(C) 2013 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“We applied (13)C magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), a nonradioactive, noninvasive brain imaging technique, to quantify the oxidation of [1-(13)C] acetate in a conventional clinical magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) scanner in five consecutive elderly subjects at various clinical stages of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progression. [1-(13)C] acetate entered the brain and was metabolized to [5-(13)C] glutamate and glutamine, as well as [1-(13)C] glutamate and glutamine, and the final glial oxidation product, (13)C bicarbonate, at a linear rate. Calculation of the initial HSP990 concentration slope was similar in a single subject, examined twice, 1 month Selleckchem AZ 628 apart (test-re-test 8%). Mean rate of cerebral bicarbonate production in this elderly group was 0.040 +/- 0.01 (n = 5). Assuming that the rate of conversion of
acetate to bicarbonate is a reflection of glial metabolic rate and that glial metabolic rate is a surrogate marker for ‘neuroinflammation’, our preliminary results suggest that [1-(13)C] MRS may provide biomarkers for diseases, believed to involve microglia and other cells of the astrocyte series. Among these is AD, for which novel drugs which ameliorate the damaging effects of neuroinflammation before symptoms of dementia appear, are in advanced development. The value of (13)C MRS as an early, noninvasive biomarker may lie in the conduct of cost-effective clinical trials.”
“Objective: The main purpose of the present study is the investigation of gender differences in the biomechanical properties, thrombus age, mass fraction and key clinical factors of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs).
Materials and methods: A total of 90 AAA samples (78 males and 12 females) were harvested from open surgical
aneurysm repairs. Biaxial extension and peeling tests were performed to characterise the biaxial mechanical responses and to determine dissection properties of both the intraluminal thrombi (ILTs) and the thrombus-covered walls. Relative thrombus Protein Tyrosine Kinase inhibitor age was determined by characterising the ILT histological microstructure. Mass fraction analyses quantified dry weight percentages of elastin and collagen within the AAA walls. Moreover, we statistically compared clinical factors between male and female.
Results: The luminal layers of the female thrombi and the female AAA walls showed a significantly lower tissue stiffness (modulus) in the longitudinal direction when compared to males. Gender differences were also shown in the dissection properties of the intima media composite within the AAA walls, in which a statistically significantly lower energy to propagate a dissection was quantified for females than for males. Moreover, 82% of female thrombi were relatively older (ILT age phases III and IV), twice that of male thrombi (43%).