Publications
276 results found
Ng B, Xie C, Su L, et al., 2023, IL11 (Interleukin-11) Causes Emphysematous Lung Disease in a Mouse Model of Marfan Syndrome., Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol
BACKGROUND: Marfan Syndrome (MFS) is an inherited connective tissue disorder caused by mutations in the FBN1 (fibrillin-1) gene. Lung abnormalities are common in MFS, but their pathogenesis is poorly understood. IL11 (interleukin-11) causes aortic disease in a mouse model of MFS and was studied here in the lung. METHODS: We examined histological and molecular phenotypes in the lungs of Fbn1C1041G/+ mice (mouse model of Marfan Syndrome [mMFS]), an established mouse model of MFS. To identify IL11-expressing cells, we used immunohistochemistry on lungs of 4- and 16-week-old Fbn1C1041G/+:Il11EGFP/+ reporter mice. We studied the effects of IL11 inhibition by RT-qPCR, immunoblots and histopathology in lungs from genetic or pharmacologic models: (1) 16-week-old IL11 receptor (IL11RA) knockout mMFS mice (Fbn1C1041G/+:Il11ra1-/- mice) and (2) in mMFS mice administered IgG control or interleukin-11 receptor antibodies twice weekly from 4 to 24 weeks of age. RESULTS: mMFS lungs showed progressive loss and enlargement of distal airspaces associated with increased proinflammatory and profibrotic gene expression as well as matrix metalloproteinases 2, 9, and 12. IL11 was increased in mMFS lungs and localized to smooth muscle and endothelial cells in young mMFS mice in the Fbn1C1041G/+:Il11EGFP/+ reporter strain and in fibroblasts, in older mice. In mMFS mice, genetic (Fbn1C1041G/+:Il11ra1-/-) or pharmacologic (anti-interleukin-11 receptor) inhibition of IL11 signaling reduced lung emphysema, fibrosis, and inflammation. This protective effect was associated with reduced pathogenic ERK1/2 signaling and lower metalloproteinase 2, 9, and 12 expression. CONCLUSIONS: IL11 causes lung disease in mMFS. This reveals a shared IL11-driven disease mechanism in lung and aorta in MFS and suggests inhibition of IL11 signaling as a holistic approach for treating multiorgan morbidity in MFS.
Curran L, de Marvao A, Inglese P, et al., 2023, A phenotypic taxonomy of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Background</jats:title><jats:p>Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an important cause of sudden cardiac death associated with heterogeneous structural phenotypes but there is no systematic framework for classifying morphology or assessing associated risks. In this study we quantitatively survey genotype-phenotype associations in HCM to derive a data-driven taxonomy of disease expression for automated patient stratification.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>An observational, single-centre study enrolled 436 HCM patients (median age 60 years; 28.8% women) with clinical, genetic and imaging data. An independent cohort of 60 HCM patients from Singapore (median age 59 years; 11% women) and a normative reference population from UK Biobank (n = 16,691, mean age 55 years; 52.5% women) with equivalent data were also recruited. We used machine learning to analyse the three dimensional structure of the left ventricle from cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and build a tree-based classification of HCM phenotypes. Genotype and mortality risk distributions were projected on the tree.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>The prevalence of pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants for HCM (P/LP) was 24.6%, while 66% were genotype negative. Carriers of P/LP variants had lower left ventricular mass, but greater basal septal hypertrophy, with reduced lifespan (mean follow-up 9.9 years) compared to genotype negative individuals (hazard ratio: 2.66; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.42-4.96;<jats:italic>P</jats:italic>< 0.002). Four main phenotypic branches were identified using unsupervised learning of three dimensional shape: 1) non-sarcomeric hypertrophy with co-existing hypertension; 2) diffuse and basal asymmetric hypertrophy associated w
Sweeney M, Cook SA, Gil J, 2023, Therapeutic opportunities for senolysis in cardiovascular disease, The Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) Journal, Vol: 290, Pages: 1235-1255, ISSN: 1742-464X
Cellular senescence within the cardiovascular system has, until recently, been understudied and unappreciated as a factor in the development of age-related cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure, myocardial infarction and atherosclerosis. This is in part due to challenges with defining senescence within post-mitotic cells such as cardiomyocytes. However, recent evidence has demonstrated senescent-like changes, including a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), in cardiomyocytes in response to ageing and cell stress. Other replicating cells, including fibroblasts and vascular smooth muscle cells, within the cardiovascular system have also been shown to undergo senescence and contribute to disease pathogenesis. These findings coupled with the emergence of senolytic therapies, to target and eliminate senescent cells, have provided fascinating new avenues for management of several age-related cardiovascular diseases with high prevalence. In this review, we discuss the role of senescent cells within the cardiovascular system and highlight the contribution of senescence cells to common cardiovascular diseases. We discuss the emerging role for senolytics in cardiovascular disease management while highlighting important aspects of senescence biology which must be clarified before the potential of senolytics can be fully realized.
