Left ventricular unloading with an assist device results in receptor relocalization as well as increased beta-adrenergic receptor numbers: are these changes indications for outcome?
These findings suggest that supporting an ailing heart via unloading initiates mechanisms and pathways responsible for myocardial recovery and repair. With appropriate pharmacological support, patients with LVAD might recover to the point where they no longer depend on eventual organ transplantation, and (beta)AR number, type, and distribution in pre-LVAD myocardial tissue, could predict outcome with regard to recovery, repair, and improvement in cardiac function.
A decreased hepatic D1 activity could be the biochemical basis of some of the abnormal thyroid parameters observed in cystic fibrosis patients.