Ricerc@Sapienza

Purpose: Cardiac involvement in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) is increasingly recognized as a mayor cause of morbidity and mortality. The aim of present study is to investigate the early stages of cardiac involvement in SSc by Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), combining the non-invasive detection of myocardial inflammation and fibrosis using T2 and T1 mapping techniques and the assessment of microcirculatory impairment through perfusion response to cold pressor test (CPT).

CONTEXT: Vascular dysfunction is a common feature in end-organ complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The endothelium-specific receptor tyrosine kinase Tie2 and its ligand, angiopoietin-1 (Ang1), participate in the processes of vessel repair, renewal, and maturation. However, their dysregulation in T2DM has seldom been investigated.
OBJECTIVES: To examine the relationship between angiogenic Tie2-expressing monocytes (TEMs) and Ang1, and their pharmacological modulation by the phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE5i) sildenafil, in T2DM and in db/db mouse model.