Tadros R, Zheng SL, Grace C, et al., 2023, Large scale genome-wide association analyses identify novel genetic loci and mechanisms in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy., medRxiv
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality with both monogenic and polygenic components. We here report results from the largest HCM genome-wide association study (GWAS) and multi-trait analysis (MTAG) including 5,900 HCM cases, 68,359 controls, and 36,083 UK Biobank (UKB) participants with cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging. We identified a total of 70 loci (50 novel) associated with HCM, and 62 loci (32 novel) as sociated with relevant left ventricular (LV) structural or functional traits. Amongst the common variant HCM loci, we identify a novel HCM disease gene, SVIL , which encodes the actin-binding protein supervillin, showing that rare truncating SVIL variants cause HCM. Mendelian randomization analyses support a causal role of increased LV contractility in both obstructive and non-obstructive forms of HCM, suggesting common disease mechanisms and anticipating shared response to therapy. Taken together, the findings significantly increase our understanding of the genetic basis and molecular mechanisms of HCM, with potential implications for disease management.
Quaife NM, Chothani S, Schulz JF, et al., 2023, LINC01013 is a determinant of fibroblast activation and encodes a novel fibroblast-activating micropeptide, Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research, Vol: 16, Pages: 77-85, ISSN: 1937-5387
Myocardial fibrosis confers an almost threefold mortality risk in heart disease. There are no prognostic therapies and novel therapeutic targets are needed. Many thousands of unannotated small open reading frames (smORFs) have been identified across the genome with potential to produce micropeptides (< 100 amino acids). We sought to investigate the role of smORFs in myocardial fibroblast activation.Analysis of human cardiac atrial fibroblasts (HCFs) stimulated with profibrotic TGFβ1 using RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and ribosome profiling (Ribo-Seq) identified long intergenic non-coding RNA LINC01013 as TGFβ1 responsive and containing an actively translated smORF. Knockdown of LINC01013 using siRNA reduced expression of profibrotic markers at baseline and blunted their response to TGFβ1. In contrast, overexpression of a codon-optimised smORF invoked a profibrotic response comparable to that seen with TGFβ1 treatment, whilst FLAG-tagged peptide associated with the mitochondria.Together, these data support a novel LINC01013 smORF micropeptide-mediated mechanism of fibroblast activation.
Wong E, Bertin N, Hebrard M, et al., 2023, The Singapore National Precision Medicine Strategy., Nat Genet, Vol: 55, Pages: 178-186
Precision medicine promises to transform healthcare for groups and individuals through early disease detection, refining diagnoses and tailoring treatments. Analysis of large-scale genomic-phenotypic databases is a critical enabler of precision medicine. Although Asia is home to 60% of the world's population, many Asian ancestries are under-represented in existing databases, leading to missed opportunities for new discoveries, particularly for diseases most relevant for these populations. The Singapore National Precision Medicine initiative is a whole-of-government 10-year initiative aiming to generate precision medicine data of up to one million individuals, integrating genomic, lifestyle, health, social and environmental data. Beyond technologies, routine adoption of precision medicine in clinical practice requires social, ethical, legal and regulatory barriers to be addressed. Identifying driver use cases in which precision medicine results in standardized changes to clinical workflows or improvements in population health, coupled with health economic analysis to demonstrate value-based healthcare, is a vital prerequisite for responsible health system adoption.
