Gabor Brenner

• Doctor of Medicine
• PhD Student at Semmelweis University

Background Cardiac remodelling, a crucial aspect of heart failure, is commonly investigated in preclinical models by quantifying cardiomyocyte cross‐sectional area (CSA) and microvascular density (MVD) via histological methods, such as immunohistochemistry. To achieve this, optimized protocols are needed, and the species specificity is dependent on...

Aims Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is a leading cause of death worldwide; thus, therapeutic improvements are needed. In vivo preclinical models are essential to identify molecular drug targets for future therapies. Transverse aortic constriction (TAC) is a well‐established model of HFrEF; however, highly experienced personnel...

Sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) constitute the only medication class that consistently prevents or attenuates human heart failure (HF) independent of ejection fraction. We have suggested earlier that the protective mechanisms of the SGLT2i Empagliflozin (EMPA) are mediated through reductions in the sodium hydrogen exchanger 1 (NH...

Hypercholesterolemia (HC) induces, propagates and exacerbates cardiovascular diseases via various mechanisms that are yet not properly understood. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are involved in the pathomechanism of these diseases. To understand how circulating or cardiac-derived EVs could affect myocardial functions, we analyzed the metabolomic prof...

Aims: Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) is a robust cardioprotective intervention in preclinical studies. To establish a working and efficacious RIPC protocol in our laboratories, we performed randomized, blinded in vivo studies in three study centres in rats, with various RIPC protocols. To verify that our experimental settings are in good a...

Lipid-lowering drugs have been shown to have cardioprotective effects but may have hidden cardiotoxic properties. Therefore, here we aimed to investigate if chronic treatment with the novel lipid-lowering drug bempedoic acid (BA) exerts hidden cardiotoxic and/or cardioprotective effects in a rat model of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Wistar ra...

Clinical observations are highly inconsistent with the use of the antidiabetic rosiglitazone regarding its associated increased risk of myocardial infarction. This may be due to its hidden cardiotoxic properties that have only become evident during post-marketing studies. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the hidden cardiotoxicity of rosiglitazone...

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): National Research, Development and Innovation Office Hungary Introduction Unexpected ischaemia-induced cardiac adverse events are major contributors to clinical trial discontinuation and drug attrition, and these effects remain undetec...

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): National Heart Program funded by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office of Hungary Higher Education Institutional Excellence Programme of the Ministry of Human Capacities in Hungary, within the framework of the Therape...

Hypoxia upregulates PCSK9 expression in the heart, and PCSK9 affects the function of myocytes. This study aimed to investigate the impact of PCSK9 on reperfusion injury in rats and mice fed normal or high-fat diets. Either the genetic knockout of PCSK9 (mice) or the antagonism of circulating PCSK9 via Pep2-8 (mice and rats) was used. Isolated perfu...

The release of extracellular vesicles (EVs) is increased under cellular stress and cardiomyocyte damaging conditions. However, whether the cardiomyocyte-derived EVs eventually reach the systemic circulation and whether their number in the bloodstream reflects cardiac injury, remains unknown. Wild type C57B/6 and conditional transgenic mice expressi...

Little is known about the role of the neuropeptide somatostatin (SST) in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury and cardioprotection. Here, we investigated the direct cardiocytoprotective effect of SST on ischemia/reperfusion injury in cardiomyocyte cultures, as well as the expression of SST and its receptors in pig and human heart tissues. SST ind...

Aims Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is an important pathogenic factor in cardiovascular diseases including chronic heart failure (HF). The CANTOS trial highlighted that inflammasomes as primary sources of IL-1 β are promising new therapeutic targets in cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, we aimed to assess inflammasome activation in failing hearts to ident...

Cardiomyopathy resistant to treatment is the most serious adverse effect of doxorubicin (dox). The mechanisms of dox-induced cardiomyopathy (DCM) have been extensively studied in dilated forms of DCM. However, efficient treatment did not emerge. The aim of the present work was to revisit the experimental model of DCM in rats, to define phenotype/s...

Cardioprotection against ischemia/reperfusion injury is still an unmet clinical need. The transient activation of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) has been implicated in cardioprotection, which may be achieved by treatment with blood-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs). However, since the isolation of EVs from blood takes considerable effort, the aim of...

There is some recent evidence that cardiac ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury induces intestinal damage within days, which contributes to adverse cardiovascular outcomes after myocardial infarction. However, it is not clear whether remote gut injury has any detectable early signs, and whether different interventions aiming to reduce cardiac damage a...

Embryonic lungs must be inflated immediately after birth to establish respiration. In addition to pulmonary surfactant, recently, we have revealed lymphatic function as a previously unknown regulator of prenatal lung compliance that prepares the embryonic lung for inflation at birth. It is well-documented that the late gestation embryo performs epi...

Cardiac adverse effects are among the leading causes of the discontinuation of clinical trials and the withdrawal of drugs from the market. The novel concept of ‘hidden cardiotoxicity’ is defined as cardiotoxicity of a drug that manifests in the diseased (e.g., ischemic/reperfused), but not in the healthy heart or as a drug-induced deterioration of...

Intestinal dysbiosis is linked to numerous gastrointestinal disorders, including inflammatory bowel diseases. It is a question of debate if coxibs, selective inhibitors of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, cause dysbiosis. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to determine the effect of long-term (four weeks) selective inhibition of COX-2 on the small in...

Background: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) (isolated from blood plasma) are currently being extensively researched, both as biomarkers and for their therapeutic possibilities. One challenging aspect to this research is the efficient isolation of high-purity EVs from blood plasma in quantities sufficient for in vivo experiments. In accordance with thi...

Background: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) (isolated from blood plasma) are currently being extensively researched, both as biomarkers and for their therapeutic possibilities. One challenging aspect to this research is the efficient isolation of high-purity EVs from blood plasma in quantities sufficient for in vivo experiments. In accordance with thi...

Background: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were shown to induce small intestinal dysbiosis by causing a shift from Gram-positive to predominantly Gram-negative bacteria. This dysbiosis may contribute significantly to the development of small intestinal mucosal injury. It is, however, still not clear whether selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)...

Background: It is known that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may cause gastric and duodenal ulceration, but over the past decades it has become increasingly recognized that the distal parts of the small intestine are also harmed. The pathomechanism of this enteropathy is still poorly understood. Previous studies demonstrated that the...

Increased oxidative stress is a major contributor to the development and progression of heart failure, however, our knowledge on the role of the distinct NADPH oxidase (NOX) isoenzymes, especially on NOX4 is controversial. Therefore, we aimed to characterize NOX4 expression in human samples from healthy and failing hearts. Explanted human heart sam...

Original Western blots for NOX4 (A), GAPDH (B), and total protein staining by Ponceau S stain (C) in left ventricular (LV), right ventricular (RV), and interventricular septal regions (IVS) of ischemic cardiomyopathy patients (ICM).

Original Western blots for phosphorylated ERK1/2, total ERK1/2, GAPDH and total protein staining by Ponceau S stain in left ventricular (LV) samples of ischemic (ICM—A) or dilated cardiomyopathy patients (DCM—B), respectively. Data are mean ± S.E.M. n = 5/group. *p < 0.05.

Original Western blots for NOX4 (A), GAPDH (B), and total protein staining by Ponceau S stain (C) in left ventricular (LV), right ventricular (RV), and interventricular septal regions (IVS) of dilated cardiomyopathy patients (DCM).