Is coronary arterial stiffness related with a loss of fractal complexity in the aortic pressure?
Acute hypertension induced by phenylephrine produces an increase in the coronary wall elastic modulus with a concomitant decrease in the fractal nature of the aortic pressure, suggesting that coronary stiffening is associated with an unwrinkled aortic pressure.
Although H. pylori infection has been recognized as a cause of gastric cancer in humans, some large populations with high prevalence of infection have low gastric cancer rates. This so-called "African enigma" so far remains unexplained. Our findings suggest that virulence-associated genes of H. pylori may partially explain the African enigma. Other factors, including human genetic polymorphisms and diet, are also suspected to play a major role. Further investigations are needed to test this hypothesis.