Cédric H.G. Neutel

Maastricht University | UM · Department of Biomedical Engineering (BMT)

Background: Autophagy is a highly conserved catabolic homeostatic process, crucial for cell survival. It has been shown that autophagy can modulate different cardiovascular pathologies, including vascular calcification (VCN). Objective: To assess how modulation of autophagy, either through induction or inhibition, affects vascular and valvular c...

Measuring arterial stiffness has recently gained a lot of interest because it is a strong predictor for cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality. However, assessing blood vessel stiffness is not easy and the in vivo measurements currently used provide only limited information. Ex vivo experiments allow for a more thorough investigation of (alt...

Due to its viscoelastic properties, the aorta aids in dampening blood pressure pulsatility. At the level of resistance-arteries, the pulsatile flow will be transformed into a continuous flow to allow for optimal perfusion of end organs such as the kidneys and the brain. In this study, we investigated the ex vivo viscoelastic properties of different...

Arterial stiffness is a hallmark of vascular ageing and results in increased blood flow pulsatility to the periphery, damaging end-organs such as the heart, kidneys and brain. Treating or “reversing” arterial stiffness has therefore become a central target in the field of vascular ageing. SGLT2 inhibitors, initially developed in the context of type...

Calciprotein particles (CPPs) are an endogenous buffering system, clearing excessive amounts of Ca²⁺ and PO4³⁻ from the circulation and thereby preventing ectopic mineralization. CPPs circulate as primary CPPs (CPP1), which are small spherical colloidal particles, and can aggregate to form large, crystalline, secondary CPPs (CPP2). Even though it h...

Introduction: Arterial stiffening is a hallmark of vascular ageing, and unravelling its underlying mechanisms has become a central theme in the field of cardiovascular disease. While various techniques and experimental setups are accessible for investigating biomechanics of blood vessels both in vivo and ex vivo, comparing findings across diverse m...

Introduction Neuregulin-1 (NRG-1) is a growth factor derived from endothelial cells and belongs to the epidermal growth factor (EGF) family. While NRG-1 is expressed by various cell types, including epithelial cells, glial cells, neurons, and myocytes, the primary source of NRG-1 is considered to be the endothelium. NRG-1 exerts its effects through...

Proteasome inhibitors such as bortezomib and carfilzomib induce apoptosis and are a cornerstone in the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. However, concerns have emerged concerning their link to cancer therapy-related cardiovascular dysfunction (CTRCD). Bortezomib, a reversible first-generation inhibitor, and carfilzomib, a second...

Arterial stiffening is a hallmark of vascular ageing, and unravelling its underlying mechanisms has become a central theme in the field of cardiovascular disease. While various techniques and experimental setups are accessible for investigating biomechanics of blood vessels both in vivo and ex vivo, comparing findings across diverse methodologies i...

Arterial stiffness, a key indicator of vascular health, encompassing active (vascular tone) and passive (extracellular matrix) components. This study aims to address how these different components affect arterial stiffness along the aorta and the influence of aging. Aortic segments of 12 week and 24 month old (both n = 6) male C57BL/6J mice were mo...

Background and Aims: Fluoroquinolones (FQ) have been linked to aortic aneurysms and dissections (AA/AD), resulting in an official warning. However, recent large-scale epidemiological studies have reported lack of FQ-AA/AD association. This study aimed to scrutinize FQ-AA/AD risk by implementing a combined epidemiological and experimental approach....

The mechanisms by which physical activity affects cardiovascular function and physiology are complex and multifactorial. In the present study, cardiac output during rest or acute physical activity was simulated in isolated aortic segments of healthy C57BL/6J wild-type mice. This was performed using the Rodent Oscillatory Tension Setup to study Arte...

Aims Apart from cardiotoxicity, the chemotherapeutic doxorubicin (DOX) induces vascular toxicity, represented by arterial stiffness and endothelial dysfunction. Both parameters are of interest for cardiovascular risk stratification as they are independent predictors of future cardiovascular events in the general population. However, the time course...

