Detecting muscle strain in professional football players through plasma myoglobin levels.

Background: Muscle issues such as soreness, cramps, and strains are common consequences of sports exercise, making it critical to accurately identify the nature of muscle discomfort. It is important for not only medical professionals but also athletes and sports enthusiasts to independently identify and manage the risk of muscle strain.

Methods: This prospective observational study explores the effectiveness of measuring blood myoglobin (MB) levels as a method for detecting muscle strains among athletes.

Preβ1-high-density lipoprotein binds to TG-rich lipoproteins and its release is impaired in the postprandial state among patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes.

BackgroundAlthough preβ1-high-density lipoprotein (preβ1-HDL) promotes cholesterol efflux, high fasting preβ1-high-density lipoprotein levels after breakfast are reduced in patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes.ObjectiveThis study investigated whether preβ1-high-density lipoprotein binds to triglyceride (TG)-rich lipoproteins (TGRLs) in the postprandial state and is released during lipolysis.MethodsWe measured preβ1-high-density lipoprotein concentrations, lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) activity, and LCAT-dependent preβ1-high-density lipoprotein conversion before and after breakfast in patients with diabetes.

Harmonization of Lipoprotein(a) Immunoassays Using A Serum Panel Value Assigned with The IFCC-Endorsed Mass Spectrometry-Based Reference Measurement Procedure as A First Step Towards Apolipoprotein Standardization.

Aim: Lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] is a well-established risk factor for cardiovascular disease independent of low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C). The Lp(a) concentrations were inconsistent between the immunoassays. This study aimed to investigate whether harmonization of Lp(a) measurements can be achieved using a serum panel value assigned with the IFCC-endorsed mass spectrometry-based reference measurement procedure (IFCC-MS-RMP).

Effect of Cereal Consumption (Frugra) on Autonomic Nervous System Function in Healthcare Workers Who Skip Breakfast.

In this study, we aimed to clarify the effects of breakfast intervention on autonomic nerve function in healthcare workers who skip breakfast. This cross-sectional, interventional study was conducted between January 2020 and December 2021. All participants were full-time healthcare workers who completed a self-administered questionnaire on fatigue and subjective symptoms and underwent noninvasive autonomic nerve function tests.

Low serum carnitine level is associated with increased urinary carnitine excretion in late pregnancy.

Background: Carnitine is essential for fatty acid metabolism. Free carnitine (FCA) is excreted in the urine in the glomerulus, but is partly reabsorbed by a carnitine transporter. The mechanism underlying the decrease in serum carnitine level during pregnancy is unclear.

A case of adult patent ductus arteriosus-associated infective endarteritis who was successfully treated with only antibiotics.

Patent ductus arteriosus-associated infective endarteritis (PDA-IE) is an extremely rare complication of PDA in recent years. In this report, we describe a case of PDA-IE complicated by septic pulmonary embolism who was successfully treated with only antibiotics.

The Goal of Achieving Atherosclerotic Plaque Regression with Lipid-Lowering Therapy: Insights from IVUS Trials.

Enormous effort has been put into the prevention of atherosclerosis through risk modification, especially with lipid-lowering therapies. Regression, that is, the reversal of the atherosclerosis process, has long been a goal of atherosclerosis research among basic and clinical investigators. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) was developed in the 1990s as an intracoronary imaging technique to observe the details of the vessel walls and to measure the vessel lumen and plaque area with high reproducibility.

Estimated Prevalence of Heterozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) represents a strong risk for development of premature coronary artery disease (CAD). However, the majority of patients with FH are undiagnosed and the prevalence likely represents an underestimate in most countries. In Japan, the possible contribution of FH to the development of CAD may be higher because of the low incidence of CAD among the general population.

Impact of lipoprotein(a) as residual risk on long-term outcomes in patients after percutaneous coronary intervention.

Cardiovascular risk remains uncertain in patients with cardiovascular disease despite achieving target lipid levels. Serum levels of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] can be risk factors for adverse events. The aim of this study was to determine the role of Lp(a) as a residual risk factor in patients who achieve target lipid levels by the time of treatment by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Ezetimibe decreases serum oxidized cholesterol without impairing bile acid synthesis in Japanese hypercholesterolemic patients.

