Salt restriction in kidney disease—a missed therapeutic opportunity?

The importance of salt restriction in the treatment of patients with renal disease has remained highly controversial. In the following we marshal the current evidence that salt plays a definite role in the genesis of hypertension and target organ damage, point to practical problems of salt restriction, and report on novel pathomechanisms of how salt affects blood pressure and causes target organ damage

MicroRNA Involvement in Immune Activation During Heart Failure

Heart failure is one of the common end stages of cardiovascular diseases, the leading cause of death in developed countries. Molecular mechanisms underlying the development of heart failure remain elusive but there is a consistent observation of chronic immune activation and aberrant microRNA (miRNA) expression that is present in failing hearts. This review will focus on the interplay between the immune system and miRNAs as factors that play a role during the development of heart failure. Several studies have shown that heart failure patients can be characterized by a sustained innate immune activation. The role of inflammatory signaling is discussed and TLR4 signaling, IL-1β, TNFα and IL-6 expression appears to coincide with the development of heart failure. Furthermore, we describe the implication of the renin angiotensin aldosteron system in immunity and heart failure. In the past decade microRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs that translationally repress protein synthesis by binding to partially complementary sequences of mRNA, have come to light as important regulators of several kinds of cardiovascular diseases including cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. The involvement of differentially expressed miRNAs in the inflammation that occurs during the development of heart failure is still subject of investigation. Here, we summarize and comment on the first studies in this field and hypothesize on the putative involvement of certain miRNAs in heart failure. MicroRNAs have been shown to be critical regulators of cardiac function and inflammation. Future research will have to point out if dampening the immune response, and the miRNAs associated with it, during the development of heart failure is a therapeutically plausible route to follow

Impact of inactivity and exercise on the vasculature in humans

The effects of inactivity and exercise training on established and novel cardiovascular risk factors are relatively modest and do not account for the impact of inactivity and exercise on vascular risk. We examine evidence that inactivity and exercise have direct effects on both vasculature function and structure in humans. Physical deconditioning is associated with enhanced vasoconstrictor tone and has profound and rapid effects on arterial remodelling in both large and smaller arteries. Evidence for an effect of deconditioning on vasodilator function is less consistent. Studies of the impact of exercise training suggest that both functional and structural remodelling adaptations occur and that the magnitude and time-course of these changes depends upon training duration and intensity and the vessel beds involved. Inactivity and exercise have direct “vascular deconditioning and conditioning” effects which likely modify cardiovascular risk

Traceability of the Hannover FG5X-220 to the SI units

The absolute measurement of g is currently realized through the laser interferometric measurement of a free falling retro-reflector. The Micro-g LaCoste FG5X is a free-fall gravimeter with a laser interferometer in Mach-Zehnder configuration which uses simultaneous time and distance measurements to calculate the absolute value of g. Because the instrument itself contains the necessary working standards for precise time and length measurements, it is considered independent of external references. The timing is kept with a 10MHz rubidium oscillator with a stability of 5x10e-10. The length unit is realized by the laser interferometer. The frequency calibrated and iodine stabilized helium-neon laser has a wavelength of 633 nm and an accuracy of 2.5x10e-11. In 2012 the FG5-220 of the Institut für Erdmessung (IfE) was upgraded to the FG5X-220. The upgrade included a new dropping chamber with a longer free fall and new electronics including a new rubidium oscillator. The metrological traceability to measurement units of the Système International d’unités (SI unit) is ensured by two complementary and successive approaches: the comparison of frequencies with standards of higher order and the comparison of the measured g to a reference measured by absolute gravimeters defined as primary standards within the SI. A number of experiments to test the rubidium oscillator were performed. The oscillator showed a linear drift of 0.2x10e-3 Hz per month (= 0.3 nm/s² per month) in the first 18 months of use. A jump in the frequency of 0.01 Hz (=20 nm/s²) was revealed recently and the drift rate changed to 0.4x10e-3 Hz/month