Background: Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, especially in those undergoing dialysis and kidney transplant surgery. CKD patients are at high risk to develop arterial media calcifications (AMC) and arterial stiffness. We hypothesized that investigation of disease progression at an e...

Aortic stiffness is a hallmark of cardiovascular disease, but its pathophysiology remains incompletely understood. This study presents an in-dept characterization of aortic aging in male C57Bl/6 mice (2–24 months). Cardiovascular measurements include echocardiography, blood pressure measurement, and ex vivo organ chamber experiments. In vivo and ex...

Introduction and Aims: Endothelial dysfunction is recognized as a cardiovascular aging hallmark. Administration of nitric oxide synthase blocker N-Ω-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (L-NAME) constitutes a well-known small animal model of cardiovascular aging. Despite extensive phenotypic characterization, the exact aortic function change...

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main funding source(s): Research Foundation - Flanders (Brussels, BE): ==> [DUTCH]: "Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO) - Vlaanderen" Introduction The pulsatile character of blood flow in the central arteries results in a local transmission of energy to the arterial wall, actin...

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Public Institution(s). Main funding source(s): Fund for Scientific Research (FWO) Flanders INSPIRE project (H2020-MSCA-ITN program) Background The chemotherapeutic doxorubicin (DOX) is frequently used to treat a wide variety of cancers, but the cardiotoxic side effects limits its clinical use in so...

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main funding source(s): Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO) Introduction Necroptosis is a form of regulated necrosis mediated by the kinase activity of receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (RIPK1) and executed by RIPK3 and mixed lineage kinase domain like pseud...

Gasdermin D (GSDMD) is the key executor of pyroptotic cell death. Recent studies suggest that GSDMD-mediated pyroptosis is involved in atherosclerotic plaque destabilization. We report that cleaved GSDMD is expressed in macrophage- and smooth muscle cell-rich areas of human plaques. To determine the effects of GSDMD deficiency on atherogenesis, Apo...

RIPK1 (receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 1) enzymatic activity drives both apoptosis and necroptosis, a regulated form of necrosis. Because necroptosis is involved in necrotic core development in atherosclerotic plaques, we investigated the effects of a RIPK1S25D/S25D mutation, which prevents activation of RIPK1 kinase, on athero...

There are signifcant differences in viscoelastic properties between segments from distinct anatomical regions along the aortic tree, especially when comparing thoracic and abdominal aortic tissue. Pulsatile load (either via pulse frequency or via pulse pressure) modulates the viscoelastic properties of the arterial wall due to, in part, strain rate...

Cardiovascular disease continues to be the leading cause of death worldwide, which drives the urgent need for novel therapies. Autophagy has been found to play an essential role in maintaining a healthy vasculature. In different vascular pathologies such as atherosclerosis, medial vascular calcification, arterial stiffness, and hypertension, autoph...

Clinical and animal studies have demonstrated that chemotherapeutic doxorubicin (DOX) increases arterial stiffness, a predictor of cardiovascular risk. Despite consensus about DOX-impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilation as a contributing mechanism, some studies have reported conflicting results on vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) function aft...

Importin 8, encoded by IPO8, is a ubiquitously expressed member of the importin-β protein family that translocates cargo molecules such as proteins, RNAs, and ribonucleoprotein complexes into the nucleus in a RanGTP-dependent manner. Current knowledge of the cargoes of importin 8 is limited, but TGF-β signaling components such as SMAD1–4 have been...

Arterial stiffness is an important predictor of cardiovascular risk. Clinical studies have demonstrated that arterial stiffness increases in cancer patients treated with the chemotherapeutic doxorubicin (DOX). However, the mechanisms of DOX-induced arterial stiffness remain largely unknown. This study aimed to evaluate artery stiffening in DOX-trea...

Appropriate nutraceutical combinations may represent a valid approach to prevent vascular calcification associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD). In the present study, we tested the effect of a new nutraceutical combination named RenaTris®, containing MK-7, magnesium carbonate, and Sucrosomial® Iron, on vascular calcification in uremic rats. Ra...