Previous studies have demonstrated improvement of cardiac function occurs with acute consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD) after myocardial infarction (MI). However, no data exist addressing the effects of acute HFD upon the extent of injury after MI. This study investigates the hypothesis that short-term HFD, prior to infarction, protects the heart against ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury through NF-κB-dependent regulation of cell death pathways in the heart. Data show that an acute HFD initiates cardioprotection against MI (>50% reduction in infarct size normalized to risk region) after 24 h to 2 wk of HFD, but protection is completely absent after 6 wk of HFD, when mice are reported to develop pathophysiology related to the diet. Furthermore, cardioprotection after 24 h of HFD persists after an additional 24 h of normal chow feeding and was found to be dependent upon NF-κB activation in cardiomyocytes. This study also indicates that short-term HFD activates autophagic processes (beclin-1, LC-3) preischemia, as seen in other protective stimuli. Increases in beclin-1 and LC-3 were found to be NF-κB-dependent, and administration of chloroquine, an inhibitor of autophagy, abrogated cardioprotection. Our results support that acute high-fat feeding mediates cardioprotection against I/R injury associated with a NF-κB-dependent increase in autophagy and reduced apoptosis, as has been found for ischemic preconditioning.

Timely reperfusion is still the most effective approach to limit infarct size in humans. Yet, despite advances in care and reduction in door-to-balloon times, nearly 25% of patients develop heart failure postmyocardial infarction, with its attendant morbidity and mortality. We previously showed that cardioprotection results from a skin incision through the umbilicus in a murine model of myocardial infarction. In the present study, we show that an electrical stimulus or topical capsaicin applied to the skin in the same region induces significantly reduced infarct size in a murine model. We define this class of phenomena as nociceptor-induced conditioning (NIC) based on the peripheral nerve mechanism of initiation. We show that NIC is effective both as a preconditioning and postconditioning remote stimulus, reducing infarct size by 86% and 80%, respectively. NIC is induced via activation of skin C-fiber nerves. Interestingly, the skin region that activates NIC is limited to the anterior of the T9−T10 vertebral region of the abdomen. Cardioprotection after NIC requires the integrity of the spinal cord from the region of stimulation to the thoracic vertebral region of the origin of the cardiac nerves but does not require that the cord be intact in the cervical region. Thus, we show that NIC is a reflex and not a central nervous system-mediated effect. The mechanism involves bradykinin 2 receptor activity and activation of PKC, specifically, PKC-α. The similarity of the neuroanatomy and conservation of the effectors of cardioprotection supports that NIC may be translatable to humans as a nontraumatic and practical adjunct therapy against ischemic disease. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study shows that an electrical stimulus to skin sensory nerves elicits a very powerful cardioprotection against myocardial infarction. This stimulus works by a neurogenic mechanism similar to that previously elucidated for remote cardioprotection of trauma. Nociceptor-induced conditioning is equally potent when applied before ischemia or at reperfusion and has great potential clinically.

Background: Stomatitis is a common adverse event associated with targeted therapies for hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative (HR+/HER2–) breast cancer, particularly those inhibiting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. While mTOR-inhibitor-associated stomatitis is well established, less is known about its occurrence with other kinase inhibitors in real-world settings. We performed a pharmacovigilance disproportionality analysis of the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) to evaluate stomatitis reports for alpelisib, capivasertib, everolimus, and palbociclib. Methods: Events were identified using four term sets—Stomatitis, Original Trial Terms (OTT), Comprehensive Trial Terms (CTT), and Stomatitis-Associated Main Terms (SAMT)—which reflect varying definitions and medical terminologies. Disproportionality analyses using reporting odds ratio (ROR), proportional reporting ratio (PRR), and Information Component (IC) were calculated with 95% confidence intervals. Results: All agents showed ROR and PRR >1, indicating higher odds and reporting proportions of stomatitis compared with other drugs. These findings were confirmed by IC analysis. Everolimus demonstrated the strongest association (ROR: 30.72 [29.61–31.88]), followed by alpelisib (ROR: 13.11 [11.79–14.58]) and palbociclib (ROR: 11.73 [11.35–12.11]). Capivasertib had the lowest reporting odds (ROR: 3.14 [1.81–5.43]), though limited by fewer reports. Differences between CTT and SAMT were minimal (~2%). Conclusions: These results support the use of the SAMT as an efficient screening tool. Furthermore, these findings underscore the need for optimized stomatitis detection and continued monitoring, particularly for PI3K and mTOR inhibitors, in both clinical trials and postmarketing surveillance.

Introduction: Venous thromboembolism (VTE), encompassing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), is a major cardiovascular disorder and a leading cause of vascular mortality. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small endogenous noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally by binding to the target messenger RNAs (mRNAs), inducing mRNA degradation or translational repression. miRNA dysregulation likely contributes to VTE pathogenesis. This review comprehensively summarizes current evidence on miRNAs in VTE, offering a structured overview of the existing literature. Materials and Methods: Eligibility criteria were defined using the Population, Intervention/Exposure, Comparator, Outcomes, and Study design (PICOS) framework. A comprehensive literature search in PubMed and EMBASE was conducted in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Given methodological heterogeneity, a narrative synthesis was undertaken. Results: Among the 156 studies included in this review, 99 investigated miRNAs in DVT, 25 examined the role of miRNAs in PE, and 32 evaluated miRNA involvement in VTE. These miRNAs were categorized as prothrombotic, antithrombotic, or unclassified based on their reported functional roles. Conclusions: This systematic review highlights the impact of miRNAs in the pathophysiology of VTE and provides a resource for future mechanistic and translational research. The findings emphasize the need for standardized, large-scale studies focusing on human-specific models to validate miRNAs as diagnostic, prognostic biomarkers, and as therapeutic targets in VTE.

Stomatitis is a common adverse event associated with targeted therapies for hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative (HR+/HER2–) breast cancer, particularly those inhib-iting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. While mTOR-inhibitor–associated stomatitis is well established, less is known about its occurrence with other kinase inhibitors in real-world settings. We performed a retrospective pharmacovigilance analysis of the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) to evaluate stomatitis reports for alpelisib, capivasertib, everolimus, and palbociclib. Events were identified using three term sets—Original Trial Terms (OTT), Comprehensive Trial Terms (CTT), and Stomatitis-Associated Main Terms (SAMT)—reflecting varying definitions. Disproportionality analyses using reporting odds ratio (ROR) and proportional reporting ratio (PRR) were calculated with 95% con-fidence intervals. All agents showed ROR and PRR >1, indicating higher odds and re-porting proportions of stomatitis compared with other drugs. Everolimus demonstrated the strongest association (ROR: 30.72 [29.61–31.88]), followed by alpelisib (ROR: 13.11 [11.79–14.58]) and palbociclib (ROR: 11.73 [11.35–12.11]). Capivasertib had the lowest risk (ROR: 3.14 [1.81–5.43]), though limited by fewer reports. Differences between CTT and SAMT were minimal (~2%), supporting SAMT as an efficient screening tool. These findings underscore the need for optimized stomatitis detection and continued moni-toring, particularly for PI3K and mTOR inhibitors, in both clinical trials and postmar-keting surveillance.