Relationship between time of day and periprocedural myocardial infarction after elective angioplasty

Objectives: To test if the time of day significantly influences the occurrence of type 4A myocardial infarction in elective patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Background: Recent studies have suggested an influence of circadian rhythms on myocardial infarction size and mortality among patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction. The aim of the study is to investigate whether periprocedural myocardial infarction (PMI) is influenced by the time of day in elective patients undergoing PCI.

Methods: All consecutive patients undergoing elective PCI between 2007 and 2011 at our institutions with known post-interventional troponin were retrospectively included. Patients (n?=?1021) were divided into two groups according to the starting time of the PCI: the morning group (n?=?651) between 07:00 and 11:59, and the afternoon group (n?=?370) between 12:00 and 18:59. Baseline and procedural characteristics as well as clinical outcome defined as the occurrence of PMI were compared between groups. In order to limit selection bias, all analyses were equally performed in 308 pairs using propensity score (PS) matching.

Results: In the overall population, the rate of PMI was statistically lower in the morning group compared to the afternoon group (20% vs. 30%, p?<?0.001). This difference remained statistically significant after PS-matching (21% vs. 29%, p?=?0.03). Multivariate analysis shows that being treated in the afternoon independently increases the risk for PMI with an odds ratio of 2.0 (95%CI: 1.1–3.4; p?=?0.02).

Conclusions: This observational PS-matched study suggests that the timing of an elective PCI influences the rate of PMI.     

African origin and global distribution patterns: Evidence inferred from phylogenetic and biogeographical analyses of ectomycorrhizal fungal genus Strobilomyces

Aim

The ectomycorrhizal genus Strobilomyces is widely distributed throughout many parts of the world, but its origin, divergence and distribution patterns remain largely unresolved. In this study, we aim to explore the species diversity, distribution and evolutionary patterns of Strobilomyces on a global scale by establishing a general phylogenetic framework with extensive sampling.

Location

Africa, Australasia, East Asia, Europe, North America, Central America and Southeast Asia.

Methods

The genealogical concordance phylogenetic species recognition method was used to delimit phylogenetic species. Divergence times were estimated using a Bayesian uncorrelated lognormal relaxed molecular clock. The ancestral area and host of Strobilomyces were inferred via the programs rasp and mesquite . The change of diversification rate over time was estimated using Ape, Laser and Bammtools software packages.

Results

We recognize a novel African clade and 49 phylogenetic species with morphological evidence, including 18 new phylogenetic species and 23 previously described ones. Strobilomyces probably originated in Africa, in association with Detarioideae/Phyllanthaceae/Monotoideae during the early Eocene. The dispersal to Southeast Asia can be explained by Wolfe's “Boreotropical migration” hypothesis. East Asia, Australasia, Europe and North/Central America are primarily the recipients of immigrant taxa during the Oligocene or later. A rapid radiation implied by one diversification shift was inferred within Strobilomyces during the Miocene.

Main conclusions

An unexpected phylogenetic species diversity within Strobilomyces was uncovered. The highest diversity, resulting probably from a rapid radiation, was found in East Asia. Dispersal played an important role in the current distribution pattern of Strobilomyces. The Palaeotropical disjunction is explained by species dispersal from Africa to Southeast Asia through boreotropical forests during the early Eocene. Species from the Northern Hemisphere and Australasia are largely derived from immigrant ancestors from Southeast Asia.     

Heterologous Expression and Functional Characterization of a Physcomitrella Pseudo Response Regulator Homolog,PpPRR2, in Arabidopsis

Physcomitrella patens has four homologs of the pseudo-response regulator involved in the circadian clock mechanism in seed plants. To gain insight into their function, Arabidopsis transgenic lines misexpressing PpPRR2 were constructed. Phenotypic analysis of the transformants with reference to clock-related gene expression and photoperiodic responses revealed that heterologous expression of the moss PpPRR2 gene modifies the intrinsic mechanism underlying the circadian clock in Arabidopsis, suggesting that PpPRR2 serves as a clock component in P. patens.     

Effect of Experimental Diabetic Retinopathy on the Non-Image-Forming Visual System