Cook SA, 2023, The Pathobiology of Interleukin 11 in Mammalian Disease is Likely Explained by its Essential Evolutionary Role for Fin Regeneration, JOURNAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH, ISSN: 1937-5387
Effenberger M, Widjaja AA, Grabherr F, et al., 2023, Interleukin-11 drives human and mouse alcohol-related liver disease., Gut, Vol: 72, Pages: 168-179
OBJECTIVE: Alcoholic hepatitis (AH) reflects acute exacerbation of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and is a growing healthcare burden worldwide. Interleukin-11 (IL-11) is a profibrotic, proinflammatory cytokine with increasingly recognised toxicities in parenchymal and epithelial cells. We explored IL-11 serum levels and their prognostic value in patients suffering from AH and cirrhosis of various aetiology and experimental ALD. DESIGN: IL-11 serum concentration and tissue expression was determined in a cohort comprising 50 patients with AH, 110 patients with cirrhosis and 19 healthy volunteers. Findings were replicated in an independent patient cohort (n=186). Primary human hepatocytes exposed to ethanol were studied in vitro. Ethanol-fed wildtype mice were treated with a neutralising murine IL-11 receptor-antibody (anti-IL11RA) and examined for severity signs and markers of ALD. RESULTS: IL-11 serum concentration and hepatic expression increased with severity of liver disease, mostly pronounced in AH. In a multivariate Cox-regression, a serum level above 6.4 pg/mL was a model of end-stage liver disease independent risk factor for transplant-free survival in patients with compensated and decompensated cirrhosis. In mice, severity of alcohol-induced liver inflammation correlated with enhanced hepatic IL-11 and IL11RA expression. In vitro and in vivo, anti-IL11RA reduced pathogenic signalling pathways (extracellular signal-regulated kinases, c-Jun N-terminal kinase, NADPH oxidase 4) and protected hepatocytes and murine livers from ethanol-induced inflammation and injury. CONCLUSION: Pathogenic IL-11 signalling in hepatocytes plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of ALD and could serve as an independent prognostic factor for transplant-free survival. Blocking IL-11 signalling might be a therapeutic option in human ALD, particularly AH.
Widjaja AA, Viswanathan S, Shekeran SG, et al., 2022, Targeting endogenous kidney regeneration using anti-IL11 therapy in acute and chronic models of kidney disease., Nat Commun, Vol: 13
The kidney has large regenerative capacity, but this is compromised when kidney damage is excessive and renal tubular epithelial cells (TECs) undergo SNAI1-driven growth arrest. Here we investigate the role of IL11 in TECs, kidney injury and renal repair. IL11 stimulation of TECs induces ERK- and p90RSK-mediated GSK3β inactivation, SNAI1 upregulation and pro-inflammatory gene expression. Mice with acute kidney injury upregulate IL11 in TECs leading to SNAI1 expression and kidney dysfunction, which is not seen in Il11 deleted mice or in mice administered a neutralizing IL11 antibody in either preemptive or treatment modes. In acute kidney injury, anti-TGFβ reduces renal fibrosis but exacerbates inflammation and tubule damage whereas anti-IL11 reduces all pathologies. Mice with TEC-specific deletion of Il11ra1 have reduced pathogenic signaling and are protected from renal injury-induced inflammation, fibrosis, and failure. In a model of chronic kidney disease, anti-IL11 therapy promotes TEC proliferation and parenchymal regeneration, reverses fibroinflammation and restores renal mass and function. These data highlight IL11-induced mesenchymal transition of injured TECs as an important renal pathology and suggest IL11 as a therapeutic target for restoring stalled endogenous regeneration in the diseased kidney.
Chan SH, Bylstra Y, Teo JX, et al., 2022, Analysis of clinically relevant variants from ancestrally diverse Asian genomes, Nature Communications, Vol: 13, ISSN: 2041-1723
Asian populations are under-represented in human genomics research. Here, we characterize clinically significant genetic variation in 9051 genomes representing East Asian, South Asian, and severely under-represented Austronesian-speaking Southeast Asian ancestries. We observe disparate genetic risk burden attributable to ancestry-specific recurrent variants and identify individuals with variants specific to ancestries discordant to their self-reported ethnicity, mostly due to cryptic admixture. About 27% of severe recessive disorder genes with appreciable carrier frequencies in Asians are missed by carrier screening panels, and we estimate 0.5% Asian couples at-risk of having an affected child. Prevalence of medically-actionable variant carriers is 3.4% and a further 1.6% harbour variants with potential for pathogenic classification upon additional clinical/experimental evidence. We profile 23 pharmacogenes with high-confidence gene-drug associations and find 22.4% of Asians at-risk of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tier 1 genetic conditions concurrently harbour pharmacogenetic variants with actionable phenotypes, highlighting the benefits of pre-emptive pharmacogenomics. Our findings illuminate the diversity in genetic disease epidemiology and opportunities for precision medicine for a large, diverse Asian population.
