BACKGROUND: Advanced glycation end products (AGE)-receptor for AGE (RAGE) axis and renin-angiotensin system (RAS) play a role in diabetic nephropathy (DN). Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) activation also contributes to DN. However, the pathological interaction among AGE-RAGE, RAS and MMP-2 in DN remains unknown. We examined here the involvement of AGE and RAS in MMP-2 activation in streptoz...

BACKGROUND: Television (TV) viewing time is positively associated with the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in adults. However, the mechanisms through which TV viewing time is associated with MetS risk remain unclear. There is evidence that the consumption of energy-dense, nutrient poor snack foods increases during TV viewing time among adults, suggesting that these behaviors may jointly contribute t...

BACKGROUND: The optimal targets and strategies for effectively reducing sedentary behavior among young people are unknown. Intervention research that explores changes in mediated effects as well as in outcome behaviors is needed to help inform more effective interventions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the mid-intervention mediating effects on children's objectively asses...

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization recommends strategies to improve urban design, public transportation, and recreation facilities to facilitate physical activity for non-communicable disease prevention for an increasingly urbanized global population. Most evidence supporting environmental associations with physical activity comes from single countries or regions with limited variation ...

Dasatinib has shown superiority over imatinib in achieving molecular responses (MRs) in chronic phase chronic myeloid leukemia but with a different toxicity profile, which may impact its overall benefit. Reported toxicities include pleural effusions and pulmonary hypertension, and although the incidence of these events is well described, response to therapy and impact of dose modifications on t...

The ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase CD39 represents a promising antithrombotic therapeutic. It degrades adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP), a main platelet activating/recruiting agent. We hypothesized that delayed enrichment of CD39 on developing thrombi will allow for a low and safe systemic concentration and thus avoid bleeding. We use a single-chain antibody (scFv, specific for a...

Programmed cell death or apoptosis is a prominent feature of low-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), although the underlying mechanism remains controversial. High-risk MDS have less apoptosis associated with increased expression of the prosurvival BCL2-related proteins. To address the mechanism and pathogenic role of apoptosis and BCL2 expression in MDS, we used a mouse model resembling human...

BACKGROUND: Understanding factors that influence the amount of time people with stroke spend sitting and being active is important to inform the development of targeted interventions. OBJECTIVE: To explore the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial factors associated with daily sitting time and physical activity in people with stroke. METHOD: Secondary analysis of an observational stu...

Background Lifestyle and dietary advice typically precedes or accompanies the prescription of statin medications. However, evidence for adherence to this advice is sparse. The objective was to compare saturated fat intake, exercise, alcohol consumption and smoking between statin users and non-users in Australia. Methods Data were analysed for 4614 participants aged ≥37 years in the Australian D...

Aims Despite the benefits of regular physical activity participation following acute myocardial infarction, little is known about gender differences in physical activity among patients after acute myocardial infarction. We described, by gender, physical activity trajectories pre- and post-acute myocardial infarction, and determined whether gender was independently associated with physical activ...

BACKGROUND: Wallis Island is part of a French Territory in the South Pacific. In 1980 the prevalence of hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) was low, consistent with a subsistence economy. Considerable social and economic changes have occurred over the last 30 years. METHODS: Survey data from 1980 and 2009 were analysed by sex in 10-year age groups, and 25-64 years age-standa...

BACKGROUND: For decades, the incidence and mortality of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have declined. More recently, we have seen a halting in these declines, especially at younger ages. It is difficult to predict how these changing trends will impact CVD prevalence. We aimed to predict future prevalence of CVDs in Western Australian adults from 2005-2045 based on current incidence and mortali...

BACKGROUND: Most individuals at high cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk worldwide do not receive any or optimal preventive drugs. We aimed to determine whether fixed dose combinations of generic drugs ('polypills') would promote use of such medications. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, open-label trial involving 623 participants from Australian general practices. Participants had estab...

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk-prediction algorithms are key in determining one's eligibility for prevention strategies, but are often population-specific. Metabolic syndrome (MetS), a clustering of risk factors that increase the risk of CVD, does not currently have a risk-prediction algorithm available for prediction of CVD. The aim of this study was to compare the predictive c...

Diabetic cardiomyopathy is a major contributor to the increasing burden of heart failure globally. Effective therapies remain elusive, in part due to the incomplete understanding of the mechanisms underlying diabetes-induced myocardial injury. The objective of this study was to assess the direct impact of insulin replacement on left ventricle structure and function in a rat model of diabetes. M...

Blood pressure variability is associated with macrovascular complications and stroke, but its association with the microcirculation in type II diabetes has not been assessed. This study aimed to determine the relationship between blood pressure variability indices and retinal arteriolar diameter in non-diabetic and type II diabetes participants. Digitized retinal images were analysed to quantif...

Microvascular complications are now recognized to play a major role in diabetic complications, and understanding the mechanisms is critical. Endothelial dysfunction occurs early in the course of the development of complications; the precise mechanisms remain poorly understood. Mitochondrial dysfunction may occur in a diabetic rat heart and may act as a source of the oxidative stress. However, t...

Purpose:To determine the effects of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) on albuminuria in patients with obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and established diabetic nephropathy.Methods:A retrospective analysis of clinical records from a tertiary diabetes service identified obese patients with T2DM who had micro- or macroalbuminuria prior to LAGB surgery. Clinical data from follo...

This single visit study examined whether endothelial function, in addition to cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and plasma microparticle content, was normalised in 15 patients with type 2 diabetes + acute coronary syndrome (ACS) (6 weeks-6 months post cardiac event) undergoing standard clinical care compared to 16 sex- and age-matched healthy controls. Results: While total and low-density lipopr...