Since the serum level of the enzyme creatine (phospho)kinase (CPK) is frequently used for diagnostic purposes and since circadian variations of this parameter have been observed under different stress conditions, it had to be determined whether they are induced by an endogenous circadian rhythm or whether they are activity-related masking effects. For this purpose, 15 untrained male test persons were examined for a period of 25h each under different conditions: lying constantly in a climatic chamber, everyday activity conditions, resting conditions with intermittent bicycle ergometer tests (1.4 W/kg body weight) between 09:00 and 11:30 or between 15:00 and 17:30. In addition, 5 sportsmen were included in the study under resting conditions and the bicycle ergometer tests in the forenoon. The serum CPK was determined at intervals of 2h or 4h, respectively. Under constant resting conditions, the mean serum CPK level decreased continuously (p <. 001, repeated measures analysis of variance [Rep. Mes. ANOVA]), and the final values amounted to approximately 80% of the initial values. In contrast, under everyday conditions, the mean CPK level rose during the activity phase and decreased again to below the initial values during subsequent rest (p <. 001, Rep. Mes. ANOVA). In the ergometer tests, the CPK blood level rose in each case after the activity phase and fell again continuously in the following resting period. However, in the calculation of the deviations from the linear trend, it was shown that certain daily variations in the CPK values can be detected under constant resting conditions; however, the amplitude was much smaller than the amplitude under everyday activity conditions. All in all, it can be stated that serum CPK levels are mainly dependent on the physical load conditions, and that the daily changes observed under everyday conditions disappear almost entirely under resting conditions. The daily variation of the serum creatine kinase level under everyday conditions can thus be regarded as a masking effect. These results are of practical significance for diagnosis to the extent that the physical activity that has taken place before the determination of the CPK level must be taken into account in the interpretation of the values. According to the results obtained so far, the CPK serum level may be used in chronobiology as an indicator of masking by physical activity. (Chronobiology International, 17(4), 583–590, 2000)     

The Rate of Cu,Zn Superoxide Dismutase Evolution

The rate of amino acid replacement in Cu, Zn SOD greatly departs from the expectations of the molecular clock. We examine 27 Cu, Zn SOD sequences available and conclude that: (I) the SOD enzymes from different mammal families differ from each other by roughly the same number of replacements, which is consistent with a simultaneous mammalian radiation; (2) over the most recent 60 million years (MY) the rate of SOD evolution is fairly high (15aa/100aa/100MYR) and may be considered constant; (3) the rate of accumulation of amino acid replacements since the divergence of fungi. plants and animals to the present is inconstant along different branches of the evolutionary tree; moreover it steadily decreases with time, to the same extent in all lineages; (4) some comparisons exhibit divergences that are in any case greater than expected from a Poisson process on the assumption of a molecular clock; (5) plant chloroplast enzymes display fewer differences from each other than cytoplasmic ones; (6) bacteriocuprein (from Photobacterium leiognathi), fluke and human extracellular SOD are all three extremely remotely related to one another and to the SOD of other eukaryotes.

The process of consistent decline of the rate of evolution of Cu. Zn SOD can be described by a number of mathematical functions. We explore simple models that assume constant rates and might be applicable to other proteins or genes that apparently evolve at disparate rates.     

Rubidium Chloride Fuses Split Circadian Activity Rhythms in Hamsters Housed in Bright Constant Light

Chronotypic effects of rubidium (Rb) were examined in hamsters whose circadian activity rhythms had split into two components while they were housed in bright constant light. Seven of 12 hamsters receiving RbCl in drinking water for 10 weeks showed fusing of the components into an intact rhythm compared with none of 7 control hamsters (p = 0.016). Rb may modify coupling between circadian oscillators via reduced photic input to the suprachiasmatic nuclei. Alternative mechanisms include changes in potassium metabolism or endocrine function or behavioral changes that in turn alter circadian function. This normalization of a circadian anomaly by a putative antidepressant suggests that Rb may be valuable in strengthening coupling between oscillators in cases of human chronopathology, including those implicated in the etiology of some affective disorders.     

Association Between Moringness‐Eveningness Preference and Mental/Physical Premenstrual Symptoms in Japanese Females 12 to 31 Years of Age

This study investigates the relationship between circadian typology, i.e., morningness‐eveningness (M‐E) preference, and the occurrence and severity of premenstrual mental and physical symptoms among 154 young Japanese female university students (range, 18 to 31 yrs; mean±S.D., 20.69±3.69 yrs) and 417 junior high school students (range, 12 to 15 yrs; mean±S.D., 14.29±0.67 yrs) living in an urban or suburban area of Kochi prefecture. Female university students experienced melancholy mood more frequently than did males, and the female university students who frequently became melancholy were more evening‐typed than those who did not experience melancholy. Female university students who experienced frequent fluctuations in mood and/or menstrual pain were more evening‐typed than those who were not so affected. M‐E preference of junior high school students was not correlated with stability of mood or frequency of menstrual pain. In urban areas, however junior high school students who had very stable menstrual cycles were significantly more morning‐typed than those whose menstrual cycles were not stable. In suburban areas, the bedtimes of female junior high students who had stable menstrual cycles were significantly earlier than those whose menstrual cycle duration was not stable. A physiological relationship between the circadian system, M‐E, and attributes of the menstrual cycle seems to be present in adolescent female Japanese junior high school students.     

Shift work and diabetes – A systematic review

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease, which has an increasing trend all over the world. Type 2 diabetes constitutes 90% of all diabetes. It is associated with weight gain and insulin resistance. Research during recent years has suggested that shift work could be a risk factor of type 2 diabetes. Since shift work is becoming more common, it could contribute to the increasing trend of diabetes. In this systematic review, we have studied the potential association between shift work and type 2 diabetes. We have also reviewed studies on control of diabetes in relation to shift work.