Lota A, Hazebroek M, Theotokis P, et al., 2022, Genetic architecture of acute myocarditis and the overlap with inherited cardiomyopathy, Circulation, Vol: 146, Pages: 1123-1134, ISSN: 0009-7322
Background: Acute myocarditis is an inflammatory condition that may herald the onset of dilated (DCM) or arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM). We investigated the frequency and clinical consequences of DCM and ACM genetic variants in a population-based cohort of patients with acute myocarditis. Methods: Population-based cohort of 336 consecutive patients with acute myocarditis enrolled in London and Maastricht. All participants underwent targeted DNA-sequencing for well-characterised cardiomyopathy-associated genes with comparison to healthy controls (n=1053) sequenced on the same platform. Case ascertainment in England was assessed against national hospital admission data. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Results: Variants that would be considered pathogenic if found in a patient with DCM or ACM were identified in 8% of myocarditis cases compared to <1% of healthy controls (p=0.0097). In the London cohort (n=230; median age 33years; 84% men), patients were representative of national myocarditis admissions (median age 32years; 71% men; 66% case ascertainment), and there was enrichment of rare truncating variants (tv) in ACM-associated genes (3.1% cases vs 0.4% controls; odds ratio 8.2; p=0.001). This was driven predominantly by desmoplakin (DSP)-tv in patients with normal LV ejection fraction and ventricular arrhythmia. In Maastricht (n=106; median age 54years; 61% men), there was enrichment of rare truncating variants in DCM-associated genes, particularly TTN-tv found in 7% (all with LVEF<50%) compared to 1% in controls (OR 3.6; p=0.0116). Across both cohorts over a median of 5.0 years (IQR 3.9-7.8), all-cause mortality was 5.4%. Two thirds of deaths were cardiovascular, due to worsening heart failure (92%) or sudden cardiac death (8%). The 5-year mortality risk was 3.3% in genotype negative patients versus 11.1% for genotype positive patients (Padjusted=0.08). Conclusions: We identified DCM- or ACM-associated genetic variants in 8% of patients wit
Zhou J, Pang J, Tripathi M, et al., 2022, Spermidine-mediated hypusination of translation factor EIF5A improves mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation and prevents non-alcoholic steatohepatitis progression, Nature Communications, Vol: 13, Pages: 1-14, ISSN: 2041-1723
Spermidine is a natural polyamine that has health benefits and extends life span in several species. Deoxyhypusine synthase (DHPS) and deoxyhypusine hydroxylase (DOHH) are key enzymes that utilize spermidine to catalyze the post-translational hypusination of the translation factor EIF5A (EIF5AH). Here, we have found that hepatic DOHH mRNA expression is decreased in patients and mice with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and hepatic cells treated with fatty acids. The mouse and cell culture models of NASH have concomitant decreases in Eif5aH and mitochondrial protein synthesis which leads to lower mitochondrial activity and fatty acid β-oxidation. Spermidine treatment restores EIF5AH, partially restores protein synthesis and mitochondrial function in NASH, and prevents NASH progression in vivo. Thus, the disrupted DHPS-DOHH-EIF5AH pathway during NASH represents a therapeutic target to increase hepatic protein synthesis and mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation (FAO) and prevent NASH progression.
Widjaja AA, Viswanathan S, Wei Ting JG, et al., 2022, IL11 stimulates ERK/P90RSK to inhibit LKB1/AMPK and activate mTOR initiating a mesenchymal program in stromal, epithelial, and cancer cells, iScience, Vol: 25, ISSN: 2589-0042
IL11 initiates fibroblast activation but also causes epithelial cell dysfunction. The mechanisms underlying these processes are not known. We report that IL11-stimulated ERK/P90RSK activity causes the phosphorylation of LKB1 at S325 and S428, leading to its inactivation. This inhibits AMPK and activates mTOR across cell types. In stromal cells, IL11-stimulated ERK activity inhibits LKB1/AMPK which is associated with mTOR activation, ⍺SMA expression, and myofibroblast transformation. In hepatocytes and epithelial cells, IL11/ERK activity inhibits LKB1/AMPK leading to mTOR activation, SNAI1 expression, and cell dysfunction. Across cells, IL11-induced phenotypes were inhibited by metformin stimulated AMPK activation. In mice, genetic or pharmacologic manipulation of IL11 activity revealed a critical role of IL11/ERK signaling for LKB1/AMPK inhibition and mTOR activation in fatty liver disease. These data identify the IL11/mTOR axis as a signaling commonality in stromal, epithelial, and cancer cells and reveal a shared IL11-driven mesenchymal program across cell types.
