TASK DEFINITION: Given a passage classify if the passage has a definite objective/aim/goal or not. Output '1' if the passage has a defininte objective/aim/goal and output '0' if the passage does not have a definite objective/aim/goal.
PROBLEM: We determined whether milrinone, a phosphodiesterase III inhibitor, attenuates serotonin-induced (5-hydroxytryptamine [5HT]) pulmonary hypertension (PH) and bronchoconstriction. Dogs were anesthetized with pentobarbital (30 mg/kg + 2 mg. kg(-1). h(-1)). Bronchoconstriction and PH were elicited by 5HT (10 microg/kg + 1.0 mg. kg(-1). h(-1)). Pulmonary vascular resistance was used to assess PH. Bronchoconstriction was also assessed by changes in bronchial cross-sectional area obtained from our bronchoscopic method. At 30 min after 5HT infusion started, seven dogs were given milrinone: 0 (saline), 5, 50, 500, and 5000 microg/kg at 10-min intervals. The other 12 dogs were given milrinone 5000 microg/kg 30 min after 5HT infusion, and 5 min later were given propranolol 0.2 mg/kg (n = 6) or saline (n = 6) IV. The 5HT significantly increased percentage of pulmonary vascular resistance to 208% +/- 27% and decreased percentage of bronchial cross-sectional area to 52% +/- 5% of the basal. Milrinone significantly attenuated both PH and bronchoconstriction in a dose-dependent manner. However, -log 50% effective concentration (mean ED(50) in microg/kg) of milrinone for bronchoconstriction: 4.32 +/- 0.13 (47.6) was significantly smaller than that for PH: 3.84 +/- 0.29 (144.9) (P < 0.01). In addition, the spasmolytic effects of milrinone (5000 microg/kg) were not antagonized by propranolol, although this dose significantly increased plasma catecholamines. In conclusion, milrinone attenuates 5HT-induced PH and bronchoconstriction; however, this drug may be more sensitive to phosphodiesterase III in the airway smooth muscle than in pulmonary vascular smooth muscle. In addition, the relaxant effects could not be caused by beta-adrenoceptor activation because beta-blocker did not antagonize.

SOLUTION: 0

PROBLEM: Right ventricular failure does not explain all cases of death in patients with chronic pulmonary hypertension. Searching for alternative explanations, we evaluated the prognostic significance of main pulmonary artery (PA) dilatation in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) or chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).', 'A retrospective outcome analysis was made of 264 patients (aged 46 ± 17 years; women, 69%; PAH, 82%) who underwent both CT scan measurement of the PA and right-sided heart catheterization (mean PA pressure, 57.6 ± 16.5 mm Hg) at initial evaluation.', 'The diameter of the PA ranged from 28 to 120 mm (mean, 39 ± 8.6 mm; median, 38 mm) and was largest in patients with unrepaired congenital defects (42.6 ± 7.6 mm). Pulmonary pulse pressure (P = .04), lower age (P = .03), and duration of symptoms (P &lt; .001) were independently but weakly related to PA diameter. During follow-up (median, 38 months), 99 patients (37%) died. Of these 99 deaths, 73 (74%) were due to heart failure or comorbidities, and 26 (26%) were unexpected deaths (UE-Ds). PA diameter (hazard ratio [HR], 1.06 per 1 mm; 95% CI, 1.03-1.08), heart rate (HR, 1.30 per 10 beats/min; 95% CI, 1.01-1.66), and systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (HR, 1.02 per 1 mm Hg; 95% CI, 1.01-1.04) were the only independent predictors of UE-D and differed from the usual predictors found in the study group for all-cause mortality. PA diameter ≥ 48 mm had 95% specificity and 39% sensitivity and carried 7.5 times higher risk of UE-D (95% CI, 3.4-16.5; P &lt; .0001) during follow-up.

SOLUTION: 0

PROBLEM: To test the hypothesis that the heat shock response is associated with myocardial salvage, the heat stress protein (HSP) content of cardiac tissue was increased by either ischemic or thermal stress.', 'Rabbits were divided into four groups. Ischemic pretreatment (n = 15) comprised four 5-minute episodes of coronary ligation separated by 10 minutes of reperfusion. The corresponding control group (n = 21) underwent surgical preparation without coronary ligation. Thermal pretreatment (n = 16) involved whole-body temperature elevation to 42 degrees C for 15 minutes; corresponding controls (n = 15) were treated with anesthetic alone. Twenty-four hours later, hearts were removed for HSP estimation or infarct size assessment after a 30-minute coronary ligation. Myocardial HSP72 content assessed by Western blotting was elevated by both ischemic and thermal pretreatments (2.5 +/- 0.2 units, n = 4, and 2.8 +/- 0.3 units, n = 4, mean +/- SEM; P = NS, respectively) compared with the corresponding control groups (1.0 +/- 0.3, n = 4, P < or = .01 and 0.3 +/- 0.1, n = 4, P < or = .01, respectively). HSP60 was preferentially elevated by ischemic pretreatment. After a 30-minute coronary occlusion and 120 minutes of reperfusion, ischemic and thermal pretreatments limited infarct size as a percentage of the volume at risk by 28.8 +/- 5.2% vs 52.0 +/- 5.2%, P < or = .01 and 32.8 +/- 3.8% vs 56.9 +/- 6.5%, P < or = .01, respectively.

SOLUTION:
0