Results: At 30 days, patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting selleck had fewer events of bleeding (43.7% vs 56.3%, P = .0005) and myocardial infarction (7.3% vs 12.1%, P = .055) but higher rates of reintervention (3.7% vs 1.2%, P = .02). At 1 year, there was no difference between groups in death, total myocardial infarctions, reinterventions, strokes, or major adverse cardiac events, but there was a lower rate of non-Q-wave myocardial infarctions in the off-pump coronary artery bypass

grafting group (4.6% vs 9.2%, P = .03).

Conclusions: In this large-scale study evaluating the outcomes of patients with acute coronary syndromes, off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting was associated with lower rates of bleeding and non-Q-wave myocardial infarction but more reinterventions early after the procedure. At 1 year, there was no major outcome difference between the

2 surgical strategies. (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2011;142:e33-9)”
“Rationale Hippo pathway inhibitor Female rats display higher sensitivity to cocaine relative to males under a variety of conditions. Time-dependent increases in cocaine-seeking behavior (as measured by nonreinforced operant responses) during cocaine withdrawal have been reported in male, but not female, rats.

Objectives The present study determines sex and estrous cycle influences on time-dependent changes in cocaine-seeking Olopatadine behavior.

Materials and methods Male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were reinforced for “”active lever”" responses by a cocaine infusion (0.50 mg/kg/infusion, i.v., fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement, FR1) followed

by a 20-s time-out when reinforcement was not delivered. Infusions were paired with a light + tone conditioned stimulus. Next, rats underwent cocaine withdrawal for 1, 14, 60, or 180 days before testing cocaine-seeking behavior. Each rat was tested for extinction of operant responding, conditioned-cued reinstatement, and cocaine-primed (10 mg/kg, i.p.) reinstatement.

Results Both males and females displayed a time-dependent increase in cocaine-seeking behavior (active lever presses) under extinction of operant responding and conditioned-cued reinstatement conditions after 60 days of cocaine withdrawal. Moreover, cocaine-seeking behavior during extinction of operant responding in females, but not males, remained elevated at 180 days of cocaine withdrawal. Furthermore, females tested during estrus exhibited higher cocaine-seeking behavior under both extinction of operant responding and cocaine-primed reinstatement conditions relative to other rats independent of the duration of cocaine withdrawal.

Conclusions The effects of reproductive cycle and withdrawal duration on cocaine-seeking behavior are additive and time-dependent increases in cocaine-seeking behavior are more enduring in females than in male rats.