Dixon PH, Levine AP, Cebola I, et al., 2022, GWAS meta-analysis of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy implicates multiple hepatic genes and regulatory elements, Nature Communications, Vol: 13, ISSN: 2041-1723
Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a pregnancy-specific liver disorder affecting 0.5–2% of pregnancies. The majority of cases present in the third trimester with pruritus, elevated serum bile acids and abnormal serum liver tests. ICP is associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes, including spontaneous preterm birth and stillbirth. Whilst rare mutations affecting hepatobiliary transporters contribute to the aetiology of ICP, the role of common genetic variation in ICP has not been systematically characterised to date. Here, we perform genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and meta-analyses for ICP across three studies including 1,138 cases and 153,642 controls. Eleven loci achieve genome-wide significance and have been further investigated and fine-mapped using functional genomics approaches. Our results pinpoint common sequence variation in liver-enriched genes and liver-specific cis-regulatory elements as contributing mechanisms to ICP susceptibility.
Widjaja AA, Chothani S, Viswanathan S, et al., 2022, IL11 stimulates IL33 expression and proinflammatory fibroblast activation across tissues, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol: 23, ISSN: 1422-0067
Interleukin 11 (IL11) is upregulated in inflammatory conditions, where it is mostly believed to have anti-inflammatory activity. However, recent studies suggest instead that IL11 promotes inflammation by activating fibroblasts. Here, we assessed whether IL11 is pro- or anti-inflammatory in fibroblasts. Primary cultures of human kidney, lung or skin fibroblasts were stimulated with IL11 that resulted in the transient phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) and the sustained activation of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases (ERK). RNA sequencing over a time course of IL11 stimulation revealed a robust but short-lived transcriptional response that was enriched for gene set hallmarks of inflammation and characterized by the upregulation of SERPINB2, TNFRSF18, Interleukin 33 (IL33), CCL20, IL1RL1, CXCL3/5/8, ICAM1 and IL11 itself. IL33 was the most upregulated signaling factor (38-fold, p = 9.8 × 10-5), and IL1RL1, its cognate receptor, was similarly increased (18-fold, p = 1.1 × 10-34). In proteomic studies, IL11 triggered a proinflammatory secretome with the notable upregulation of IL8, IL6, MCP1, CCL20 and CXCL1/5/6, which are important chemotaxins for neutrophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes. IL11 induced IL33 expression across fibroblast types, and the inhibition of STAT3 but not of MEK/ERK prevented this. These data establish IL11 as pro-inflammatory with specific importance for priming the IL33 alarmin response in inflammatory fibroblasts across tissues.
Chothani SP, Adami E, Widjaja AA, et al., 2022, A high-resolution map of human RNA translation., Mol Cell, Vol: 82, Pages: 2885-2899.e8
Translated small open reading frames (smORFs) can have important regulatory roles and encode microproteins, yet their genome-wide identification has been challenging. We determined the ribosome locations across six primary human cell types and five tissues and detected 7,767 smORFs with translational profiles matching those of known proteins. The human genome was found to contain highly cell-type- and tissue-specific smORFs and a subset that encodes highly conserved amino acid sequences. Changes in the translational efficiency of upstream-encoded smORFs (uORFs) and the corresponding main ORFs predominantly occur in the same direction. Integration with 456 mass-spectrometry datasets confirms the presence of 603 small peptides at the protein level in humans and provides insights into the subcellular localization of these small proteins. This study provides a comprehensive atlas of high-confidence translated smORFs derived from primary human cells and tissues in order to provide a more complete understanding of the translated human genome.
