF). We aimed to assess the type of HF affecting Black RA patients. 64 patients with RA-HF were compared to age-, sex-, and race-matched RA patients without HF. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), wall motion abnormalities, left ventricle (LV) mass, and wall thickness were reviewed. 87.3% were Black, 84.4% were women, with a mean age of 69.6 ± 1.38 (± SEM) and BMI (kg/m 2) 29.6 ± 1.07. RA-HF patients had higher rates of hypertension (HTN), chronic kidney disease, and atrial fibrillation. 66.7% had ≥3 cardiovascular risk factors compared to RA patients without HF. 2D-echocardiograms of RA-HF revealed that 62.3% had LVEF ≥50%, 37% had diastolic dysfunction, and 43.1% had wall motion abnormalities. LV mass and relative wall thickness measurements indicated LV eccentric remodeling. The odds ratio for HF was 4.7 (1.5-14.53 CI), p<0.01, among RA-HTN group and 3.5 (1.091-11.7 CI) p<0.01 among smokers. In our predominantly Black RA-HF patients, HFpEF was the most common type of HF. HTN was associated with the highest OR for HF. Eccentric hypertrophic remodeling, a known poor prognostic indicator for cardiovascular events, was found. Further studies are required to confirm our findings., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Aortic dissection (AD) is a potentially fatal cardiovascular issue that needs to be diagnosed and treated very away. While early detection is essential for bettering patient outcomes, there are substantial obstacles with the diagnostic techniques used today. Promising pathways for improving AD prognosis evaluation and early detection are presented by recent developments in serum biomarkers. The most recent research on serum biomarkers for AD is reviewed here, with an emphasis on the prognostic and diagnostic utility of these indicators. A number of biomarkers, including as matrix metalloproteinases, soluble elastin fragments, smooth muscle myosin heavy chain, and D-dimer, have been identified as putative markers of AD. These indicators are indicative of multiple pathophysiological mechanisms associated with AD, including inflammation, extracellular matrix remodeling, and vascular damage. Research has indicated that they are useful in differentiating AD from other acute cardiovascular diseases, facilitating prompt diagnosis and risk assessment., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest and source of funding: The authors declare no conflict of interest and no funding., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Ca 2+ plays a crucial role in excitation-contraction coupling in cardiac myocytes. Dysfunctional Ca 2+ regulation alters the force of contraction and causes cardiac arrhythmias. Ca 2+ entry into cardiomyocytes is mediated mainly through L-type Ca 2+ channels, leading to the subsequent Ca 2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. L-type Ca 2+ channels are composed of the conventional Ca v 1.2, ubiquitously expressed in all heart chambers, and the developmentally regulated Ca v 1.3, exclusively expressed in the atria, sinoatrial node, and atrioventricular node in the adult heart. As such, Ca v 1.3 is implicated in the pathogenesis of sinoatrial and atrioventricular node dysfunction as well as atrial fibrillation. More recently, Ca v 1.3 de novo expression was suggested in heart failure. Here, we review the functional role, expression levels, and regulation of Ca v 1.3 in the heart, including in the context of cardiac diseases. We believe that the elucidation of the functional and molecular pathways regulating Ca v 1.3 in the heart will assist in developing novel targeted therapeutic interventions for the aforementioned arrhythmias., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Zaveri, Srivastava, Qu, Chahine and Boutjdir.)

We report our experience of COVID-19 disease burden among patients aged 0-21 years at two tertiary care institutions in the Northeast and Midwest from New Jersey and Iowa. Our results showed that during the initial surge (March to August 2020) at both geographic locations, majority of COVID-19 disease burden occurred in adolescents and that they were more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-related illnesses, as well as develop severe disease needing intensive care. The study results emphasize the need for providing more targeted interventions toward this group to help prevent disease acquisition and transmission., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose., (© 2021 Publishing services provided by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre (General Organization), Saudi Arabia.)