aureus. The oxacillin MIC was 16 mu g/mL and the mecA gene and SCCmec type V were determined by PCR. Although treatment had been appropriated, the patient died after rapid progressive respiratory failure and another nosocomial sepsis. It is important not only to identify

S. lugdunensis in view of its clinical course, but also to determine Crenolanib price its susceptibility to oxacillin by detecting the mecA gene or its product.”
“Background: Left ventricular (LV) wall stiffening plays an important role in the development of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Based on the linear elastic theory, we hypothesized that the evaluation of epicardial movement during diastole is helpful for the noninvasive assessment of LV wall distensibility.

Methods and Results: Based on the linear elastic theory, the epicardial movement Selleck Mizoribine index (EMT) was calculated on the echocardiograin as:

endocardial movement during diastole – epicardial movement

during diastole / LV posterior wall thickness at end-systole

We calculated diastolic wall strain (DWS) as follows to examine whether DWS substitutes for EMI:

LV posterior wall thickness at end-systole – LV posterior wall thickness at end-diastole / LV posterior wall thickness at end-systole

The animal study using hypertensive Dahl salt-sensitive rats, HFpEF model, and normotensive Dahl rats showed the significant and inverse correlation of EMI or DWS with myocardial stiffness constant. Preload alteration did not affect EMT or DWS. In the clinical study, the HFpEF patients had lower EMT and DWS than the normal volunteers and the asymptomatic patients with LV hypertrophy.

Conclusions: The evaluation of epicardial movement may be useful in noninvasively assessing wall distensibility in the absence of LV systolic dysfunction. (J Cardiac

Fail 2009;15:68-77)”
“It is well known that propolis has the ability to prevent hyperglycemia. However, the underlying mechanism is not yet fully understood. We therefore investigated whether a Brazilian propolis ethanol extract affects glucose uptake and translocation of insulin-sensitive glucose transporter (GLUT) 4 in skeletal muscle cells. In L6 myotubes, the extract at 1 g/mL significantly promoted GLUT4 translocation and glucose uptake activity. Regarding the mechanism of selleck GLUT4 translocation, propolis extract induced both PI3K and AMPK phosphorylation in a dose-dependent manner in L6 myotubes. However, we could not define which pathway was preferentially associated with GLUT4 translocation, because both PI3K and AMPK inhibitors revealed off-target effects to each other. The main polyphenols found in the propolis extract, artepillin C, coumaric acid, and kaempferide, promoted GLUT4 translocation in L6 myotubes. Additionally, these compounds activated both PI3K- and AMPK-dependent dual-signaling pathways. However, only kaempferide increased glucose uptake activity under our experimental conditions.