Iyer NR, Le T-T, Kui MSL, et al., 2022, Markers of Focal and Diffuse Nonischemic Myocardial Fibrosis Are Associated With Adverse Cardiac Remodeling and Prognosis in Patients With Hypertension: The REMODEL Study, HYPERTENSION, Vol: 79, Pages: 1804-1813, ISSN: 0194-911X
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Zhou W, Chan YE, Foo CS, et al., 2022, High-Resolution Digital Phenotypes From Consumer Wearables and Their Applications in Machine Learning of Cardiometabolic Risk Markers: Cohort Study., J Med Internet Res, Vol: 24
BACKGROUND: Consumer-grade wearable devices enable detailed recordings of heart rate and step counts in free-living conditions. Recent studies have shown that summary statistics from these wearable recordings have potential uses for longitudinal monitoring of health and disease states. However, the relationship between higher resolution physiological dynamics from wearables and known markers of health and disease remains largely uncharacterized. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to derive high-resolution digital phenotypes from observational wearable recordings and to examine their associations with modifiable and inherent markers of cardiometabolic disease risk. METHODS: We introduced a principled framework to extract interpretable high-resolution phenotypes from wearable data recorded in free-living conditions. The proposed framework standardizes the handling of data irregularities; encodes contextual information regarding the underlying physiological state at any given time; and generates a set of 66 minimally redundant features across active, sedentary, and sleep states. We applied our approach to a multimodal data set, from the SingHEART study (NCT02791152), which comprises heart rate and step count time series from wearables, clinical screening profiles, and whole genome sequences from 692 healthy volunteers. We used machine learning to model nonlinear relationships between the high-resolution phenotypes on the one hand and clinical or genomic risk markers for blood pressure, lipid, weight and sugar abnormalities on the other. For each risk type, we performed model comparisons based on Brier scores to assess the predictive value of high-resolution features over and beyond typical baselines. We also qualitatively characterized the wearable phenotypes for participants who had actualized clinical events. RESULTS: We found that the high-resolution features have higher predictive value than typical baselines for clinical markers of cardiometabolic disease risk: the best models b
Quaife NM, Chothani S, Schulz JF, et al., 2022, LINC01013 Is a Determinant of Fibroblast Activation and Encodes a Novel Fibroblast-Activating Micropeptide (Jun, 10.1007/s12265-022-10288-z, 2022), JOURNAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH, ISSN: 1937-5387
Dong J, Lim W-W, Shekeran SG, et al., 2022, Hepatocyte Specific gp130 Signalling Underlies APAP Induced Liver Injury, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES, Vol: 23
Tayal U, Verdonschot JAJ, Hazebroek MR, et al., 2022, Precision phenotyping of dilated cardiomyopathy using multidimensional data., Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Vol: 79, Pages: 2219-2232, ISSN: 0735-1097
BACKGROUND: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a final common manifestation of heterogenous etiologies. Adverse outcomes highlight the need for disease stratification beyond ejection fraction. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to identify novel, reproducible subphenotypes of DCM using multiparametric data for improved patient stratification. METHODS: Longitudinal, observational UK-derivation (n = 426; median age 54 years; 67% men) and Dutch-validation (n = 239; median age 56 years; 64% men) cohorts of DCM patients (enrolled 2009-2016) with clinical, genetic, cardiovascular magnetic resonance, and proteomic assessments. Machine learning with profile regression identified novel disease subtypes. Penalized multinomial logistic regression was used for validation. Nested Cox models compared novel groupings to conventional risk measures. Primary composite outcome was cardiovascular death, heart failure, or arrhythmia events (median follow-up 4 years). RESULTS: In total, 3 novel DCM subtypes were identified: profibrotic metabolic, mild nonfibrotic, and biventricular impairment. Prognosis differed between subtypes in both the derivation (P < 0.0001) and validation cohorts. The novel profibrotic metabolic subtype had more diabetes, universal myocardial fibrosis, preserved right ventricular function, and elevated creatinine. For clinical application, 5 variables were sufficient for classification (left and right ventricular end-systolic volumes, left atrial volume, myocardial fibrosis, and creatinine). Adding the novel DCM subtype improved the C-statistic from 0.60 to 0.76. Interleukin-4 receptor-alpha was identified as a novel prognostic biomarker in derivation (HR: 3.6; 95% CI: 1.9-6.5; P = 0.00002) and validation cohorts (HR: 1.94; 95% CI: 1.3-2.8; P = 0.00005). CONCLUSIONS: Three reproducible, mechanistically distinct DCM subtypes were identified using widely available clinical and biological data, adding prognostic value to trad
