Conclusions: Clonal KitCs from the aged heart are phenotypically different from KitC from younger subjects and are functionally compromised. MSCs could improve the growth kinetics of aged KitC, but the effects were minimal. doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2019.11.075 71. Shape Analysis of Short Axis View in Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Cardiomyopathy Case Studies D.E.O. Dewi a , b , N. Abu Bakar c , H. Abdul Hamid c a School of Biomedical Engineering and Health Science, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia b IJN-UTM Cardiovascular Engineering Center, Institute of Human Centered Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia c Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Center Background: Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR) Imaging is a main modality to capture volumetric anatomical structures and functions of the heart for diagnosis and treatment planning. With its ability to acquire cross-sections of left ventricle (LV) and right ventricle (RV), Short Axis View plays role in volumetric analysis for cardiac contractile functions, especially in cardiomyopathy cases. Manual analysis of CMR is clinically common, however, human factors may hamper its accuracy and consistency. Shape analysis, one of computer vision techniques, has been used as geometric feature extractor to analyse segmented regions. Automatic segmentation of LV and RV that delineate anatomical structures based on predefined statistical parameters may efficiently support shape analysis and improve the performance of volumetric analysis in cardiac diagnostics. Objective: Development of shape analysis algorithm for characterizing anatomical structures in CMR Short Axis View. Materials & Methods: The algorithm was tested on CMR images in diastolic and systolic phases from 5 normal and 6 cardiomyopathy patients The algorithm consisted of 3 steps; image normalization, segmentation, and geometric feature extraction. Image normalization standardized input image into a well-distributed intensity image with properly localized object. Image enhancement techniques were used to improve the image quality. Statistical parameters were acquired for automatic inputs. Segmentation algorithm was generated based on combination of threshold-based segmentation and Connected Component Labelling (CCL) operator that labelled regions based on pixel connectivity. Region ranking was used to determine region of interest. Geometrical feature extraction was performed by measuring geometrical parameters on the region of interest. Shape analysis features were measured on LV and RV chambers and ventricular walls for further analysis. Results: The algorithm was capable of localizing LV and RV chambers and ventricular walls in both diastolic and systolic phases for all tested CMR images. However, some erroneous regions occurred when segmenting ventricular walls where the intensity was mixed with the outer layer of the heart. In shape analysis, the automatic results were considerably close to those of radiologist manual delineation. Conclusions: Automatic segmentation using threshold-based CCL operator has shown to be effective in localizing CMR regions. Quantification of LV and RV chambers and ventricular walls using this method tends to give promising results. doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2019.11.076 72. Effect of Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) on Blood Pressure and Endothelial Function in Angiotensin II-Infused Hypertensive Mice N.A. Mohd Sabri a , W.C. Ling a , S.K. Lee a , D.D. Murugan b a Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman b Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya Background: Previous studies in recent years have shown that ingestion of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), the most abundant catechin found in green tea lowers arterial blood pressure in experimental animals as well as in humans. EGCG which has high antioxidant and anti- inflammatory properties gives beneficial effects in patients with cardiovascular diseases, especially those with hypertension. However, the effect of EGCG on the regulation of blood pressure in hypertensive subjects with compromised RAAS system is yet to be elucidated. Objective: The present study aims to investigate if EGCG exerts antihypertensive effects in angiotensin II-infused hypertensive mice. Apart from that, this study aims to investigate if EGCG plays a role in improving endothelial dysfunction which is observed in angiotensin II-infused hypertensive mice. Methods: Angiotensin II-infused C57BL/6J mice (8-10 weeks old) received oral administration of EGCG (50mg/Kg) for 14 days. Throughout the treatment period, the average systolic blood pressure of the mice is measured using the tail-cuff method. The vascular reactivity is investigated using aortic rings from C57BL/6J mice cultured with angiotensin II (10uM) + EGCG (1 μg) in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) for 24 hours. Isometric relaxation of the aortic rings to endothelium-dependent relaxing agonist, acetylcholine (3 nM–10 μM) and endothelium independent vasodilator, sodium nitroprusside (1 nM–10 μM) were determined. Results: Infusion with angiotensin II increased the systolic blood pressure of the mice and this increase is continuous in angiotensin II- infused hypertensive mice without EGCG treatment. On the other hand, there is a significant attenuation in blood pressure of angiotensin II-infused mice treated with EGCG. Ex-vivo treatment of aortic rings exposed to angiotensin II with EGCG for 24 hours significantly improved the impaired relaxations of the aortic rings compared to aortic rings without the treatment with EGCG. Conclusion: This study shows that EGCG treatment exerts antihypertensive effect in angiotensin II-infused hypertensive rats. This antihypertensive effect is most probably due to the effect of EGCG in improving the endothelial function of the hypertensive mice as observed in the ex-vivo study. doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2019.11.077 73. Gynura Procumbens Increases Antioxidant Enzymes Activity and Reduces Endothelial Inflammatory Markers Expression in Atherosclerotic Rat Model K.A. Ahmad Nazri a , N.M. Fauzi c , F. Buang c , H.M.S. Qodriyah b , I. Jantan c , Z. Jubri a a Department of Biochemistry, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) b Department of Pharmacology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) c Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Campus Kuala Lumpur Background: Atherosclerosis is associated with endothelial development dysfunction, inflammation and reduction of antioxidant status. Abstracts 28