Objective: Cholesterol and diet-derived oxidized cholesterol are absorbed in the small intestine and eliminated by bile acids. We determined whether ezetimibe, a selective cholesterol absorption inhibitor, changes serum oxidized cholesterol levels.

Methods: We measured levels of plant sterols, cholesterol precursors, and oxysterols by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in 47 hypercholesterolemics and 32 controls.

Albumin concentration determined by the modified bromocresol purple method is superior to that by the bromocresol green method for assessing nutritional status in malnourished patients with inflammation.

Background: The controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score (CS), a simple score for assessing nutritional status, is calculated using laboratory data, including serum albumin concentration. Although dye-binding assays such as the bromocresol green (BCG) and modified bromocresol purple (mBCP) methods are widely used for albumin measurement, acute-phase proteins interfere with the BCG method.

Objective: We aimed to determine whether the choice of albumin assay affects assessment of nutritional status using CONUT scores (CSs).

Relationship between advanced glycation end products and plaque progression in patients with acute coronary syndrome: the JAPAN-ACS sub-study.

Background: The Japan Assessment of Pitavastatin and Atorvastatin in Acute Coronary Syndrome (JAPAN-ACS) trial demonstrated that early aggressive statin therapy in patients with ACS significantly reduces plaque volume (PV). Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and the receptors of AGEs (RAGE) may lead to angiopathy in diabetes mellitus (DM) and may affect on the development of coronary PV. The present sub-study of JAPAN-ACS investigates the association between AGEs and RAGE, and PV.

Non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol is a practical predictor of long-term cardiac death after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Background: Recent studies have demonstrated that non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) can predict the risk of cardiovascular events among general population without coronary heart disease (CHD). However, few studies have investigated the predictive value of non-HDL-C for long-term prognosis in patients with CHD. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether non-HDL-C can predict long-term cardiovascular events in patients with CHD who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).

Small dense LDL cholesterol is a robust therapeutic marker of statin treatment in patients with acute coronary syndrome and metabolic syndrome.

Background: Small dense low-density lipoprotein (sd-LDL) is an atherogenic LDL subfraction and often increased in metabolic syndrome (MetS). This study aimed to determine whether sd-LDL cholesterol (sd-LDL-C) is a therapeutic marker of statin treatment in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and MetS.

Methods: We examined 71 patients with ACS and 50 non-ACS subjects with normal coronary arteries (controls).

Profiles of inflammatory markers and lipoprotein subclasses in patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

Background: Patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) often have inflammation and dyslipidemia that accelerate to atherosclerosis. This study aimed to evaluate chronic inflammation and dyslipidemia in CAPD patients.

Methods: We measured inflammatory markers and lipoprotein subclasses in 20 CAPD patients (12 men and 8 women, aged 59.

Single administration of alpha-glucosidase inhibitors on endothelial function and incretin secretion in diabetic patients with coronary artery disease - Juntendo University trial: effects of miglitol on endothelial vascular reactivity in type 2 diabetic patients with coronary heart disease (J-MACH) -.

Background: Post-prandial hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and endothelial dysfunction play an important role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Improvement in post-prandial hyperglycemia on alpha-glucosidase inhibitors (alpha-GIs) is associated with a risk reduction of cardiovascular diseases, but the post-prandial effects of alpha-GIs on endothelial function and incretin secretion in type 2 diabetic patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) remain unclear.

Methods And Results: The post-prandial effects of a single administration of miglitol and voglibose on endothelial function and changing levels of glucose, insulin, lipids, glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1, and gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) were compared after a standard meal loading in 11 diabetic patients with CAD, using a placebo-controlled cross-over design.

Circadian change of serum concentration of small dense LDL-cholesterol in type 2 diabetic patients.

Background: Type 2 diabetic patients have a higher risk of atherosclerosis than non-diabetic subjects. This difference may be attributable to increased levels of small dense low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (sLDL-C) in diabetic patients. As the sLDL-C concentration is elevated in hypertriglyceridemia, which is exaggerated postprandially, we examined whether the sLDL-C level increases postprandially in type 2 diabetes.