Zhou J, Tripathi M, Ho JP, et al., 2022, Thyroid Hormone Decreases Hepatic Steatosis, Inflammation, and Fibrosis in a Dietary Mouse Model of Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis, THYROID, Vol: 32, Pages: 725-738, ISSN: 1050-7256
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Ng B, Viswanathan S, Widjaja AA, et al., 2022, IL11 Activates Pancreatic Stellate Cells and Causes Pancreatic Inflammation, Fibrosis and Atrophy in a Mouse Model of Pancreatitis, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES, Vol: 23
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- Citations: 2
Tayal U, gregson J, Buchan R, et al., 2022, Moderate excess alcohol consumption and adverse cardiac remodelling in dilated cardiomyopathy, Heart, Vol: 108, Pages: 619-625, ISSN: 1355-6037
Objective The effect of moderate excess alcohol consumption is widely debated and has not been well defined in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). There is need for a greater evidence base to help advise patients. We sought to evaluate the effect of moderate excess alcohol consumption on cardiovascular structure, function and outcomes in DCM. Methods Prospective longitudinal observational cohort study. Patients with DCM (n=604) were evaluated for a history of moderate excess alcohol consumption (UK government guidelines; >14 units/week for women, >21 units/week for men) at cohort enrollment, had cardiovascular magnetic resonance and were followed up for the composite endpoint of cardiovascular death, heart failure and arrhythmic events. Patients meeting criteria for alcoholic cardiomyopathy were not recruited. ResultsDCM patients with a history of moderate excess alcohol consumption (n=98, 16%) had lower biventricular function and increased chamber dilatation of the left ventricle, right ventricle and left atrium, as well as increased left ventricular hypertrophy compared to patients without moderate alcohol consumption. They were more likely to be male (alcohol excess group– n =92, 94% vs n =306, 61%, p=<0.001). After adjustment for biological sex, moderate excess alcohol was not associated with adverse cardiac structure. There was no difference in mid-wall myocardial fibrosis between groups. Prior moderate excess alcohol consumption did not affect prognosis (HR 1.29, 0.73 to 2.26, p=0.38) during median follow up of 3.9 years. ConclusionDilated cardiomyopathy patients with moderate excess alcohol consumption have adverse cardiac structure and function at presentation but this is largely due to biological sex. Alcohol may contribute to sex-specific phenotypic differences in DCM. These findings help to inform lifestyle discussions for patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.
Lim W-W, Dong J, Ng B, et al., 2022, Inhibition of IL11 Signaling Reduces Aortic Pathology in Murine Marfan Syndrome, CIRCULATION RESEARCH, Vol: 130, Pages: 728-740, ISSN: 0009-7330
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Widjaja AA, Shekeran SG, Adami E, et al., 2022, A Neutralizing IL-11 Antibody Improves Renal Function and Increases Lifespan in a Mouse Model of Alport Syndrome, JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF NEPHROLOGY, Vol: 33, Pages: 718-730, ISSN: 1046-6673
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Clerk A, Meijles DN, Hardyman MA, et al., 2022, Cardiomyocyte BRAF and type 1 RAF inhibitors promote cardiomyocyte and cardiac hypertrophy in mice in vivo, Biochemical Journal, Vol: 479, Pages: 401-424, ISSN: 0264-6021
The extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) cascade promotes cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and is cardioprotective, with the three RAF kinases forming a node for signal integration. Our aims were to determine if BRAF is relevant for human heart failure, whether BRAF promotes cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, and if Type 1 RAF inhibitors developed for cancer (that paradoxically activate ERK1/2 at low concentrations: the 'RAF paradox') may have the same effect. BRAF was up-regulated in heart samples from patients with heart failure compared with normal controls. We assessed the effects of activated BRAF in the heart using mice with tamoxifen-activated Cre for cardiomyocyte-specific knock-in of the activating V600E mutation into the endogenous gene. We used echocardiography to measure cardiac dimensions/function. Cardiomyocyte BRAFV600E induced cardiac hypertrophy within 10 d, resulting in increased ejection fraction and fractional shortening over 6 weeks. This was associated with increased cardiomyocyte size without significant fibrosis, consistent with compensated hypertrophy. The experimental Type 1 RAF inhibitor, SB590885, and/or encorafenib (a RAF inhibitor used clinically) increased ERK1/2 phosphorylation in cardiomyocytes, and promoted hypertrophy, consistent with a 'RAF paradox' effect. Both promoted cardiac hypertrophy in mouse hearts in vivo, with increased cardiomyocyte size and no overt fibrosis. In conclusion, BRAF potentially plays an important role in human failing hearts, activation of BRAF is sufficient to induce hypertrophy, and Type 1 RAF inhibitors promote hypertrophy via the 'RAF paradox'. Cardiac hypertrophy resulting from these interventions was not associated with pathological features, suggesting that Type 1 RAF inhibitors may be useful to boost cardiomyocyte function.
Osimo E, Sweeney M, De Marvao A, et al., 2021, Adipose tissue dysfunction, inflammation, and insulin resistance: alternative pathways to cardiac remodelling in schizophrenia. A multimodal, case-control study, Translational Psychiatry, Vol: 11, Pages: 1-9, ISSN: 2158-3188
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia show evidence of concentric cardiac remodelling (CCR), defined as an increase in left-ventricular mass over end-diastolic volumes. CCR is a predictor of cardiac disease, but the molecular pathways leading to this in schizophrenia are unknown. We aimed to explore the relevance of hypertensive and non-hypertensive pathways to CCR and their potential molecular underpinnings in schizophrenia. In this multimodal case–control study, we collected cardiac and whole-body fat magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), clinical measures, and blood levels of several cardiometabolic biomarkers known to potentially cause CCR from individuals with schizophrenia, alongside healthy controls (HCs) matched for age, sex, ethnicity, and body surface area. Of the 50 participants, 34 (68%) were male. Participants with schizophrenia showed increases in cardiac concentricity (d = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.12, 1.30; p = 0.01), indicative of CCR, but showed no differences in overall content or regional distribution of adipose tissue compared to HCs. Despite the cardiac changes, participants with schizophrenia did not demonstrate activation of the hypertensive CCR pathway; however, they showed evidence of adipose dysfunction: adiponectin was reduced (d = −0.69, 95% CI: −1.28, −0.10; p = 0.02), with evidence of activation of downstream pathways, including hypertriglyceridemia, elevated C-reactive protein, fasting glucose, and alkaline phosphatase. In conclusion, people with schizophrenia showed adipose tissue dysfunction compared to body mass-matched HCs. The presence of non-hypertensive CCR and a dysmetabolic phenotype may contribute to excess cardiovascular risk in schizophrenia. If our results are confirmed, acting on this pathway could reduce cardiovascular risk and resultant life-years lost in people with schizophrenia.
Adami E, Viswanathan S, Widjaja AA, et al., 2021, IL11 is elevated in systemic sclerosis and IL11-dependent ERK signalling underlies TGF beta-mediated activation of dermal fibroblasts, RHEUMATOLOGY, Vol: 60, Pages: 5820-5826, ISSN: 1462-0324
Lota AS, Tsao A, Owen R, et al., 2021, Prognostic significance of non-ischaemic patterns of myocardial fibrosis in patients with normal left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction – the FINALIZE study, JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, Vol: 14, Pages: 2353-2365, ISSN: 1876-7591
Background: Non-ischaemic patterns of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) with normal left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction are increasingly detected on cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) but their prognostic significance, and consequently management, is uncertain. Objectives: To investigate the prognostic significance of LGE in patients without coronary artery disease and with normal range LV volumes and ejection fraction. Methods: Patients with mid-wall/subepicardial LGE and normal LV volumes, wall thickness and ejection fraction on CMR were enrolled and compared to a control group without LGE.57 The primary outcome was actual or aborted sudden cardiac death (SCD). Results: Of 748 patients enrolled, 401 had LGE and 347 did not. Median age was 50 years (IQR 38-61), LV ejection fraction 66% (IQR 62-70) and 287 (38%) were women. Scan indications included chest pain (40%), palpitation (33%) and breathlessness (13%). Nopatient experienced SCD and only one LGE+ patient (0.13%) had an aborted SCD in the 11th follow-up year. Over a median of 4.3years, thirty patients (4.0%) died. All-cause mortality was similar for LGE+/- patients (3.7% vs 4.3%; p=0.71) and was associated with age (H 2.04 per 10-years; 95%CI 1.46-2.79; p<0.001). Twenty-one LGE+ and 4 LGE- patients had an unplanned CV hospitalisation (HR 7.22; 95%CI 4.26-21.17; p<0.0001). Conclusion: There was a low SCD risk during long-term follow-up in patients with LGE but otherwise normal LV volumes and ejection fraction. Mortality was driven by age and not LGE presence, location or extent, although the latter was associated with greater CV hospitalisation for suspected myocarditis and symptomatic ventricular tachycardia.
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